Chapter 9: The Witness Who Should Have Been Dead
By the time we returned to the mansion, the sky had turned gray.
Rain tapped against the glass entrance doors.
The memorial was still standing in the foyer, but the candles had burned down to small pools of wax.
My mother's portrait remained at the center.
I hated looking at it.
Not because she had died.
Because I no longer knew who she was.
Officer Hayes was waiting near the staircase.
Beside him stood Benita.
She had changed clothes and was wearing a dark jacket over a plain white shirt.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
But she looked calmer than before.
Almost relieved.
"Marcus," she whispered.
I walked past her.
"Where is Michael?""
Hayes pointed toward the living room.
A man was sitting on the sofa.
He was thinner than I remembered, with a short beard and dark circles beneath his eyes.
Michael Bennett.
My cousin.
The doctor who had disappeared.
The man who had apparently signed my father's medical records.
He stood when I entered.
"Marcus.""
I stared at him.
"You have a lot of explaining to do.""
He nodded.
"I know.""
"Why did you disappear?""
Michael looked toward Officer Hayes.
"Because I was afraid.""
I laughed without humor.
"Everyone in this family seems to be afraid. Nobody seems to have a problem lying.""
Michael accepted the accusation without protest.
"I deserved that.""
Hayes gestured toward the sofa.
"Let's sit down.""
I remained standing.
"Start with my father.""
Michael took a breath.
"Your father discovered that someone had changed his medication. He asked me to review the records because he trusted me as a doctor.""
"And?""
"I found irregularities.""
"Who changed the medication?""
Michael looked toward my mother.
She was standing near the memorial.
"I believe it was Eleanor.""
My mother shook her head.
"Michael, no.""
He continued.
"I saw her enter the hospital room carrying a small medication container. She told the nurse it had been approved by the attending physician.""
I looked at my mother.
"Did you?""
She looked devastated.
"I was following instructions.""
"Whose instructions?""
Michael answered.
"Dr. Collins.""
My mother nodded.
"He told me Richard needed the medication immediately.""
Michael shook his head.
"Dr. Collins never prescribed it.""
Samuel stepped forward.
"How do you know?""
"Because I checked the original prescription records.""
He removed a document from his jacket.
"This is the copy I kept.""
Hayes accepted it.
"Why didn't you report this earlier?""
Michael lowered his head.
"Because I was paid to remain silent.""
The room went still.
I stared at him.
"Paid by whom?""
He looked at Benita.
"David.""
Benita immediately shook her head.
"That's a lie.""
Michael turned toward her.
"You were there when he gave me the money.""
Benita's face hardened.
"I never touched your father's medication.""
"I didn't say you did.""
Officer Hayes raised his hand.
"Let's stay on the facts.""
Michael explained that David had approached him after my father's death.
He claimed that Eleanor had made a mistake with the medication and that the family would be destroyed if the truth became public.
David offered him money to alter the medical records.
Michael refused at first.
But when David threatened to expose an unrelated medical error from Michael's early career, he gave in.
He signed the revised report.
He changed the medication history.
And he disappeared when he realized the original toxicology findings could still be recovered.
I stared at him.
"You helped cover up my father's death.""
Michael nodded.
"Yes.""
"Why should I believe anything you say now?""
He looked directly at me.
"Because I brought the original recording.""
He removed a small memory card from his pocket.
Hayes took it.
"What's on this?""
"Footage from the hospital corridor.""
My mother suddenly stepped forward.
"Michael, don't.""
He looked at her.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Eleanor.""
Hayes placed the memory card into a secure device.
The screen lit up.
A grainy hallway appeared.
The date matched the night my father died.
A nurse walked past the camera.
Then a woman entered the frame.
She was carrying a small white bag.
The timestamp showed 9:32 p.m.
The woman approached my father's room.
She looked around before entering.
I leaned closer.
It was my mother.
I turned toward her.
She was crying.
The recording continued.
At 9:47 p.m., she came out.
Her hands were empty.
Three minutes later, David entered the room.
At 10:02 p.m., medical staff rushed inside.
The hallway filled with movement.
A doctor shouted for assistance.
Then the footage ended.
I looked at Michael.
"Does this prove she poisoned him?""
He shook his head.
"No. It proves she brought something into the room. The medical report establishes what was found in his system. We still need to establish exactly what happened.""
My mother sank onto the sofa.
"I didn't know.""
I turned toward her.
"Did you know the medication wasn't prescribed?""
She shook her head.
"No.""
"Did you know it could hurt him?""
"No!""
"Then why did you bring it?""
She covered her face.
"Because David told me it would make Richard sleep. He said your father was becoming paranoid and needed rest.""
I stared at her.
"You trusted David?""
She looked up.
"He was your father's brother.""
I shook my head.
"That doesn't answer anything.""
She whispered:
"I thought I was helping him.""
Benita suddenly laughed.
It was a small, bitter sound.
"Now she wants everyone to believe she's innocent.""
I turned toward her.
"What do you want?""
She looked at me.
"The truth.""
I almost laughed.
"You?""
She nodded.
"Yes. Because your mother has been lying to you from the beginning.""
Officer Hayes interrupted.
"Mrs. Bennett, you have already provided a statement. You don't need to provoke anyone.""
Benita ignored him.
"Marcus, ask her about the money.""
I looked at my mother.
"What money?""
Benita stepped closer.
"The money she paid to the people who held her.""
My mother looked down.
I remembered the bank transfer.
The private security company.
The account belonging to Eleanor.
"Mom?""
She finally spoke.
"After your father died, David told me Michael had been threatened. He said he needed money to keep Michael safe.""
"How much?""
"Two hundred thousand dollars.""
I stared at her.
"You paid them?""
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Because Michael was the only person who could prove what happened to Richard. I wanted him alive.""
Michael looked at her.
"Eleanor, that's not what happened.""
She turned toward him.
"What?""
Michael swallowed.
"David didn't want to kill me.""
He looked at me.
"He wanted me to keep quiet because I knew something else.""
Hayes stepped closer.
"What?""
Michael opened his jacket and removed another folded document.
It was a medical report.
But this one was dated six months earlier.
The night my mother disappeared.
I recognized her name immediately.
Eleanor Bennett.
The report described a head injury consistent with a violent assault.
I looked at her forehead.
The small bandage was still there.
"Who hurt you?""
She didn't answer.
Michael placed the document on the table.
"Benita.""
I turned toward my wife.
She immediately shook her head.
"That's not true.""
Michael continued.
"I saw her outside the property where Eleanor was being held. I went there to retrieve the original records.""
Benita stepped backward.
"You're lying!""
"You struck Eleanor when she refused to sign the transfer documents.""
My mother lowered her head.
I looked at Benita.
"Did you hit her?""
She started crying.
"I was trying to get the papers!""
"You hit my mother?""
"She attacked me first!""
Eleanor looked up.
"That's not what happened.""
Benita turned toward her.
"You were going to ruin everything!""
The words came out before she could stop herself.
Everyone fell silent.
Officer Hayes moved closer.
"Explain what you mean by everything.""
Benita covered her mouth.
But the damage was done.
I stared at her.
"What were you trying to get?""
She looked at me with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"The estate.""
"Why?""
"Because David promised me half.""
I felt sick.
"Half of what?""
"The company. The properties. Everything.""
I shook my head.
"And you were going to leave me with nothing?""
She whispered, "I thought we'd still be together.""
I stared at her.
"You were planning to steal my inheritance while keeping me as your husband?""
She didn't answer.
Then Michael spoke.
"There's something else.""
He turned toward Officer Hayes.
"David didn't arrange the entire scheme.""
Hayes frowned.
"Who did?""
Michael looked at my mother.
Then at Benita.
Then at me.
"Richard discovered the plan before anyone else. He changed his will because he knew someone was trying to take control of the estate.""
I nodded.
"We know that.""
Michael shook his head.
"No. You don't understand.""
He reached into his jacket again.
This time, he produced a small photograph.
It showed my father, my mother, David, Benita, and Samuel together at a private dinner.
But there was another person sitting at the far end of the table.
A woman in a dark dress.
I recognized her immediately.
My father's former personal assistant.
Catherine Wells.
She had disappeared shortly after his funeral.
Michael pointed to her.
"She was the person who originally arranged the medication substitution.""
I looked at him.
"Where is she?""
Michael swallowed.
"Dead.""
My mother gasped.
"Michael...""
He continued.
"She died two years ago. But before she died, she left a statement with her attorney.""
Officer Hayes took the photograph.
"What did she say?""
Michael looked at me.
"She admitted that David paid her to alter your father's medication records.""
I felt a strange wave of relief.
"Then David was responsible.""
Michael shook his head.
"Not entirely.""
He turned toward my mother.
"Catherine also said someone else paid her to make sure Richard never recovered.""
My mother began trembling.
"Who?""
Michael looked directly at Samuel.
The room froze.
Samuel stood beside the memorial table, his face completely expressionless.
I stared at him.
"Samuel?""
He slowly removed his glasses.
Then he looked at my mother.
"Eleanor, I told you this day would come.""
My mother began crying.
Officer Hayes stepped forward.
"Mr. Reed, don't move.""
Samuel raised both hands.
"I'm not going anywhere.""
I felt my heart pounding.
"Did you arrange my father's death?""
Samuel looked at me.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he reached into his jacket and placed a small key on the table.
"No, Marcus.""
He looked toward the framed portrait.
"But I know who did.""
He pointed at the memorial display.
"Look behind your father's photograph.""
I turned.
There was a small wooden panel attached to the back of the memorial frame.
Samuel continued.
"Your father left something there before he died.""
Officer Hayes carefully removed the photograph.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside lay a sealed envelope.
My name was written across it.
But the handwriting wasn't my father's.
It belonged to someone else.
Someone who had apparently been planning to reveal the truth for sixteen years.
I opened the envelope.
There was only one page.
And at the bottom, beneath a handwritten confession, was a signature.
*ELEANOR BENNETT.*
My mother began sobbing.
"Marcus, please don't read that.""
I looked at the first sentence.
Then I looked at her.
Because the confession began with six words that changed everything.
I was the one who ordered...
And before I could finish reading, Officer Hayes reached for the paper.
"Nobody touches that document. This changes the entire investigation.""
Samuel stepped backward.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Then the front door opened.
A uniformed officer rushed inside.
"Officer Hayes! We have a problem!""
Hayes turned.
"What?""
The officer looked at me.
"David Bennett has escaped custody.""
My mother screamed.
Samuel whispered:
"Then we have less time than I thought.""
May you like
And somewhere outside the mansion, my phone received one final message.
*YOUR FATHER'S REAL KILLER IS STILL IN THE HOUSE.*
