Angela leaned forward, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Daniel was alive?"
Margaret nodded.
"He came with a woman who said she'd raised him."
"Do you remember her name?"
"Helen Miller."
Angela immediately wrote it down.
Margaret continued.
"The woman told me Daniel had been adopted under another name."
"What name?"
"David."
Angela stared at her.
"David Miller?"
Margaret nodded slowly.
"He was a handsome young man. He looked so much like Samuel."
Angela took Margaret's hands.
"Where did they live?"
"Somewhere near Altoona."
For the first time, Angela felt that finding Daniel might actually be possible.
She contacted Mara.
Within forty-eight hours, investigators located a man named David Miller who matched the available information.
He was fifty-one and lived in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
When Mara contacted him, he was understandably cautious.
She explained that investigators were reviewing historical records involving his childhood.
David agreed to speak.
During their conversation, he recognized Evelyn's photograph immediately.
"She took care of me," he said.
Mara asked whether he remembered another child living in the house.
David nodded.
"A little girl."
"Do you remember her name?"
He closed his eyes.
"Angie."
Mara felt her pulse quicken.
Angela's father had called her Angie throughout childhood.
David continued.
"She carried a stuffed rabbit everywhere."
Mara called Angela immediately.
"I think we found him."
Angela began crying before Mara finished explaining.
The following morning, she traveled to Altoona.
David stood on the porch of a modest two-story house. He had dark curly hair streaked with gray and deep-set brown eyes.
When Angela stepped out of the car, he stared at her.
Neither spoke.
Then David reached into his pocket and removed a photograph.
It showed Evelyn sitting on a sofa with two children.
A little boy stood beside her.
A younger girl sat on her lap holding a stuffed rabbit.
Angela recognized herself.
"Where did you get that?"
David's voice trembled.
"I've kept it since I was seven."
Angela approached him.
"Daniel?"
He closed his eyes.
"Nobody's called me that in forty years."
She embraced him.
For a long moment, neither could speak.
Inside, David explained that he remembered the fire.
He remembered Robert Bennett carrying him outside.
And he remembered being taken to a house in the country.
Angela listened with tears streaming down her face.
Then David said something that changed everything.
"Your father came back to see me once."
Angela leaned forward.
"What did he say?"
David lowered his eyes.
"He said he couldn't bring me home."
"Why?"
David looked directly at her.
"Because someone threatened to kill you if he did."