Chapter 5: My Wife's Secret Appointment
I stared at the photograph until the edges blurred.
Alicia stood beside the uniformed man with one hand resting on his arm. She wasn't crying. She wasn't frightened. She was smiling.
The man had his back partly turned toward the camera, but I could see a silver badge clipped to his belt.
My first thought was that the photograph had been manipulated.
My second was that I had spent three years sleeping beside a woman who might know who murdered my mother.
“Daniel?””
Emily's voice came from the doorway.
I locked my phone.
“It's nothing.””
She studied my face.
“You look like you've seen a ghost.””
“Maybe I have.””
Behind her, my father was helping David return to his room. Helen gathered the remaining papers, carefully separating those that had survived the break-in.
I waited until the hallway was empty before showing Emily the photograph.
She stared at it.
“That's Alicia.””
“I know.””
“Who is the man?””
“I don't know yet.””
She zoomed in on the image.
“Daniel, look at her hand.””
I enlarged the photograph.
Alicia was wearing a gold bracelet with a small blue stone.
I'd bought it for her on our second wedding anniversary.
She had told me she lost it six months ago.
Yet there it was, shining beneath the fluorescent lights of the building.
Emily swallowed.
“Maybe there's an explanation.””
“That's what I keep telling myself.””
“Have you called her?””
I looked at the clock.
It was nearly four in the morning.
“No. I want to know who that man is first.””
Helen approached us, holding a stack of papers.
“Let me see.””
I handed her the phone.
She studied the man's uniform, then zoomed in on his face.
Her expression changed.
“Where did you get this?””
“Someone sent it to me.””
“Do you recognize him?””
She hesitated.
Then she nodded.
“His name is Richard Cole. He was a detective when Margaret died.””
My stomach tightened.
“The detective who signed the death certificate?””
Helen looked at me sharply.
“I never said that.””
“But my mother did.””
She lowered the phone.
“Richard was one of the officers assigned to investigate the accident. He was the last person I saw speaking to Margaret before she disappeared from the clinic.””
“And Alicia is standing beside him.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Helen looked toward the hallway.
“Because Cole was never investigated for his role in the case.””
I called the local police station and asked whether Detective Richard Cole was still employed there. The officer who answered transferred me to a records desk, where I was told that Cole had retired twelve years earlier.
I asked for his last known contact information.
The woman refused to provide private details, but she gave me the name of the department that had handled his retirement records.
It was a start.
Then my phone rang.
Alicia.
I stared at her name on the screen.
Emily reached for my arm.
“Don't let her control the conversation.””
I answered and put the call on speaker.
“Daniel,” Alicia said immediately, “we need to talk.””
“About your little performance in my living room?””
She exhaled sharply.
“I know you're angry.””
“That's one word for it.””
“Where is Robert?””
“Safe.””
“Is David with him?””
I froze.
Emily's eyes widened.
I hadn't told Alicia that David was alive.
“How do you know that name?”” I asked.
Silence.
Then she said, “Daniel, please listen to me.””
“No. You listen to me. Why were you meeting Richard Cole?””
Her breathing changed.
“Who told you that?””
“Answer the question.””
“I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
She began crying.
It sounded different this time. Not the loud, theatrical sobbing from the living room, but small, uneven breaths.
“I didn't know who he was when we first met.””
“When?””
“Before I married you.””
The words struck harder than I expected.
“How long before?””
“About six months.””
“Why were you meeting him?””
“He contacted me. He said he knew something about your mother's death.””
I pressed the phone against my ear.
“And you didn't think to tell me?””
“He said if I told you, you would be in danger.””
I laughed once, without humor.
“Everyone seems to know what's dangerous for me except me.””
“Daniel, I was trying to protect you.””
“That's what my father says.””
She fell silent.
I looked at Emily, who shook her head, urging me to keep going.
“Did you marry me because of my mother's death?””
“No!””
The answer came too quickly.
“Then why?””
“Because I loved you.””
“Did you know about the letter before we got married?””
A long pause followed.
“Yes.””
I closed my eyes.
For three years, Alicia had shared my bed, eaten at my table, and smiled at my family photographs.
All the while, she had known my mother's final letter existed.
“Why did you search Dad's office?””
“Because Richard told me the letter contained evidence. He said your father had hidden the original documents.””
“And when you found it, you staged an assault.””
“I panicked.””
“You slapped yourself twice.””
“I know.””
“You destroyed a lamp.””
“I know, Daniel!””
Her voice cracked.
“I thought if the police took Robert away, I could get the letter without him interfering. I thought I could read it and give it to Richard before anyone found out.””
“You thought framing a recovering heart patient was acceptable?””
“No. I didn't think. I was desperate.””
“Desperate for what?””
“To keep someone alive.””
The room seemed to grow colder.
“Who?””
She whispered a name.
“Michael.””
I stared at the phone.
“My brother?””
“Richard told me that Michael had been asking questions about the foundation. He said someone was planning to hurt him.””
I looked toward the hallway.
Michael had gone home shortly after the officers left. He lived twenty minutes away with his fiancée.
“Have you spoken to him?””
“No.””
“Does he know you're involved?””
“I don't think so.””
I didn't believe her.
“What does Richard want?””
“The ledger. The original records. Anything your mother kept.””
“Why?””
“Because he says the people connected to the foundation are still operating.””
“Who are they?””
“I don't know all the names.””
“That's convenient.””
“Daniel, I'm telling you the truth!””
“Then tell me something only the truth can explain. Why did you marry me?””
She began to cry again.
“Because Richard said your father was dying.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“What?””
“He told me Robert had a heart condition that would probably kill him within a year. He said your father was the only person who knew where the original records were. If I married you and became part of the family, I could find them.””
My hand tightened around the phone.
“So our marriage was a job?””
“No. It wasn't supposed to become real.””
The words came out before she could stop them.
Emily covered her mouth.
I couldn't speak.
Alicia started talking rapidly.
“Daniel, I know how that sounds. But I fell in love with you. I did.
I stopped reporting to Richard months ago. I never gave him anything from the house.””
“Then why did you meet him three days ago?””
“Because he threatened Michael.””
“And you didn't tell me?””
“I thought I could handle it.””
I looked at the photograph again.
“You have one chance to tell me everything. Did Richard Cole kill my mother?””
Alicia was silent for so long that I thought the call had disconnected.
Then she whispered, “He didn't drive the car.””
“That wasn't my question.””
“I don't know who tampered with the brakes.””
“But you know who was at the clinic.””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Her voice became barely audible.
“The man who signed your mother's death certificate wasn't Richard Cole.””
I stared at Helen.
She had gone perfectly still.
Alicia continued.
“It was a doctor. Someone who had access to your mother's medical records. Someone who could make a living patient disappear without leaving an obvious trail.””
Helen stepped closer to the phone.
“What's his name?”” I demanded.
Alicia took a shaky breath.
“Daniel, you need to understand something. The man who did it is dead.””
“Then why are you afraid of him?””
“Because he left behind a son.””
A loud crash interrupted her.
I heard a door slam at Alicia's end of the call.
Then a man's voice shouted something I couldn't make out.
“Daniel?”” Alicia screamed.
The line crackled.
“Someone's here!””
“Where are you?””
“My apartment!””
“Lock the door!””
“I can't. He has a key!””
There was a struggle, a sharp cry, and then silence.
“Alicia?””
Nothing.
“Alicia!””
The call ended.
I immediately called back.
Voicemail.
I tried again.
Voicemail.
Emily grabbed her coat.
“We're going to her apartment.””
Helen blocked the doorway.
“No.””
I stared at her.
“My wife may be in danger.””
“That's exactly why you mustn't go there alone.””
“Then come with me.””
Helen looked toward the locked room where David was resting.
For the first time, she seemed genuinely torn.
“There's something else you need to know,” she said.
“Before you go anywhere, you need to see the document your mother left behind.””
She reached into her bag and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
It was an old hospital transfer form.
At the bottom, beside the patient's name, was a signature.
*Dr. Thomas Bennett.*
I knew that name.
Everyone in our family knew it.
Thomas Bennett had been my mother's personal physician.
He had delivered Michael.
He had treated my father after his heart surgery.
And he had signed my mother's official death certificate.
But that wasn't the part that made my hands shake.
Beneath his signature was a handwritten note.
Patient transferred to private residence at request of next of kin.
The next-of-kin signature was my father's.
May you like
Robert's.
And beside it was a date three days after my mother supposedly died.
