Mrs. Eze wanted money, passports and every document Victoria still possessed from the false birth.
She gave them ninety minutes.
"No police," she said. "No clever daughter of Grace Williams. You come alone."
When the call ended, Victoria shook so badly David had to take the phone from her.
"Where?"
"The old clinic."
Grace's face changed. "It has been abandoned for years." Joyce picked up Daniel's broken phone from the driveway.
"She wants the records because they connect her to the birth."
Victoria looked at her. "She has my son." Joyce held her gaze. "Then we bring him home."
David turned on her. "You are not going anywhere near that woman."
"She knows me. She knows Grace spoke. If Victoria walks in alone, Mrs. Eze has no reason to leave witnesses."
"And if you go?"
"Then she has someone to talk to."
"This is not one of your investigations."
Joyce's eyes flashed. "No. It stopped being that a long time ago." Grace said quietly, "Call the police."
Victoria spun toward her. "She said-"
"She murdered Amara because she thought nobody would challenge her. We are not giving her that advantage again."
They called the police.
They gave police the recording, Grace's statement, the DNA result and the clinic location. Victoria packed cash and copies of the old documents; Joyce would enter separately while officers surrounded the area. David and Michael both refused to remain behind.
When Joyce called him, he said only, "That is my son in there."
No one argued.
The abandoned clinic stood behind a broken wall, its old sign half hidden by vines.
Inside, Daniel sat tied to a metal chair in the old delivery room. His lip was split.
He had entered Mrs. Eze's car because she promised photographs of Amara. By the time he understood there were no photographs in the car, she had a knife out. At the clinic he tried to take her phone; she struck him with a metal torch and tied his wrists.
Mrs. Eze stood by the window with the knife.
"My mother was here," Daniel said.
"Be quiet."
"This is where she gave birth to me."
"I said be quiet."
"Did she hold me?"
Mrs. Eze's eyes flickered.
Daniel leaned forward as far as the rope allowed.
"Did my mother hold me before you took me?"
"She held you."
His jaw tightened. "For how long?"
"Long enough."
"Long enough for what?"
"To make trouble."
Daniel closed his eyes.
The facts still refused to fit together. Victoria had stolen him. David had raised him. Michael shared his blood. Amara had died trying to keep him.
"You killed her."
Mrs. Eze turned sharply. "She would not stop screaming."
"She was looking for her baby."
"She would have ruined everything."
"Everything for who?"
The door opened.
Victoria stepped inside carrying a black bag.
Daniel's head lifted.
"Mum."
The word escaped before he could stop it.
Victoria's face crumpled.
Mrs. Eze smiled. "There. After all this truth, he still calls you mother. Maybe we did him a favour." She looked at Daniel. "Look at the life you got. Schools. A name that opens doors. You think that girl in Mushin could have given you this?"
"She could have given me herself," Daniel said.
Victoria looked at Mrs. Eze with hatred. "Do not put what you did on him."
"What I did?"
"I asked for a child. I did not ask for murder."
"Still washing your hands?"
"No."
The answer surprised everyone.
Victoria's voice trembled. "My hands are not clean. I paid you. I lied. I let fear become an excuse for twenty-two years. But Amara died because you killed her. I will answer for what I did. You will answer for what you did." A sound came from the corridor.
Mrs. Eze froze.
"Who did you bring?"
"No one."
"You were never good at lying under pressure. You needed months to practise being pregnant."
Daniel flinched.
Then Joyce stepped into the doorway.
Mrs. Eze's knife rose.
"You."
Joyce kept both hands visible. Her phone rested in her jacket pocket, recording.
"Me."
"Grace should have taught you to mind your business."
"She tried."
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"No one is safe once people start digging up graves."
Joyce looked at Daniel. "Are you hurt?"
"I've been better."
The answer was so like him she almost smiled. Joyce faced Mrs. Eze. "My mother says Amara realised you had taken her baby and tried to leave."
"Your mother was not in the room."
"So correct her. Did Amara attack you?"
Mrs. Eze laughed contemptuously. "That girl could barely stand."
Joyce felt the air change.
"So she wasn't a threat to you."
"She was a threat to the arrangement."
"Because she wanted Daniel back."
"Because she would not stop shouting."
"And you hit her."
"You think you are clever."
"No. I think you've been afraid of one frightened nurse for twenty-two years because she saw exactly what you did."
"She saw nothing."
"She saw Amara on the floor."
Mrs. Eze snapped. "After the first blow, the girl should have stayed down."
Silence.
Mrs. Eze's eyes dropped to Joyce's pocket.
"Give me the phone."
Joyce did not move.
Mrs. Eze lunged.
The knife caught Joyce's upper arm. Daniel threw his weight sideways, crashing the chair into Mrs. Eze's legs.
A man's voice thundered from the corridor.
"Drop it!"
Police flooded the doorway.
For one terrible second Mrs. Eze still held the knife.
Then it struck the floor.
David was behind the officers.
He went first to Daniel.
"Dad," Daniel said.
David stopped.
Then pulled him into his arms.
Across the room, Victoria covered her face and cried.
She did not move toward them.