The next day, Damien and Marco visited Mrs. Shaw, the former matron of St. Michael's Orphanage. He found her in a small, cozy nursing home, her mind frail but her spirit still strong. He explained his situation, his search for information about a girl named Sarah Walker.
Mrs. Shaw listened intently. "Sarah," she murmured, "No, I don't remember a Sarah."
"The Walker family adopted her from the orphanage when she was around six years old," Damien explained.
"I'm sorry, it was a long time ago," Mrs. Shaw said. "I can't remember Sarah. But… there was a sweet little orphan girl, with big brown eyes, around six years old. She was brought to the orphanage by one of my girls. She said the poor child was found on the street, had a broken wrist and a lot of bruises. I think a car must've hit her and run; they probably thought she was dead, so they didn't stop to help. Ah, poor Bella…" She trailed off, her eyes filled with sadness.
Damien's heart skipped a beat. Bella. Sarah had mentioned a woman calling her Isabella. "Bella?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. "What happened to her?"
Mrs. Shaw shook her head sadly. "She… she died in the fire. The fire… it took so much from us. Two lives lost and so many memories… gone." She began to cry softly.
Damien felt a pang of disappointment. He had hoped… "Is there any possibility that Bella survived?" he asked.
Mrs. Shaw gave it some thought and said, "She was a weak little girl; she couldn't have survived that fire."
"Was she the only one who died in that fire?" he asked gently.
"No, also another person died. Her name was Janice Moore. She worked at the orphanage."
Damien asked if she could tell him more about Janice Moore and what her relationship was with Bella. Mrs. Shaw then told him how Janice was the one who found Bella on the street and brought her to the orphanage.
"It was a long time ago… Janice was a good person. I remember she told me once her family abandoned her because she married a poor man. Later she got divorced and came to work full time at the orphanage. She loved kids, especially little Bella. You see, after the fire, nobody came looking for her, Janice. Nobody cared that she died."
Damien's mind raced. Janice Moore. He filed the name away, another piece of the puzzle. "Were there more kids around that age?" he asked.
Mrs. Shaw remembered. "We had 15 children in our orphanage at the time… After the fire, 5 of them were adopted by rich and powerful families. The only six-year-old at the time was Bella. There were younger kids around three and four, there were two boys around seven and eight, but no girls her age. The Sarah that you're asking about, she might have been sent to the orphanage after I retired. But there would be more documents about it, unless someone is hiding something."
"When did you retire?" Damien asked.
"After the fire… It was horrible…" she said, trailing off and starting to weep.
Damien felt guilty for reminding the old woman of the painful past. A minute later, he asked, "And… the orphanage was rebuilt, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Mrs. Shaw replied. "The Rossi family… they helped us rebuild. Generous people. They also suffered a tragedy that same year."
"What tragedy?" Damien asked.
"I believe half of the family died. As to how, I can't tell you with certainty."
Damien's jaw tightened. The Rossi family. The name echoed in his mind, a connection he couldn't yet place. He thanked Mrs. Shaw for her time and left the nursing home, his mind buzzing with new information. Bella. Isabella. The fire at the orphanage, the death of Bella and her rescuer, a young woman called Janice Moore. The Rossi family. The pieces were starting to come together, hinting at a story far more complex and dangerous than he had ever imagined.
He then decided to go visit Caroline in prison. Upon seeing him, Caroline, surprised, asked, "What are you doing here, Mr. Sterling?"
"I have a question to ask you, Mrs. Walker," Damien said.
"Did Sarah send you?" Caroline asked.
"No, I came here on my own."
"Interesting. You can ask… but for a price."
"I'll take care of your safety in prison if you tell me about Sarah's childhood and adoption."
"How important is this information to you?" Caroline asked.
"Very important."
"Ten million, and I'll tell you everything I know," Caroline bargained.
"Tell me and let me see first if the information you're holding is worth the actual ten million out of my pocket."
"First ten million, and then I'll talk. Otherwise, I'll take the information to the grave."
Damien's lips curled into a chilling smile. "I don't think you understand, Mrs. Walker. You are in no position to bargain with me. Believe it or not, I can make your life worse than death here." He hung up the phone and turned and left, leaving a visibly shaken Caroline behind. He knew, with unwavering resolve, that he wouldn't stop until he had pieced together the entire story of Sarah's past, no matter the cost.