Chapter 14 - THE GIRL BEHIND THE GLASS
Grace stood behind a locked observation-room door while Dr. Celia Ward argued with Nathan Mercer.
"You can't keep her here."
Nathan placed a folder on the table.
"I am her legal guardian."
"Your guardianship is under emergency review."
"That does not authorize you to release her."
Ward looked through the observation window.
Grace sat on a small chair, holding a stuffed rabbit.
"She is frightened."
Nathan lowered his voice.
"Then stop frightening her."
Ward stared at him.
For six years, she had allowed Nathan to describe every difficult decision as something necessary for the children's welfare.
Now he was using the same language to justify locking a little girl inside a research room.
Ward took out her phone.
Nathan noticed.
"Who are you calling?"
"Her attorney."
He reached for the phone.
Ward stepped back.
"No."
Nathan's expression hardened.
"Remember who gave you this institute."
Ward looked through the glass again.
"That is exactly what I am remembering."
When Alexander arrived with the authorities, the institute's security director tried to deny access to the children's research wing.
Then Ward appeared.
She handed the lead investigator the current room assignment and identified the location of Grace's medical file.
Nathan moved toward her.
"You have no right."
Ward looked at him.
"Neither did you."
The authorities entered the observation room.
Grace began crying when she saw unfamiliar adults.
Sarah remained outside until the child's attorney asked whether she wanted to meet the woman from the gate again.
Grace nodded.
Sarah stepped inside.
She did not reach for her.
"Hi, Grace."
The little girl stared at her.
"Are you taking me to the test?"
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
Sarah knelt.
"Because we want to make sure you're safe."
Grace looked toward the door.
"Will Grandpa be angry?"
Sarah felt something break inside her.
"You haven't done anything wrong."
Grace considered that.
Then she asked:
"Can I have my coat?"
Sarah smiled through tears.
"Of course."
The attorney arranged an immediate independent medical assessment.
Grace was not removed simply because Alexander was wealthy or biologically related to her.
The court needed to examine her existing guardianship, the allegations against Nathan, and the child's immediate welfare.
But the institute could no longer continue the disputed research or restrict access to her attorney.
Nathan was taken to an interview room while investigators secured relevant records.
Alexander watched him through the glass.
Nathan looked almost offended.
"You've frightened a child who was perfectly comfortable yesterday."
Alexander stared.
"She was frightened when you brought her to my gate."
"She was confused."
"She asked whether she had to do the memory test again."
Nathan looked away.
For the first time, Alexander saw that the man had not prepared an answer for everything.
The investigators opened Grace's current medical file.
It contained routine pediatric information.
It also contained research assessments that had never been independently authorized on the child's behalf.
Nathan's guardian signature appeared throughout.
Several tests were linked to the original Morrow longitudinal protocol.
Grace had been taught to complete memory and attention exercises under observation.
Some were ordinary developmental tasks.
Others were used to compare her responses with data obtained from Emily and Lily.
The investigator pointed to the comparison table.
Alexander stared.
"Emily's data came from Cole Technologies?"
"Some of it appears to have been routed through educational software licensed by a Cole subsidiary."
Alexander closed his eyes.
His own company's products had helped supply the information.
He immediately ordered an independent preservation review of the relevant systems.
But the investigator raised another issue.
A separate file described the original study's planned termination point.
The girls' seventh birthday.
The same deadline as the founder trust.
Nathan had scheduled the final assessment for Monday.
Alexander looked toward the calendar.
Two days away.
The investigator continued.
"Once the final assessment was complete, Nathan intended to seek permanent removal of the original identifying link between the research profiles and the children."
Sarah stared.
"He was going to destroy the evidence that connected them."
"That appears to have been part of the plan."
The institute's records were now being preserved under court authority.
Nathan could no longer simply delete the study and claim it never existed.
But Dr. Ward was not finished.
She produced an older file from a separate archive.
Theodore's original corporate authorization.
The entire document.
Not merely the signature page Nathan had supplied.
Alexander read the final paragraph.
His father had authorized a limited hereditary-screening partnership.
The authorization expressly prohibited separating children from their parents or enrolling identifiable minors in unauthorized longitudinal research.
Theodore had helped create the legitimate screening arrangement.
Nathan had later used the existence of that arrangement to conceal a program Theodore had never approved.
Ward looked at Sarah.
"I knew the difference."
Sarah stared at her.
"You knew."
Ward nodded.
"And I let it happen."
Before anyone could answer, Grace's attorney entered.
The independent physician had completed the immediate assessment.
Grace was medically stable.
But she had disclosed that Nathan told her not to speak about the other girls.
The attorney looked toward Alexander.
"She's asking to see the photograph again."
"What photograph?"
"The one of Emily and Lily."
Sarah covered her mouth.
May you like
Grace had not been told that she was a Cole twin.
Yet somehow, she already knew the other two girls existed.
