Chapter 18 - THE WOMAN IN THE WHITE SCARF
Detective Ruiz found Margaret inside a retirement apartment overlooking Boston Harbor.
She was seventy-six.
A white scarf rested around her neck.
Margaret did not deny her identity.
She claimed she returned because Conrad had finally been convicted.
“Were you part of the hospital fire?” Ethan asked.
“I helped create the evacuation order.”
“People died.”
“I know.”
“Did you take Lily’s blood?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Conrad believed Amelia’s father had hidden a second patent inside the child’s genetic record.”
The statement sounded impossible.
Margaret explained that Dr. Jonathan Hale, Amelia’s father, developed a gene-targeted treatment.
He encoded part of the research key inside a private sequence database tied to family DNA.
Only a verified biological descendant could authorize access.
The treatment had never reached the market.
It could be worth more than Blackwood Industries.
Conrad wanted the key.
He kept Amelia and Lily alive because he needed their voluntary biometric authorization.
“Then why poison Ethan?” Ruiz asked.
“Ethan had no role in the patent.”
“He was emotional leverage.”
“If he died, Amelia would become easier to break.”
Margaret admitted helping hide Amelia initially.
She later tried to expose Conrad.
He arranged her false death and forced her abroad.
She possessed documents proving the patent existed.
She also carried a warning.
Conrad sold partial information to a pharmaceutical consortium years earlier.
The consortium believed Lily held the final access key.
Now that her identity was public, others might come for her.
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“Names.”
Margaret handed him a folder.
The first company was Voss Meridian Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Malcolm Voss’s family controlled it.
The same doctor who falsified Ethan’s heart condition.
The second was a shell company called Aurelius Research.
Its director was Charles Dane.
The hospital administrator who helped arrange the fire.
Conrad and Victor were in prison.
The network surrounding them remained alive.
Lily entered the room unexpectedly.
She saw Margaret’s scarf and stopped.
“I know you.”
Margaret went pale.
May you like
Lily pointed toward her.
“You were in the dark room.”
