Chapter 6 - The Man at the Hospital.
Daniel reached the hospital lobby before Officer Cole finished speaking to security.
Grant was already gone.
A camera near the elevators had captured him wearing a baseball cap and a dark jacket Daniel had never seen before.
He had signed in using the name Gregory Mason.
The lie was so clumsy that it almost felt deliberate.
Daniel stared at the image on the security monitor.
"Why would he come here if he knew police were involved?"
Cole folded his arms.
"Maybe he wanted to see whether Claire could talk."
Daniel felt anger rise through the exhaustion.
"Or stop her from talking."
Cole did not confirm it.
He did not need to.
Security was moved outside Claire's room and Sophie's room immediately.
Grant's photograph was circulated to hospital staff.
Daniel sat beside Claire for the first time since the ambulances left the house.
She looked peaceful in a way that frightened him.
Machines tracked her breathing and heartbeat with quiet electronic tones.
He took her hand.
"I'm sorry I didn't see it."
Claire did not answer.
"I'm sorry you thought you had to handle them alone."
His eyes filled.
"You don't have to protect me from my own family anymore."
A nurse entered and told him Sophie had shown signs of waking.
Daniel was beside his daughter's bed seconds later.
Her eyes opened only halfway.
She looked confused.
Then she whispered one word.
"Maple?"
Daniel almost broke.
"The police have Maple right now."
Sophie frowned weakly.
"Mommy said Maple had a job."
Daniel looked at the nurse, then back at Sophie.
"What job?"
"Listening."
The nurse gently reminded Daniel not to push her.
He nodded.
Sophie closed her eyes again.
Before drifting off, she whispered something else.
"Grandma got mad at the lemonade."
Daniel's chair stopped moving.
"What did you say?"
But Sophie was already asleep.
Daniel called Cole from the hallway.
Within twenty minutes, a detective trained to speak with children arrived, but the medical team refused further questioning until Sophie had more strength.
Daniel understood.
He still hated waiting.
That afternoon, police searched the kitchen pantry under a warrant connected to the evidence already recovered.
Behind a row of rarely used serving trays, they found an empty compartment in the wall.
The panel had fresh scratches around the screws.
Inside was nothing but a folded paper napkin and a small brass key.
The napkin bore the logo of a private club Grant used for business lunches.
The key did not match any door in the Mercer house.
Cole sent Daniel a photograph.
Daniel recognized the stamped number on it.
214.
His father had once kept a safe-deposit box at a downtown bank.
The number had been 214.
Daniel's father had closed the account before his death.
At least, that was what Evelyn had told everyone.
Cole asked the obvious question.
"Could the box still exist?"
Daniel remembered his mother handling the estate paperwork alone for the first three months after the funeral.
"If it does, she knew."
Cole went quiet.
Then he told Daniel something else.
The adhesive found near the recorder had been compared with residue beneath Evelyn's fingernail.
It was consistent.
Daniel looked through the glass door toward Claire.
The pieces were gathering around his mother.
But one piece still refused to fit.
If Evelyn had hidden the recorder, why had Claire written that she wanted proof?
And if Claire had hidden it, why was Evelyn's adhesive on the toy?
At 6:07 p.m., Officer Cole received the answer.
The forensic technician had found two separate sets of fresh stitching on Maple's back.
Someone had opened the teddy bear after Claire placed the recorder inside.
May you like
Someone had found it.
And then, for reasons no one yet understood, someone had put it back.
