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It was a sunny morning, and Rick took the time to fix Alex's bicycle. The boy was playing in the yard, and Evelyn was reading a book in her office; the only sounds Rick heard were his son laughing and birds singing. But then the sound of a car made the man look up. Rick wiped his hands with a cloth as he observed the car, which was a different model from Jonathan's and any other person the O'connells knew. A new model, perhaps.
The car stopped, and a thin man in a suit and glasses got out, carrying a suitcase. The man immediately saw Rick and waved as he approached.
"Hello, Mr. O'Connell? Nice to meet you, my name is Mark Daniels. Private detective," he offered, shaking Rick's hand with a smile. "Excuse my sudden visit, would you have a moment to talk?"
Then Rick called Evelyn over, and the two led the man into the living room. They offered him biscuits and tea, which he accepted without hesitation. Rick murmured to his wife, "Could Imhotep hire a private detective?" as the couple watched the man devour the cookies.
"Excuse my manners, the biscuits are delicious. Did you make them, Mrs. O'Connell?" the man said, opening his suitcase.
"Oh no, it was my husband. He is an excellent cook..." Evelyn began, but the rest of her sentence stopped, curious about the reason for the man's visit. Mark began pulling out various documents and photos and started explaining, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. In fact, I bring great news not only for you, Mr. O'Connell, and your family, but for a very dear friend of mine. Your sister."
Evelyn made a sound of surprise and quickly grabbed Rick's hand, and he held hers but was too shocked to speak. Rick has no memories of his family and assumed no one had come looking for him.
"I met your sister in America, she was about 22 at the time, and we had mutual friends. Her name is Amelia Carter; she ended up in an orphanage in America after your grandmother died."
Rick opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. Everything here seemed surreal, but the detective showed them documents proving he was telling the truth.
"Your mother, Alexandra, went to Cairo for a job opportunity. You were a baby at the time and needed to stay with her. Amelia stayed with her grandmother in America for while, but she was going to live with you two in Cairo in that same year." Mark took a sip of his tea before continuing, "Alexandra and your grandmother didn't get along, so when your mother stopped contacting them... Your grandmother believed Alexandra had abandoned them."
Mark showed Rick a photo of Alexandra smiling and holding baby Rick next to another child, Amelia. Rick held the photo with trembling hands as Evy asked, "Is Amelia here in London?"
Mark shook his head negatively. "She's in France on a business trip. I came to London just now, when my investigations pointed to her long-lost brother being Rick O'Connell, husband of the librarian and egyptologist Evelyn O'Connell." Mark was in Cairo, already thinking of giving up the investigation, when he saw the photo of Rick next to Evelyn in a university newspaper. The publication was about an archaeological research project the couple was undertaking.
He saw a striking resemblance between Rick and Amelia and began contacting other detectives who lived in Cairo. Rick was an American who started to live in the orphanage in Cairo in the same year Alexandra stopped contacting her family. Same age of Amelia's brother and every detail began to show that Amelie's search was over.
"Amelia is now 39 years old, 4 years older than you. She is an attorney and has been searching for you for a long time, Mr. O'connell" then Mark shows Rick a picture of the current Amelia, a tall woman with a confident smile in her work clothes. The resemblance between the siblings was undeniable.
Rick looked at his wife with a shocked expression as tears began to fall. Evelyn was also emotional and gently stroked Rick's back.
After a while, Rick told the detective, "I want to meet my sister."