Chapter 12 - THE HOSPITAL WINGThe old Vale Memorial Wing had been closed for demolition.
Perfect place for secrets.
Police entered first.
We waited outside.
Then Torres emerged.
“No Crane.”
Rebecca looked toward the building.
“He wants us inside.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Then a speaker somewhere inside crackled.
My mother’s voice filled the abandoned courtyard.
“Caroline…”
Everyone froze.
It was a recording.
Then Adam Crane’s voice.
“Come hear the rest.”
Marcus cursed.
We entered with tactical officers.
The hospital smelled like mold and chemicals.
Room after room stood empty.
At the end of the third floor we found Crane.
He sat in a wheelchair.
A pistol rested on his lap.
He looked sick.
Cancer, apparently.
He laughed when he saw me.
“Dead girl.”
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Crane lifted them.
“I didn’t bring you here to shoot anyone.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“You held me prisoner.”
“I kept you alive.”
“You worked for Vale.”
“Yes.”
“You killed him?”
Crane smiled.
“He deserved worse.”
Torres cuffed him.
I looked at the recorder on the table.
“What is that?”
Crane nodded toward it.
“Eleanor’s final confession.”
My hands trembled.
“You recorded my mother?”
“She recorded herself.”
We played it.
Mother appeared on a small video screen.
Thinner than before.
“Thomas knows I discovered the accounts.”
She breathed painfully.
“Douglas thinks he is helping me by changing my medication.”
My father began crying.
“He doesn’t know Vale supplied both bottles.”
Mother continued.
“If I die, Douglas will blame himself. Thomas is counting on that.”
Dad broke.
He slid against the wall.
“I killed her.”
Rebecca knelt beside him.
“No.”
He stared at her.
“You don’t get to forgive me.”
“I’m not.”
Her answer surprised everyone.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
She stood.
“Forgiveness and truth are not the same thing.”
Crane laughed softly.
“Eleanor always said that.”
I turned toward him.
“Why did Vale burn the estate?”
“He wanted the trust ledgers.”
“And Rebecca?”
“Collateral.”
“And me?”
“You weren’t supposed to be there.”
Juliette made a sound behind me.
She had been brought under police escort after agreeing to cooperate.
Crane looked at her.
“You made everything easier.”
She flinched.
“You told rescuers Caroline escaped.”
“Yes.”
“Vale heard that on the emergency radio.”
I stared at Juliette.
Her single lie had given Vale cover.
Crane continued.
“He found Rebecca unconscious near the west garden before firefighters reached her.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“He took her.”
“Yes.”
“And the body?”
Crane smiled.
“Another woman.”
“Who?”
“A bookkeeper.”
My stomach turned.
“Name.”
“Sandra Keene.”
Marcus wrote it down.
“She discovered Vale’s accounts.”
My father whispered:
“He killed her.”
Crane shrugged.
“I didn’t.”
“But Vale did.”
“Yes.”
“And planted her body in the house.”
Crane nodded.
Then used forged dental records to make the dead woman Caroline Mercer.
It was almost perfect.
Except I survived.
Rebecca survived.
Victor started talking.
And lies age badly.
Marcus leaned close.
“Where are Sandra Keene’s remains?”
Crane smiled again.
“You’re standing above them.”
Everyone looked down.
Beneath the hospital floor.
May you like
Crane whispered:
“Vale buried more than one person in this building.”
