Chapter 5: What Diane Marsh Knew
Diane Marsh spoke for eleven minutes without stopping.
Rachel stood in the hallway outside the sitting room, the door pulled almost closed behind her, and she listened.
The Vale Fertility Clinic had been operating under a falsified donor registry for at least fourteen years.
Dr.
Adrian Vale had not used anonymous donors in the way patients were told.
In a number of cases — the exact number was still being confirmed — he had used material from a small group of known individuals, including, investigators believed, members of his own family.
Thomas Bennett was Adrian Vale's son from a relationship in the early nineties.
Thomas had never been told about his father's clinic.
He had submitted a consumer DNA test two years ago as a gift from his wife.
The results had started connecting him to strangers.
He had contacted the clinic.
The clinic had not responded.
He had contacted an attorney.
That attorney was Diane Marsh.
"How many children?" Rachel asked.
"We currently have confirmed connections to thirty-one.
We believe the actual number is higher."
Rachel put her hand flat against the wall.
"Mrs.
Bennett, I want to be direct with you.
The DNA profile associated with your daughter's file appears in more matches than any other single profile in our case.
Which means Maddie's biological origin may be closer to the center of this than any other family we've spoken with."
"What does closer to the center mean?"
"It may mean her biological father is not Thomas.
Thomas may be a half-sibling.
The direct paternal connection may be Adrian Vale himself."
Rachel didn't speak.
"I know that's difficult to hear."
"Say it again plainly."
"We believe Dr.
Adrian Vale may be your daughter's biological father."
The hallway was very quiet.
"He treated me," Rachel said.
"He was my physician.
He was in that room."
"Yes.
I'm sorry."
Rachel looked at the almost-closed door.
Through the gap she could see the edge of Grant's shoulder.
He was still standing by the window.
Evelyn was a shape in a chair.
"What do you need from me?" Rachel asked.
"A formal DNA confirmation from Maddie, with your consent, to anchor the case.
And anything you can tell us about how you came to choose that clinic.
Specifically, whether anyone recommended it to you directly."
Rachel looked at the door again.
"Someone recommended it," she said.
"Yes."
"Would that person be willing to speak with us?"
"I don't know yet.
But I'll find out."
She ended the call and stood in the hallway for a moment.
Then she pushed the door open and walked back in.
Grant looked at her.
"Who was that?"
"An attorney.
She represents thirty-one families.
Possibly more." Rachel set her phone on the table.
"She believes Adrian Vale is Maddie's biological father.
Not Thomas.
Adrian himself."
The sound Grant made was not a word.
Evelyn's hands unfolded in her lap and then refolded, fingers pressing together hard.
"She needs to know who recommended the clinic," Rachel said.
"She needs a statement."
"Rachel—" Evelyn began.
"She already knows someone did.
I confirmed that much." Rachel looked at her mother-in-law steadily.
"The question now is whether you give that statement voluntarily or whether the investigation subpoenas it."
"You can't—"
"I'm not threatening you, Evelyn.
I'm telling you what Diane Marsh told me.
This case is moving.
It was moving before today.
The only thing that changes now is whether you're on the right side of it."
Evelyn looked at Grant.
Grant looked at his mother for a long moment.
Then he looked away.
"She's right, Mom."
Evelyn's breath came out slowly.
She looked older than she had an hour ago.
The composure was still there, but it had become something else — not strength, just the shape that strength leaves behind when it goes.
"Adrian told me the clinic had the best outcomes in the region," Evelyn said quietly.
"He said it as though he was doing us a favor.
I believed him.
I wanted to believe him because I wanted a grandchild and I didn't know how to tell Grant that I knew — that I had known for years — about his condition."
Grant turned from the window.
"You knew.
About me.
Before we even went to the clinic."
"Your father told me.
Before he d*ed.
He said you'd had a diagnosis at nineteen and that you'd made him promise not to tell me."
Grant sat down heavily in the nearest chair.
"So you sent us to Adrian Vale," Rachel said.
"Knowing Grant's situation.
Knowing Adrian personally."
"I thought I was helping."
"You were helping," Rachel said.
"Just not us."
She picked up the photograph from the table and turned it face-up.
Adrian Vale.
Evelyn Bennett.
Younger.
Smiling.
Standing close in the way people stand when they know each other well.
Rachel looked at the photograph for a long time.
Then she looked at Evelyn.
May you like
"How well did you know him?"
Evelyn's answer was a silence so complete it became its own confession.
