Chapter 6 - The Birthday Party
I remembered that birthday party.
Ellie had fallen asleep under the dessert table.
Everyone laughed and called it adorable.
At midnight she started vomiting.
By two in the morning, we were in the ER.
The doctor said she probably had a stomach virus and mentioned that one lab value looked strange but might have been contamination.
I had trusted that answer because Daniel told me not to panic.
Now I grabbed his coat.
“You knew?”
“Not then.”
“When?”
“Last week. I found the old discharge papers. I searched the medication name.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I needed proof.”
“You needed a spine.”
He looked like I had slapped him too.
Maybe I had, just without my hand.
I called the detective who had taken Ellie’s statement. By morning, Child Protective Services had opened an investigation. The detective asked me for medical records, school records, names, dates, texts—everything.
Then he asked a question that made me sick.
“Who benefits if your daughter is considered medically fragile or if you’re considered unable to care for her?”
“Daniel’s mother.”
“And the aunt?”
“She benefits through the family trust too.”
We spent the next six hours gathering files.
At noon, an email arrived from Ellie’s pediatric clinic.
REQUEST FOR RECORDS - AUTHORIZATION ON FILE.
I called immediately.
The receptionist sounded confused. “Mrs. Mercer, your mother-in-law requested a complete copy three weeks ago.”
“She is not Ellie’s mother.”
“She’s listed as a legal medical representative.”
“By whom?”
“One moment.”
Keyboard clicks.
Then silence.
“Mrs. Mercer?”
“Yes?”
“The authorization appears to have been notarized.”
“Whose signature?”
“Yours.”
Another forgery.
This one had a notary seal.
The detective asked me to forward it.
Five minutes later, he called back.
“Claire, don’t contact the notary yourself.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Because the notary is Vanessa Hale.”
