Chapter 3 - The Hidden Truth
The police escorted Caroline from the building in handcuffs, but the story was far from over. Mrs. Gable, acting on the police officer’s instructions, kept the memory card connected to the terminal. There was another folder on the drive.
"What is this?" Mrs. Gable asked, clicking on a file labeled Second Bassinet.
The footage changed. This time, it showed the nursery four hours after the initial swap. A different nurse, one who had since retired, was seen walking out of the hospital with the infant who had been swapped into the white swaddle.
"That wasn't you, Caroline," Grandpa said, leaning heavily on his cane. "That was your accomplice. You didn't just take Emma’s life; you took the life of the sister you left behind."
Ruth gasped, pulling Emma closer. "A twin? Emma has a twin?"
"She had one," Grandpa corrected, his voice heavy with grief. "The hospital staff was paid to declare one infant deceased. The other was placed into the system under a false identity. Caroline took the one she could claim for the trust, and the other one… she was lost to the system."
Emma looked at the screen, watching the grainy, silent footage of a baby she didn't know—a baby who shared her face, her eyes, her beginning. The room felt suddenly very large and very cold.
"Where is she?" Emma asked, her voice small.
May you like
Grandpa shook his head. "We don't know, Emma. But we have the records now. We have the identity they gave her. We will find her."
The police officer took the memory card as evidence, nodding at Grandpa. "We have enough here to open a major investigation into the hospital’s records department. This goes deeper than one woman’s greed."
