I'll Be Seeing You by Mary Higgins Clark

three cups already.”
    He settled behind his desk. “And I’m trying to cut down, so I’ll wait. Meg, you look pretty troubled.”
    â€œI am.” Meghan moistened her lips. “Phillip, I’m beginning to think I didn’t know my father at all.”
    â€œIn what way?”
    She told him about the letters and the obituary notice she had found in the locked drawer, then watched as Phillip’s expression changed from concern to disbelief.
    â€œMeg, I don’t know what to tell you,” he said when she finished. “I’ve known your father for years. Ever since I can remember, I’ve understood that his mother died when he was a kid, his father remarried and he had a lousy childhood, living with the father and stepmother. When my father was dying, your dad said something I never forgot. He said, ‘I envy you being able to mourn a parent.’”
    â€œThen you never knew either?”
    â€œNo, of course not.”
    â€œThe point is, why did he have to lie about it?” Meg asked, her voice rising. She clasped her hands together and bit her lip. “I mean, why not tell my mother the truth? What did he have to gain by deceiving her?”
    â€œThink about it, Meg. He met your mother, told her his family background as he’d told it to everyone else. When they started getting interested in each other it would have been pretty difficult to admit he’d lied to her. And can you imagine your grandfather’s reaction if he’d learned that your father was ignoring his own mother for whatever reason?”
    â€œYes, I can see that. But Pop’s been dead for so many years. Why couldn’t he . . . ?” Her voice trailed off.
    â€œMeg, when you start living a lie, it gets harder with every passing day to straighten it out.”
    Meghan heard the sound of voices in the outside office. She stood up. “Can we keep this between us?”
    â€œOf course.”
    He got up with her. “What are you going to do?”
    â€œAs soon as I’m sure Mother is okay I’m going to the address in Chestnut Hill that was on the envelope with the obituary notice. Maybe I’ll get some answers there.”
    â€œHow’s the feature story on the Manning Clinic going?”
    â€œIt’s not. They’re stonewalling me. I’ve got to find a different in vitro facility to use. Wait a minute. You or Dad placed someone at Manning, didn’t you?”
    â€œYour dad handled it. As a matter of fact, it’s that poor woman who was shot yesterday.”
    â€œDr. Petrovic? I met her last week.”
    The intercom buzzed. Phillip Carter picked up the phone. “Who? All right, I’ll take it.”
    â€œA reporter from the
New York Post,”
he explained to Meghan. “God knows what they want of me.”
    Meghan watched as Phillip Carter’s face darkened. “That’s absolutely impossible.” His voice was husky with outrage. “I . . . I will not comment until I have personally spoken with Dr. Iovino at New York Hospital.”
    He replaced the receiver and turned to Meghan. “Meg, that reporter has been checking on Helene Petrovic. They never heard of her at New York Hospital. Her credentials were fraudulent, and we’re responsible for her getting the job in the laboratory at Manning.”
    â€œBut didn’t you check her references before you submitted her to the clinic?”
    Even as she asked the question, Meghan knew the answer, she could see it in Phillip’s face. Her father had handled Helene Petrovic’s file. It would have been up to him to validate the information on her curriculum vitae.
24
    D espite the best efforts of the entire staff of the Manning Clinic there was no hiding the tension that permeated the atmosphere. Several new clients watched uneasily as a van with a CBS television logo on the sides pulled into the parking area and a reporter and cameraman hurried up