Chapter 6 - THE SONG BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR
Daniel ran.
He crossed the hallway, nearly collided with Marcus, and reached the conservatory before the last note faded.
The door was locked.
He tried the handle once.
Twice.
Then he struck it with his shoulder.
The old lock gave way.
Inside, the glass walls reflected the gray London morning. White roses climbed the trellis. A piano stood beneath the windows, its polished surface covered with a fine layer of dust.
No one was there.
Daniel stepped into the room.
“Olivia?”
His voice sounded ridiculous in the empty space.
He searched behind the curtains, beneath the piano, and through the small adjoining storage room.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a music box sitting on the piano.
It was made of dark walnut, with a tiny silver crescent attached to its lid.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
He had given it to Olivia on their first wedding anniversary.
She used to wind it before bed, laughing at the way the mechanism played the same four bars of music slightly out of tune.
He lifted the lid.
A hidden compartment opened beneath the velvet lining.
Inside lay a small digital recorder, a folded note, and a photograph.
Daniel picked up the note first.
Daniel, if you're reading this, Richard has found a way to reach you. Don't trust the records. Don't trust anyone who claims to know the whole truth. And please, whatever happens, don't let them separate the girls.
His hands began to shake.
The photograph showed Olivia holding a newborn baby.
Daniel recognized Grace's tiny face, but something else caught his attention.
A second infant lay beside her.
Two babies.
One wearing a pink hospital cap.
The other wearing blue.
On the back, Olivia had written:
They were both alive when I left the room.
Daniel sank onto the piano bench.
He had been told Grace was born alone.
He had been told Olivia's condition deteriorated too quickly for her to spend more than a few minutes with her daughter.
He had been told nothing about another infant.
He pressed the recorder's play button.
Static crackled.
Then Olivia's voice filled the room.
“Daniel, I don't know how to tell you this. I thought I could fix it before the baby came, but Richard has people watching me. I found evidence that he used our medical records to identify families with rare genetic markers. He says it's for research, but I found payments to a private laboratory and a list of children whose identities were changed.”
Daniel gripped the recorder.
Olivia continued.
“I don't know what they want from Grace. I only know they believe she carries something valuable. If anything happens to me, find Emily. She has the original files. She knows where the second baby went.”
A pause followed.
Then Olivia whispered something that made Daniel's chest ache.
“I wanted to tell you sooner. I'm sorry I didn't. I thought I could protect you from it.”
The recording ended.
Daniel sat motionless.
He had spent six months blaming himself for missing his wife's final hours.
Now he understood that the woman he loved had been carrying a secret so dangerous that she had feared telling him.
But he still didn't understand why.
When he returned to the study, Emily was holding Sophie while Dr. Shaw examined Grace.
Daniel played the recording.
Emily covered her mouth.
“I never heard that.”
“You said Olivia told you to protect the records.”
“She did. But she never said there were two babies.”
Daniel showed her the photograph.
Emily stared at it.
Then she noticed something near the edge of the image.
A wristband.
The name was partially visible.
“Wait,” she whispered.
She took the photograph closer to the window.
“Daniel, look at the number.”
He leaned beside her.
The wristband showed a hospital identification number ending in 614.
Grace's medical records ended in 614.
The second baby's wristband ended in 615.
Emily looked at Grace.
“Those numbers were consecutive. The babies were registered together.”
Dr. Shaw took the photograph.
“If this is authentic, it could establish that another infant was present during the same delivery period. But it doesn't prove the children were related.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then we'll prove it.”
He called his attorney and instructed him to seek the original delivery-room logs, staff rosters, laboratory records, and any legally obtainable documentation related to the second infant.
He also ordered an independent genetic test for Grace, with Emily's consent for Sophie to be tested if medically appropriate and legally authorized.
No more private laboratories.
No more records controlled by Richard.
No more trusting anyone because of a title.
That afternoon, Dr. Shaw received a call from a former colleague at the hospital.
The colleague had located an archived incident report.
It described an unauthorized access event involving the maternity ward on the night Grace was born.
A nurse had reported seeing a newborn transferred to a private vehicle without the usual discharge documentation.
The report had been closed after an internal review.
The investigator's name was listed at the bottom.
Richard Ashford.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Can we get a copy?”
“Not yet,” Dr. Shaw replied. “The hospital is investigating whether the file can be released through proper channels.”
Daniel was about to respond when his phone rang.
An unknown number.
He answered.
A man spoke in a low, measured voice.
“Mr. Whitaker, my name is Dr. Samuel Bennett. I need to see you alone.”
“You called me this morning.”
“I know. I also know someone is listening to my calls.”
“Where are you?”
“St. Bartholomew's. But don't come through the main entrance. And don't bring Richard's people.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because I delivered both babies.”
Daniel went completely still.
“Both?”
“Grace and the other child.”
“Who was the other child's mother?”
Silence.
Then Bennett whispered, “That's the part Richard has spent six months trying to erase.”
The line crackled.
“Doctor?”
Bennett spoke again, more urgently.
“Daniel, Olivia wasn't the only woman who died that night.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the phone.
Behind him, Sophie began humming the lullaby.
Grace immediately quieted.
And for the first time, Daniel noticed something that made the hair rise on his arms.
May you like
Sophie wasn't humming the song from memory.
She was humming it in exactly the same rhythm as the recording of Olivia's voice.
