Page 75 of Private Exhibit
At the very bottom, in tiny text, he found links referencing five other DNA profiles.
Devon gasped. On every other file he'd handled, those DNA profiles pointed to blood relatives. It was something the hospital's system ran automatically. Almost any time a patient came in, regardless of the reason, a small blood draw was taken and fed into a machine that analyzed the DNA and then compared it with all other DNA samples in the database. The purpose was two-fold: one, the system looked for any genetic relations, which allowed the hospital to not only have another avenue to reach next-of-kin but also helped them look for genetic conditions, should something like that be relevant; and, two, it helped to consolidate all of a patient's records, just in case the patient's name or date of birth was entered incorrectly upon intake.
In Dannika's case, three of the links were for exact DNA matches, but under completely different names, while the other two were flagged with a footnote:'secondary profile.'
What the hells?
Devon clicked on the first link and displayed the file side-by-side with Dannika's. Sure enough, they were an exact DNA match. Devon opened another and did the same thing, seeing the same results. He moved the files around, giving himself space to open the rest.
The three that had been linked as an exact match were just that. But the other two—the ones flagged as being secondary profiles—made Devon sit back with a gasp. Genetically, the secondary profiles were for Dannika's sibling, not Dannika herself.
Devon frowned. Did she evenhavea sibling? Oliver had never said as much. Maybe Oliver didn't even know?
Except, in one of the files—one under the name Rachel Stone—the notes indicated those two sets of DNA had come from the same person.
Devon's eyes went wide as he read. Samples had been taken in the form of a blood draw, a cheek swab, and even a hair extraction. The analyses of the latter two were the same, but the former—the blood draw—was different.
Only the latter matched the DNA recorded in Dannika's file. When Devon went back and checked, sure enough, Dannika's samples had all been in the form of cheek swabs. Never a blood draw.
My gods.All six files were for the exact same person. Different names. Slightly different dates of birth, which a patient could easily lie about, especially if he or she came in under an alias. And two distinct DNA profiles. Still, there was no denying it.
They were all Dannika. A chimera. Two people in one.
Damn. No wonder Oliver hadn't been able to find out how Dannika died when he tried hacking the hospital. It wasn't actually in Dannika's file. For her final visit, she'd been registered under another name.
Devon went through each of the files, laying them out in order by visit date. Most of them were for regular checkups: blood work, STD panels, physical exams. Then he found a series of feminizing surgeries and hormone treatments.Oh!Now the two distinct sets of DNA made more sense.
Dannika had been trans.
Besides those records, there were a series of incidents marked down as'accidents'but were clearly some sort of abuse or domestic violence. Devon winced. Oliver had mentioned Dannika having a hard life, but seeing it all laid out on a screen like that—especially with pictures attached—made it much more real.
He pushed all the files aside and focused on the last one. Dannika's autopsy was documented under the RachelStone profile—hence the extra-thorough DNA analyses—and her emergency contact was listed as Gavin Lee.
Devon blinked.Holy shit. Gavin Lee owned The Dungeon. Devon knew that from when the Gentleman Hackers had tested the club's security recently. Was that why Dannika had been there on her last night? Was Gavin the'he'referred to in her trampled suicide note?
That was going to take some more research. Devon put that aside for the moment and did a quick check of the other aliases. The file under Dannika Wells also showed Lee as the emergency contact, but all the other aliases listed Oliver Wells instead.
Gods. That was why Oliver hadn't been able to get any information when he'd approached the hospital directly right after Dannika died. She'd been brought in under a name that didn't allow him access. And under the wrong name at that.
Now, Devon could get him some answers.
He took a deep breath and reached for the tab for the autopsy report.
His phone vibrated, startling him. Devon gripped the edge of the desk, trying to catch his breath. When his phone vibrated again, he scrambled to pull it out, thinking it had to be Oliver.
Instead, he found one message from his bank, notifying him of a deposit to his account. The next was a text from an unknown sender.
[BLOCKED]: I'm sorry that took so long. I meant to pay you last night, but things got really crazy here. -Grim
Oh. It was his payment for the hacking job he'd submitted. Devon felt a tiny hint of relief, knowing he'd be able to make rent now.
He replied with a quickthank youtext, then set his phone aside. After taking a moment to regain his focus, Devon reached out again and tapped on the autopsy tab, opening the file.
Devon gasped.Oh my gods. He'd seen so many of these over the past few days, but none of them had truly registered. They were all strangers. Granted, Dannika was a stranger, too, but Oliver had known her.
And Devon was going to have to break the news of how she died.
“Dev?”
