Eve had already started the fire when Julian came into the house, with shopping bags in his hand.

” Julian, what do you have here?”, Eve asked, helping him with one of the bags.

” Breakfast, my dear. “

” You’re so considerate Julian”, Eve joked.

” I thought breakfast might prolong our meeting.”, Julian replied.

” The Crane cooks?”

” Absolutely.”

“ I’ll bring the coffee and plates.”

Eve set out the food and the coffee she had brewed for the two of them. They sat on cushions, in front of the fireplace.

Julian smiled. “ I only dreamed of being able to relax like this with you.”

” Julian..”

” I know. I need to get to the point. So, why did you want to see me?”

” Julian, what would you say if I told you that I think that it’s possible Sheridan was right – that Beth Wallace has her baby?”

Julian almost choked on the food he was eating. “ Eve? What are you talking about?”

” Julian, I don’t even know where to begin. I mean, I know I sound crazy…”

” Eve, you are not crazy. Just tell me how in hell you think that housefrau has Sheridan’s child? You do grasp what you’re saying, don’t you? That that mealy mouthed Book Café hermit:
a – kidnapped my sister from her own house
b – held her hostage for months
c – delivered Sheridan’s baby
and d – then tried to kill Sheridan.
What about her baby? Are you saying what…it died?”

” I don’t know what I’m saying. I’ve been doing some asking and some listening and there are things that disturb me.”

” Go on.”

“ Well, I had a conversation with Pilar. Pilar has hardly seen Martin. Beth won’t let the child out of her sight.”

” Being an overprotective mother?”

” Julian, she’s a working woman, taking care of an elderly parent, and a new mother. That entire situation screams stress. When you’re a first-time mother, the thing you want most is capable hands around helping you. Knowledgeable hands, like Pilar. I know that Pilar offered Beth the same thing that she’s doing for Kay – she sees the baby practically everyday, thus giving Kay time to breathe. You say overprotective, but it doesn’t make sense.”

” And?”

” I was at a meeting of the Women’s Board of Harmony Hospital. I overheard two nurses talking about when Sheridan first found out about her child missing, and how attached she was to little Martin. How she insisted that Martin was her child, and how Luis wanted to keep Sheridan grounded in reality, by gently having her accept the fact that Martin wasn’t her child. Luis wanted a DNA test done on Martin, and Beth refused.”

” Refused?”

” Yes. Refused. She gave some lame excuse about not wanting to hurt the baby, but even after the nurse showed her that  it doesn’t take much more than a swab sample to collect DNA, she STILL refused. She KNEW that Luis wanted to use the DNA test to ease Sheridan’s mind. “

” And, she still wouldn’t do it?”

” No.”

” What happened to the DNA test? I know that Luis would want Sheridan to have peace of mind.”

” The test was halted by the arrival of Alistair Crane, who promptly informed Sheridan of the death of her child.”

” Hmmm”

“ There’s more.”

” Ok.”

” I searched through the computer files of the regional insurance companies for any Form 14-70’s referring to Beth Wallace.”

” Form 14-70?”

” A standard form required by the insurance company in cases out of out-of-hospital births.”

” And, this is odd, because?”

” In order to keep the malpractice insurance rates down for OB-GYN’s, the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont banded together to use one carrier for any doctor who delivers babies.”

” Hmmmm..”

” And, it’s mandatory that a 14-70 be filed within 10 days of ALL non-hospital deliveries.”

” Maybe it was an insurance question.”

Eve shook her head. “ This form has nothing to do with whether the patient can pay, Julian. This is to enable the doctor to continue practicing. The form HAS to be filed within 10 days of birth.”

” And Martin is over a month old.”

” Yep.”

” So…”

” I went on searching. Beth Wallace has no OB-GYN files for Harmony Hospital. How can that be? IF she was pregnant, there would be files for her. I, um, even broke into the file cabinets of all of the OB-GYN’s on-staff. No paper files either.”

“ My Eve, a break-in artist?”, Julian smiled.

“ Julian…”

” Continue, Eve.”

” I then looked at all the files for Beth Wallace. I took the ones from Harmony Hospital, and the Free Clinic. And, what I found, was disturbing.”

” What?”

” Mrs. Wallace, Beth’s mother, is AWFULLY accident-prone.”

“ You mean?”

” I mean, I can’t be sure. Just taking the reports from the hospital, I would have given Beth the benefit of the doubt. And, if I took the reports JUST from the Harmony Clinic, I would have given Beth the benefit of the doubt.”

” BUT, taken together..”

” Taken together, it’s a pattern. And, if I had looked at this file through an objective lens, in order to err on the side of caution, I would have called in Social Services to investigate possible abuse. “

“ Eve, think about what you’re saying. What would be her motive?”

” To get Luis?”

” You’re saying that you think she did ALL of that to get Luis? To get a man?”

” Julian, you’d be surprised what some people would do to get a man.”

Julian noticed the change in Eve’s demeanor. He stroked her face. “ Eve, what’s wrong? Something’s behind that last statement of yours.”

Eve began to cry. “ Oh Julian, I’m such an awful person.”

“ Never, Eve. You’re wonderful.”

” I’m so ashamed. “

” What happened?”

” I’ve ruined my best friend’s life!”

” Who? The Tomato Soup Cake Queen? Eve, how could you possibly ruin that woman’s life?”

“ Grace left Sam to go to David.”

” Yes, and you didn’t understand how she could do that?”

” She never would have done that if ‘I’ had told her the truth.”

” Which is?….”

“ That David isn’t her husband.”

” And, you know this because…”

“ Because, I know that David never married Grace. David was blackmailed into saying that he was Grace’s husband.”

” Blackmailed? By whom?”

Eve gave Julian a look.

” Of course. Poison Ivy.”

Eve nodded. “ She concocted the entire thing. She faked all the necessary documents and invented a husband for Grace. And, when that didn’t work, she brought in John.”

” So, Grace is not that boy’s mother?”

” No. Ivy blackmailed me into saying that John was Grace’s son. “

“ Because of OUR relationship. Damn that bitch!”

” It’s my fault.”

” No, it’s HER fault. Do you know what Ivy has on David that he’d betray his own CHILD for it?”

” No. I have no idea.”

Julian kissed Eve. “ Don’t worry about Ivy. It will work itself out. But, hearing that story, I can see how you’d think it’s possible that Ms. Wallace harmed Sheridan. Yet, something bothers me about your theory.”

” What?”

” She couldn’t have done it alone.”

” Beth didn’t do it alone. She had help. “

” That Charlie woman.”

” Yes. That’s another piece of the puzzle. I went to Human Resources at the hospital. I got the records on Charlie. She was signed up as an employee, and yet, she didn’t work three weeks and never picked up her paycheck. Sound familiar?”

Julian exhaled. “ Almost a carbon copy of the story I told you about the man hired at the hospital when OUR baby was born.”

“ Yep.”

“ I see.” Julian shook his head. “ You’ve definitely got my attention, Eve. What do you want to do?”

” Honestly, I feel pretty rotten right now. I almost hoped you’d tell me that I sounded like a crazy woman. Because, you telling me that I’m NOT crazy, opens up a huge can of worms. “

“ Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you. One thing is for sure.”

” What’s that?”

” Sheridan can’t stay in that place anymore. We’ve got to get her out.”