Truth and Justice - Fern Michaels Page 0,40

would have done in her shoes.

“We did learn one more thing, though. The young woman we bribed was a little chatty. She said an egg, as in one egg, could go for as high as $50,000. Sometimes more. The norm is $25,000, at least at her clinic. She said the bigger the clinic, the more prestigious the clinic, the starting price is $100,000 if the owner wants to sell them. She said there is one woman who became a millionaire doing just that. That, to me, is just wrong. I don’t know why, but it just seems . . . wrong for some reason,” Yoko said. It was hard to mistake the anger in her voice.

The Sisters batted that summary around for a few minutes. The end result was they all agreed with Yoko, it felt wrong, but people were people and for many, money was the name of the game. No one was breaking any laws except Sara whatever name she was going by at the time.

“You’re up, Isabelle,” Annie said.

Isabelle grimaced. “You aren’t going to believe this! I found the sister’s social security numbers. That’s as in plural. She has, like, a dozen. Actually, eleven. With different names. I had to . . . um . . . ask Abner’s friend Phil for some help. He went on the dark web, someplace Abner will not allow me to go, and he came up with the information for me. She has a number for the name Nolan, her married name Conover, and the very first one ever issued is in the name of Sara Marie Windsor, so I guess that is the name she was given when she was born.

“She has eight aliases and a social security number to go with each. And there are a dozen more identities that are in process. I have the list on my computer. She was a very busy lady, that’s for sure. So far I have not been able to hack into her brokerage accounts or her bank accounts. I don’t know whether she doesn’t have any or she’s managed to get a super-duper identity I haven’t dug up yet. Plain and simple, the woman is a con artist. None of the addresses attached to the alias social security numbers are residential. Some are stores, one is a church, and one is a baseball field, that kind of thing. She covered her tracks really well. I’m still working on it. Just remember, I’m not Abner or Phil. I’m a hacker in training.”

“We’ll take that into consideration, dear,” Myra said. “What you did manage to get is remarkable and more than we had starting out. Just do your best.”

“I have nothing to report other than my red bag has now been replenished. I feel confident in saying that if anything crops up, I can handle it. I’m free now if you need me to do anything,” Alexis said.

Maggie looked up. “Is it my turn?” Not bothering to wait for a response, she rattled on. “I don’t have much. That chick was really good at covering her tracks, that’s for sure. Right now, I am perusing her high-school yearbook and trying to see if any of her classmates are on Facebook. I have sent dozens of queries, but so far, no one is getting back to me. What I do know is she has not attended a single class reunion. That’s high school. As far as I can tell, the major’s sister did not go to college.”

“Keep at it, dear. Eventually, something will turn up. I guess that leaves Annie and me to report in. Annie, do you want to do the honors?” Myra asked.

“Happy to, Myra. First of all, I want to say Walter Reed is an amazing hospital. It’s also a very sad place. Myra and I spoke to the major’s nurse, his doctors, a few of the volunteers, and several patients who knew Major Nolan. We were both convinced there was no negligence or anything like that with his care. Everything was top-notch. He had the best of the best. It just . . . it just wasn’t meant to be,” Annie said, a catch in her voice. “His nurse, Lieutenant Gibson, said she spent every available moment she could with him. She said they prayed together, and they cried together. Her only regret was that she didn’t press him more on his background. She said when she did, he got agitated, and that was not good for him, so she