Chapter 10 - Julia’s Evidence
Julia Sloan agreed to give a formal statement after learning Rose had been found.
She arrived at Mara’s office carrying a blue metal box.
Inside were copies.
Everything she had been too frightened to destroy.
Julia had worked at St. Matthew’s for eleven years.
Three years earlier, mounting medical bills for her husband pushed her into financial trouble.
Margaret learned about it through hospital charity work.
She offered help.
At first, legitimate help.
Then introductions.
Agnes Family Services.
Private arrangements.
Birth mothers who supposedly wanted discretion.
“Were babies stolen before Rose?” Claire asked.
Julia looked down.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I assisted with paperwork transfers. I was told every placement had consent.”
“Did you believe that?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Julia’s silence answered.
Emma crossed her arms.
“Why didn’t you report it?”
“I was scared.”
“Of losing your job?”
“Of prison.”
Emma stopped.
Julia looked at Claire.
“The night you delivered, I saw Margaret talking to Vivian Cross.”
“Who?”
“The woman who runs Agnes.”
“The woman at the house?” Emma asked.
Julia nodded.
“Margaret knew before you arrived that you were carrying twins.”
Claire frowned.
“No. My ultrasounds only showed one.”
Julia opened the box.
A photocopied imaging report.
Thirty-five weeks.
POSSIBLE SECOND FETAL STRUCTURE. REPEAT IMAGING RECOMMENDED.
Claire stared.
“I never saw this.”
“Your doctor’s office sent it to the hospital.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“I don’t know.”
Emma looked at the physician name.
“Dr. Hale.”
Julia nodded.
“He retired four days after the delivery.”
Claire laughed once without humor.
“Convenient.”
Julia continued.
“Margaret contacted Agnes before your labor.”
Claire’s skin went cold.
“This wasn’t a decision she made while I was unconscious.”
“No.”
“She planned it.”
“I think so.”
Julia pulled out another paper.
An email.
From Margaret to Vivian.
If there are two girls, the second arrangement proceeds. Claire cannot manage both. I have authority if complications occur.
Claire read it three times.
The date was nine days before birth.
Nine days.
Her mother had planned to give away a child Claire did not even know existed.
Julia explained what happened at 2:14 a.m.
Rose was born.
She required brief breathing support.
Claire hemorrhaged.
Emma was pushed out of the immediate treatment area.
Margaret signed transfer papers.
Vivian Cross arrived using the credentials of an outside neonatal transport coordinator.
At 3:02 a.m., Rose left the maternity floor.
At 4:20 a.m., she was taken to Agnes.
At 9:00 a.m., Margaret told Claire there had never been a second baby.
Julia began to cry.
“I tried to stop it.”
“How?”
“I refused to delete the neonatal entry.”
“That was the billing code?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did it disappear?”
“Someone above me removed it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Julia wiped her face.
“I also put both bracelets into an evidence envelope. I thought if I kept proof, I could force them to return the baby.”
Emma looked at the rosemary pot.
“How did Margaret get them?”
“She found out.”
“When?”
“The morning after delivery.”
Julia stared at her hands.
“She cornered me in the medication room. She said my involvement in previous transfers would destroy me. I panicked.”
“You gave her the bracelets.”
“Yes.”
“The one we found under the soil.”
“Yes.”
Claire’s voice was low.
“Why would she keep them?”
Julia looked at her.
“Insurance.”
“Against who?”
“Agnes.”
Margaret had kept evidence because criminals rarely trusted each other.
The flowerpot had been moved between hospital and house like an ordinary gift.
Inside its soil were proof of two babies.
Julia looked at Claire.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire did not say it was okay.
Because it was not.
Instead she asked:
“Did Rose ever cry after they took her?”
Julia’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Claire’s face twisted.
“Was anyone holding her?”
“I was.”
That answer surprised everyone.
Julia continued.
“For about ten minutes before Vivian took her.”
Claire looked down.
“Was she afraid?”
“She was a newborn.”
“Was she alone?”
“No.”
Claire swallowed.
“Thank you.”
May you like
Julia cried.
It was the first kindness Claire could manage.
