“For an hour,” Daniel admitted. “While Megan went to her postpartum checkup. But Laura is a professional. She has a daughter of her own.”
Suddenly, the pieces in my mind began to shift, like a kaleidoscope finding a new, terrifying pattern. I looked at the ultrasound image again, which Dr. Patel had left on the lightboard.
“Daniel,” I whispered, “did Laura bring her daughter to the house today?”
The silence on the other end was my answer. But it was the sound of the hospital door opening and the sight of two police officers standing behind Dr. Patel that told me the real nightmare was just beginning.
Chapter 4: The Pressure of Innocence
The interrogation was grueling. They looked at me as if I was the one who had crushed the child’s ribs. I told them everything—about the cry, the bruise, and the nanny.
Dr. Patel returned an hour later. He looked confused, holding a new set of scans. “We’ve analyzed the pressure points of the bruising,” he said, motioning for the detectives to look. “The marks are oval. They match finger placements.”
He paused, his brow furrowing. “But there’s a discrepancy. The span of the ‘grip’ is too small. If an adult had squeezed this baby with enough force to cause a hepatic hemorrhage, the handprint would wrap nearly halfway around the torso. These marks… they are tiny.”
“How tiny?” the detective asked.
