Chapter 11: The Doctor's Secret
Dr. Samuel Whitmore agreed to meet us at a private medical office outside Boston.
Richard insisted that we notify the authorities before going.
My mother refused to stay behind.
Neither did I.
We arrived shortly after six in the evening.
The building was nearly empty. The reception area smelled of disinfectant and old coffee. A television played silently in the corner.
A receptionist looked up.
"Can I help you?""
"Dr. Whitmore is expecting us," Richard said.
She checked her computer.
"He's in Room Four.""
We walked down the hallway.
A man stood waiting near the examination room.
He was in his late sixties, with thinning gray hair and tired eyes.
When he saw me, he looked away.
"Emily.""
I stopped.
"You knew my grandmother.""
He nodded.
"For many years.""
"And you treated her?""
"Yes.""
"Then why are you calling me now?""
He glanced toward Richard.
"Because I can't keep lying.""
Richard stepped forward.
"Let's hear it.""
Samuel opened the examination room door.
Inside, he placed a small brown envelope on the desk.
"Your grandmother came to see me three days before she died.""
My mother frowned.
"She wasn't sick.""
"She was worried. She told me she had discovered that someone had been accessing her medical records.""
"Who?"" I asked.
Samuel lowered his eyes.
"Margaret.""
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Your sister?""
He nodded.
"She asked me to provide information about Eleanor's medication. I refused at first. Then she showed me copies of financial documents and told me Eleanor was becoming mentally unstable.""
Richard's expression hardened.
"Did you believe her?""
Samuel looked ashamed.
"I wanted to believe her. Margaret said your grandmother was planning to disinherit several members of the family. She claimed Eleanor had become paranoid.""
My mother stepped forward.
"That woman manipulated you.""
Samuel nodded.
"Yes.""
I looked at the envelope.
"What is inside?""
"Copies of the original prescriptions. And a letter Eleanor wrote to me.""
He opened it.
My grandmother's handwriting filled the page.
Samuel,
I know Margaret has been speaking to you. I also know she has access to my medical records.
I have no intention of changing my medication without discussing it with you.
If anything happens to me, please preserve the records. I believe someone is attempting to make my death appear natural.
I stopped reading.
My mother began crying.
"She knew.""
Samuel nodded.
"She suspected someone was interfering with her treatment.""
I looked at him.
"Did you change her medication?""
He hesitated.
Then he sat down.
"Yes.""
My mother gasped.
"What?""
Samuel rubbed his forehead.
"Margaret came to my office with a request to adjust Eleanor's prescription. She claimed Eleanor had been experiencing severe anxiety and needed additional medication.""
"Did you examine her?"" Richard asked.
"No.""
"Did you authorize the change?""
Samuel nodded.
"Yes.""
I felt sick.
"Did you know it could hurt her?""
"I knew it was inappropriate. I didn't understand the full consequences.""
Richard's voice became cold.
"You're admitting to changing a patient's prescription without an examination?""
Samuel looked at him.
"I'm admitting that I made a terrible mistake.""
My mother stepped closer.
"Did you kill her?""
Samuel looked directly at her.
"I don't know whether the medication caused her death. But I know I helped Margaret interfere with her treatment.""
The room fell silent.
I looked at the man.
My grandmother had trusted him.
She had placed her life in his hands.
And he had allowed someone else to interfere.
"Why didn't you report it?""
"Because Margaret threatened me. She said she had evidence that I had falsified several insurance claims years earlier.""
Richard leaned forward.
"Did you?""
Samuel nodded.
"Yes.""
My mother turned away.
Samuel continued.
"Margaret had been collecting secrets about everyone around her. She used them to make sure nobody challenged her.""
I thought about Robert.
About Vanessa.
About Daniel.
Margaret hadn't simply recruited people.
She had built a network of people who were afraid of her.
I looked at Samuel.
"You said you had something about my father.""
He nodded.
He opened a drawer and removed a small digital recorder.
"Your grandmother gave me this shortly before she died. She said it contained a conversation that would explain why she had been protecting someone.""
Richard took it.
"Did you listen to it?""
"Once.""
"And?""
Samuel looked at me.
"It was a recording of Eleanor speaking to Margaret.""
My heart began pounding.
"What did they say?""
He pressed the playback button.
A few seconds of static came through the speaker.
Then my grandmother's voice.
"Margaret, I know what you did to Daniel's father.""
My breath caught.
Margaret answered.
"You know nothing.""
"I know Victor was not acting alone. I know you used Robert to access the accounts, and I know you have been lying to Emily.""
There was a pause.
Then Margaret spoke.
"You're too old to understand what is happening.""
My grandmother laughed softly.
"I understand perfectly. Your problem is that you think everyone can be bought.""
The recording continued.
Margaret's voice became sharper.
"Your son is already doing what you couldn't. Daniel will marry Emily, and the money will come back to us.""
My hands went cold.
My grandmother answered.
"Daniel will never marry her.""
Margaret laughed.
"He's already convinced her.""
Then came a sentence that made me stop breathing.
"Your son will end up just like his father," my grandmother said.
Margaret went silent.
Then she replied:
"Your son is dead, Eleanor. Perhaps you should remember that before you threaten me.""
I looked at Samuel.
"What did she mean?""
He lowered his eyes.
"My grandmother's son?""
Richard paused the recording.
"Eleanor had another child before your father.""
I turned toward him.
"What?""
My mother stared.
"She never told us.""
Richard nodded.
"His name was Michael Carter. He died when he was twenty-three.""
I tried to remember.
I had seen a photograph of a young man in my grandmother's house, but I had always assumed he was a cousin.
"How did he die?""
Samuel looked toward the recorder.
"An automobile accident.""
Richard pressed play again.
My grandmother's voice returned.
"Michael knew what you were doing. He tried to stop you, and you let him die.""
Margaret's voice dropped.
"Be careful, Eleanor.""
"Your son is not going to repeat your crimes.""
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Richard.
"Was my uncle Michael killed too?""
"We don't know," he replied.
My mother sank into a chair.
"My mother-in-law never told me she suspected Margaret of anything like this.""
Samuel reached for another envelope.
"There's more.""
He slid it toward me.
Inside was a photograph of my grandmother and a young man standing beside a car.
On the back was written:
Michael and Emily. Before everything changed.
I stared at the photograph.
The young man had my father's eyes.
But he wasn't my father.
He was smiling, one arm around my grandmother's shoulder.
I turned the picture over again.
There was a date.
It was from two weeks before the accident.
And beneath the date, my grandmother had written:
He found the second account.
Richard looked at me.
"Emily, I think your family has been hiding something much bigger than the stolen money.""
I looked at the photograph.
Then I asked the question nobody in the room seemed willing to answer.
"Why did my grandmother say Daniel would end up like his father?""
Samuel's face turned pale.
He looked toward the door.
Then he whispered:
"Because Daniel's biological father wasn't Victor Hayes.""
I stared at him.
"Who was he?""
Samuel swallowed.
"Michael Carter.""
The room seemed to tilt.
Michael.
My grandmother's son.
My father's younger brother.
Daniel was my cousin.
My fiancé had been my cousin.
And suddenly, every lie in our family seemed to connect to something far more disturbing.
But Richard wasn't looking at me.
He was looking at Samuel.
Because the doctor had just revealed something else.
May you like
Something that made Richard whisper:
"That means Margaret's entire story about Daniel's inheritance is a lie.""
