She led Rachel down the central hallway and came to a small office just short of the waiting room. She closed the door softly behind them and took a seat behind the single desk in the room. There were no additional chairs for Rachel to sit in.

I want to start, Carpenter said, by letting you know that Ive heard about what happened with Pauline Vick. I find it outrageous and borderline ridiculous. That woman has been through hell and I cant imagine what shes going through right now.

Its not a decision we made lightly, Rachel said, not liking that she felt as if she had to defend herself.

I can tell you with no hesitancy at all that Pauline Vick is not a killer. Ive known her for the better part of ten years and watched her go through each and every painful step of being unable to conceive, losing her husband, and then finally getting pregnant and losing that child.

I would love nothing more than for you to be right, Rachel said. And thats why were here. Im tracking one final thing, one lead that may help to

I was told you want a list of egg donor names.

Thats right.

Well, there are a lot of donors. We have more than sixty. And there is no selective process to figure out which recipient gets which egg. So, I cant weed out the list like that.

Rachel nodded, once again trying to slip herself into a killers mindset. She thought of Alex Lynch sitting across from her in the visitation room, those manic eyes drilling holes into her. She thought of the hatred it must take to do what he did, the absolute lack of empathy. It brought up another question, one she was still considering when she asked it.

Im curious, Rachel said. Are there women that ever regret the decision to donate eggs? Have you ever had a woman come back and ask to have the eggs destroyed?

Even before the question was out, Rachel knew that shed potentially stumbled upon something. She could see it in Mrs. Carpenters face.

Its very rare, Carpenter said, but as it just so happens, there was a woman that made this request a few weeks ago. Three weeks, to be exact.

Bingo, Rachel thought. She stepped toward the desk, her eyes locked on Carpenter. And how did that go?