Still waiting on the results from Paulines phone, Rachel thought of any other connections the victims might have. If theyd all seen Pauline Vick at some point, that might actually make for a pretty secure case. But Pauline had only seen Hannah…a fact that they could verify through the lists theyd gotten from the clinics.

Yet, as she looked at the records, there was one more similarity that stood out. It may not mean anything, but she wasnt sure, as she wasnt very well-versed on fertility treatments. The records showed that all three women had been scheduled for IVF treatments. Rachel did know enough to realize that meant donor eggs would be fertilized in a laboratory and then implanted into the patients uterus.

In other words, all three women would have required donor eggs.

Rachels mind started to spin. It was one of those links that seemed like a stretch at first but the more she sat on it, the more relevant it seemed.

Hey, Jack, how much do you know about IVF treatments?

Jack looked up from the laptop and frowned at her. Sadly, I dont know if this is some sort of trick question.

Its not. But Im wondering…each woman would have needed donor eggs for their treatments.

All three of them were undergoing the same sort of treatment?

Yeah, it seems that way, Rachel said, tapping the sheets of paper that confirmed this. And from what I understand, its a rather popular treatment but…still. It seems sort of odd, right?

I dont know. Sorry…Im going to be the idiot male here. Whats an IVF treatment?

In vitro fertilization. Taking an egg into a laboratory and trying to fertilize it with donated sperm.

Jack wrinkled his nosy playfully and shook his head. So now I know. Anyway…you think that might be important?

I dont know. But what I do know is that I want a backup plan already in place if the techs come up with nothing from her phone.

Rachel had already picked up the phone and was pulling up the number for Regency. She was sure shed spoken to the woman that had answered before at some point but wasnt positive. She felt like shed called and visited about a trillion times so far.

This is Agent Gift, Rachel said. I need to get some information about donor eggs for the case Im currently working on.

What sort of information? the receptionist asked.

If possible, I need to know the names of the women that donated eggs that could have ended up going to the victims.