Chapter 6 - THE MEDICINE IN THE NIGHT
The photograph had been taken inside Lucy’s bedroom.
Nora recognized the wallpaper, the lamp and the stuffed rabbit beside the pillow.
The date embedded in the image was six months earlier.
“Zoom in,” Charles said.
Elias enlarged the syringe.
The label was blurred.
Nora remembered that night.
Lucy had been sick with a fever.
Daniel insisted Nora sleep in the guest room because she was “overreacting.”
He said he would stay with Lucy.
The next morning, Lucy had been unusually weak.
Daniel told Nora the fever caused it.
“Find out what was in that syringe,” Charles ordered.
Elias forwarded the image to a medical analyst.
Detective Ramirez arrived within thirty minutes.
She examined the email.
“Celeste may be trying to cooperate.”
“Then why hide?” Nora asked.
“Because she is afraid.”
“Of Daniel?”
“Possibly.”
Charles studied the photographs.
“These were not taken by Celeste.”
Ramirez looked at him.
“Why?”
“The angle.”
He pointed to the yacht image.
“Celeste appears in it.”
“Someone else has been documenting both of them.”
Nora thought of the three former employees whose statements had been found in Daniel’s office.
One of them, Rosa Alvarez, had been Lucy’s nanny.
Daniel fired her after accusing her of stealing jewelry.
Nora had believed him.
“Rosa,” Nora said.
Charles looked at her.
“She cared for Lucy from birth until last year.”
“Why was she fired?”
“Daniel said she stole my mother’s bracelet.”
“Did you see evidence?”
“He showed me a security image of her leaving my dressing room.”
Nora’s voice weakened.
“But I never saw her take anything.”
Ramirez wrote down the name.
“Do you know where she lives?”
Nora provided the address.
Rosa’s apartment was empty.
A neighbor said she had left three days earlier with two suitcases.
Another disappearance.
That evening, the medical analyst called.
The syringe appeared to be a pediatric sedative normally used before procedures.
The drug could cause extreme drowsiness, confusion and memory gaps.
Nora sat down.
“He drugged her.”
“We cannot confirm that from a photograph alone,” Ramirez warned.
“But he had the drug.”
“We need medical records or physical evidence.”
Charles ordered a review of Lucy’s pediatric files.
The records showed three visits for unexplained fatigue.
Each occurred after Daniel spent a night alone with her.
At the time, doctors suspected a virus.
A hair sample might still contain traces of long-term exposure, but six months had passed.
Lucy’s physician recommended testing.
Nora struggled with the decision.
She did not want her daughter subjected to more procedures.
Yet without answers, Daniel could deny everything.
Lucy held Nora’s hand during the blood draw.
“Is Daddy in trouble?” she asked.
Nora chose her words carefully.
“Adults are trying to understand some choices he made.”
“Did I make him do bad things?”
“No.”
Nora knelt in front of her.
“Listen to me.”
“Nothing Daddy did was because of you.”
“Nothing Celeste did was because of you.”
“You are not responsible for grown-ups making cruel choices.”
Lucy stared at her.
“Even the juice?”
“Especially the juice.”
That night, Nora could not sleep.
She walked downstairs and found Charles in the library.
He was reviewing audit reports.
“Did you ever investigate Daniel before I married him?” she asked.
Charles removed his glasses.
“Yes.”
Nora stopped.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing criminal.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Charles stood.
“The investigator found that Daniel and Celeste had attended several events together.”
“You knew about her?”
“I knew they had a history.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I tried.”
Nora remembered an argument six weeks before her wedding.
Charles had called Daniel opportunistic.
Nora accused him of trying to control her life.
“You never showed me proof.”
“I had no proof of an affair.”
“You had enough to warn me properly.”
“I did warn you.”
“You ordered me not to marry him.”
Charles absorbed the accusation.
“You are right.”
Nora stared at him.
“I needed a father.”
“And I behaved like a chairman.”
The honesty disarmed her.
Charles looked toward the photograph of Nora’s mother on the mantel.
“After your mother died, every problem became something I tried to manage.”
“I thought protecting you meant controlling the risk around you.”
“I did not understand that Daniel would use my failures to make himself appear gentle.”
Nora sat down.
“He knew exactly what to say.”
“He studied us.”
Charles opened the audit report.
“Daniel’s theft began before your wedding.”
He showed her a payment from a Whitmore vendor to a company created by Daniel’s college roommate.
The date was two months before the ceremony.
“He was already stealing from the family,” Charles said. “Marrying you gave him access to more.”
A security alert sounded.
Elias’s voice came through the intercom.
“Mr. Whitmore, we have someone at the north gate.”
“Who?”
“She says her name is Rosa Alvarez.”
Nora and Charles hurried downstairs.
Rosa entered the foyer wearing a hooded coat.
She looked exhausted.
When she saw Nora, tears filled her eyes.
“Mrs. Hale.”
Nora stopped in front of her.
“Did Daniel frame you for stealing my bracelet?”
Rosa nodded.
“I tried to tell you.”
“I know.”
Nora’s voice broke.
“I’m sorry.”
Rosa opened her coat and removed a small black notebook.
“I kept records.”
“Of what?”
“Everything Mr. Hale asked me to do.”
She handed the notebook to Nora.
Inside were dates, medication names, strange visitors and instructions Daniel gave regarding Lucy.
On one page, Rosa had written:
Daniel ordered me to give Lucy drops before Nora’s therapy appointments. Said child must appear withdrawn and tired.
Nora stared at her.
“Why?”
“He wanted the therapist to believe Miss Lucy was afraid of you.”
Rosa continued.
“I refused after the second time.”
“He fired me.”
“And the bracelet?”
“He placed it in my bag.”
Charles looked at Rosa.
“Who sent Nora the photographs?”
Rosa’s face changed.
“Not me.”
“Do you know who did?”
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Celeste’s sister.”
Nora had never heard of a sister.
“What is her name?”
“Marianne Arden.”
“Where is she?”
Rosa looked toward the windows.
“She has been watching Daniel for years.”
“Why?”
“Because she believes he killed their father.”
Before anyone could respond, a gunshot cracked outside the estate.
Rosa dropped to the floor.
The library window shattered.
May you like
A bullet struck the wall exactly where she had been standing.
Someone had followed her.
