Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE HALLWAY
Ruth called Patricia immediately.
No answer.
Marcus called hospital security.
Busy.
Then his police radio exploded with voices.
“Possible armed suspect, pediatric wing.”
Ruth ran.
Marcus grabbed her.
“Car.”
They reached the hospital in eleven minutes.
Ruth barely waited for the vehicle to stop.
She raced through the emergency entrance.
Police filled the corridor.
“Emma!”
Patricia appeared.
“She’s safe.”
Ruth almost collapsed.
“Where?”
“Secure room.”
“What happened?”
“A woman tried to enter using a nurse’s badge.”
“Caroline?”
Patricia shook her head.
“No.”
Security footage showed a different woman.
Late fifties.
Gray coat.
Blond hair.
Ruth stared.
“I know her.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Who?”
“Eleanor Shaw.”
“Relation?”
Ruth swallowed.
“My mother’s sister.”
Her aunt.
A woman Ruth had not seen in twelve years.
Marcus searched police databases.
Eleanor had worked at the hospital eight years earlier.
In maternity records.
The same department where Emma and Lucy were born.
Ruth felt the room tilt.
“She had access.”
Marcus nodded.
“To birth certificates.”
“To newborn records.”
“To everything.”
They entered Emma’s room.
Emma immediately hugged Ruth.
“Aunt Ruth.”
“I’m here.”
Emma handed Bunny over.
“Grandpa put something hard in his head.”
Marcus examined the toy.
Inside the lining was a tiny encrypted USB drive.
Thomas had hidden evidence in three separate places inside one child’s stuffed rabbit.
The drive contained accounting records.
Hundreds of transactions.
Money had been removed from the Bennett trust for seven years.
Small amounts at first.
Then millions.
Every transfer led through shell companies.
And every shell company ultimately connected to one person.
Charles Bennett.
Ruth stared at her brother’s name.
“No.”
Marcus pointed toward another column.
“Look.”
A second authorized signature appeared beside Charles’s.
Eleanor Shaw.
Ruth whispered,
“They were doing it together.”
Then Emma spoke.
“Uncle Charles visited me yesterday.”
Ruth turned slowly.
“What?”
Emma nodded.
“Before Caroline came.”
“What did he say?”
Emma looked confused.
“He asked me where Grandpa’s rabbit was.”
Ruth felt ice move through her veins.
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
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“Why?”
“Because Grandpa told me Uncle Charles was the wolf.”
