Chapter 4 - the records that should not exist
Emily did not sleep.
At sunrise she called the hospital.
The first person transferred her to medical records.
The second told her that records from ten years earlier had been archived.
The third asked for Lily's full name and date of birth.
Then the line went quiet.
Too quiet.
"Ma'am?"
Emily waited.
The employee returned.
"Mrs. Hayes?"
"Yes."
"I'm seeing a notation on this account."
"What notation?"
"I can't discuss internal administrative notes."
"This is my daughter's file."
"I understand."
"Then tell me."
Another pause.
"The birth file was accessed seven years ago."
Emily gripped the phone.
"By whom?"
"I'm sorry. I can't disclose that."
"Was it me?"
"No."
"Was it my husband?"
"I can't"
"Was it Diane Hayes?"
Silence.
That was enough.
Emily thanked the employee and hung up.
Mark was standing in the kitchen doorway.
"You heard?"
"Enough."
They had moved Lily temporarily to Emily's sister's home across town.
Lily thought it was because everyone needed space after the birthday argument.
Emily hated lying to her.
But she hated the idea of Diane reaching her more.
Robert stayed in the guest room.
Daniel disappeared before dawn, claiming he needed to check something.
Mark had wanted to stop him.
Emily didn't.
"If he's lying," she said, "he'll run."
"If he's telling the truth?"
"He'll come back."
At nine, Daniel returned.
He carried an old cardboard file box.
Robert stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
"My storage unit."
Daniel placed it on the island.
Inside were copies of checks.
Bank statements.
Letters.
A printed email.
And a photograph of Diane leaving a medical office seven years earlier.
Mark lifted the photograph.
"You followed my mother?"
"For six months."
"Why?"
"Because someone asked me to."
"Who?"
Daniel's eyes moved toward the old envelope.
"The same person who sent that."
Emily opened one of the bank statements.
Every month, for almost nine years, a company called V.R. Consulting had received payments.
"What is V.R. Consulting?"
Daniel answered.
"A shell."
"For who?"
"A woman named Veronica Reed."
Emily wrote the name down.
"Hospital nurse?"
"Former hospital nurse."
Mark stared at the documents.
"What did she do?"
"I never proved it."
"What did you suspect?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Altered patient files."
Emily's mouth went dry.
"Lily's?"
"Possibly."
Robert shook his head.
"No. Diane wouldn't"
Daniel looked at him.
"You've spent forty years saying that."
Robert went silent.
Daniel continued.
"Veronica worked in maternity administration the year Lily was born."
Emily stared at him.
"Why would Diane care about my daughter's birth records?"
"That's the question."
Mark pushed the papers away.
"And Daniel? Why are you part of this?"
Daniel smiled faintly.
"Because Diane thinks I know what really happened."
"Do you?"
"No."
"You've spent seven years investigating and still don't know?"
"I know pieces."
"Then give us the pieces."
Daniel leaned against the counter.
"Ten years ago, Lily was born at St. Catherine's Medical Center at 2:13 in the morning."
Emily stiffened.
"Yes."
"Your delivery had complications."
Emily nodded.
"I was sedated for several hours."
"Mark?"
Mark looked uncomfortable.
"I left the hospital briefly."
Emily turned.
"What?"
"You knew that."
"No. I knew you went downstairs."
"I went home."
"For what?"
"My father called."
Robert looked surprised.
"I did?"
Mark frowned.
"You said Mom had collapsed."
Robert's face slowly drained.
"I never called you."
Silence.
Mark stared at him.
"Yes, you did."
"No."
"April 18. Around three in the morning."
"Mark, I wasn't even awake."
Emily's skin prickled.
"Then who called him?"
Daniel answered.
"Probably Diane."
Mark stepped back.
"No."
Daniel nodded.
"Your mother created a reason for you to leave the hospital."
Emily whispered, "Why?"
"That's what I've been trying to prove."
Daniel pulled another document from the box.
A visitor access log.
The page was a photocopy.
One line had been highlighted.
Diane Hayes.
Time entered: 3:47 a.m.
Time exited: 5:16 a.m.
Emily stared.
"She told us she didn't visit until the next afternoon."
Mark remembered the flowers.
His mother arriving in daylight.
Complaining about parking.
Pretending it was her first time seeing Lily.
"Where did you get this?"
Daniel's expression became guarded.
"From someone who no longer works there."
Emily looked again at the time.
For eighty-nine minutes, Diane had been inside the hospital while Emily was sedated and Mark was gone.
"What happened between 3:47 and 5:16?"
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know."
Robert suddenly reached for the paper.
His hands shook.
"Wait."
He looked at the date.
Then at Daniel.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
Robert's face had become gray.
"Because Diane wasn't supposed to be in town."
Mark frowned.
"Where was she supposed to be?"
Robert looked at his son.
"Boston."
"For what?"
"A funeral."
Emily asked, "Whose funeral?"
May you like
Robert's answer came slowly.
"Daniel's."
