Chapter 10 - The Daughter Before Me
Vanessa refused to provide a DNA sample until Detective Bell told her the court could compel one.
She eventually agreed.
The result matched Ryan.
They were full biological siblings.
I was related to neither of them.
A separate test showed no paternal match between my father and me.
My parents were not my biological parents.
For thirty-four years, they had raised me, controlled me, used my identity, and hidden where I came from.
My mother regained consciousness the next afternoon.
Doctors restricted visitors, but Detective Bell obtained permission to interview her with an attorney present.
Elena and I watched through a monitor in a consultation room.
Diane looked smaller in the hospital bed.
Without makeup and carefully arranged hair, she appeared older than sixty-three.
Bell sat beside her.
“Mrs. Bennett, do you understand why I’m here?”
“Yes.”
“Did you write the note found in your home?”
“Yes.”
“What did you mean by saying you replaced Claire?”
Diane stared at the wall.
“My daughter died.”
“Which daughter?”
“Claire.”
My hands turned cold.
Bell continued.
“When?”
“Thirty-four years ago.”
“How?”
“She was born too early.”
“Where?”
“At Vale House.”
“Was the birth registered?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“My father controlled everything.”
“Edmund Vale?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after the child died?”
Diane closed her eyes.
“My father brought me another baby.”
A buzzing sound filled my head.
Bell asked, “Where did he get that baby?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was the baby the woman now known as Claire Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you accept her?”
Diane’s face twisted.
“I had just buried my daughter.”
“Did your husband know?”
“Thomas knew.”
“Did Nathan?”
“He knew everything my father did.”
“Did Edmund tell you who Claire’s biological parents were?”
“No.”
“Did you ever try to find out?”
Diane opened her eyes.
“At first.”
“What happened?”
“My father said the child had no one.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I needed to.”
Bell leaned forward.
“What was the arrangement mentioned in Edmund’s letter?”
Diane became still.
“I don’t know.”
“You wrote that you replaced Claire. You admitted your father brought another child. You altered trust records and used her identity for financial transactions. This is your opportunity to explain.”
Diane looked toward the observation camera.
She knew I was watching.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You were loved,” she said.
I did not know whether she was speaking to Bell or to me.
“You were never supposed to discover any of this.”
Bell’s voice remained calm.
“That is not an answer.”
“My father said the money was compensation.”
“For what?”
“For raising her.”
The room seemed to lose air.
The trust had not been an inheritance.
It had been payment.
Bell asked, “Who paid Edmund?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was the money his?”
“Not all of it.”
“Where did it come from?”
“Different companies.”
“Which companies?”
“He never told me.”
“Why was Nathan involved?”
“Because Nathan discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Diane began crying.
“That my father had done it before.”
Bell paused.
“Replaced another child?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Diane looked toward the camera again.
“Nathan.”
For eleven years, my family had described Nathan as a thief.
Now Diane claimed he was not Edmund Vale’s biological son.
Perhaps Nathan had not stolen from Halcyon simply for money.
Perhaps he believed the money belonged to him.
Bell continued.
“Did Nathan know Claire’s biological identity?”
“I think so.”
“Where is Thomas?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Nathan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who tried to move eight million dollars into Northgate?”
“Thomas.”
“Why?”
“To fulfill the agreement.”
“What agreement?”
Diane’s heart monitor accelerated.
Her attorney leaned forward.
“My client needs a break.”
Bell ignored him.
“Who was supposed to receive the money?”
Diane whispered a name.
“Marrow.”
“What is Marrow?”
“Not what. Who.”
“First name?”
“I never knew.”
“Male or female?”
“I don’t know.”
“What connection does Marrow have to Claire?”
Diane’s lips trembled.
Before she could answer, her monitor alarmed again.
The interview ended.
Doctors entered.
Bell joined us in the consultation room.
“Have you heard the name Marrow before?” he asked.
“No.”
Ryan shook his head.
Vanessa sat in the corner, staring at nothing.
Elena opened her laptop.
“Marrow appears in one of the trust ledgers.”
She turned the screen toward us.
A payment had been issued every year on the date of my birthday.
Recipient: M. Marrow.
The first payment was thirty-four years ago.
The most recent was three weeks earlier.
Each payment was exactly two hundred thousand dollars.
Seven minutes later, security reported that a woman had attempted to enter Diane’s hospital room using a false nursing badge.
Police stopped her near the elevator.
She carried no identification.
Only a photograph.
It showed two newborn babies lying beside each other.
On the back, someone had written:
May you like
One was meant to disappear.
The other was meant to become Claire.
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