Chapter 9 - The Man Downstairs
Dr. Vale wore a dark overcoat over hospital scrubs.
He held a medical case in one hand.
Anna looked at Melissa.
“Did you let him in?”
Melissa shook her head.
Dererick answered.
“He has a key.”
Vale stared at the open bedroom and scattered equipment.
“What happened?”
“She didn’t drink it,” Dererick said.
Vale’s face tightened.
Anna raised her recording phone.
“Drink what?”
Vale recovered quickly.
“Anna, you appear distressed.”
“Why are you in my house?”
“Dererick called and said you were experiencing a psychiatric emergency.”
“At two in the morning?”
“Emergencies are not scheduled.”
He spoke with practiced calm.
The voice of a doctor who knew how to make resistance look irrational.
Vale placed the medical case on a hallway table.
“Anna, put down the scissors.”
She looked at her hand.
She was still holding them.
Immediately, she placed them on the bedroom floor.
Vale’s expression flickered.
He wanted her holding something sharp when police arrived.
Anna understood the trap and stepped away from every object.
“My hands are empty.”
Melissa moved beside her.
“So are mine.”
Dererick looked at Vale.
“They found the drives.”
Vale’s composure vanished for half a second.
Then he said, “Destroy them.”
Melissa stared.
Anna’s phone captured every word.
Vale saw the device and moved toward her.
Anna backed away.
“You just ordered evidence destroyed.”
“I was referring to confidential medical files.”
“They are recordings of my mother.”
Vale lowered his voice.
“Evelyn was my patient.”
“She never mentioned you.”
“Confidentiality prevented me from discussing treatment.”
“Not after her death if the records prove a crime.”
Vale turned toward Dererick.
“You said the archive was secure.”
Dererick replied bitterly.
“You said the dose was safe.”
The hallway fell silent.
They had begun blaming each other.
Anna kept the phone raised.
“What dose?”
Vale’s face became rigid.
Dererick looked at him.
“The one you gave Evelyn.”
Vale lunged toward the phone.
Melissa stepped between them.
Dererick grabbed the black bag and ran down the stairs.
Anna shouted after him.
“The drives are copied!”
He stopped halfway down.
It was another bluff.
But this time Vale believed it.
May you like
And his next sentence became the confession Anna needed.
“Then we need to find where she uploaded them.”
