Chapter 6 - THE DOCTOR WHO DISAPPEARED
Chadworth didn’t wait for the police.
He called Dr. Vale himself.
Disconnected.
Marcus tried the hospital.
“He resigned three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“They won’t say.”
“Home address?”
Marcus already had someone checking.
Sabina finally sat down.
Not because anyone told her to.
Because her legs seemed unable to hold her.
Chadworth saw it.
“You know him.”
“No.”
“You looked scared when Marcus said his name.”
“I’m scared because you’ve turned this house into a hostage scene.”
Chadworth pointed toward the passports.
“You did that.”
A siren sounded beyond the gates.
Then another.
Police were finally arriving.
Sabina leaned toward Chadworth.
“You bring them inside and your family name is going to be all over the news by dinner.”
He stared at her.
“You still think I care about that?”
“You should.”
“I care about my daughters.”
Sabina smiled faintly.
“Then you really should ask what Elizabeth did before she died.”
Chadworth froze.
“What does that mean?”
Sabina said nothing.
Police entered moments later.
Questions began.
Separate rooms.
Statements.
Photographs.
Evidence bags.
The syringe was collected.
The forged documents were taken.
Elliot requested a lawyer, which would have been funny if he weren’t already one.
Sabina refused to answer questions.
Rosamund stayed with the girls.
For two hours, the mansion became a crime scene.
Then Detective Nina Alvarez asked Chadworth to step into his study.
She was in her forties.
Calm eyes.
No interest in his money.
“I need you to understand something,” she said.
“What?”
“This may move beyond domestic abuse.”
“I know.”
“No. I mean much further.”
She placed a printed image on his desk.
A photograph from Elizabeth’s USB.
It showed Elliot meeting Dr. Vale in a parking garage.
Another showed Sabina entering the same building twenty minutes later.
Date: two months before Elizabeth died.
Chadworth stared.
“Why would they meet?”
“We don’t know.”
Nina placed down another document.
“One of the shell companies mentioned in your wife’s files paid Dr. Vale $480,000.”
Chadworth felt cold.
“For what?”
“The transfer memo says consulting.”
“Consulting for what?”
“No answer yet.”
Chadworth looked toward the window.
His daughters were in the garden with Rosamund and two officers.
Gemma was holding the stuffed rabbit.
Its back hung open where he had ripped out the drive.
He suddenly felt ashamed again.
He had spent years calling himself a protector.
He hadn’t even known what was happening ten rooms away.
Nina studied him.
“Mr. Prescott, did your wife ever express doubts about her medical care?”
“Not to me.”
“Any unexplained reaction to medication?”
“She was sick. There were always reactions.”
“Any sudden decline?”
He looked at her.
“Toward the end, yes.”
“How sudden?”
He tried to remember.
The last three weeks.
Elizabeth vomiting.
Confusion.
Extreme weakness.
Dr. Vale saying the cancer had spread faster than expected.
Chadworth had believed him.
Why wouldn’t he?
Doctors weren’t enemies.
Attorneys weren’t enemies.
Fiancées weren’t enemies.
That was the problem.
Danger rarely introduced itself honestly.
His phone rang.
Marcus.
Chadworth answered.
“We found Vale’s house.”
“And?”
“Empty.”
“Recently?”
“Looks rushed.”
“Anything useful?”
“Maybe.”
Marcus hesitated.
“There’s blood in the kitchen.”
Chadworth went silent.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Nina heard him.
“Send me the address.”
Marcus did.
Then added, “There’s something else.”
“What?”
“We found a safe open in his office.”
“Empty?”
“Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“One envelope was left.”
Chadworth waited.
May you like
Marcus spoke slowly.
“It has your name on it.”
