Chapter 6 - THE DOCTOR WHO CERTIFIED A LIE
Sophie replayed the recording three times.
Each time, the words sounded worse.
It worked on Bennett.
Her father had died after complaining of chest pain at a private medical facility.
Dr. Thomas Keller had certified the death as a heart attack.
Five years later, the same doctor stood beside an unconscious Élise, discussing a method Victor wanted to repeat.
Sophie felt her entire childhood history shifting beneath her feet.
“Adrien, he killed my father.”
Adrien closed the laptop.
“We need to establish what happened. A recording isn't the same as a complete medical investigation.”
“Did you hear him?”
“Yes.”
“Then don't ask me to pretend this is complicated.”
Adrien reached across the table.
“I'm not protecting Victor.”
“Then help me find Keller.”
Adrien hesitated.
“Keller has a private practice in downtown Boston. But going after him ourselves could put everyone in danger.”
Sophie pulled away.
“Everyone is already in danger.”
Before Adrien could answer, his phone rang.
The caller ID displayed Cedar Hollow Medical Center.
He answered.
“Adrien Valmont.”
A woman's voice spoke quickly.
“Mr. Valmont, this is Claire Morgan. I need your help.”
Sophie sat upright.
“Claire?”
Adrien switched to speakerphone.
“Sophie is here.”
Claire sounded relieved.
“Good. I couldn't reach either of you. Listen carefully. Élise and the baby have been moved.”
Adrien rose from his chair.
“Moved where?”
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean you don't know?”
“Keller signed an emergency transfer order twenty minutes ago. Security wouldn't tell me the destination.”
Adrien gripped the table.
“My daughter is less than two weeks old.”
“I know.”
“She was born prematurely. Élise told me she's still receiving medical care.”
Claire's voice trembled.
“That's why I'm calling. The baby shouldn't have been transferred without proper documentation.”
Sophie stood.
“Claire, does Keller know about the records?”
“I think he suspects someone has them.”
“Why?”
“Because he came into the records office this evening and ordered us to destroy every file connected to Élise.”
Adrien cursed under his breath.
“Where is Keller now?”
“Leaving the clinic.”
“Can you follow him?”
“No. Security is watching me.”
A door opened somewhere behind Claire.
She lowered her voice.
“I have to go.”
“Claire, wait,” Sophie said.
“Yes?”
“Can you access my volunteer records?”
A pause.
“Probably.”
“I need to know which patients I assisted and whether anyone changed the records afterward.”
“I'll try.”
The call ended.
Adrien was already reaching for his coat.
“We're going to Keller's office.”
Sophie grabbed her father's flash drive.
“Together.”
They arrived at Keller's medical practice shortly before ten the following morning, after spending the night organizing documents and contacting a federal prosecutor's office.
The office occupied the top floor of a modern building overlooking Boston Common.
A receptionist greeted them with a professional smile.
“Do you have an appointment?”
Adrien stepped forward.
“Tell Dr. Keller that Adrien Valmont is here to discuss his uncle.”
The woman's smile disappeared.
“Please wait.”
She disappeared down a hallway.
Five minutes later, Keller emerged.
He was a broad-shouldered man in his late fifties, with thinning gray hair and a pleasant face that suddenly struck Sophie as deeply unsettling.
“Adrien.”
He extended his hand.
“What a surprise.”
Adrien ignored it.
“We need to talk.”
Keller glanced at Sophie.
“Miss Bennett. I heard about your unfortunate wedding.”
Sophie stared at him.
“Did you kill my father?”
The receptionist looked up.
Keller's expression remained remarkably calm.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You signed his death certificate.”
“I sign many death certificates.”
“Did Victor pay you to falsify it?”
Keller's face hardened.
“I suggest you lower your voice.”
“That's what everyone keeps telling me.”
Adrien stepped between them.
“We have a recording.”
For the first time, Keller looked genuinely alarmed.
“What recording?”
“The one where you discuss using the same method on Élise.”
Keller glanced toward his office.
“Come inside.”
Sophie hesitated.
Adrien shook his head.
“We'll talk here.”
Keller looked at the receptionist.
“Linda, take your lunch break.”
She gathered her belongings and hurried away.
Only when the office was empty did Keller speak.
“You don't understand what you've gotten involved in.”
“Then explain it,” Sophie said.
Keller lowered himself into a chair.
For several seconds, he seemed to consider his options.
Finally, he whispered:
“Your father came to Cedar Hollow because he was investigating a patient who disappeared.”
“Anna Reynolds?”
Keller nodded.
“He discovered that financial records were being manipulated. Victor wanted him discredited.”
“So you murdered him.”
“No.”
Sophie felt anger rise.
“Don't lie to me.”
“I gave him medication, but I was told it was part of a routine examination.”
“What medication?”
Keller looked away.
“A sedative.”
“Then how did he die?”
“He developed a cardiac emergency during the procedure.”
Sophie shook her head.
“That's not an answer.”
Keller swallowed.
“The medication was administered in a combination that could be dangerous. I should have questioned it. I didn't.”
“And you signed the certificate.”
“Yes.”
“Knowing what had happened?”
Keller closed his eyes.
“I knew enough.”
Sophie stared at him.
“You let my mother bury her husband believing he'd died naturally.”
Keller said nothing.
“And now you've done the same thing to Élise?”
“No. Élise is alive.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Adrien slammed his palm onto the desk.
“Where is my daughter?”
Keller flinched.
“The transfer wasn't my decision.”
“Your signature is on the order.”
“Victor's security team brought it to me. They said Élise required special protection.”
Sophie stared at him.
“You're a doctor. You're supposed to protect patients.”
Keller's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“Then start acting like one.”
She placed the flash drive on the desk.
“We have enough evidence to send you to prison. But you can still help save Élise and her baby.”
Keller stared at the drive.
For the first time, Sophie saw not arrogance but the exhausted fear of a man who had spent years compromising until he no longer recognized himself.
“I'll testify,” he whispered.
Adrien leaned forward.
“Where did they take them?”
Keller opened a drawer and removed a small black notebook.
“Victor has a private recovery facility in the Berkshires. It's registered through a company called Northbridge Holdings.”
Sophie took the notebook.
An address was written inside.
Keller continued.
“If Élise has been taken there, you need to act quickly.”
“Why?” Adrien demanded.
“Because Victor has already arranged for a specialist to evaluate her mental competency.”
Sophie frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Keller looked at her.
“It means they're preparing to declare that she isn't capable of making decisions for herself or her child.”
Adrien went pale.
Keller's voice dropped.
“And if they succeed, Victor may be able to convince a court to place them under a temporary guardianship controlled by people he trusts.”
Sophie's phone vibrated.
A message from Claire.
I found your volunteer records. Someone used your identification badge to access Élise's room seventeen times. But there's something else. The badge was used three times after your volunteer placement ended.
Sophie stared.
The final entry was dated yesterday.
The day before her wedding.
She sent Claire a reply.
Can you identify who used it?
Claire responded with a security camera still.
The figure wore a medical mask and a volunteer's blue uniform.
But the person's eyes were clearly visible.
Sophie enlarged the image.
Her chest tightened.
It wasn't a stranger.
It was Margaret Bennett.
Her mother.
And in her hands was a small pink blanket.
The kind hospitals give to newborn babies.
A second message from Claire appeared.
Sophie, your mother visited Élise's daughter yesterday. The security log says she signed the baby out of the neonatal unit.
Sophie turned toward Adrien.
May you like
Her voice barely worked.
“Adrien, I think my mother knows exactly where your daughter is.”
