Five minutes later, she had a laptop connected to the departments network and printing out medical records for Alvin and Wendy Fuller as far back as twenty years ago. The volumes were slim; it appeared Alvin had only been to the doctor three times over the span of about five years and each visit had been something relatively minor: the flu, a sinus infection, and a sprained ankle.

Wendy Fullers file was a little thicker, though not by much. She tended to have a lot of migraines, from what Kate was seeing. Other than that, there wasnt much of note.

Not until the last three pages. The final page listed a visit for a series of tests. It took Kate a while to dance around the medical jargon, but she was fairly certain these were tests that Wendy Fuller had asked to have donenot ones that had been suggested by an MD. They were mostly blood tests for something called FSH, but there was also a referral to see a specialist.

DeMarco…theres a medical abbreviation here…FSH. It sounds familiar but I cant for the life of me pull it to memory.

FSH…isnt that something to do with fertility? She whipped out her phone like it was a magic wand and typed the abbreviation into Google. It took less than three seconds for her to get the result. FSH. Follicle-stimulating hormone. It says here that FSH can help in preparing a womans eggs for release each month.

Kate nodded as she flipped to the next page. This was a copy of a record from another doctorpresumably the specialist that Waynesboro Family Medicine had referred Wendy Fuller to. There was a lot of medical terminology that went over Kates head but there was a list of tests that told her quite a bit: hormone tests, ovulation testing, assorted fertility treatments…

Look at this, Kate said, slipping it over to DeMarco. It looks like Wendy Fuller had concerns about her fertility. And if you check the date, it looks like all of these tests and treatments were recommended about a year before Mercy was born.

Seems like a happy story to me, then, DeMarco said. Whatever tests they felt Wendy needed obviously worked.

That was my first thought, too. But the math doesnt work. Her first appointment was just a little over a year before Mercy was born. That would mean she had questions and concerns about fertility just three months before Mercy would have been conceived. And I dont know that any sort of treatment would take after only two or three months.

That does seem weird, doesnt it?