Chapter 6 - THE HALLWAY CAMERA
Hospital footage showed more than Luke expected.
At 4:12 a.m., Susan Bell entered through a staff corridor using a temporary vendor badge issued to Northbridge.
At 4:19, she checked the locations of both infants.
At 4:23, Luke left my room after telling Eli that June needed a test.
At 4:26, Susan disabled the tag alarms.
At 4:27, Luke moved June.
The switch ended when Eli blocked the bassinet at 4:30.
Three minutes had separated their plan from success.
Susan’s vehicle was found at the airport, but travel records showed no flight under her name. Police suspected someone had driven it there to create a false trail.
Northbridge released a statement denying knowledge.
The clinic called Susan a former contractor acting outside her duties.
Luke’s firm removed his biography from its website.
When reporters discovered he had served as outside counsel to Northbridge, the clinic described the connection as routine.
Nothing about our life felt routine anymore.
Rachel obtained a protective order preventing Luke or Northbridge from contacting me directly.
He found indirect ways.
A package arrived containing a silver frame and a photograph from June’s first ultrasound.
On the back Luke had written:
Ask why the image number changed at twelve weeks.
Rachel sent it to police.
I searched my prenatal portal anyway.
The twelve-week ultrasound carried one patient number. The later scans carried another.
The clinic said it had migrated software.
Rebecca checked her records.
The same change appeared on the same date.
We sat on the floor between our daughters’ bassinets, comparing screens.
Her early file ended in 4421.
Mine ended in 7718.
After the migration, the numbers reversed.
I told myself it was a computer error.
Rebecca looked at Ava sleeping beside her.
“Luke thinks the babies belonged in different rooms.”
“He thinks many things.”
“What if he knows something?”
“He still endangered them.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Anger rose between us for the first time.
“You want me to consider that he was right?”
“I want to know why he chose my baby.”
Ava cried.
Rebecca picked her up instantly.
June stirred in my arms.
The babies quieted against the women who had carried them.
Rachel called before the argument could deepen.
The DNA laboratory had found a problem with the submitted samples.
The babies’ hospital blood cards did not match the genetic profiles stored in their prenatal screening records.
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Someone had expected the discrepancy.
Luke had filed a motion asking the court to stop DNA testing before the lab reported it.
