‘Do you have any idea how Pa Salt came to choose me as his first adopted girl?’

‘Goodness, Maia.’ I saw his face register surprise. ‘I’m afraid I was your father’s lawyer, not his emotional confidant.’

‘But I thought the two of you were friends?’

‘Yes, we were, I suppose, from my point of view at least. But as you know, your father was a very private individual. And even though I’d like to think he regarded me as trustworthy, at the end of the day, I was an employee first and foremost and it was never my place to question him. The first I knew about you was when he contacted me to register your adoption with the Swiss authorities, and fill in the necessary forms for your first passport.’

‘So you have no idea what his connection with Brazil might have been?’ I persisted.

‘On a personal level, none at all. Although he did have a number of business interests there, of course. But then he had similar interests in many places across the world,’ Georg clarified. ‘So I’m afraid I really am unable to help you on that matter.’

Disappointed, but not entirely surprised by his response, I pressed on with my line of enquiry.

‘When I was in Brazil, thanks to the clues Pa left me, I met my grandmother, who sadly passed away only a few days ago. She told me that when my father arrived to adopt me, he was accompanied by a woman. The orphanage assumed the woman was his wife. Was he married?’

‘Never, as far as I know.’

‘Then could this woman have been a girlfriend of his at the time?’

‘Maia, forgive me, but I really have no idea about your father’s private life. I’m sorry not to be able to help you further, but there we are. Now, what was the other matter you mentioned that you wanted to discuss with me?’

As it was obvious I wasn’t going to get any further, I surrendered to the inevitable realisation that I would never know the full circumstances of my adoption. Then I took a deep breath to say what else I needed to. ‘I told you a few moments ago that my maternal grandmother died recently. She left me two properties in Brazil and a small amount of income in her will.’

‘I see. And you’d like me to act on your behalf during probate?’

‘Yes, but in fact, more importantly, I want to make a will too. And leave the properties to a . . . relative.’

‘I see. Well, that’s not a problem. And in fact, it’s one thing that I would recommend to all my clients, whatever their age. If you write a list of who exactly you’d like to leave anything you own to, and include small bequests to friends, et cetera, I can turn it into the necessary legalese.’

‘Thank you.’ I hesitated for a moment, trying to decide how best I could phrase what I wanted to say next. ‘I also wanted to ask you how difficult it is for parents who have given up their babies for adoption to trace their children.’