Chapter 3
Daniel Cross entered the library carrying a black medical bag.
He was in his early fifties.
His dark hair was threaded with gray, and exhaustion sat heavily beneath his eyes.
When he saw Sophie in Richard’s arms, he stopped.
For several seconds, he seemed unable to breathe.
“You look like your mother,” he whispered.
Richard positioned himself between Daniel and Sophie.
“Who are you?”
Daniel lowered his bag to the floor.
“I was Catherine’s doctor.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“My wife’s oncologist was Dr. Samuel Grant.”
“I wasn’t her oncologist.”
“Then what kind of doctor were you?”
Daniel looked toward the officers standing near the library entrance.
“May we speak privately?”
“No.”
Vanessa had been brought downstairs under Thomas’s supervision.
She stood near the fireplace, her arms folded tightly.
Daniel saw her.
The sadness disappeared from his face.
“You.”
Vanessa gave a humorless laugh.
“You should have stayed gone.”
Daniel reached into his coat.
Thomas immediately stepped forward.
“Hands where we can see them.”
Daniel froze.
“I’m retrieving an identification card.”
“Slowly.”
He removed a leather wallet and handed it over.
The card identified him as Dr. Daniel Cross, a physician specializing in internal medicine and medical ethics.
His license was active.
Richard examined the photograph.
“Why did Catherine tell me to call you if Vanessa came near Sophie?”
Daniel’s gaze moved to the folded photograph on the desk.
“Because Catherine discovered Vanessa was involved in her treatment.”
Richard felt the room narrow around him.
“Vanessa isn’t a doctor.”
“No. She was a patient liaison at the Harrington Clinic.”
“I volunteered there,” Vanessa said. “That isn’t a crime.”
Daniel ignored her.
“Catherine was referred to Harrington for severe fatigue, headaches, and episodes of confusion. The symptoms began about four months before she died.”
Richard remembered.
Catherine had started forgetting appointments.
She dropped glasses.
She once became disoriented while driving home from Sophie’s preschool.
Tests had shown a rare neurological condition.
At least, that was what Richard had been told.
“What are you saying?”
Daniel opened his bag and removed a sealed binder.
“I’m saying her test results were altered.”
Richard did not take the binder.
He stared at Daniel.
“That’s impossible.”
“It happened.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“To conceal what was actually making her sick.”
Sophie rested her head against Richard’s shoulder.
He wanted her out of the room.
But she screamed whenever Vanessa disappeared from her sight.
He turned to Maria.
“Take Sophie to the kitchen. Stay where she can see me through the glass doors.”
Maria nodded.
Sophie whispered, “Don’t let Vanessa come.”
“She won’t.”
Richard watched until his daughter was seated in the adjoining breakfast room.
Then he faced Daniel.
“What was making Catherine sick?”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
“A medication that had never been prescribed to her.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
“This is absurd.”
Daniel opened the binder.
Inside were laboratory reports, consultation notes, and copies of electronic records.
“Catherine’s blood contained increasing levels of a powerful anticoagulant. In small amounts, it prevents clotting. In larger amounts over time, it can cause internal bleeding, dizziness, weakness, and neurological symptoms.”
Richard gripped the back of a chair.
“The official cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage.”
“Yes.”
The words struck like a physical blow.
Vanessa shook her head.
“Millions of people take blood thinners.”
“Catherine didn’t,” Daniel replied.
“Then she must have taken them accidentally.”
“For four months?”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“Maybe she hid it from Richard.”
Daniel opened another section.
“I tested her twice at a laboratory outside Harrington. Both tests confirmed the drug. When I confronted the clinic administrator, my access was revoked.”
Richard stared at the documents.
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
“I did. I had no proof of who administered it, and Catherine refused to accuse anyone until she knew how it was being done.”
“Why would she wait?”
“Because Sophie was in the house.”
Richard’s breath caught.
Daniel continued.
“Catherine believed someone close to the family was entering your home. She feared that if the person realized she knew, Sophie might become a target.”
Richard looked at Vanessa.
She remained still, but a pulse jumped rapidly in her throat.
“You didn’t know us then,” he said.
Vanessa raised her chin.
“I met you after Catherine died.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Daniel took out an employee photograph from the clinic.
It showed Vanessa with shorter hair and glasses.
The name beneath it read Vanessa Hale.
Richard had known her as Vanessa Mercer.
“You changed your name.”
“My mother remarried.”
“You changed it three weeks after Catherine’s funeral,” Daniel said.
Vanessa turned to Richard.
“People change names. It proves nothing.”
“The photograph proves you knew Catherine.”
“I helped hundreds of patients.”
“You told me you had never met her.”
“I didn’t remember her.”
Sophie appeared in the breakfast-room doorway.
“She remembered Mommy.”
Every adult turned.
Maria followed quickly.
“Sophie, sweetheart, come back.”
But Sophie pointed toward Vanessa.
“She said Mommy was weak.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Richard knelt.
“When did she say that?”
“When she locked me in Mommy’s room.”
Richard’s blood went cold.
Catherine’s bedroom had been kept closed after her death.
Richard had preserved it for nearly two years before Vanessa convinced him the room was unhealthy for Sophie.
It had recently been converted into a dressing room.
“What happened in there?” he asked gently.
Sophie looked at Vanessa and began twisting the hem of her shirt.
Richard moved so Vanessa was outside her line of sight.
“You’re safe. Tell Daddy.”
“She asked where Mommy hid the red book.”
Daniel inhaled sharply.
Richard looked at him.
“What red book?”
“Catherine’s journal.”
“I never saw one.”
“She recorded symptoms, dates, meals, visitors, and anything unusual. She planned to give it to me.”
“Did she?”
“No. She died the night before our meeting.”
Vanessa laughed softly.
“You’re building a murder story around a child’s imagination.”
Sophie began to cry.
“She said nobody believes little girls.”
Richard stood.
His expression silenced the room.
He faced Thomas.
“Vanessa is not to go within twenty feet of Sophie.”
“I’m your fiancée,” Vanessa snapped.
“You are a suspect in the abuse of my child.”
“Suspect? You already convicted me.”
“I saw enough with my own eyes.”
Sirens sounded beyond the estate gates.
Two police vehicles approached the house.
Vanessa looked toward the windows.
Then she moved.
She grabbed a heavy brass ornament from the fireplace mantel and swung it at Daniel’s head.
Thomas intercepted her arm.
The ornament fell against the rug.
The second security officer restrained her while she kicked and screamed.
“Let me go!”
Sophie shrieked.
Richard rushed to his daughter and covered her ears.
Vanessa twisted toward him.
“You are destroying your family!”
“No,” Richard said. “I’m finally protecting it.”
Police officers entered moments later.
Detective Laura Bennett led them.
She listened while Richard described the dog bowl, the locked drawer, the disposable phone, and Catherine’s pendant.
Vanessa interrupted constantly.
“That necklace belongs to me.”
“Sophie planted the phone.”
“Daniel is obsessed with Catherine.”
“They’re trying to take my money.”
Detective Bennett looked at her.
“Are you claiming a six-year-old planted a hidden phone in your locked drawer?”
Vanessa realized the mistake too late.
“I meant Maria.”
The detective ordered the items collected and photographed.
Then she crouched several feet from Sophie.
“My name is Laura. You’re not in trouble. May I ask who gave you the first picture?”
“The doctor man.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I gave it to Maria yesterday. I never approached Sophie.”
Maria’s face went pale.
Everyone turned toward her.
Richard spoke softly.
“Maria?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I put it beneath the dog bowl.”
Vanessa stared at her with open hatred.
Maria continued quickly.
“Dr. Cross came while Miss Vanessa was outside. He said Mrs. Sterling had asked him to protect Sophie if Vanessa ever entered this house. I didn’t understand. Then I saw the photograph.”
“Why hide it under the bowl?” Bennett asked.
“Miss Vanessa came back unexpectedly. I heard her at the door. The bowl was the nearest place.”
Sophie wiped her cheeks.
“I found it when she made me put my breakfast there.”
Detective Bennett stood.
“Vanessa Mercer, we need you to come to the station.”
Vanessa stopped struggling.
“Am I under arrest?”
“For now, we’re investigating child endangerment and assault. Whether you leave the station depends on what we find.”
Vanessa looked at Richard.
“If I walk out that door, your company goes down with me.”
Richard held Sophie closer.
“My company can be rebuilt.”
She smiled strangely.
“Can Catherine’s reputation?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Vanessa saw it.
“So you didn’t tell him everything.”
Richard looked at Daniel.
“What is she talking about?”
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Vanessa leaned toward Richard as the officers escorted her away.
“Ask your honorable doctor why Catherine paid him two million dollars.”
The front door closed behind her.
Richard turned to Daniel.
The physician’s face was gray.
“Did my wife pay you two million dollars?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
May you like
Daniel glanced toward Sophie.
“Because Catherine wanted me to disappear.”
