Chapter 11 - The Traitor on the Secure Floor
Raymond ordered the entire surgical team held for questioning.
Dr. Patel protested until she saw the laboratory result.
The anticoagulant had entered Emily’s system through the replacement IV placed after the first drugged bag was removed.
Only six people had access.
Hannah.
Dr. Patel.
Two operating-room nurses.
The anesthesiologist.
And Raymond’s own chief medical officer, Dr. Victor Shaw.
Victor had worked beside Raymond for twenty-five years.
He had delivered Emily’s first childhood stitches.
He had stood at Elizabeth’s funeral.
He had helped design the hospital’s patient-safety systems.
When questioned, he remained calm.
“Medication contamination happens.”
“Not twice to the same patient on a locked floor,” Raymond replied.
Victor looked toward Emily.
“Your niece has become the center of an emotional storm.”
“Do not speak about her as though she caused it.”
Security searched Victor’s office.
They found no drugs.
They found no money.
They found something worse.
A copy of Elizabeth Saint Claire’s original toxicology report.
The document proved she had been poisoned.
Victor had hidden it for twelve years.
Raymond confronted him in a private conference room.
Emily watched through the glass.
“Why?” Raymond asked.
Victor’s face aged in front of them.
“Elizabeth asked me to hide it.”
“That is a lie.”
“She knew Robert was involved.”
“She feared he would hurt Emily if the police moved too soon.”
“Then why did you never release it after her death?”
“Because Lawrence had evidence against me.”
Victor admitted he altered a clinical trial result early in his career.
Lawrence threatened to destroy him.
For twelve years, Victor obeyed every instruction connected to the Whitmores.
But he denied adding the anticoagulant.
“I protected Emily during surgery.”
“I changed the dosage before it became fatal.”
Raymond stared at him.
“You knew it was there.”
“Yes.”
“Who placed it?”
Victor looked toward the NICU.
“Someone who wanted the mother gone but the child alive.”
“Robert?”
“No.”
“Robert wants the trust.”
“This person wants the baby itself.”
The hospital alarm sounded.
May you like
A nurse ran from the NICU.
Elias Raymond Hale was missing from his incubator.
