Chapter 8 - Evelyn’s Payment
Jonathan recognized the signature.
“It’s hers.”
Maya looked at him.
“Could it be forged?”
“Yes.”
“But?”
“It looks real.”
The payment was $180,000.
Not from Hawthorne Medical.
From Evelyn’s personal account.
Two weeks after Samuel died.
Why would a grieving mother pay the man now suspected of participating in an unauthorized medical trial involving her baby?
Detectives traced the transfer.
Cole had deposited the money.
Three days later, nearly all of it moved to a Swiss account belonging to a company called Meridian Patient Advocacy.
The company no longer existed.
Jonathan had never heard of it.
Maya searched old charity records.
Meridian had assisted families harmed in experimental medical programs.
Not blackmail.
Possibly restitution.
The mystery deepened.
Then an old voicemail archive surfaced from Evelyn’s phone.
The recording was damaged.
But her voice was recognizable.
“Adrian, I sent what you asked for. Now give me the original chart.”
Cole answered:
“You need to stop.”
Evelyn:
“You changed the infant identification.”
Cole:
“You don’t understand what happened.”
Evelyn:
“Then explain why my son’s footprint changed.”
The voicemail ended.
Jonathan stared at the speaker.
“She was buying evidence.”
Maya nodded.
“Or trying to.”
Cole was arrested that afternoon for his role in Noah’s unlawful confinement and medication.
He still refused to discuss Samuel.
Celeste remained in custody.
When police confronted her with Noah’s statement, she stopped claiming Jonathan ordered the confinement.
Instead, she changed tactics.
“I was protecting Noah from Cole.”
Maya laughed when she heard.
Celeste requested to speak with Jonathan directly.
He refused.
She requested Maya.
Maya accepted.
Through thick glass, Celeste studied her.
“You feel important now?”
“No.”
“You should. You brought down a household.”
“You put a child behind a wall.”
Celeste smiled faintly.
“Did I?”
“Noah says you did.”
“Noah was drugged.”
Maya leaned closer.
“By you.”
Celeste’s smile disappeared.
“I need you to understand something before Jonathan destroys himself.”
“Then tell the truth.”
“I am.”
Celeste looked toward the camera.
“Cole told me Noah had found evidence that would make Jonathan believe his father killed Samuel.”
“Did Richard?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why protect him?”
“I wasn’t protecting Richard.”
“Then who?”
Celeste remained silent.
Maya waited.
Finally:
“Evelyn.”
That was unexpected.
Celeste claimed Evelyn discovered Samuel had been exposed to an experimental medication.
She threatened Cole.
Then she made a choice.
“What choice?”
Celeste looked down.
“She agreed not to expose the trial.”
“Why?”
“In exchange for something.”
“What?”
Celeste stared at Maya.
“Her son.”
Maya felt a chill.
“Samuel died.”
Celeste shook her head.
“No.”
“What are you saying?”
“The child who died was not Samuel.”
Maya remembered the note.
THIS IS NOT THE CHILD THEY RETURNED TO ME.
Celeste continued.
“Evelyn found out the babies had been switched.”
“Why?”
“Because the other infant was dying.”
Maya stared.
Cole and someone inside the hospital allegedly switched identities after the experimental medication harmed another premature infant.
Samuel survived.
The other baby died under Samuel’s name.
“Where did Samuel go?”
Celeste’s voice lowered.
“Evelyn paid Cole to make him disappear from the trial records.”
“That makes no sense.”
“She was afraid Richard would have him killed to protect the company.”
Maya did not believe her.
Not fully.
“Where is Samuel now?”
Celeste looked toward her.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why imprison Noah?”
“Because the black folder contained the location Evelyn used years later.”
Maya froze.
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the folder now?”
Celeste’s face changed.
“Cole took it.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows what happens if Jonathan finds Samuel before he does.”
Maya leaned closer.
“What happens?”
May you like
Celeste whispered:
“Samuel tells him who actually ordered the experiment.”
