Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- POPULAR BOOKS FROM THE ERA
- When We Meet Again
- A Conversation with Caroline Beecham about When We Meet Again
- Discussion Guide
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
She bit her lip to stop it from quivering, and her eyes flicked up at the ceiling as she tried to keep them dry while she spoke, managing to stay composed as she gave a censored version of the preceding months and he scribbled in his notebook. Finally, she told him about the advert in the Daily Mail and the couple who now had Eadie, downplaying her mother’s involvement because she still couldn’t comprehend her actions or know whether they could place her behind bars. “So,” she said, “you can help me . . . can’t you?”
“I’m going to ask one of our women officers to come talk to you, Miss Cotton. A4 usually deals with the juvenile cases, and I’m sure you’ll feel more comfortable going through the details with her. Just wait here, if you don’t mind.”
After he left the room she watched and listened to the hands of the clock tick noisily for fifteen minutes. Her breasts grew more painful and she became increasingly uneasy, close to despair at the thought of another woman feeding her newborn.
Constable Relf returned accompanied by a young woman in a dark skirt and belted tunic, whose unruly red hair sprung from beneath a police hat. “Hello, Miss Cotton, I’m Sergeant Mildred Burns from the Women’s Branch. We deal with all juvenile cases and crimes relating to children, and first, let me say how very sorry I am.” She sat down next to Constable Relf, then leaned forward so Alice could see the freckles that mapped her pale face. “I can assure you that it’s a priority to prevent crimes against children, and in particular to stop these unlawful adoptions.”
Alice sighed, relieved that someone finally wanted to help.
“That said, I have to ask you not to set your expectations too high.”
“But you just said you can help me.”
“We can look at the Juvenile Index to see if there’s any record of your daughter,” she said, exchanging a look with Constable Relf, “although I think it’s unlikely that she will be on it. We will certainly investigate further, but I want to make sure you know that before we can make any arrests we need to have enough evidence. It’s then up to the courts to decide whether to prosecute—it’s not up to us. I just want you to know that, Alice. We will try to get justice for you, but it’s not entirely in our hands.”
“I don’t care about that. . . . What I mean to say is that it’s not about getting justice. I just need to find my daughter—quickly.”