Chapter 7: The Man Who Called It a Gift
Diane Marsh worked out of a narrow office on the fourth floor of a building that smelled of old carpet and new coffee.
She had a wall of files and a manner that suggested she had heard worse things than what Rachel was about to tell her, and had used them to win.
Rachel sat across from her the following morning.
Grant was beside her.
Evelyn had called Diane the night before, as promised, and was scheduled for her own meeting that afternoon.
"I want to be clear about what we're building," Diane said.
She had a legal pad and a pen she didn't use.
"This is not a civil suit for damages, though that will come.
What we are building first is a criminal referral.
The evidence needs to meet a higher standard."
"What do you need from us?" Grant asked.
"Your testimony about the recommendation.
The intake process.
What you were told about the donor selection.
Whether you were given any documentation that you still have." She looked at Rachel.
"And Maddie's formal DNA confirmation, with your written consent."
"You'll have it," Rachel said.
"The other thing I need you to understand is that Adrian Vale is aware the investigation is active.
He has an attorney.
He has already attempted to have certain clinic records sealed on the grounds of patient privacy."
"Can he do that?"
"He's trying.
We're opposing it.
But it means he's not passive.
He's going to fight this."
Grant leaned forward.
"What can he actually do?"
"He can delay.
He can create procedural obstacles.
He can attempt to discredit the DNA evidence by challenging the chain of custody on consumer tests." Diane set down her pen.
"And he can attempt to contact families directly.
To settle quietly.
To make this go away before it becomes a formal charge."
Rachel looked up.
"Has he contacted anyone?"
"Two families that we know of.
Both declined." Diane paused.
"He may attempt to contact you."
"Let him try," Grant said.
Diane looked at him carefully.
"If he does, do not engage.
Record the contact and send it to me immediately.
Anything he says outside of formal legal channels is potentially evidence."
"Understood."
Rachel's phone buzzed on the table.
She glanced at it.
An unknown number.
A text message.
*Rachel.
I think we should speak before this goes further.
There are things about Maddie's situation that you deserve to hear from me directly.
I can explain everything.
— A.V.*
She turned the phone so Diane could read it.
Diane looked at it for a moment.
Then she said, "Don't reply.
Screenshot it and send it to me now."
Rachel did.
"That," Diane said, "is the first piece of direct evidence that he is attempting to interfere with witnesses in an active investigation."
Grant looked at the phone.
His jaw was set.
"He has her number."
"He has your clinic file," Diane said.
"He has everything from that intake process."
"Can we get an injunction?"
"We can seek one.
This message helps." Diane made a note — actually used the pen this time.
"I want you both to understand something.
He reached out to you first.
Not to the other thirty-one families.
To you."
"Because of Evelyn," Rachel said.
"Possibly.
Or because Maddie's profile is the most central to the case and he knows it." Diane looked at Rachel directly.
"He is more afraid of you than of anyone else in this investigation.
That is a position of power.
Use it carefully."
Rachel looked at the screenshot on her phone.
*I can explain everything.*
She thought about Maddie that morning, sitting at the kitchen table at her sister's house, carefully eating toast with the serious concentration of a four-year-old who had decided that breakfast was important work.
She thought about the consultation room.
The desk.
The man across it who had looked at their file and known whose family he was looking at.
She thought about the word gift.
"When can we move on the criminal referral?" she asked.
May you like
Diane almost smiled.
"We already have."
