Chapter 2 - The Magnet in His Pocket
Daniel was taken to an interview room before he could speak to Lily.
Claire watched two officers escort him through the pediatric wing.
He did not resist.
He kept turning back toward her, silently asking her to believe him.
She could not.
Not yet.
Detective Grant placed the magnet from Daniel’s pocket inside an evidence bag. Preliminary measurements showed that it matched the thirty-six objects removed during surgery.
Daniel’s bloodstained jacket was sealed separately.
“The blood may be his,” Grant told Claire. “The magnet may have been planted.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“My job is not to sound convinced. My job is to prove what happened.”
Claire sat in a family consultation room while a uniformed officer remained outside Lily’s door.
The hospital had increased security. No visitors were allowed without Claire’s permission. Every nurse entering the room had to show identification.
It should have made her feel safer.
It did not.
Someone had disguised themselves as a hospital employee and fed dangerous objects to her daughter in a room surrounded by cameras.
Safety had become an illusion.
Grant opened a notebook.
“Tell me about Rachel.”
Claire looked at the image on his tablet. The bracelet was visible beneath the stranger’s sleeve.
“My younger sister is thirty-one. She works as a private tutor. She has helped care for Lily since she was a baby.”
“Does she have access to your home?”
“She has a key.”
“To Daniel’s apartment?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel had moved into a luxury apartment owned by Bennett Development, the company controlled by his mother, Evelyn.
Grant wrote something down.
“Does Rachel own the bracelet?”
“Yes. I gave it to her when she graduated from college.”
“Heart, key, crescent moon.”
“The heart was from me. The key was from our father. The moon was from our mother.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Our father died nine years ago. Our mother lives in Arizona.”
“And your relationship with Rachel?”
Claire hesitated.
“We were close.”
“Were?”
“We had an argument three weeks ago.”
“About what?”
Claire looked through the consultation room window. The corridor beyond it was empty.
“Money.”
Daniel’s family was wealthy. Claire’s was not.
After the separation, Rachel had begun asking Claire for financial help. At first, the requests were small. Rent. Car repairs. Credit card bills.
Then Rachel asked for fifty thousand dollars to start an online education company.
Claire refused.
Rachel accused her of becoming selfish after marrying into money.
“She said I cared more about protecting Daniel’s fortune than helping my own sister,” Claire explained.
“Did she threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did she mention Lily?”
Claire remembered the final words Rachel had shouted before leaving Claire’s house.
When everything falls apart, don’t expect me to save you again.
“She said something about saving us,” Claire admitted.
Grant noticed the change in her voice.
“What exactly?”
Claire repeated the sentence.
The detective closed his notebook.
“We need to locate her.”
Claire called Rachel.
The phone went directly to voicemail.
She tried again.
No answer.
Grant contacted his team.
Rachel’s apartment was only fifteen minutes from the hospital. Officers were sent immediately.
While they waited, a nurse entered carrying a clear plastic bag.
“We found this in Lily’s clothing.”
Inside the bag was a folded piece of red paper.
Claire opened it with gloved hands.
A message had been written in black ink.
Thirty-six for the thirty-six lies.
Claire read it twice.
“What does that mean?”
Grant photographed the note.
“Do you recognize the handwriting?”
“No.”
The paper had been folded into a small square and tucked inside Lily’s sweater pocket.
Claire looked at the handwriting again.
The letters were sharp and narrow.
Something about them felt familiar.
Her phone rang.
Rachel’s name appeared on the screen.
Claire answered immediately.
“Rachel?”
For several seconds, all she heard was breathing.
Then her sister spoke.
“Claire, listen to me carefully.”
“Where are you?”
“I didn’t hurt Lily.”
“The bracelet was on the security footage.”
“I know.”
Claire stood.
“How could you know?”
“Because the person wearing it stole it from me.”
“Who?”
Rachel’s breathing became uneven.
“I can’t say over the phone.”
“You need to come to the hospital.”
“No. The police are already outside my building.”
“Then speak to them.”
“They won’t believe me. No one will after what was planted in my apartment.”
Claire’s blood went cold.
“What was planted?”
“Magnets. A nurse’s uniform. Pictures of Lily.”
Grant signaled for Claire to keep Rachel talking.
“Where are you now?” Claire asked.
“I found something, Claire. Something connected to Daniel’s family.”
“What?”
“Thirty-six lies isn’t about Lily.”
The call crackled.
Rachel’s voice became faint.
“It’s about the children.”
“What children?”
“The ones they paid to disappear.”
A loud impact sounded through the phone.
May you like
Rachel gasped.
Then the line went dead.
