Chapter 8 - The Doctor Who Manufactured Madness
Dr. Wallace was arrested before sunrise.
Police found him attempting to board a private flight to Montreal.
He carried two passports.
He also carried a burner phone containing messages from Daniel Cross.
Kevin read the messages inside the library while detectives searched the mansion.
Keep Lauren emotional.
Document every outburst.
If she reports the transfers, we need Kevin to believe she is unstable.
Another message appeared three days before the crash.
Increase the children’s medication after the funeral.
Their memories are becoming a problem.
Kevin nearly crushed the phone in his hand.
Detective Elena Ruiz stopped him.
“We need that intact.”
Kevin placed it on the table.
“Daniel drugged my sons to erase what they remembered.”
“We believe Dr. Wallace prescribed the drugs.”
“Daniel paid him.”
“We are tracing the payments.”
“Where is Daniel?”
“He left his apartment before our officers arrived.”
Kevin looked toward the windows.
“He will come here.”
“Why?”
“Because I have the drive.”
Ruiz studied him.
“You need to surrender it.”
Kevin hesitated.
The detective noticed.
“You do have it.”
“It may contain the only complete record of what happened.”
“Then let us protect it.”
Kevin thought about the fake security guard.
He thought about the deleted footage.
He thought about his mother’s fear.
“I do not know who Daniel owns.”
Ruiz stepped closer.
“You called the police because you need help.”
“No.”
Kevin looked upstairs.
“I called because my sons need witnesses.”
An officer entered the library carrying a velvet jewelry box.
“We found this in the maid’s room.”
Annie stood near the doorway.
Her face changed when the officer opened it.
Lauren’s diamond necklace lay inside.
Kevin stared at her.
Annie shook her head.
“I have never seen that box.”
The officer removed a bundle of cash from beneath the necklace.
There were also photocopies of the children’s passports.
Margaret stepped into the room.
“I warned you.”
Kevin looked at Annie.
The evidence appeared deliberate.
Almost too deliberate.
Detective Ruiz turned toward Annie.
“Did you place these items in your room?”
“No.”
“Did anyone have access to your belongings?”
“Every member of the household staff.”
Margaret gave a cold laugh.
“She has been here six days.”
“She entered a locked bedroom.”
“She slept with the children.”
“She suddenly knows about hidden passages and family secrets.”
Annie looked at Kevin.
He wanted to defend her immediately.
Then he saw the passport copies.
Fear entered where trust had started to grow.
“Why were you cleaning Lauren’s room?” he asked.
Annie’s face fell.
“I followed Jordan.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“I was never assigned to that floor.”
“Then why were you there?”
“Because I heard him crying.”
Margaret moved beside Kevin.
“She targeted the boys.”
Annie stared at him.
“You know that is not true.”
Kevin remembered five nannies.
Five failures.
Five people he had blamed because blaming them was easier than staying.
But he also remembered the photograph sent from outside the bedroom.
Someone inside the house had provided access.
Detective Ruiz approached Annie.
“Until we verify your statement, you need to come with us.”
Justin ran into the room.
“Don’t take her!”
Jordan threw himself around Annie’s waist.
“She didn’t steal Mommy’s necklace!”
Ruiz hesitated.
Margaret did not.
“Remove the children.”
Kevin looked at his mother.
Her voice had sounded like an order.
Not a frightened suggestion.
Annie slowly lowered herself to Jordan’s height.
“Listen to me.”
“You stay with your brother.”
“You stay with your father.”
Jordan sobbed.
“But Daddy lets everyone leave.”
Annie looked at Kevin.
The accusation belonged to a five-year-old.
It still carried the weight of a verdict.
Kevin stepped between Annie and the detective.
“No one takes her anywhere.”
Ruiz’s expression hardened.
“You are interfering with an investigation.”
“I am correcting one.”
Kevin lifted the jewelry box.
“The dust underneath it has been disturbed.”
He pointed toward Margaret’s gloves on the table.
A thin streak of red velvet clung to one fingertip.
May you like
Margaret looked down.
Then she ran.
