Thus it was that Zita arrived at Brent Rock only a few moments after
Locke, whom she found in the library with Eva, turning over the pages of
the record he had secured at Balcom's.
The record purported to be a record of marriages of Wallace County, New
York, and Locke finally found an entry that read, "Peter Brent and Rita
Dane."
For a moment Zita was stunned. It was her mother's name.
Locke smiled. "Yes, Zita," he said, quietly, "for a moment Eva and I
were surprised, too. But it's a palpable forgery. Balcom has tried to
prove that you and Eva are half-sisters, but look."
He handed her a powerful magnifying-glass and through it the clumsy
forgery stood out in all its crudeness, showing plainly where other
names had been erased and these inserted.
Zita was greatly disappointed, for she had thought that at last she
would establish her identity. Then she remembered the paper she had
hidden in her shoe. She slipped the paper out and handed it to Locke,
who was greatly excited over its importance.
They were still studying it when Locke heard a strange noise, as of
shuffling feet, in the hallway.
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