Normally in an adventure game with more than one ending, the best ending is considered to be the true one.

But in the case of Laura Bow, the ending you get in the first game makes no difference whatsoever for the 2nd game, since the 2 games aren't connected at all.

What makes me think the bad ending in the 2nd game might be the true one is that there is no 3rd game.

Nah. I don't think the absence of sequels is evidence that the protagonist of the series met her demise.

For the fate of Laura Bow play Gabriel Knight 1, and read the Tulane University noteboard... ;)

Oh, good point!

I played that game before I played Laura Bow, so that didn't make any sense to me when I first played that game. But now it does.