Chapter 6 - Doctor H
Detective Shaw obtained the warrant before sunrise.
Riverside’s records gave us the name.
Dr. Aaron Halpern.
Obstetrician.
Fifty-seven.
Twenty-six years in practice.
And deeply in debt.
The financial records explained the rest.
Mother had transferred $180,000 to a consulting company controlled by Halpern’s brother.
Three payments.
All within six months.
Elena stared at the screen.
“That isn’t consulting.”
“No.”
Shaw nodded.
“That’s leverage.”
Halpern was brought in for questioning at 9:40 a.m.
He denied everything.
At 10:15, investigators showed him the transfers.
At 10:32, he requested an attorney.
At 11:06, the attorney arrived.
At noon, Halpern started talking.
Emily had been admitted under the false surname.
Mother claimed there were security concerns involving me.
Halpern agreed to conceal the admission.
He also agreed to induce labor earlier than Emily’s regular physician recommended.
“Why?”
I asked Shaw.
“Money.”
One word.
Enough to destroy lives.
But Halpern insisted Emily survived delivery.
That matched Caleb’s story.
She had given birth to Noah.
She had been weak but stable.
Then Mother insisted on bringing her home against medical advice.
Halpern allowed it.
Four days later, Emily was dead.
But the preliminary examination revealed something unexpected.
Emily hadn’t died from childbirth.
She hadn’t died from physical trauma either.
Toxicology found a powerful sedative in her system.
Far beyond a normal therapeutic level.
The same medication had been prescribed to Mother six months earlier.
Mother was arrested that afternoon.
Caleb watched from the staircase.
She didn’t resist.
She looked at me as officers approached.
“You think you understand.”
“I understand Emily is dead.”
“I was protecting this family.”
“No.”
I looked at Noah in Elena’s arms.
“You were protecting yourself.”
As they led her away, she stopped.
Then smiled.
It wasn’t a kind smile.
“You still don’t know what Caleb did.”
Everyone looked at him.
Caleb went white.
May you like
Mother continued walking.
And suddenly the brother who had started cooperating looked terrified all over again.
