The Baby Who Died Twice
Chapter 03 - The Baby Who Died Twice
Dr. Naomi Price collected the samples in Elias’s office.
She swabbed Mason’s cheek, then Elias’s. She sealed both tubes, signed the labels, and placed them inside a locked medical case.
“No substitutions,” Elias said.
Naomi met his gaze.
“I will deliver them personally.”
Vincent had left the office, claiming he needed to reassure investors after the kitchen disruption. Mason did not believe him. People who were innocent usually wanted answers. Vincent wanted silence.
Elias ordered food for Mason, but the boy barely touched it.
“What did Ruth tell you about your parents?” Elias asked.
“She said my mother died when I was a baby. She never told me her name.”
“And your father?”
“She said he was lost.”
The word seemed to hurt Elias.
Ruth Grant had become Mason’s legal foster parent when he was four. Before that, he had moved through three temporary homes. His original records listed him as “unknown male infant” found outside a church in Queens.
Elias opened a locked drawer and removed a newspaper clipping.
The headline read: CELEBRITY CHEF’S FAMILY KILLED IN APARTMENT FIRE.
A photograph showed Elias being carried from the building with blood on his face and his right hand wrapped in bandages.
Mason read the article twice.
The fire had started at 2:18 a.m. The apartment alarm did not activate. Claire and baby Luca were identified through personal belongings because the remains were too badly damaged for visual confirmation.
“Did they do DNA testing?” Mason asked.
Elias looked ashamed.
“I was sedated for days. Vincent handled the arrangements. He said testing would delay the funeral.”
Mason looked toward the door.
“Then the baby died without anyone proving it.”
Elias sat opposite him.
“Yes.”
The answer hung between them.
A memory stirred inside Mason—not a clear image, but a sound. A woman humming while chopping basil. He had always assumed it came from Ruth’s kitchen. Yet Ruth hated basil.
“Did Claire sing while she cooked?”
Elias’s eyes lifted.
“All the time.”
“What song?”
Elias hummed four soft notes.
Mason knew the next three.
He sang them without thinking.
Elias covered his mouth.
The tune had no words. Claire had invented it while testing recipes late at night.
Vincent returned before either could speak.
“The board has called an emergency meeting,” he said. “Someone leaked that a boy is claiming to be Elias’s dead son.”
Mason’s stomach tightened.
“Who knew besides us?”
Vincent ignored him.
Outside, reporters were already gathering near Bellamy House. Online posts called Mason a fraud, an orphan seeking money, and a dangerous stalker.
A photograph of him entering the restaurant had appeared on television.
Elias turned on Vincent.
“You said nothing would leave this room.”
“I said I would protect the company.”
“By destroying a child?”
“By preventing chaos.”
Mason picked up his backpack.
“I should go.”
Elias blocked the door.
“You are not walking into that crowd alone.”
A police officer arrived through the service entrance. Detective Dana Brooks introduced herself and asked to speak with Mason privately.
She placed a printed copy of Ruth’s note on the desk.
“We searched Ms. Grant’s apartment,” she said. “Someone had already been there.”
“What did they take?” Mason asked.
“We don’t know.”
Dana looked at Elias.
“But the intruder left something behind.”
She held up a burned metal smoke detector with its battery compartment empty.
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On the back, written in black marker, were the words:
THE BABY DIED ONCE. DO NOT MAKE HIM DIE AGAIN.
