Within seconds, two squad cars pulled up and six officers ran towards the house, weapons drawn.
It all happened so fast Majella Piper didn’t appear to react. Until Kristen turned back and said to her gently, ‘My name’s Detective Massey,’ and flashed her police badge. ‘I’m sorry, but this child is not yours.’
Chapter 104
‘LEAVE MY BABY alone!’ Majella thrashed to break free from my grasp.
The child began to cry.
‘These people are stealing my daughter!’ Majella Piper was panic-stricken.
I had the woman in a vice-like grip and locked eyes with her. ‘Listen. That baby isn’t yours. The police are here because your father took someone else’s child.’
The fight went out of her at the mention of her father.
‘You’re wrong. She’s mine. The surrogate is the one who should be arrested. She was going to sell Elspeth.’
Mark was now at my side. ‘I think we’d better go inside,’ he said softly, ‘where we can talk. Paramedics are checking the baby. She’s safe and they’re not going anywhere unless I say.’
His soothing, rational tone seemed to calm her down, at least enough to walk into the lounge room and sit.
Only her hands, clasped tightly together, betrayed the emotions she was battling to keep in check. She focused her attention on the portacot that had been set up next to a rocking chair.
Mark broached, ‘A simple DNA test will clear all this up. For now, your father’s talking to us about Louise Simpson.’
‘Have you arrested her? All this time we thought she’d been stillborn.’ Her face became animated. ‘I couldn’t believe my baby was alive.’
Mark cleared his throat. ‘Have you seen the news in the last two days?’
‘No. Elspeth and I have been getting to know each other.’ She began to fold a crocheted rug from the lounge. ‘Did you know she loves classical music?’
Mark rubbed his hands on his trouser legs.
Majella Piper was in denial. She needed to hear the full truth.
It was up to me. ‘I just left your father with the surrogate you met with. Her real name is Sigrid Hall. She stole Louise Simpson’s identity, feigned being a surrogate and took money from couples like you and your husband. She faked a pregnancy then pretended she’d miscarried.’
‘No.’ Majella was adamant. ‘The pregnancy was real. I saw our baby’s heart beating on the video of the scan.’
‘That was part of her scam. She used the scan of a child who died two years ago, with the names and dates changed to look like she was a surrogate mother.’
Majella’s eyes narrowed as the truth began to sink in.
‘But Dad said she admitted it was my baby.’
I pieced the story together for her, and the police. ‘He went to the house of the real Louise Simpson, whose identity had been stolen. She was innocent and didn’t know anything about the fake surrogate. She was babysitting an eight-week-old girl, Zoe Ruffalo, for a friend.’
Majella’s eyes flashed from Mark to me, confused.
‘Your father admitted to murdering the real Louise Simpson and taking Zoe Ruffalo. If it’s any consolation, he really believed she was yours.’
‘Murdered …? No. That can’t be,’ Majella pleaded, as the truth slowly sank in.
This poor woman had already grieved for a child that never existed. Now she’d lost a child who was never hers.
Mark stood. ‘You’ll need to come with us to the station for a formal statement,’ he said, with a hint of regret.
Kristen Massey came in and took Majella Piper formally into custody. It was up to the Director of Public Prosecutions as to whether or not she’d be charged with conspiracy after the homicide.