Whatever Happened to the Cowley Twins?

There have been a number of unsolved disappearances of children in South African history. In this second novel, Gail Schimmel posits that none is more mysterious than the fictional disappearance of the Cowley Twins on 4 June 1978. On this day, 32-year-old Tertia Cowley took her two-and-a-half-month old twins with her to a doctor’s appointment in Rosebank Medicentre, leaving her 5-year-old son, Tim, in the care of his grandmother. Cowley had arranged that her husband would pick the twins up from the doctor’s rooms en route home. When the doctor called Cowley in for her appointment, her husband had not yet arrived, so she left the twins under the care of the receptionist. She explained that her husband would arrive to fetch them. About ten minutes later, according to the receptionist, a well-dressed, middle-aged white man arrived in the reception area. He said that he was Mrs Cowley’s husband, and that he would take the twins with him. The receptionist handed the twins to him, and when Mrs Cowley emerged from the doctor’s room, she passed on the message that the twins were with their father, and that he would be taking them to visit his mother before meeting Mrs Cowley at home. A few hours later the truth emerged: Alan Cowley arrived home from work, and apologised that he had been unable to fetch the twins. It was then that the Cowleys came to the horrible realisation: an impostor had abducted their daughters. They immediately called the police, but it was too late. Despite extensive investigations, no trace of the Cowley Twins has ever been found. But what happened to the blue-eyed, blonde girls, Isabella and Melissa?