Chapter 7 - THE MEDICINE THAT CHANGED
Laura’s journal described increasing weakness after a new home-care nurse began visiting.
Her oncologist believed the symptoms came from treatment.
Laura suspected otherwise.
She wrote that her medication bottles appeared in different positions.
Pills disappeared.
Others appeared that she did not recognize.
The nurse’s name was Rachel Bennett.
Michael stood in the hospital consultation room holding the journal.
He remembered Rachel’s face from the charity dinner.
He had believed he was meeting her for the first time.
She had already entered his house years earlier under a medical uniform.
“Why didn’t I recognize her?”
Ruth looked at him sadly.
“You saw dozens of nurses during Laura’s illness.”
“Rachel changed her hair.”
“She used a different last name.”
Michael felt physically sick.
Rachel had cared for his dying wife.
Then she returned as the woman who comforted him after Laura’s death.
Officer Ruiz obtained Laura’s old treatment records.
Rachel was not a licensed nurse.
She worked for Northfield Family Solutions, a private home-care contractor.
The company was owned by David Cole through a hidden subsidiary.
Laura had written one final medical note.
Rachel injected something into my IV after midnight.
David said it was for nausea.
The hospital never prescribed it.
Laura’s body had been cremated.
Toxicology testing was impossible.
However, Laura saved one of the used injection vials.
She taped it inside the back cover of the journal.
The label had been removed.
A police laboratory tested the residue.
It contained a drug that suppressed bone marrow function.
In a healthy person, it could cause severe illness.
In someone receiving cancer treatment, it could accelerate decline.
Michael sat in silence after hearing the result.
Rachel and David might not have caused Laura’s cancer.
They had possibly shortened her life.
Ruth held Ava’s hand.
“She knew she was being harmed.”
“She still used what strength she had to protect her daughter.”
The journal also contained copies of trust documents.
Ava’s inheritance had grown to nearly thirty-six million dollars.
If Michael died or became legally incompetent, Ava’s guardian would control the funds.
Rachel had married Michael.
David had access to the business.
Together, they could remove both father and daughter from the country.
The cold pantry was not the first stage of the plan.
It was the final stage.
A new video file appeared on the hidden camera server.
It showed David and Rachel standing in Michael’s garage two nights earlier.
David held a small bottle.
“Use this in Michael’s coffee after he returns,” he said.
Rachel answered,
“He is not supposed to return until Friday.”
May you like
David smiled.
“Then Friday is when the grieving widow becomes Ava’s guardian.”
