Page 19 of Old Secrets

“Which leads us to the next question. Who am I, really?”

“Well, the original birth certificate agrees with the falsified one; your name is Karma, and it has always been Karma.”

I eyed my husband, aware he itched to pun my name. “I will pull your intestine out through your big toe if you weaponize my name.”

“Just once?”

“No.”

He pouted.

“You’ll probably survive. Are there any other possibilities?”

“A Good Samaritan might have seen an imperiled infant and had taken you to a hospital.”

“That doesn’t explain the modified birth certificate, though.”

“No, it doesn’t. It is possible the someone could have been part of an organization like the Inquisition, adjusted the birth certificate to hide you, and then put you into the system.”

“That’s unlikely,” I pointed out.

“Why?”

“Well, if the original birth certificate was in English…”

“You make an excellent point.” Jake frowned. “But that implies someone in Tibet or China was in on you being moved around in the first place.”

“Well, they were able to find the original birth certificate. Maybe a group like the Inquisition but based in China? Do the Chinese have their own version of the Inquisition?”

“Yes, they do. But that leads to another issue.”

“Which is?”

“Why did they hide they have a shapeshifting fox species from the rest of the Inquisition?”

I snickered at the first thought to come to mind. “You wolves can’t handle us foxes, that’s why.”

“Mrs. Thomas, you are going to pay for that the next time we have several hours and a good bed.”

“Am I paying in cash, credit, or pretending I have zero interest and you have to convince me?”

“Obviously, you have to pretend you have zero interest and I need to convince you. Why was that even a question?”

“You’re the one who said you like it when I dress up as a prostitute.”

“Can I dress you up as a prostitute while you pretend you have zero interest and need to be thoroughly convinced?”

I played at needing several minutes to think that one through. “I suppose, but only this once.”

“With that important business settled, that leaves us with several problems we need to solve for this case to make sense.”

“Who am I is only scratching at the surface.”

“Why you’re so important dead or alive needs to be investigated. I like the idea of someone, possibly a family member or associate, wanting to hide you, making arrangements for the Johnson adoption. That tracks—and it would explain why they allowed the adoption in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“Karma, your mother was the top suspect in the disappearance and murder of her son. They don’t just allow people flagged as top suspects in an infanticide case to just go around adopting infants. Her record would have been flagged as a suspect in the case, and she should have been refused any children. But she wasn’t. But I noticed one thing about the kids she fostered.”