Blonde hair and blue eyes were common in Utah. What was she saying?
“Her parents are both dark-haired and dark-eyed,” Dr. Benallie went on.
“Genetics are funny that way,” I said.
“I remembered that Carolyn was due at nearly the same time that same year, in June of 2014. But she had a stillborn daughter, if I recall correctly. Though those records are mysteriously missing from Stephen’s office.”
“Maybe Stephen didn’t keep the records from his own children’s births there.” I had a flash of memory of his basement office. Were they there?
“All of his other children have birth records there, despite the fact that he delivered almost all of them at home,” said Dr. Benallie in a clipped tone.
Suddenly, my mind leaped to the tiny gravestone I’d seen along with the ones for Stephen’s parents and brother. “Jane Carter,” I said aloud. “Born and died 2014.”
“You’ve seen the grave, then?” She showed animation for the first time since she arrived, her eyes wide, her body leaning closer to me.
“Yes, it’s down with the others in the family graveyard.”
“Well, I’m guessing the date on it was June fourth.”
I wasn’t certain, but that sounded correct. “But—” What was she saying? That Stephen had taken Carolyn’s healthy baby away from her and given it to one of his patients? Why would he do that? Just to torture Carolyn? Or was it to make himself look better as a doctor who could deliver a healthy child even when the ultrasound technician had delivered a fatal diagnosis?
Dr. Benallie smiled widely, and it chilled me. “Back when I thought I was going to marry him, Stephen told me that he loved each of his wives dearly, but that he had to make sure that they always knew he was in charge. It bothered me even then, but I thought he was explaining about how he managed a difficult situation. He said that his wives had to know they couldn’t conspire against him, because he would bring the wrath of God down on their heads, and on the heads of their children.”
In the brief silence of the summer morning in this quiet place, I could hear Carolyn’s broken voice in my mind, telling me that Stephen had predicted her son would be stillborn, and that it was a punishment for some misdeed of hers. Had this been the second time he’d done the same thing? I put a hand to my stomach to quell the sour bile rising.
“But how could he know they’d be born on the same day?” I asked.
“Because he was in charge of the induction schedule, and when Carolyn went into labor, Stephen changed the other schedule to match. He told the woman in question that if she delivered a little early there would be a better chance the baby would live,” said Dr. Benallie coldly.
“And then Stephen switched the babies in the hospital?” Hadn’t anyone noticed?
“Doctors can do things in a hospital that no one asks questions about.”
“The parents didn’t wonder about the child’s coloring? And the disappearance of all the problems the ultrasound saw?”
Dr. Benallie shrugged. Clearly, she thought they were idiots, but if someone had given me a baby girl after Georgia had died, wouldn’t I have just thought it was a miracle and taken her home as my own?
“You can’t tell Carolyn,” I said, glancing up at the house. Was that why Dr. Benallie had come? She seemed to be telling me as a dry run. Or maybe she wanted to be talked out of this. Maybe she had some better side of her nature that I hadn’t seen until now.
“Why not?” That cold voice again. “Carolyn should hire a lawyer and get her daughter back. The girl is only two years old. She should be with her mother.”
“Carolyn needs time to recover before she can deal with something like this,” I said, watching the woman carefully to see if she would listen to me. She could have no idea how fragile Carolyn was now.
She frowned at me. “How much time?”
“A month or two at least,” I said, thinking how ridiculous it was to pretend Carolyn would be emotionally healed in only a few months.
“If there’s to be a legal claim on little Jane, I’d need to exhume the body of the stillborn child buried here,” Dr. Benallie was saying. “We can prove that there is no DNA link to Stephen or Carolyn, and from there, we can demand a DNA sample from the other girl. It would go to the courts after that. If Carolyn’s rights were terminated without her knowledge or consent, she should get her daughter back.”
I didn’t know if Dr. Benallie was right about the legalities here or not. I also wasn’t sure it was in Carolyn’s best interest to embark on a long and possibly difficult legal case at this point in her life. I was pretty sure Dr. Benallie wasn’t doing any of this because she felt bad for Carolyn, but because she wanted more vengeance on Stephen Carter.
“You don’t have proof about any of this,” I said.