Chương 14
It was not punishment.
At least I told myself it wasn’t.
Maybe it was.
Humans were rarely pure enough to know.
When Marisol finished, she adjusted the pillow beneath my leg.
“You’re staying in bed.”
“Yes.”
“That was too fast.”
“I have learned my lesson.”
“No, you’ve learned how to lie to nurses.”
“That too.”
Her mouth twitched.
She left us with instructions to use the call button before attempting anything heroic.
Officer Mills resumed his questions.
He asked for names, times, what I remembered from the emergency department, when I last had possession of my phone, and who had access to my home.
I answered as carefully as I could.
When memory failed, I said so.
When I was unsure, Renee made me distinguish between what I had witnessed and what someone had told me.
It was exhausting.
Precision felt like lifting weights with a fever.
Then Mills asked a question I had not prepared for.
“Do you believe your husband intended to physically harm you?”
I looked at the bandage.
“I don’t know.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“Not directly.”
“Did he prevent you from leaving?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He tied my ankle to the bed.”
“Before that?”
I searched through the broken pieces of the night.
Daniel standing near the door.
Dad arguing in the hallway.
Mom telling me to lie down.
My own voice saying I wanted to go home.
Then something else surfaced.
A hand holding my purse.
Not Mom.
Daniel.
I closed my eyes.
“He took my car keys.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Before or after the medication?”
“I think before.”
“Why?”
“I told him I was leaving.”
“Did he say anything?”
I pressed my fingers against my temple.
The memory came slowly.
Daniel looking exhausted.
Rain still darkening the shoulders of his jacket.
Me trying to sit up.
His hand closing around my purse strap.
You can’t drive.
Give me my keys.
No.
Daniel, give them to me.
Claire, stop.
Then Dad’s voice outside the curtain.
Don’t let her leave until I get there.
My eyes opened.
“My father told him not to let me leave.”
Mills looked up.
“You heard that yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“What did your husband do afterward?”
“He kept the keys.”
“Anything else?”
Another piece.
I had tried to stand.
Pain exploded through my ankle.
Daniel caught me.
I shoved him.
He told me to stop making this worse.
Then a nurse I did not recognize came in.
After that, the memory blurred.
“I think he called staff.”
“About you being agitated?”
“Probably.”
Mills wrote.
“I want to be clear that I’m not deciding what crime, if any, occurred while we’re sitting here.”
“I understand.”
“But the restraint, your property being withheld, possible false statements related to medical consent, and the financial documents all need to be documented separately.”
“Will you talk to Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Today?”
“If we can locate him and circumstances allow.”
Thomas looked toward the door.
“He’s downstairs.”
Everyone turned to him.
“How do you know?” Mills asked.
“I saw his car when I arrived.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s downstairs.”
“No.”
Thomas reached for his phone, then stopped before touching it.
“May I?”
Mills nodded.
Thomas checked the screen.
“There are six calls from him.”
“Recent?”
“Last one three minutes ago.”
“Did he leave messages?”
“One.”
“Don’t play it yet,” Mills said.
Thomas handed over the phone after being asked.
Mills noted the time and number but did not open anything.
A minute later, Marisol appeared again.
This time her expression had lost its humor.
“There’s another situation downstairs.”
My stomach tightened.
“Daniel?”
She nodded.
“He’s asking to speak with police.”
Mills stood.
“Did he say why?”
Marisol looked at me before answering.
“He told security he has the original trust amendment.”
Thomas went pale.
I sat straighter.
“Original?”
Marisol nodded.
“And he says Richard Shaw told him to destroy it this afternoon.”
Officer Mills looked at Marisol.
“Keep him downstairs until I speak with him.”
She nodded and disappeared.
Thomas stared at the doorway.
“If Daniel has the original, then Richard gave it to him.”
“Or Daniel took it.”
“Yes.”
“Which answer would be better for you?”
His mouth tightened.
“Neither.”
That was probably true.
Mills closed his notebook.
“I need to go downstairs.”
“I want to hear what Daniel says.”
“You may later.”
“I want to hear it now.”
“You’re a patient, not an investigator.”
The words irritated me because they were correct.
Renee touched the edge of my tray.
“Let them preserve what he brought first.”
I looked at the old letter from Eleanor.
Every person in this story had spent years deciding what I should not know yet.
The difference now was that someone was finally telling me to wait for a reason that protected evidence instead of power.
“All right.”
Mills left.
Thomas remained in the chair.
Neither of us spoke for a while.
The hospital room settled around us.
The air vent clicked.
My phone dimmed.
A food-service worker pushed a cart past the room and called softly to someone about chicken broth.
Thomas reached for the cup of water on the windowsill, then noticed it was mine and stopped.
“You can ask for one.”
“I’m fine.”
“You look terrible.”
“So do you.”
“Fair.”
“You agreed with me again.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Occupational hazard.”
I almost smiled.
Then my phone vibrated.
Margaret Kline’s name appeared.
I answered immediately.
“Claire.”
Her voice was exactly as I remembered, low and impatient, as if every conversation had interrupted something less foolish.
“Where are you?”
“Still at St. Vincent.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Daniel has the original amendment.”
Silence.
“That is not possible.”
“Apparently it is.”
“Who told you?”
“Hospital staff.”
“Do not touch it.”
“I’m beginning to think that’s the family motto.”
Margaret ignored that.
“Has Richard spoken to police?”
“I don’t know.”
“Has Thomas given you Eleanor’s letter?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Then he finally did one thing on time.”
May you like
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I heard that,” he said.
