Chapter 17 - THE MISSING PAGEJulia Mercer did not ask for money.
She did not ask for immunity.
She asked that Emily come alone.
I hated that.
Emily went anyway.
I waited in the hotel lobby with Brooks pretending I was fine.
I was not.
Forty-seven minutes later, Emily returned carrying a sealed plastic sleeve.
Inside was a piece of paper.
Claire’s handwriting.
Page five.
The letter we had believed ended at four pages had not.
On the fifth, Claire wrote:
Marcus will think the hospital caused everything.
They didn’t.
Some people failed me.
Some people tried to help.
Do not simplify them because anger is easier than grief.
Then she named Julia.
Julia helped me copy these records because I’m afraid they will disappear.
That was the missing piece.
Claire herself had suspected records might be altered.
But why?
Emily sat beside me.
“Julia says Claire discovered Reed’s disciplinary hearing by accident.”
“How?”
“She overheard Vance and Reed arguing.”
“And?”
“She asked Julia to make copies of her chart.”
“Before surgery?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
Emily looked at the plastic sleeve.
“Julia mailed them to Richard.”
I stared at her.
“Richard said nothing.”
“Because they never arrived.”
Brooks joined us.
“Julia kept the tracking receipt. Package delivered to Bennett residence the morning after Claire died.”
My mind raced.
Diane and Richard’s house.
Staff.
Security.
Family.
“Who signed?”
Brooks turned the copy.
A name.
M. Sloan.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Margaret Sloan.
The nanny who years later drugged Zion.
Emily whispered, “That’s impossible.”
It wasn’t.
Margaret had worked temporarily for Diane’s neighbor at the time.
Baby Ellis.
Claire had met her at the hospital.
We already knew that.
But Margaret had also apparently been at Diane’s home the morning Claire’s records arrived.
The past snapped together in a way I hated.
Brooks contacted the prison.
Margaret agreed to speak.
Not because of me.
Because Emily asked.
We sat across from her behind reinforced glass.
Margaret looked older.
Smaller.
Nothing like the woman who once controlled my house.
Emily showed her the signature.
“Did you sign this?”
Margaret stared.
Then closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
My hands curled.
“What happened to the package?”
“I gave it to Richard.”
Richard denied ever receiving it.
Margaret shook her head.
“He was in the study.”
“What was inside?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
She looked directly at me.
“I opened it.”
Emily inhaled sharply.
“Why?”
“Because Patricia Monroe told me to.”
Rosebridge.
Again.
My pulse hammered.
“Why would Rosebridge care about Claire’s medical chart?”
“They didn’t.”
“Then why?”
Margaret swallowed.
“Patricia wanted anything Claire had collected about me.”
Of course.
Claire had already expressed suspicion about Margaret.
Rosebridge knew.
Margaret had feared Claire’s private files contained evidence against her.
“What did you find?”
“Medical papers. A letter. Nothing about me.”
“Then what?”
“I called Patricia.”
“And?”
“She told me to put it back.”
“Did you?”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“No.”
“What did you do?”
“I panicked.”
“What did you do?”
“I gave the hospital records to someone who had been waiting outside.”
My voice turned cold.
“Who?”
“Thomas Vance.”
The former hospital CEO.
“But the letter?”
“I kept it.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“For what?”
“Against Patricia.”
Emily stared at her.
“And the fifth page?”
Margaret nodded.
“It mentioned me.”
I understood.
Claire had written that Julia was copying records.
Possibly records involving Margaret’s conduct on the pediatric floor.
Margaret removed the page to hide her connection.
“Who added the quarter-million-dollar line?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“To make Richard look responsible if the letter ever surfaced.”
Even years ago, Margaret had been building escape routes.
I wanted to hate her all over again.
Then she said something unexpected.
“Vance didn’t destroy the records.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he was afraid of Reed.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Reed had his own copy.”
Related Stories
