CHAPTER 49 — THE FATHER TEST
Miriam placed three objects on the table.
A brass key.
A faded photograph.
A child’s music box.
“One belongs to the original Thomas Bennett,” she said. “The other two were used to condition his replacements.”
Thomas stared at them.
Claire remembered the music box.
Her father had repaired it after she dropped it from a window at age seven.
She reached toward it.
Miriam stopped her.
“The test is for him.”
Thomas picked up the brass key.
Margaret’s face changed.
Claire noticed.
“What does it open?”
Thomas turned the key over.
“Our first apartment.”
Margaret shook her head.
“We never had this key.”
Thomas looked confused.
Miriam smiled.
“Incorrect.”
Ward placed him under restraint.
Thomas fought.
“I remember the apartment!”
“You remember what was given to you,” Miriam said.
Claire felt her hope collapse.
The man was not her father.
Four-B and the children entered the house.
Their bracelets flashed red.
Miriam stood.
“The wrong Thomas has served his purpose.”
The children surrounded him.
Claire stepped forward.
“What are you going to do?”
“Return him to storage.”
Thomas looked at Claire desperately.
“I may not be the original, but I raised you.”
Margaret could not look at him.
“You knew?” Claire asked her.
“I suspected after his behavior changed.”
“When?”
“Two years before his supposed death.”
Thomas stared at Margaret.
“You never told me.”
“I did not know which memories were yours.”
The floor opened beneath him.
Metal restraints pulled him downward.
Claire grabbed his hand.
“Moments can be real even if memories were planted,” he told her.
His fingers slipped from hers.
The platform sealed.
The music box began playing by itself.
Inside its mirror, Claire saw a small photograph hidden behind the glass.
It showed the original Thomas holding three newborn babies.
Sarah.
Rose.
And a third infant.
Claire examined the date.
It was two years before she had been born.
She turned toward Margaret.
“Who is the third baby?”
Margaret stared at the photograph.
May you like
Miriam answered for her.
“That child grew up believing her name was Claire.”
