Page 17 of License to Kill

“I don’t know. I never saw the file, and they didn’t tell my parents that I’m aware of. They just said they’d found the body and confirmed it was his. The case was closed because they didn’t have any information, I guess. I presume. The CARD team never came back after that.”

“Well, let’s find out, shall we?” Amelia grabbed her phone and dialed a number. “Hey. It’s Amelia. Any chance you have a mole in the FBI’s CARD database? I’m working on some therapy for my friend, and I’d like somebody to stealthily get into the old Johnson file and see if there’s a cause of death. Since we have solid evidence the mother is, in fact, capable of attempting to kill her own child for pay, we’re wondering if there’s any substance to the possibility. It won’t help the dead, but closure is closure. Sure, I can wait.” Amelia closed a window on my laptop and slid it back to me. “While you’re at it, trace in when the Johnsons put in the adoption request for Karma, where she came from, why she was put up for adoption, and more importantly, why she ended up with the Johnsons—and if the loss of their child may have been a factor. And since we’re digging more than we should anyway, do a hospital check on the baby for if there were any of those inconvenient illnesses asshole parents don’t want their children to have. That information might be in the CARD file.”

I stiffened, as while my pa loved anything tiny and helpless, my ma tried not to let her prejudices show but had them.

One day, the wounds from her prejudices would heal. One day.

“Okay, he wants me to put this on speaker, Karma. Try not to be more of a disaster than you already are.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered while she set the phone down on the table between us. I closed my laptop and placed it on the seat beside me.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Thomas,” a deep-voiced man said. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had better days.”

“Undoubtedly. You’re probably not going to like what I have to tell you, but you likely already know that since you’re asking these questions.”

“CARD has a note that my ma was a probable suspect but they had no way to prove it, and because there was a new young child in the house, CARD moved carefully to prevent a potential increase in victims.” I remembered that from training well enough; the parents always underwent severe scrutiny, but when other children were involved with the case, the agents acted with care to prevent the parents from believing they were suspects while being investigated.

“It is like you’ve been trained to handle this sort of case,” the man replied, his tone amused. “Yes. I’ll begin with Mr. Johnson, who has been fully cleared of all wrongdoing in the loss of the baby. At the time of the infant’s disappearance, he was not at home or with the baby, which is a solid alibi; between members of his church, some of whom were in law enforcement and his work, it was impossible for him to be involved. A complete evaluation of call records likewise supports this.”

“That you’re establishing he had nothing to do with it and CARD has recorded this as such leads me to believe that CARD only found circumstantial evidence, not enough to make an accusation but not enough to keep the case open.”

“You would be correct.”

“Postpartum psychosis?”

“While that is listed as a possibility, the CARD agents involved with the case, unfortunately, feel that there were stronger possibilities.”

“Stronger? Was there something wrong with the baby?”

“The child had phenylketonuria. According to CARD’s medical records, Mrs. Johnson was strongly against having invasive testing done, citing religious beliefs. The boy was born using a midwife at home with minimal hospital intervention. As such, it was not discovered the child suffered from phenylketonuria until two months old, after suffering from symptoms and complications of the disease. According to the CARD notes, Mr. Johnson immediately made the required dietary changes to improve his son’s health.”

“They’re PKU gene carriers?” I asked.

“Yes. The discovery their son had PKU is what is listed as them ultimately registering to adopt, as they wanted to have more than one child. The CARD investigation notes that Mr. Johnson agreed to register for adoption of another baby shortly prior to the child’s disappearance, and that he did so after pressure from Mrs. Johnson.”

I covered my mouth, as that would have been a red flag for the entire CARD team. Taking in a deep breath, I forced myself to relax in my seat and lower my hand. “CARD thinks it was premeditated murder.”

“They only had circumstantial evidence, and by the time they put all of the pieces together and located the infant’s body, it was nigh impossible to prove. Blunt force trauma and a broken neck are the official causes of death.”

If my ma hadn’t already paid with her life, I was sorely tempted to find her and give her a beating she’d never forget. “Are you saying she beat an infant and broke his neck?”

“The murder weapon was never found, which is why the case was closed as cold. But yes, the infant was severely beaten. Judging from the spinal damage, the neck was broken deliberately. The amount of force used indicates it was a crime of passion or hate.”

“And she was deeply devoted.”

“CARD noted Mr. Johnson had been the main pressuring force to change churches following the disappearance of the baby.”

My pa hadn’t been a stupid man. “That church didn’t like a lot of medical treatments. I remember that. I hadn’t been vaccinated for anything until elementary school, and I was only vaccinated because the school wouldn’t let me attend without the vaccines. I got only the absolutely mandatory vaccinations to attend.” She’d called me a sinner for that, too.

Unbeknownst to her, my pa had taken me in for all of my vaccinations on the sly at a different doctor, one who wouldn’t tell my ma, and he’d taken me back yearly for proper checkups.

I’d forgotten, because it hadn’t seemed like a big deal for me.

“Yes, there are records about you in this file as well, mostly about concerns regarding your medical care. CARD had tracked you until the age of eight. They made a notation that Mr. Johnson had been taking you in for supplementary treatments at a different doctor. One of the CARD agents had made contact with Mr. Johnson later to follow up with him and you, and Mr. Johnson provided CARD with your medical records.”

“Pa was concerned?”