The next morning, Walter Fleming did not deny knowing his brother had been in Chicago.<\/p>\n
He denied everything else.<\/p>\n
Kenneth and I were back in Walter\u2019s office before nine.<\/p>\n
Lydia sat beside him.<\/p>\n
Walter stood at the window with both hands behind his back.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan attended a medical-industry conference there that week.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo did Melinda,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Walter turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are assuming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am stating that both were in the same city at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat proves nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth added, \u201cBut an internal Fleming company account paid for Melinda\u2019s hotel room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s expression barely changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to an approval code.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich can be assigned.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at him.<\/p>\n
Lydia answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertain administrative staff had authorization to use Mr. Fleming\u2019s executive billing profile.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched Walter.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Ethan have access?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid someone booking travel for Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth leaned back.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019re getting somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is still speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen call Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhones work there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou assume he\u2019ll cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wouldn't he?\u201d<\/p>\n
No one answered.<\/p>\n
That silence was enough.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cHow bad is their relationship?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor and Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter walked toward his desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cComplicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat word is doing heavy work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother and I have disagreed over business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor has resented Ethan for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked irritated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Ethan was better at almost everything Connor wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bluntness surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusiness?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour approval?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
Another family competition disguised as inheritance planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Connor know Ethan was in Chicago with Melinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe apparently suspected someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould Vale have investigated Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s expression changed slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Vale may know whether Ethan is Noah's father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd may have DNA access.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrivate investigators obtain discarded genetic material more easily than most people realize.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Connor admitting Vale had acquired Gabriel\u2019s sample without consent.<\/p>\n
If Vale had tested Ethan too, then the missing investigator might already know Noah\u2019s biological father.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas Ethan ever given DNA for family purposes?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Walter frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAncestry service. Medical screening. Anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lydia shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're moving into deeply private territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo is a forged paternity report tied to an eighteen-million-dollar trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter ignored her.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family completed genetic screening after my sister died of ovarian cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
That immediately caught my attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy siblings and their adult children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSix years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
So legitimate DNA reference material already existed somewhere.<\/p>\n
Kenneth understood at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Vale access those results?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot legally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t my question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about Melinda crying on the phone.<\/p>\n
Ethan used another name.<\/p>\n
If true, he had concealed his identity.<\/p>\n
But why?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did Melinda meet Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're asking the wrong person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m asking the person most likely to know where his brother spends time.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan had investments in hospitality. He traveled constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas Daniel a name he used?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI've never heard that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMiddle name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNickname?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth said, \u201cAlias?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're suggesting my brother regularly deceived women about his identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Kenneth said. \u201cMelinda is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe could be lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer surprised him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not defending her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why assume Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't assume anything anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a moment Walter looked as though that sentence landed personally.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Morales.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found Raymond Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone in the room froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMotel near Plainfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCondition?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBruised. Dehydrated. Angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he being held?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says no.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe claims Connor staged the warehouse photo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat contradicts Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Vale say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Connor asked him to participate in making it look like he\u2019d been kidnapped.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales replied, \u201cTo create leverage against someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter Fleming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every face turned toward Walter.<\/p>\n
He went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Morales heard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re there with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. We need everyone available.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Connor stage Vale\u2019s kidnapping for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still interviewing him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are.\u201d<\/p>\n
I interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Vale know about Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know that name matters?\u201d<\/p>\n
Because police already knew.<\/p>\n
That told me everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cMelinda named him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we need her formally interviewed again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVale says Ethan Fleming was one of his investigation targets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter stood abruptly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Connor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he find?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to conclude Ethan and Melinda met in Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they sleep together?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not something Vale can establish definitively.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDNA can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales became quiet.<\/p>\n
My pulse accelerated.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Vale test Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven't verified his documentation yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMorales.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice became careful.<\/p>\n
\u201cVale claims Ethan Fleming is Noah\u2019s biological father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter sat down.<\/p>\n
Not slowly.<\/p>\n
His knees seemed to fail.<\/p>\n
Lydia put a hand on his shoulder.<\/p>\n
I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow certain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVale says he arranged a comparison using stored genetic material and Noah\u2019s sample.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLegally obtained?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReliable laboratory?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe claims so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChain of custody?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot court-admissible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo scientifically suggestive, legally weak.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked, \u201cDoes Vale still have the report?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice possession?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter covered his face.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, he looked nothing like the patriarch I had known.<\/p>\n
Only a brother.<\/p>\n
Then his hands dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales said, \u201cVale believes so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean believes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Vale, he approached Ethan months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Connor\u2019s direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Connor knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales said, \u201cPossibly before Gabriel filed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked sick.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cWhat happened when Vale approached Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe offered him a chance to quietly acknowledge or deny paternity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds unlike Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently Connor wanted leverage before confronting him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Ethan do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe paid Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor silence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVale says for copies of the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter laughed once.<\/p>\n
It sounded broken.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy entire family apparently pays the same investigator to lie about everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one contradicted him.<\/p>\n
Morales continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan then left the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same period Gabriel filed.<\/p>\n
The same period money moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere in Europe?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwitzerland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter stared toward the windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has a house near Lausanne.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Connor be heading there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked.<\/p>\n
Morales replied, \u201cPossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter immediately reached for his phone.<\/p>\n
Lydia caught his wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's also potentially involved in active litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may not know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe paid Vale fifty thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor evidence. Not necessarily silence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat distinction belongs to investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched the argument.<\/p>\n
Something else bothered me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Ethan is Noah\u2019s father, why would Connor keep Gabriel focused on himself?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth looked over.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cGabriel was useful as a false alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor knew Gabriel wasn't the father, but he let Gabriel file.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause while everyone argued Connor versus Gabriel\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody looked for a third man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter's face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if Ethan is biologically Noah\u2019s father, what happens to the trust?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter went still.<\/p>\n
Kenneth immediately understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan is a Fleming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnswer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trust language specifies a biological descendant in Connor\u2019s line.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Ethan\u2019s child would not qualify Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut would Noah qualify for anything through Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cPotentially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat depends on Ethan\u2019s estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he wealthy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Noah sits between two fortunes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is one way to put it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. He sits between adults treating him like documentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter flinched.<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated again.<\/p>\n
Melinda.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice found Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy attorney told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you know about Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice sounded hollow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it true?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou slept with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the conception window.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever tell him you were pregnant?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter\u2019s head snapped up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me it couldn't be his.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he'd had a vasectomy.\u201d<\/p>\n
That stunned me.<\/p>\n
Walter stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Melinda heard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan had a vasectomy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what he told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter stared at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother never had a vasectomy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melinda began breathing faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he wanted children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he changed his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe froze sperm two years before his divorce because he wanted another child someday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went very still.<\/p>\n
Melinda whispered, \u201cHe lied to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
It seemed everybody in this story had.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cDid Ethan know your real name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know about Connor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot at first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did he find out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I told him I was pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
That aligned with fear.<\/p>\n
Not proof.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you contact him again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Noah was six months old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Noah started looking like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan answered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me never to contact him again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Melinda hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Connor had already made his choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat choice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at me.<\/p>\n
He knew.<\/p>\n
Or suspected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou reacted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Ethan and Connor have history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter stared down at his desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Connor was twenty-one, Ethan covered for him after an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor had been drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cCar accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas anyone hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA cyclist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow badly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Connor face charges?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan said he had been driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
The office fell silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let your brother take responsibility for your son?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter's face hardened with old shame.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCivil settlement. No criminal conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Connor owed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A debt spanning decades.<\/p>\n
One brother protecting a nephew.<\/p>\n
Then possibly fathering that nephew\u2019s child.<\/p>\n
No wonder the truth threatened more than money.<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked, \u201cCould Connor have viewed raising Noah as repayment?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter looked at him sharply.<\/p>\n
I answered first.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
They turned toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor doesn't repay debts that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter watched me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe converts debts into grievances.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're saying Connor would believe Ethan owed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though Ethan protected him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially because Ethan protected him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter sank back.<\/p>\n
That was the saddest thing about Connor.<\/p>\n
He could transform kindness into evidence that someone had power over him.<\/p>\n
My phone chimed.<\/p>\n
A message from Morales.<\/p>\n
Ethan Fleming's attorney just contacted us.<\/p>\n
I read it aloud.<\/p>\n
Walter stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another message appeared.<\/p>\n
Ethan is returning voluntarily.<\/p>\n
A third followed.<\/p>\n
He denies being Noah's father.<\/p>\n
Then a fourth.<\/p>\n
But he has agreed to court-supervised DNA testing.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Walter Fleming did not deny knowing his brother had been in Chicago. He denied everything else. Kenneth and I were back in Walter\u2019s office before nine. Lydia … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30601,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30509\/revisions\/30601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}