Chapter 8 - Dr. Bennett
Nora Bennett did not deny accessing Project Continuity.
She denied impersonating Mia.
“I checked Lucy’s file because Eleanor called me.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Eleanor claimed not.
Phone records proved call.
Another lie.
Why contact Nora?
Lucy had unusual metabolic screening result at birth.
Not illness.
A benign marker variant.
Eleanor knew Project Continuity had once studied same marker.
She asked Nora whether it mattered.
Nora said no.
Then she discovered Lucy profile had automatically reactivated.
She warned Eleanor system should have been shut down years ago.
Who maintained it?
Carter Biologics archival research unit.
Current director:
Dr. Samuel Price.
Nora retired partly because she opposed continued use of legacy consents.
Samuel believed data could still be used if de-identified.
Ethically questionable.
Legally contested.
Could Samuel impersonate Mia?
Access logs yes.
Motive?
If Emma discovered, research project could be suspended.
Why manipulate Eleanor into removing Lucy?
Maybe to avoid sample collection? Opposite.
Then investigators found Lucy’s pediatric lab sample had been requested by Project Continuity without Emma’s knowledge.
No sample transferred because hospital compliance blocked.
Request submitted under authorization:
ELEANOR CARTER — FAMILY FOUNDATION GUARDIAN.
Eleanor had no guardian authority.
Who entered?
Samuel Price’s office.
Ethan confronted him.
Samuel claimed administrative template error.
No.
Request specifically named Eleanor.
Then Ava remembered Mia once suspected “Dr. S.”
Could be Samuel.
Mia vanished while investigating network.
Was Samuel responsible?
He had been junior researcher then.
Travel records showed he visited Colorado Cedar Ridge during Ava’s placement.
Why?
Collect study data.
With consent?
From facility, not always parents.
Again questionable.
Mia may have found evidence.
Then Nora disclosed Mia contacted her night she disappeared.
Mia was terrified.
“She said someone at Carter Biologics knew she copied consent files.”
“Samuel?”
“She wouldn’t name him.”
“Why?”
“She said proof wasn’t enough.”
“What did you do?”
“I arranged safe place.”
Ethan stared.
“You helped her leave.”
“Yes.”
Nora—not Eleanor—was person who helped Mia disappear initially.
She drove Mia to women’s advocacy center under pseudonym.
From there Mia connected Ava.
Why keep father uninformed?
Mia insisted Ethan would immediately call Eleanor and foundation lawyers.
Nora believed her.
Ethan looked crushed.
His own daughter had expected him to choose mother over her.
Emma understood pattern.
He had just done same thing to Emma over Lucy.
Then Nora said Mia stayed hidden only three weeks.
After that she planned come home.
She never did.
“Why?”
“She called me.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she had found evidence bigger than consent forms.”
“What?”
“A child in Project Continuity was listed as dead but was still being studied.”
Emma froze.
Another child.
Could this be “what happened to Ethan’s other daughter” clue? Mia alive, but maybe another? User asked Ethan’s other daughter—Mia. We can keep.
Then Nora added:
“Mia said if she came home, somebody would erase record.”
“Who?”
“She only said one phrase.”
“What?”
“Dad’s signature.”
Ethan stared.
“My signature?”
May you like
Nora nodded.
“Mia believed someone inside company had been authorizing research as you.”
