Chương 6
“You look clean.”
He looked offended.
Tessa sighed.
“Excellent start.”
Claire smiled.
“Come in.”
Evan approached slowly.
His attention went to her hand.
“Can you feel it?”
“Somewhat.”
His face brightened.
Claire stopped him before hope could turn into certainty.
“That doesn’t mean what you thought it meant.”
The brightness faded.
“What?”
“My legs didn’t stop moving because of one bottle of pills.”
He stared.
“You said—”
“I said I felt your fingers.”
“But the medicine—”
“May have made some things worse. We’re still checking.”
Evan looked at Tessa.
His mouth tightened.
“My mom knew.”
“Maybe she knew something important.”
“She did.”
“I believe she believed something was wrong.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
Claire felt the word strike him.
Evan shoved both hands into his jacket pockets.
“You sound like them.”
“Who?”
“The pharmacy people.”
Tessa said, “Evan.”
“What? She does.”
Claire let the insult stand.
“Maybe I do.”
He looked surprised.
“I’m not going to promise you something because you want it to be true.”
“My mom wasn’t crazy.”
“I didn’t say she was.”
“Everybody says she got obsessed.”
Claire looked at Tessa.
Tessa’s face stiffened.
Evan continued.
“She kept checking things because nobody listened.”
“I’m listening.”
“You’re saying maybe.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not listening.”
“It is if I don’t know.”
He kicked one sneaker lightly against the floor.
Tessa closed her eyes.
“Can I show her now?”
Evan looked at his aunt.
“You brought it?”
“Yes.”
“You said you wouldn’t.”
“I changed my mind.”
Tessa pulled a large brown envelope from her bag.
She did not hand it to Claire.
“My sister kept notes,” she said. “Some screenshots. A few printed receipts.”
“From the pharmacy system?” Claire asked.
“I don’t know. Some may be. That’s why I don’t want copies going everywhere.”
“Have the police seen them?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because Rachel may have accessed patient information she wasn’t legally supposed to take. Because the pharmacy has already threatened her estate. Because I have an eleven-year-old whose face was on television before I even knew he’d left the apartment.”
Evan stared at the window.
Tessa’s voice softened.
“And because I don’t know you.”
Claire nodded.
“That’s reasonable.”
Tessa seemed almost disappointed that she had not argued.
“What do you want?” Claire asked.
“I want someone independent to look at this without turning my sister into a criminal or a saint.”
Evan looked back.
“She wasn’t a criminal.”
Tessa rubbed her forehead.
“She took things from work, Ev.”
“Because they were lying.”
“That still matters.”
“She was trying to help.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying it like you don’t.”
Tessa’s face tightened.
Claire looked away again.
Grief had private rooms even when it happened in public.
“What did Rachel think she found?” Claire asked after a moment.
Tessa set the envelope on her lap.
“Duplicate fills. Changes made after prescriptions were supposed to be canceled. Notes showing pickups by Daniel. One entry she thought had been altered after the fact.”
“By whom?”
“She didn’t know.”
“Was Daniel prescribing anything?”
“No. He couldn’t. She knew that.”
“Then what was he doing?”
“Picking things up. Calling. Pressuring people.”
“Calling whom?”
“Her pharmacist. Your doctor’s office. Somebody on your household staff.”
Claire felt a chill.
“What else?”
Tessa opened the envelope.
Inside were photocopies, handwritten pages, and several printed screenshots.
Rachel’s handwriting slanted sharply to the right.
Claire recognized her own name immediately.
WHITMORE, CLAIRE.
Below it were dates.
Dosages.
Initials.
Questions.
One line had been underlined twice.
Why is D.C. calling before every increase?
Claire read it again.
Then another.
Patient reports new hand numbness? Who reported? Patient herself?
Claire looked up.
“Where did she get that?”
Tessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Daniel knew about my hand.”
“So did your doctor.”
Claire looked back down.
There were no dramatic confessions.
No note saying Daniel poisoned Claire.
Rachel had written questions.
That made the pages more credible and more frustrating.
One note was almost mundane:
D.C. angry about wait. Says “she needs this tonight.” M. approved partial.
Another:
Old order still active at Branch 3? Why?
Then:
Manager says stop digging.
Then, two pages later:
Need to reach C.W. directly. Not assistant. Not fiancé.
Claire’s throat tightened.
“What happened after she wrote that?”
Tessa looked at Evan.
Evan stared at the floor.
“She tried to call your office,” Tessa said.
“I never got a message.”
“She expected that.”
“Why?”
“Because someone called her back.”
“Who?”
“Your chief of staff’s office.”
Claire’s pulse jumped.
“My chief of staff is Laura Kim.”
“I don’t know who called.”
“Did Rachel record it?”
“No.”
“Did she write the name?”
“Just ‘male, office.’”
Claire exhaled.
Another almost-clue.
Nothing simple.
“What did he say?”
“That her concerns had been noted and she should speak through proper medical channels.”
“That could be anyone.”
“I know.”
“Did she contact the doctor?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He said the prescriptions were appropriate.”
“Dr. Bell?”
Tessa nodded.
Claire sat very still.
“Did Rachel believe him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she said one of the orders had a timing issue. She thought somebody was using a prescription after Bell’s office had changed it.”
Claire looked at the papers.
“Did she contact me again?”
“She planned to.”
“At the gala?”
Tessa nodded.
“She had seen it advertised. She said she could get near enough to hand you copies.”
Claire looked at Evan.
He was watching her now.
“What happened?”
Tessa’s mouth moved before sound came.
“She died two days before.”
Claire waited.
Evan looked furious already.
“How?”
Tessa took a breath.
“Car accident.”
Claire’s eyes shifted to Evan.
He said, “She was going to meet someone.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
“She was driving home from work.”
“She was going to meet someone after.”
“We don’t know that.”
“She texted me.”
“You said she texted ‘I’m going to make them listen.’ That could mean anything.”
“She was going to tell her.”
Claire felt something twist under her breastbone.
“Did Daniel have anything to do with the crash?”
May you like
Tessa answered before Evan could.
“There is no evidence of that.”
