Page 34 of Brix

“Why didn’t someone notice a lifeboat missing?” asked Zulu.

“I don’t know. I suppose when the ship sank, no one thought to take count. The children were taken to that orphanage in Cardiff. It was built by Deirdre specifically for the children. She was going to be the savior eventually.”

“How? How could she possibly believe that would work?” asked Brix.

“The plan was to discover that Cassandra and Daphne were from the families on the ship and collect the reward. Then she realized that she would get more if they died. The kids would be the only surviving heirs. But Cassandra got sick and died.”

“She could have survived,” said Zulu through his clenched jaw.

“Either way, she died, and Daphne was the only one she could try to control. She played some twisted head games with that girl. I was supposed to keep her beaten and abused, and Deirdre would convince her daughter that she deserved it.”

“She’s not stupid enough to believe that bullshit,” said Brix. “Daphne would have left you eventually, no matter what.”

“Obviously,” frowned Marshall. “She called her father, not her mother. That’s what saved her.”

“Where are the others? Where are the other kids?” asked Tiger.

“They were all adopted out. All but two have survived. One was killed in a motorcycle accident, and another committed suicide after returning from war.”

“A soldier?” growled Zulu.

“Y-yes. He was in the Royal Marines. Listen, I don’t know what she has planned now, but she will be difficult to find.”

“You’d better hope not,” said Brix. “Because if this drags on longer than a few days, I’m coming back for you. When I do, there will be nothing left for the police to identify. Nothing.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Using the castle as their home base, they rented the entire space for the next two weeks. Heath was more than happy to accommodate them. With the list of children in hand and the list of passengers who came aboard with children, they were able to match them and then check all the databases, hospital records, and other record sources for blood or DNA samples.

From there, they searched the databases for matches and put out a notification that the children who had disappeared from the Costina could very well be alive. Anyone believing that they were one of those children should contact the team working out of the castle.

Within days, there were a dozen people waiting in the entrance hall of the castle to be interviewed. The first nine were simply swindlers who were easily scared for their lives by the time they left. But the next three turned out to be a hit.

All three were under the age of five when the Costina sank. They remembered nothing of their birth parents but had been adopted into good, loving families throughout Great Britain. Their great fortune was that all of their biological families were still living and desperate to reunite.

For the adoptive parents, it was devastating news to discover that they had been fooled into adopting children whose families were still living. There would be years of therapy, years of counseling to get them through the emotions flooding their systems.

All caused by one woman’s madness.

“I feel terrible for them,” whispered Daphne. Brix hugged his wife from behind, kissing the top of her head.

“It’s not your fault, babe. We’ll find Deirdre, and she’ll answer to the courts and to these families for what she’s done. She’s guilty of multiple counts of murder, including Lord Bishop, and she’ll be questioned on the explosions aboard the Costina.”

“All because she wanted wealth and status,” said Daphne.

“She may have wanted more than that,” said Brix. “She could have been trying to amass a wealth that could support an army. If she thought to take over for her father, she may have been trying for more than just status.”

“That just doesn’t make sense, though. She had all this wealth, and she was spending it as fast as Father could make it. If she wanted the money for her own army, she would have been saving it.”

“That’s a great point,” he smiled. “See. You’re smarter than me.”

“No, not smarter. Just trying to think through all this madness. Did she really believe that she could just pop up and suddenly say I’ve found the heir to their fortunes? It’s just too much. There has to be more to this.”

“We’re trying to find the man that set the bombs and took the kids. Marshall didn’t know his name but gave a good description if we can believe it.”

“I’m not sure I’d believe anything coming out of his mouth,” said Daphne.

“Neither do we, babe. Neither do we.”

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