Chapter 3 - The Fall Story
Daniel insisted Emily’s bruises came from a fall.
Colonel Harris asked where.
“The staircase.”
“When?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Last week.”
Emily shook her head.
“There was no fall.”
Margaret interrupted.
“She doesn’t remember clearly.”
Emily looked at her father.
“They held my arm when I tried to leave.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“I was stopping you from hurting yourself.”
“No.”
Her voice grew steadier.
“You were stopping me from reaching the front door.”
Colonel Harris placed Emily gently into a chair near the bed, keeping one hand at her shoulder.
He did not shout.
That frightened Daniel more.
“Did she ask to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Did you allow her?”
“She was distressed.”
“That was not my question.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“No.”
The answer settled over the room.
Emily had not been a guest receiving care.
She had been a woman prevented from leaving her own home because her signature was worth billions.
Margaret lifted her chin.
“We followed family medical advice.”
Colonel Harris looked toward the bedside table.
No prescription bottles.
No discharge papers.
No doctor’s instructions.
Only the transfer folder.
Then Emily pointed toward the wardrobe.
“My phone is behind the bottom drawer.”
Daniel went pale.
Colonel Harris removed the drawer.
Inside was Emily’s phone, powered off and wrapped in a silk scarf.
Beside it sat three unopened letters from the trust’s attorneys.
Margaret whispered:
“We were organizing her correspondence.”
Colonel Harris looked at her.
May you like
“No.”
“You were controlling the evidence.”
