Chapter 6 - The Phone in the Memorial Portrait
Police issued an alert for Jason and the baby.
His car was found that evening behind an abandoned pharmacy.
The driver’s door was unlocked.
No blood.
No infant carrier.
No phone.
Inside the trunk, officers found a hospital blanket and Claire’s overnight bag.
Her clothing remained neatly folded.
Her wallet was inside.
Her phone was not.
Officer Shaw returned to the chapel to inspect every item Jason had arranged.
The flowers.
The guest book.
The memorial photograph.
The wooden bier.
Behind Claire’s framed portrait, an officer noticed a strip of black tape.
Attached to the back was a slim prepaid phone.
It was powered off.
The device did not belong to Claire or Jason.
Walter remembered Jason adjusting the portrait before the service.
“He told me it was crooked.”
Police powered the phone inside an evidence bag.
It contained one saved number.
Jason’s personal phone.
The call history showed dozens of brief exchanges during Claire’s final night.
The prepaid device also held three audio files.
In the first, Jason spoke to an unidentified woman.
“She signed the discharge.”
The woman answered, “She could barely hold the pen.”
Jason said, “That doesn’t matter. The system accepted it.”
In the second recording, Claire’s weak voice could be heard in the background.
She asked for Rose.
Jason told her to rest.
In the third, the unidentified woman said, “The bleeding is getting worse.”
Jason replied, “Then fix it.”
“I’m not taking her back like this.”
“You were paid to keep this quiet.”
Helen had to leave the room before the recording ended.
Tom remained.
He asked Officer Shaw, “Who is the woman?”
The answer came through the number’s registration.
Monica Bell.
The discharge nurse.
Police went to her apartment.
It was empty.
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But a neighbor had seen Monica leaving with a baby carrier early Tuesday morning.
👉 The nurse who helped remove Claire from the hospital may also have taken Rose.
