Sisters and Friends
Chapter 10
Parallax View
To the Family of the late Robert, Emmeline and Martin Nichols;
Hello. You don't know me, but my name is Quinn Morgendorffer. I'm a freshman at Lawndale State University in Maryland, and a friend of Annette Nichols.
Given that, I'm sure you know what this letter is about. The relationships within the Nichols family I understand are private, but please know that your niece (she is still your niece by legal definition) was not one to easily volunteer such sensitive information. I am her friend, and I could clearly see her pain and wanted to help her move past it. In the course of that effort, I began to learn of its roots.
I have to admit that at first I was infuriated; I was convinced that your family was wrong to have treated Annie and her mother as you did and could not comprehend why.
You need to know that anger had led me to continue to investigate, and my mother, a Partner in the highly regarded Law firm of Vitale, Davis, Horowitz, Riordan, Schrecter, and Morgendorffer had agreed to assist me in a legal action against your family. Be assured that she had assessed your past legal actions, and in her opinion she would have been able to successfully file a devastating suit as a remedy.
You must also know that you owe your skins to Sara Nichols, who refused to allow such an action. She is a better person than I; if the choice had been mine to make at that time I would not have been so gentle.
I was not willing to let this go, and so with the assistance of my older sister Daria we continued to research this. With her intellect, skill and resources, we discovered some things that may explain why Emmeline Nichols made those changes to her will; and you need to know this. I am hoping that you were not aware of this, and will reconsider your past actions.
There was a connection between the Varnells, your mother's family, and that of the Tamashiro family that predates the marriage of Martin and Sara. It is unclear if Martin Nichols was aware of this; Sara and Annette were not.
The enclosed packet of information and images are fully attributed and verified; and you will find it straightforward to vet.
Given this information, I want to believe that for whatever reasons your mother did not communicate the motives for her actions to you. I pray that I am not wrong, for if I am, then your actions were based on hatred and vengeance alone.
I am not denying the historical fact of the atrocities and horrors your father faced. That is not my intent. My family has Germanic ancestry, and I refuse to be linked by ethnicity to the crimes against Humanity of the past. I am not a Nazi; likewise, Sara and Annette are not Imperial Japanese Army soldiers.
I myself have been guilty of not seeing the worth of a person beyond that of the superficial; that flaw is something that I continue to struggle to overcome. If you come to recognize and know the humanity that you share with Sara and Annette Nichols, then I've managed to do something worthwhile. I want to understand and validate the grace that Sara Nichols has demonstrated to me.
Very truly yours,
Quinn Morgendorffer
Enclosures