“That she had had a child with Conor. And that he never took responsibility for it.”
“That’s disgusting,” Sam said. “That is not who he is. If she did have his child, he would have stepped up. But she was lying.”
“I’m figuring that out,” Miranda said.
“If you were such close cousins, why did she wait until this summer to tell you that she had had a baby?” Sam asked.
“I knew that part,” Miranda said. “Of course I knew she had a daughter—I just didn’t know who the father was. She never talked about him. And she didn’t tell me that Conor was the father until just before the rehearsal dinner. Once she told me, things fell into place—her real reason for wanting to crash his wedding.”
“To destroy his life?” Sam asked.
“More like to destroy Kate’s. I tried to stop her, but by that time, we were with Bernard and Garrett, and I told myself she wouldn’t do anything crazy in front of everyone,” Miranda said.
“She must have been a very sick person,” Leo said.
Miranda nodded. “She was. She had very bad depression and anxiety, and she wound up in a hospital when she was very young. She was there for over a year. I always thought that was where she got pregnant.”
“Maynard-King?” Sam asked.
“You know about that?” Miranda asked, sounding surprised.
“Yes. And she married the head of the hospital. Dr. Tyler.”
“Yes,” Miranda said. “Jonathan was her doctor when she was a patient there. But they didn’t get married until several years later. Aftershe’d gotten well—or at least gotten better—and had a daughter with another man.”
“Conor,” Leo said.
“Not Conor,” Sam said sternly.
“Like I said, she never told me,” Miranda said. “It was always a big mystery. I actually figured that Jonathan was the father, and they had to keep it secret because it would have been a scandal ... for the head of MK to get a patient pregnant. The board would have fired him immediately.”
“They certainly would have,” Leo said. “I can promise you that.”
“How do you know?” Sam asked. “Are you connected to the hospital? Are you their lawyer or on their board?”
“No,” Leo said after a few seconds. “But Rhode Island is a small state, and I’ve known members of their board. Besides, it’s universal truth that fooling around is one thing. Getting caught is another. Especially for a man in authority.”
That put Sam’s back up. Was Leo saying that it was okay for a doctor to sexually abuse a patient as long as he kept it secret?
“Anyway, Sam,” Miranda said. “I feel terrible about what Belinda did. I think she really lost her mind when she found out Conor was getting married. She was obsessed with him.”
“That seems obvious,” Sam said. “You know, Miranda ... considering that Belinda was your cousin, you don’t seem all that sad about her death.”
“I’m sad,” Miranda said sharply. “You don’t know how I feel. But I’m also angry at her, the way she tried to use her daughter to manipulate Conor and drive Kate away.”
“Who is the child?” Sam asked. “What’s her name?”
Miranda didn’t answer that question. “Could I be in trouble? For being involved with getting Belinda here? Could I be a suspect?”
“Miranda, I’m a lawyer,” Leo said. “If you want me to advise you, we can step away, and you can tell me whatever you know about Belinda, her daughter, and anything else. That way it will be just between us.”
Miranda seemed to consider his offer, but she didn’t reply.
Leo gestured toward the cabana, where the Reids and Aldriches were sitting together. “Let’s go up there,” he said. “I want to take some notes. Even if I don’t represent you, we’re working together to get some answers. It can only help.”
Miranda shook her head hard. “No, thanks,” she said, starting toward the hotel. “Sam, I will see you later.”
“That is strange,” Leo said, watching Miranda go. “She seemed to want to talk, but she shut down when you asked her Belinda’s daughter’s name. What’s she afraid of?” He gestured for Sam to follow him up the sand to the cabana, and they walked there together.
