He’d also begun cooperating with investigators.
Then I asked whether anyone had discovered who sent the mysterious photograph.
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“The third woman.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“She’s alive?”
“Yes. Her name is Laura Mitchell.”
She had survived the earlier trial but continued living with significant health challenges.
After learning that the research might have resumed, Laura began investigating.
She eventually discovered my name and arranged for the photograph to reach Dr. Reeves.
“Why didn’t she contact me directly?” I asked.
“She was afraid you wouldn’t believe her.”
I looked down at the photograph.
She was probably right.
Six months earlier, I might have dismissed her warning.
I had trusted Daniel completely.
I turned back toward him.
“Did you ever intend to tell me the truth?”
“I kept waiting for the right moment.”
“When would that have been?”
“When the research produced something positive.”
“And if it never did?”
He looked away.
I already knew the answer.
