The second container changed everything.
Until that moment, Claire had believed the missing embryo was a hidden piece of Julian's plan, something kept in reserve in case his family needed another attempt. Now the investigators had found evidence that there had been two containers at Northbridge, not one. One had held the embryo already traced through the foreign facility. The other had been removed recently.
Someone had taken it after the police investigation began.
Daniel stood beside Claire in the hospital corridor while officers searched the building records. “That means someone knew about the warrant before the search.”
“Julian?”
“Possibly.”
“Helga?”
“Also possible.”
“Marta?”
Daniel looked at her. “All three had reasons.”
Claire watched through the glass as Sophie slept. The baby had not arrived yet, but the doctors were preparing for the possibility. Claire's mind should have been on the woman who had carried her child. Instead she was thinking about a container moving through the city while lawyers and police tried to catch up.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
The investigator had found the removal record.
The container had been signed out two days before the search.
The person who collected it was listed as Richard Bennett.
Claire frowned. “Richard?”
Daniel immediately called him.
Richard answered on the third ring. His voice sounded exhausted. When Daniel asked about the container, he denied knowing anything about it. But when Daniel mentioned the storage code, Richard went silent.
“I was told to pick up a package,” Richard finally said.
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
“You need to tell us everything.”
Richard hesitated. “Helga.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Richard explained that Helga had called him three days earlier, saying there was a family document that needed to be moved because Julian's lawyers were preparing for a legal dispute. She told him the item was confidential and that he should not open it. Richard had gone to Northbridge, shown identification, and signed a release form.
“Where is it now?” Daniel asked.
“I don't have it.”
Claire stepped closer to the phone. “Richard, where is it?”
His breathing changed.
“I gave it to Marta.”
The line went quiet.
Marta.
Daniel asked where Marta was.
Richard said she had told him she was taking the container to a secure medical facility. He had not questioned her because Helga had assured him everything was legal.
The investigator immediately issued an alert.
But Marta was already gone.
Her apartment had been cleared out.
Her car was missing.
Her phone was disconnected.
For the first time, Claire felt the case slipping beyond the reach of documents and court orders. They were no longer investigating something that had happened months ago. Someone was actively moving evidence.
Daniel placed both hands on the railing.
“We need to find Marta before whoever is directing her makes another move.”
Claire looked at him. “What if she has the embryo?”
“We don't know.”
“What if she does?”
“We find her.”
By late afternoon, the police located Marta's vehicle abandoned near a train station. Inside were two suitcases, several clinic uniforms, and a notebook. The notebook contained names and dates, but the most important page had been torn out.
Claire was shown a photograph of the remaining pages.
One entry caught her attention.
October 14. Transfer completed. Secondary storage confirmed. H. says Claire must never know.
Daniel looked at the date.
It was the date Claire had been told her fertility treatment had failed.
Claire felt physically sick.
That was the day Julian had come home, hugged her, and told her that sometimes a woman's body simply needed more time.
She remembered crying against his chest.
She remembered him whispering that they would try again.
She remembered believing him.
The investigator turned the page.
There was another entry beneath it.
November 2. J. says if she begins asking questions, use the illness story.
Claire's fingers curled.
“The illness story,” she said.
Daniel looked at her.
“They told me my body was failing. Julian told me stress was making everything worse. Helga kept saying I needed to accept that maybe motherhood wasn't meant for me.”
Daniel's expression became grim.
The investigator found another clue. A bank transfer from Julian to Marta had been made the same week as the original embryo transfer. The payment was labeled administrative consulting.
But Marta had not been an outside consultant.
She had been a clinic administrator.
She had access.
She had authority.
And she had been paid by Julian.
Then Sophie's nurse appeared in the hallway.
“She needs you,” the nurse said to Claire.
Claire rushed inside.
Sophie was awake, frightened, one hand gripping the sheet.
“They're saying the baby may come tonight.”
Claire sat beside her.
Sophie looked at her for several seconds. “If she comes tonight, what will you do?”
Claire's throat tightened.
“I don't know.”
“Yes, you do.”
Claire looked toward Sophie's stomach.
“I'll be there.”
Sophie nodded.
“Then that's enough.”
Hours later, the labor stopped progressing.
The doctors decided they could wait.
Claire returned to the hallway.
Daniel was standing there with a new file.
“I found something.”
“What?”
He opened it.
It was a scanned copy of a storage agreement from Northbridge.
The agreement named the owner of the biological material.
Claire Bennett.
But beside Claire's name was another handwritten note.
Transfer upon legal incapacity or death.
Claire stared at the words.
“I never signed this.”
“I know.”
Daniel turned the page.
The witness signature belonged to Helga.
And beneath it was a second signature.
Julian.
Claire looked up.
“Why would they need this?”
Daniel's answer came slowly.
“Because they weren't only planning to control your child.”
He pointed to the final clause.
“They were preparing to control what happened to your embryos if something happened to you.”
Claire read the sentence twice.
Then she understood why her father had been so afraid.
This had never been about one baby.
It had been about ownership.
Click here to continue reading: PART 15: HER FATHER HAD LEFT ONE LAST DOOR OPEN
The Toast My Husband Made in German Exposed a Secret He Never Expected His Wife to Understand
Part 14 of 26
