Chapter 9: The Last Drink
The medical report remained on the table long after Adrian was taken away.
I couldn't stop looking at the handwritten note.
Possible poisoning.
My father's last drink.
Someone he loved.
My mother.
Margaret.
Or someone else.
Detective Bennett returned to the conference room.
"Adrian is being questioned. He hasn't admitted anything.""
"Can the medical report be verified?""
"We're checking the hospital records.""
"What about the toxicology test?""
"According to the report, the sample was never processed.""
I frowned.
"Why?""
"Someone canceled the request.""
"Who?""
She looked at the document.
"Dr. Samuel Pierce.""
I recognized the name.
He had been my father's personal physician for fifteen years.
"Where is he now?""
"Retired. Lives outside Chicago.""
I stood.
"I want to speak to him.""
Detective Bennett shook her head.
"Not without us.""
"Fine.""
She looked at me.
"There's another problem. Adrian says he has evidence that your mother was responsible for your father's death.""
I stared at her.
"What kind of evidence?""
"A recording.""
My chest tightened.
"Of what?""
"Your mother discussing the medication your father was taking.""
I sat down.
The detective placed a photograph on the table.
It showed my mother standing inside a pharmacy.
She was holding a small prescription bag.
The date was the day before my father died.
I looked at the photograph.
"What's the medication?""
"That's what we're trying to establish.""
I remembered my father taking a small white pill every evening.
He had told me it was for his blood pressure.
I had watched him take it countless times.
He always drank a glass of water afterward.
Sometimes he complained about the bitter taste.
I suddenly felt sick.
"Can I hear the recording?""
Detective Bennett hesitated.
Then she placed a small audio file on her laptop.
My mother's voice came through the speakers.
"How much is he supposed to take?""
A man's voice answered.
"One tablet. No more.""
"Will it hurt him?""
"That depends on his condition.""
"He's already taking something else.""
"Then you need to be careful.""
The recording ended.
I stared at the laptop.
"Who is the man?""
Detective Bennett shook her head.
"We haven't identified him.""
I listened again.
Something about the man's voice sounded familiar.
I couldn't place it.
Then my phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered.
"Ethan Hayes?""
"Yes.""
A man's voice spoke.
"This is Dr. Samuel Pierce.""
I straightened.
"Doctor?""
"I heard you've been asking questions about Daniel.""
"Yes.""
There was a long pause.
"I need to see you.""
"Why?""
"Because I made a terrible mistake four years ago.""
My grip tightened around the phone.
"Was my father poisoned?""
The doctor exhaled.
"Yes.""
I closed my eyes.
"Who did it?""
"I don't know.""
"You're his doctor. You should know what medication he was taking.""
"I prescribed the medication. But someone altered the dosage.""
"Who?""
He hesitated.
Then he whispered:
"Your mother.""
The call ended.
Dr. Pierce agreed to meet us at a private medical office.
He was seventy years old, with thin white hair and a noticeable tremor in his hands.
When I entered, he stood immediately.
"Ethan.""
I shook his hand.
"Doctor.""
He motioned toward two chairs.
Detective Bennett sat beside me.
Dr. Pierce looked at her.
"Will this conversation be recorded?""
"Yes.""
He nodded.
"Good.""
He opened a drawer and removed a medical folder.
"Daniel was taking medication for a heart condition. Nothing unusual. He was stable.""
"Then what happened?""
"Approximately three weeks before his death, someone called my office requesting a change in his prescription.""
"Who?""
"Your mother.""
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Why?""
"She said Daniel had been experiencing dizziness and difficulty sleeping.""
"Was that true?""
"Some of it. But the dosage she requested was dangerous.""
I leaned forward.
"Did you authorize it?""
He looked down.
"I did.""
"Why?""
"Because I trusted her. She told me Daniel had already discussed the change with me.""
Detective Bennett wrote something down.
"Did you verify that with Mr. Hayes?""
"No.""
"Why not?""
Dr. Pierce rubbed his forehead.
"I was under pressure. Richard Coleman had approached me several weeks earlier.""
I looked up.
"Richard?""
"He said Daniel was suffering from stress and wanted his medication adjusted. He also offered to pay for a new medical research program I was trying to establish.""
Detective Bennett's expression hardened.
"Did you accept money?""
The doctor nodded.
"Yes.""
"How much?""
"Fifty thousand dollars.""
I stared at him.
"Did you know you were helping someone poison my father?""
He looked at me.
"No. I swear I didn't.""
"Then why didn't you report the suspicious prescription?""
His eyes filled.
"Because I was afraid.""
"Of Richard?""
"Of losing everything.""
I stood.
"You people watched my father die because you were afraid of losing money?""
Dr. Pierce lowered his head.
"I know.""
I paced toward the window.
"Did the medication kill him?""
The doctor opened the folder.
"Based on the symptoms and the dosage, it's possible it contributed to the cardiac arrest.""
"Possible?""
"We would need the original samples to establish the exact cause.""
Detective Bennett closed her notebook.
"Where are those samples?""
The doctor looked at me.
"Your father had a private medical storage agreement. His samples were supposed to be preserved for ten years.""
"Where?""
"At the hospital.""
"Then we go there.""
Dr. Pierce shook his head.
"There's a problem.""
"What?""
"The samples were removed three days after Daniel died.""
"By whom?""
He hesitated.
Then he pulled out a signed authorization form.
The name at the bottom was familiar.
*Ethan Hayes.*
I stared at it.
"I never signed this.""
Detective Bennett took the document.
"Who authorized the release?""
"The hospital records say a family representative.""
"Who collected the samples?""
Dr. Pierce turned the paper around.
A second name appeared.
*Adrian Coleman.*
By 8:00 P.M., we were back at the police station.
The investigation had become something far larger than a corporate fraud case.
My father might have been murdered.
My mother might have helped.
Richard had paid the doctor.
And Adrian had removed the evidence.
I sat alone in the interview room while Detective Bennett spoke with the medical examiner.
My phone vibrated.
A message from Tiana.
I know where Adrian took the original ledger.
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
But you need to understand something. The ledger doesn't just contain evidence against Richard.
I typed back.
What else?
Her reply came immediately.
It contains proof that Daniel transferred money to someone every month for eighteen years.
I frowned.
Who?
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Finally, a photograph arrived.
It showed a bank transfer.
Monthly payment: $25,000.
Recipient:
*Helen Hayes.*
The date of the first transfer was eighteen years earlier.
I stared at the number.
Eighteen years.
My mother had received $25,000 every month for nearly two decades.
That was more than $5 million.
I called Tiana.
She answered immediately.
"Ethan?""
"Why was Dad paying my mother?""
"Because she knew something.""
"What?""
Tiana's voice became shaky.
"Something about Richard's first wife.""
I went still.
"What does Richard's first wife have to do with this?""
"She didn't die in an accident, Ethan.""
I stood.
"What are you saying?""
Tiana whispered:
"She was pregnant when she died.""
I gripped the phone.
"With whom?""
"With Richard's first child.""
I closed my eyes.
"Adrian?""
"No.""
Her answer came quietly.
"Someone else.""
Then she sent me another photograph.
It showed a woman holding a newborn baby outside a hospital.
On the back, a handwritten sentence was visible.
*The child Daniel raised wasn't the only secret in the Hayes family.*
I stared at the photograph.
Then I noticed the woman's face.
It was my mother.
But the baby in her arms wasn't me.
It was a little girl.
And beneath the photograph was a name I had never heard before.
*Charlotte Coleman — Born November 12.*
My birthday.
My exact birthday.
I looked at the date again.
Then I realized what Tiana was trying to tell me.
The baby my mother was holding had been born on the same day as me.
And according to the original hospital record, I had been born as a single child.
Unless...
Someone had separated us.
My phone vibrated one final time.
May you like
Tiana's message contained five words.
*Ethan, you had a twin sister.*
