A Witness From St. Agnes
Chapter 13 - A Witness From St. Agnes
Police detained Dr. Wren before he could leave the property. Faced with the ledgers, the court order, and Amelia’s condition, he admitted that Lakeview had been paid to keep her under the name Anna Bell. He claimed he inherited the arrangement from the former director and never questioned it.
Thomas did not believe him, but the confession opened the records.
Amelia’s file revealed years of heavy sedation, restricted mail, and fabricated diagnoses. Whenever she asked about her daughter, physicians recorded “persistent delusion.” Whenever she named Regina or Gregory, the dosage increased.
Elena sat beside her mother in a private hospital room that night. Amelia moved between clarity and confusion. She remembered the crash in fragments.
“Gregory’s car forced us off the road,” she said. “Samuel pulled me out before the fire. Men came. They hit him. Regina was at the clinic when I woke after the delivery.”
“Did you see me?” Elena asked.
Amelia nodded, tears sliding into her hair. “For one minute. You had dark eyes. You held my finger. Then Regina said your heart stopped.”
A retired nurse named June Mercer was located in Florida. When Thomas called, she began crying before he finished explaining why.
“I delivered that baby,” she said. “Healthy girl. Strong lungs. Regina Vale gave me an envelope and said the mother had become dangerous. I refused the money, but the doctor threatened my license. The infant was taken in a private ambulance.”
“Will you testify?”
“I have waited twenty-six years to be asked.”
June still possessed a copy of the delivery log and a Polaroid photograph. It showed Amelia holding newborn Elena beneath a hospital blanket. On the back, June had written the time, date, and the words Mother and child stable.
Elena stared at the image until the edges blurred.
It was the first photograph she had ever seen of herself being wanted.
Vivienne entered quietly. “The district attorney has opened a criminal investigation. Regina’s accounts are frozen.”
Amelia’s eyes sharpened. “She will run.”
Thomas checked his phone.
May you like
Regina’s car had already left Hawthorne Hall. Airport security flagged a private jet scheduled for Switzerland under a false passenger list.
Celeste was on board.
