The Dark Side - Danielle Steel Page 0,76
her kid.” He couldn’t have put it more bluntly, and Cathy was glad she had come to talk to him. He knew a lot about MBP and made the situation very clear. It was equally obvious that Cathy was in a terrible position, and had to report it if she believed it was true. She would have to do so for Jaime’s sake, which was her responsibility here, as Jaime’s primary physician, and a licensed doctor in the state of New York. “I’ll give you my honest opinion in the morning, as best I can. With MBP, you almost never know for sure, unless you find her with a knife in the kid’s back. But they’re a lot more subtle than that as a rule. You have to go with your gut. You read about these cases in the papers, but not very often.” They talked about his trip to L.A. after that, and her busy practice, and they promised to have dinner when he got back. It was eight-thirty when she finally left. He had given her a lot to think about. She didn’t call Austin that night. She had nothing to tell him yet, except the general information Paul had shared with her, but Austin already knew it from the book his mother had given him. And if she called him, Zoe would be there. Cathy had to wait to hear from Paul anyway.
* * *
—
Paul called her the next morning at eight A.M., from the airport, before his flight to L.A.
“I read the file last night. If you want my personal opinion, I think you have an almost classic case of Munchausen by proxy on your hands. She fits the bill in a number of ways, just judging by the child’s injuries, and the assortment of specialists she’s been to. But the evidence you’ve got is pretty benign in a practical sense. Falling down stairs as a toddler, resulting in a broken arm, slipping off a swing, broken wrist. Running at a pool and falling in, after she slices her chin open. Rolling off a changing table. She’s gotten injured, but it’s cleverly done. It’s a lot of what appears to be small stuff. It’s not so small if you look at the volume of it, but there’s no obvious violence. She hasn’t poisoned her, or pushed her down the stairs. She wasn’t even at home for the stair incident, but she set it up. She unscrewed and removed the gate Jaime’s father had installed. I don’t think he could win a case with what he has. Even Child Protective Services couldn’t pull it off. She’s too smart, and they might try to accuse the father, which would be worse. What if they gave custody to her? She’s the superstar mom in all this, whom everyone sees adoringly, according to what you told me last night.”
“What do you think we should do?”
“He may have to wait for more concrete proof. Jaime will inevitably get hurt again. And he’ll have to watch his wife like a hawk, while appearing not to. It’s not fair, but I think it may be too soon. And medically, you can keep an eye on her. Don’t let her go to some quack who’d operate on the kid.”
“I can’t stop her.” Cathy sounded disappointed. They had gotten the confirmation Austin wanted, but no weapons to use against her.
“Keep me posted on this. It’s an interesting case.”
“It’s more than that,” Cathy said emotionally, “she’s a sweet, innocent kid in the clutches of a monster if what you and Austin believe is true.”
“I’m sure she is. I’d be happy to testify if they ever want me to. I make a great expert witness, I’ve done it before.”
“I’ll tell Austin,” she said, and Paul had to catch his flight.
“See you when I get back.”
“Thank you for reading the file and the good advice.”
“It’s not what he wants to hear, about moving forward to stop her. But I agree with his mother. I think it’s fairly certain that the child’s mother has Munchausen by proxy. That’s something at least.”
“Have a good time in California.”
“I’ll call when I get back.”
She hung up and waited until nine-thirty to call Austin at his office. She repeated everything Paul had said, verbatim, as she remembered it and from notes she had jotted down when she talked to him.
“Talk about good and bad news,” Austin said, sounding depressed. “He agrees with my mother’s diagnosis, and my suspicions, and we