Portrait

Photos

Frances Bay :
December 23 1985 (# 357) to December 25 1985 (# 359)

Friend and neighbour of the Perkins family for a long time, Mrs. McRae comes to Amy's request at the Perkins house a few days before Christmas, with a gift for Marisa. Cheerful and playful, Mrs. McRae is happy to be able to provide her friend's daughter with information about the birth of Barnaby Wallace. Mrs. McRae is familiar with Marisa, who sent her a note after her husband, Charles, died in the summer of 1985.  Amy contacted her to find new elements in Brick's investigation about his birth.

Mrs. Mc Rae is an old woman who has maintained vigor and joie de vivre. She confirms to Brick what he already suspected, namely that her husband kept the duplicates of the medical records of the children he gave birth to. She is very happy to give him his, hoping to bring to Brick important information. Even if, in Brick's eyes, this file is not satisfactory, the name of the assistant Mathilda Cordell appears in it. She also remembers that a photographer paid by the hospital came to take pictures of newborns. Helpful, she comes back a moment later to find Amy and Brick at home with photos of the babies delivered by Charles. Among the photos, Amy finds a photo of Brick.

Later, she is hardly surprised to see coming at her place, on Christmas Day, Amy and Brick. Brick came to compare the photos : the one his parents just gave him as a Christmas present and the one Mrs. McRae has. She confirms Brick's doubts, with her experience of newborns : the two babies on the photos are not the same !

Invited to celebrate Christmas with the Perkins, Mrs. McRae's presence will soon disappear. Yet, she could have brought important information to Brick, thus lifting the veil on the particular conditions of his birth and shed new light on the "mothers" who have gravitated around him...

Portrait written for this site by Lilian

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