Chapter 14: The Third Girl
The police station smelled of burnt coffee and disinfectant.
My sister and I sat side by side in a small interview room, separated from Ethan Hale by a sheet of reinforced glass. Two officers stood outside the door, and Thomas had insisted that every conversation be recorded.
Ethan looked nothing like the man who had threatened us the night before.
His suit was wrinkled. His hair had fallen across his forehead, and a bruise darkened his cheek where he had struck the floor during his arrest.
Yet when he saw us, he smiled.
"You came.""
My sister leaned toward the microphone.
"Tell us about the third baby.""
Ethan's smile faded.
"Straight to business. I see you inherited your mother's impatience.""
"Don't talk about her.""
He raised his hands.
"Fine.""
I watched him carefully.
"You said you'd confess everything.""
"I will.""
"Then start with Victoria Hale.""
For the first time, Ethan looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"My mother died when I was eleven. I was told she had suffered complications after years of medical treatment. My father said she had always wanted a daughter, but she was unable to carry another pregnancy.""
"And you believed him?""
"Until I found a set of medical records in his office when I was sixteen.""
He leaned forward.
"The records showed that my mother had undergone a confidential fertility procedure at Northbridge. The donor information was missing. There were references to three embryo transfers, but only one live birth was documented.""
"Yours," I said.
"That's what I believed.""
My sister folded her arms.
"Then you discovered you weren't Robert's biological son.""
"Eventually. But the real shock was learning that my mother might have given birth to a daughter before me.""
Thomas stood beside the wall.
"Did you know about the third delivery in 2009?""
Ethan nodded.
"I found the record years ago. It was filed under a different patient number. Victoria had returned to Northbridge shortly before she died. The clinic's notes suggested she was being treated for a condition that prevented her from carrying a pregnancy to term.""
I stared at him.
"She was pregnant with another child?""
"Possibly. Or she was participating in another fertility procedure. The records were deliberately incomplete.""
"Why didn't you tell the police?""
"Because I didn't know whether the child existed. And because my father had already threatened to disinherit me if I investigated the clinic.""
My sister's expression hardened.
"So you decided to steal his fortune instead.""
Ethan looked away.
"I decided I would never be powerless again.""
"By making us powerless?""
He said nothing.
I leaned closer to the microphone.
"Who is the third girl?""
Ethan took a long breath.
"I don't know her current identity. But I know she was the child Robert was most afraid of losing.""
Thomas frowned.
"That contradicts the estate documents.""
"The estate documents were written to conceal the truth. Robert didn't care about the biological daughter he was supposed to identify. He cared about the child who could expose what happened to my mother.""
I felt a chill crawl down my spine.
"Why?""
"Because Victoria discovered that Northbridge had used genetic material from multiple donors without proper authorization. She threatened to expose the clinic. Shortly afterward, she was hospitalized, and the records of her final treatment disappeared.""
Michael, who had been waiting outside with Denise, entered the room when the officers opened the door.
"Are you saying Victoria had evidence of the experiment?""
Ethan nodded.
"She kept a journal. My father took it after she died. I found one page hidden inside a book in his library.""
"Where is it?"" Thomas asked.
"At my father's estate.""
"Then why didn't you retrieve it?""
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"Because Robert had already arranged for the property to be searched. The journal disappeared before I could get to it.""
Michael stared at him.
"Who had access to the house?""
"My father's staff. His lawyers. Adrian Cross.""
Thomas looked down.
"And me," he said quietly.
Ethan nodded.
"You were the one who delivered the original guardianship documents. You had access to everything.""
Thomas didn't defend himself.
My sister turned toward Ethan.
"If you knew about the third girl, why did you keep me locked away?""
"Because the documents named you as the designated beneficiary. I thought you were the only person who could lead me to the missing journal.""
"So you used me as bait.""
"I thought you might know something about your biological family.""
"I was a child!""
Ethan looked at her, and for the first time, his expression seemed to crack.
"I know.""
"No, you don't. You had choices. You could have told the truth.
You could have asked for help. Instead, you made me believe I had no family.""
He bowed his head.
"I'm sorry.""
She turned away.
I didn't know whether he meant it. I wasn't sure it mattered.
Thomas took the photograph of the third-delivery record from his folder.
"There's something else. The date is October 14, 2009, but the mother's name is Victoria Hale. The hospital's official records state she died six months before that date.""
Ethan's face changed.
"Then the death certificate was false.""
"Or the delivery record was created later," Thomas said.
Michael studied the page.
"Look at the attending physician.""
Thomas turned the paper toward him.
The signature read *S. Whitmore*.
Michael's eyes widened.
"That isn't Whitmore's handwriting.""
"How can you tell?"" I asked.
"Because I spent months comparing his signatures while investigating Northbridge. His capital letters were distinctive. This one was copied.""
Thomas examined the bottom of the document.
"There's a reference number here.""
He typed it into his phone, searching the archived case database available to the legal team.
A result appeared.
He stared at the screen.
"What is it?"" Denise asked.
Thomas looked up.
"The third delivery was not recorded in the maternity ward.""
"Where, then?"" I asked.
"In a private surgical suite beneath the hospital.""
Michael shook his head.
"Northbridge had no licensed surgical suite.""
"Apparently, someone built one.""
My sister stood.
"Then we need to go there.""
Thomas immediately shook his head.
"The building was closed years ago. The police have already searched the accessible areas.""
"Then they missed something.""
Ethan leaned toward the glass.
"She's right.""
We all turned toward him.
He spoke quickly, as though he feared we would leave before he could finish.
"There's a service elevator behind the old radiology department. It descends below the basement. The staff used it to move confidential materials without passing through the main corridors.""
Thomas looked at Michael.
"Did you know about this?""
Michael shook his head.
"No.""
Ethan continued.
"At the bottom, there's a corridor leading to an old records room. My father had it sealed after Victoria died. If the third delivery was recorded anywhere, it will be there.""
The police investigator entered before Thomas could respond.
"Mr. Hale, your lawyer has arrived.""
Ethan sat back.
"One more thing.""
He looked directly at my sister.
"The third girl may not be your sister in the way you think.""
She frowned.
"What does that mean?""
"It means she may have been born from an embryo created using genetic material from three people. Northbridge was experimenting with techniques that could combine nuclear DNA from one source with mitochondrial DNA from another. They were trying to create a child who would inherit a particular genetic profile.""
Michael went pale.
"That's not how ordinary inheritance works.""
"No," Ethan replied.
"It was an experimental procedure. My mother believed the clinic was helping her have a healthy child. She never knew the full extent of what they were doing.""
I thought of the medical report that had identified a genetic inconsistency.
The altered records.
The third delivery.
"Could the third girl be biologically related to all of us?"" I asked.
Ethan nodded.
"That's what my father feared.""
My sister took a step back from the glass.
"Then why was she hidden?""
"Because she was the one child who could prove what Northbridge had done.""
The interview ended shortly afterward.
Ethan was taken back to his cell, and Thomas arranged for an emergency warrant to search the underground records room.
We returned to Northbridge before dawn.
The building looked even more sinister in the early morning light. The broken windows reflected the gray sky, and the weeds along the walls stirred in the cold wind.
Michael led us through the old radiology department.
Behind a collapsed cabinet, we found a narrow metal door.
A rusted control panel sat beside it.
Thomas used the key from Robert's safe deposit box.
The elevator shuddered, then descended.
When the doors opened, we found ourselves in a corridor lined with sealed rooms.
At the end stood a steel door bearing a faded label:
*PRIVATE MATERNAL UNIT — AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.*
Thomas forced the lock.
Inside, the room was filled with filing cabinets and medical equipment. Dust covered the counters, but a computer terminal stood on a desk, its power light still glowing.
Michael approached it.
"That shouldn't be running.""
He pressed a key.
The screen flickered.
A directory appeared.
*PATIENT TRANSFERS — OCTOBER 2009.*
Thomas opened the first file.
Then the second.
Then the third.
His face drained of color.
"What is it?"" I asked.
He turned the monitor toward us.
Three infant records appeared on the screen.
The first was mine.
The second belonged to my sister.
The third listed a child named *ELENA VICTORIA HALE*.
Beside her name was a photograph of a newborn with a tiny crescent-shaped birthmark beneath her left ear.
Denise covered her mouth.
"I've seen that mark before.""
"Where?"" I asked.
She looked at Michael.
"On Victoria.""
A printer suddenly activated behind us.
A single sheet emerged.
Thomas pulled it free.
It was a transfer order dated October 15, 2009.
The designated guardian's name had been blacked out, but the signature remained visible.
*DANIEL CARTER.*
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"No.""
Daniel had never told us about a third baby.
Thomas turned the page over.
On the reverse, someone had written a final instruction.
*ELENA MUST BE RAISED AS AN ONLY CHILD. SHE MUST NEVER LEARN THAT HER SISTERS EXIST.*
I looked at Denise.
"Where is Elena now?""
Before she could answer, the computer chimed.
A new file appeared automatically.
*ELENA HALE — CURRENT LOCATION VERIFIED.*
Below it was an address.
And a photograph of a young woman standing outside a school.
She was seventeen.
She had my eyes.
May you like
My sister's face.
And the crescent-shaped birthmark beneath her left ear.
