Nick’s POV
“I don’t understand your question. How can I remember every patient? I assisted with many deliveries together with Doctor Kevin. You can probably ask the hospital for more details,” she replied. Her eyes looked to another corner. She was lying. I could tell from her body language that she remembered, but kept the truth.
“I just came from the hospital and the hospital asked me to see you. Please tell me the truth because I have your and Doctor Kevin’s Ace cards,” I retorted.
“Are you accusing me? I could sue you for this,” she replied as she looked at me sharply and her tone of voice rose.
“I’m not accusing you. I’m telling the truth. I hold an ace card. Mr. Adams wants the truth. One thing you need to know, until the truth is revealed, he will not give up. With his power and wealth, he can afford to hire a lot of detectives to find the truth of the question I asked earlier. So, please cooperate,” I pleaded.
Her face was downcast, and her eyes looked down at her hands, which were now trembling slightly. She looked uneasy. I was sure there was a struggle within her between revealing the truth or keeping it hidden for the sake of someone else because she had no other choice. Truthfully or not, she was still guilty and at a disadvantage.
“Ms. Gina. Please,” I pleaded one more time.
Her face looked up, her eyes were red and suddenly tears were streaming down her gaunt cheeks. Her red lipstick-covered lips trembled. Looking up at me, she said, “Maybe it’s time for me to confess. Before answering, would you ask Mr. Adams to protect me?”
I nodded. If she was indeed telling the whole truth, that meant she was our most important witness. And I was sure Sir Jay would protect her.
“I promise,” I replied.
“That’s good. Keep your word,” she replied with a long exhale.
“I remember that incident very well. She gave birth to twins, a boy, and a girl. Both were born healthy and perfect. However, a few days earlier, a woman named Ms. Megan came to see Doctor Kevin. I was by the doctor’s side. The woman gave the doctor a considerable amount of money with a request to exchange Piper’s baby for a recently deceased baby and she said that she had found the deceased baby. Doctor Kevin’s job and mine were just to make sure that the baby swap didn’t get noticed by anyone,” she said as she wiped her tear-filled eyes.
Then, I took some tissues from a tissue box on the table and gave them to her.
“Thank you,” she replied.
I waited patiently for the rest of the story.
“Doctor Kevin was unwilling at first. The woman’s request was against medical ethics. And also he didn’t want to ruin his good name. On receiving a refusal, the woman went angry and swore at both of us. She said we were both hypocrites. Then she took out another envelope of a larger size with a much larger amount of money. She pointed at the envelope and said that we could share all the money equally because she knew we were both struggling financially.” She replied.
“Doctor Kevin was struggling financially? I don’t understand. How can a doctor have financial difficulties?” I asked.
“Well, he was going through a divorce process with his wife. And he needed a lot of funds to make the process go smoothly as well as to fulfill all his wife’s demands and the needs of his two children. Doctor Kevin’s savings had been used up to pay all his wife’s debts. While I was, of course, tempted when I saw a large amount of money. I wanted to own a house and buy everything I wanted for my family, so I unconsciously reached for that envelope, held it, looked into the woman’s eyes, and told her I will do her bidding. She laughed loudly and promised to give me the rest of the money when our work was done,” she said.
She went back to wiping her wet eyes.
“I’m sorry to force you to tell me all this,” I said.
“It’s okay. Eventually, I have to reveal the truth and accept all the consequences. I nodded while smiling happily. But, Doctor Kevin stopped me and said that I might be crazy. I denied his words while revealing my heart until he shut up and sat on his chair limply and asked the woman to leave. After she left, I persuaded him and he agreed, as he had no choice. After Piper gave birth, that night we swapped her baby girl with another baby girl who had similar physical features so that no one would be suspicious,” she replied.
“Why did she swap a baby girl and not a baby boy?” I asked curiously.
“Because on that day, a baby girl with similar physical characteristics died at another hospital. There was another baby boy who died, but he didn’t have similar physical features,” she replied.
“Oh, I understand now. So, what’s the rest of the story?” I asked.
She let out another long breath as she bowed her head. “After all our work was done, the woman gave us the rest of the money. With that enormous sum of money, I could buy this house and support my son and my mother. However, something different happened to Doctor Kevin. A few months after the incident, he was found drowned on the beach close to his house. There were no fingerprints, and no CCTV at the scene, so with no evidence, his death was ruled a suicide. However, I suspected that something had happened to him, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Doctor Kevin’s girlfriend was still living in the house with a servant. I once went to them and tried to ask her a lot of questions, but she insisted on silence and told me to live my life well.”
“That’s strange. Do you suspect someone?” I asked.
“Yes, you should be able to guess the person I suspect, right? But, what can I do? She has the money and resources to get rid of someone like me easily. I don’t know what Doctor Kevin did to die. I never believed that he committed suicide. He loved his two children very much and wanted to see them grow up, so suicide is not an answer to his death,” she replied.
“Umm, yes, you are right. May I have Doctor Kevin’s home address?” I asked.
“Of course.” Then, she opened the notes app on her phone and showed it to me, “This is Doctor Kevin’s home address. And on the bottom line is the name of his girlfriend, Sheila.”