The Letter from 1945

EPISODE 11: The Woman In The Blue Dress

After publishing Thomas and Clara's story, Eleanor began receiving letters from people she had never met.

Most were simple messages of gratitude.

Some told stories of grandparents who had waited for loved ones after the war. Others described letters that had arrived too late, photographs that had been discovered in attics, and promises that had survived decades.

But one letter was different.

It came without a return address.

Inside was a photograph of a young woman wearing a blue dress.

On the back, someone had written:

Clara was not the only woman waiting for Thomas.

Eleanor stared at the photograph.

She immediately recognized the woman.

It was the same person she had seen standing beside Thomas in another old photograph.

But this woman was not Clara.

Eleanor turned the photograph over again.

There was another sentence.

Ask why Thomas never told Clara about Margaret.

Eleanor's heart began pounding.

Margaret.

Her grandmother.

What had her grandmother been hiding?

Eleanor searched through every box in Willow Hill House.

Finally, beneath a loose floorboard in the attic, she found a small leather journal.

It belonged to Margaret.

The first pages contained ordinary memories.

Recipes.

Shopping lists.

Names of neighbors.

But halfway through the journal, the writing changed.

Margaret had begun documenting the events of 1945.

She wrote about Thomas returning from the war.

She wrote about Clara waiting for him.

Then she wrote about the woman in the blue dress.

Her name was Rose Bennett.

Thomas's younger sister.

Eleanor felt relieved.

The mystery was not about another romance.

But then she read the next entry.

Rose came to me last night. She knows what William has done. She wants to tell Clara the truth.

Eleanor continued reading.

I am afraid William will stop her.

The next pages had been torn out.

Eleanor stared at the empty binding.

Someone had deliberately removed the pages.

And suddenly, she understood.

The missing pages might contain the answer to everything.