He must have been four, she thought now. Phillip had said he was ten now, and Sybill remembered it had been six years since Gloria showed up on her doorstep in New York with her son in tow.

She’d been desperate, of course. Broke, furious, weepy, begging. There’d been no choice but to take her in, not with the child staring up with those huge, haunted eyes. Sybill hadn’t known anything about children. She’d never been around them. Perhaps that was why she’d fallen for Seth so quickly and so hard.

And when she’d come home three weeks later and found them gone, along with all the cash in the house, her jewelry, and her prized collection of Daum china, she’d been devastated.

She should have expected it, she told herself now. It had been classic Gloria behavior. But she’d believed, had needed to believe, that they could finally connect. That the child would make a difference. That she could help.

Well, this time, she thought as she tucked the photo away again, she would be more careful, less emotional. She knew that Gloria was telling at least part of the truth this time. Whatever she did from this point on would depend on her own judgment.

She would begin to judge when she saw her nephew again.

Sitting, she turned on her laptop and began to write her initial notes.

The Quinn brothers appear to have an easy, male-pattern relationship. From my single observation I would suspect they work together well. It will take additional study to determine what function each provides in this business partnership, and in their familial relations.

Both Cameron and Ethan Quinn are newly married. It will be necessary to meet their wives to understand the dynamics of this family. Logically one of them will represent the mother figure. Since Cameron’s wife, Anna Spinelli Quinn, has a full-time career, one would suspect that Grace Monroe Quinn fulfills this function. However, it’s a mistake to generalize such matters and this will require personal observations.

I found it telling that the business sign the Quinns hung this afternoon contained Seth’s name, but as a Quinn. I can’t say if this disposal of his legal name is for their benefit or his.

The boy must certainly be aware that the Quinns are filing for custody. I can’t say as yet whether he has received any of the letters Gloria has written him. Perhaps the Quinns have disposed of them. Though I sympathize with her plight and her desperation to get her child back, it’s best that she remain unaware that I’ve come here. Once I’ve documented my findings, I’ll contact her. If there is a legal battle in the future, it’s best to approach the matter with facts rather than raw emotion.

Hopefully the lawyer Gloria has engaged will contact the Quinns through the proper legal channels shortly.

For myself, I hope to see Seth tomorrow and gain some insight into the situation. It would be helpful to determine how much he knows about his parentage. As I have only recently become fully informed, I’ve not yet completely assimilated all the facts and their repercussions.