Chapter 4 - The Second Child)
At 2:13 in the morning, another child arrived.
Rachel did not know this at first.
She was sitting beside Tobe when she heard a woman's voice in the hallway.
"My daughter keeps saying something is moving in her stomach."
Rachel stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
Dr. Patel appeared at almost the same moment.
The woman's daughter was nine.
Her name was Naomi Carter.
She attended Harbor House.
The girl belonged to the same garden group as Tobe.
Within thirty minutes the emergency department contacted the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Within an hour a third family was called and instructed to bring their child for evaluation because the boy had experienced recurring abdominal pain and unusual digestive symptoms for weeks.
The mystery had become a cluster.
Harbor House was no longer a possibility.
It was a connection.
At 3:05, detectives arrived.
Rachel gave them everything.
The moon powder.
Wade's messages.
The identification badge.
The description of the garden program.
Detective Maria Shaw listened without interrupting.
When Rachel finished, Shaw asked one question.
"Has Harbor House contacted you tonight?"
"No."
"Has anyone from Pioneer Childhood Wellness Research?"
"No."
"Do you know what Pioneer is?"
"No."
Detective Shaw exchanged a glance with her partner.
"We've heard the name before."
Rachel felt her heart jump.
"Because of sick children?"
"No. Financial complaints."
"What kind?"
"Grant fraud. False invoices. Nothing related to this."
"Until now."
"Possibly."
Rachel looked at Tobe.
"Find out."
"We will."
"No. I mean really find out."
Detective Shaw met her eyes.
"I intend to."
Just before dawn, preliminary microscopy from Tobe's samples confirmed parasitic infection.
Dr. Patel explained that more specific testing would follow.
The immediate priority remained the obstruction.
Tobe would be admitted.
His pain was improving with supportive care, but the doctors wanted continuous observation.
Rachel should have felt relieved.
Instead she felt as if someone had opened a door beneath her feet.
Her son had not become sick by random chance.
At least one other child was sick.
Possibly more.
Someone had given them unmarked powder.
A man connected to the program had appeared at the emergency room and disappeared.
And there was soil.
The garden soil.
At 6:40 in the morning, Detective Shaw returned.
"We need to talk somewhere private."
Rachel followed her into a small family consultation room.
"What happened?"
"We sent officers to Harbor House."
"And?"
"The building is closed."
"It's six in the morning."
"I mean permanently closed."
Rachel frowned.
"What?"
"The sign says emergency maintenance."
"Since when?"
"Apparently since yesterday evening."
Rachel felt pressure building behind her eyes.
"Tobe was there yesterday."
"We know."
"What kind of maintenance?"
"They aren't saying."
"Did you get inside?"
"We're working on that."
Rachel leaned against the wall.
Detective Shaw continued.
"We contacted the Harbor House director, Elaine Ward."
Rachel knew the name.
Elaine had personally greeted parents at orientation.
A polished woman in her fifties with a warm smile and an immaculate gray suit.
"What did she say?"
"That Wade Keller was terminated three days ago."
Rachel stared.
"For what?"
"Stealing."
"Stealing what?"
"Research materials."
Rachel's mind snapped back to Wade's messages.
CHECK THE GARDEN SOIL.
"What materials?"
"Samples."
"What kind?"
"Soil samples."
Rachel felt the blood drain from her face.
"Did he steal them?"
"Elaine says he did."
"Do you believe her?"
Detective Shaw did not answer directly.
Instead she removed a clear plastic evidence sleeve from her folder.
Inside was a printed email.
"We found this in a report from another agency investigating Pioneer."
Rachel read the message.
The sender was Wade Keller.
The recipient was an environmental testing laboratory.
The subject was Harbor House soil.
The body contained a single sentence.
Please test for helminth ova and document everything before Pioneer retrieves the sample.
The date was six weeks earlier.
Rachel looked up.
"He knew."
Detective Shaw shook her head.
"He suspected."
"Six weeks ago?"
"Yes."
"My son has been drinking things from that garden for months."
"We don't yet know the source."
Rachel slammed the paper onto the table.
"But somebody did."
Detective Shaw was quiet.
Rachel stared at the printed date.
Six weeks.
Someone had known there might be parasite contamination six weeks earlier.
Yet the children had continued attending.
Continued gardening.
Continued drinking the so called moon vitamins.
And yesterday someone had suddenly closed Harbor House only hours before Tobe collapsed.
Rachel looked at the detective.
"Where is Wade?"
May you like
"We don't know."
"Find him before the people who fired him do."
