Chapter 12: The Missing Bottle
"Someone got here first.""
Daniel stared into the empty locker.
Harris examined the lock.
"No obvious damage.""
"So someone had the code.""
"Or a key.""
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"Melissa only had 214.""
Harris stood.
"We need station surveillance.""
Within minutes, officers were reviewing camera footage.
Daniel waited beside the lockers.
Rachel had preserved evidence for three years.
Someone had found the one item that might explain her death.
His phone rang.
Martin.
Daniel showed Harris.
"Answer.""
"Martin.""
Martin sounded panicked.
"Where are you?""
"Why?""
"Just tell me.""
"No.""
"Daniel, Melissa contacted me.""
"When?""
"Twenty minutes ago.""
"She's with police.""
"Then it wasn't Melissa.""
Daniel looked at Harris.
"What did the message say?""
"That you'd found Rachel's locker.""
Daniel's skin prickled.
Only a handful of people knew.
"What else?""
"That you found the medication.""
"We didn't.""
Martin went silent.
Daniel caught it immediately.
"How did you know there was medication?""
"I didn't.""
"You just said it.""
"No, you—"
"Martin.""
Harris moved closer.
Daniel asked, "Did Rachel tell you?""
Silence.
"Answer me.""
"Yes.""
"When?""
"The day before she collapsed.""
Daniel's chest tightened.
"What did she say?""
"She said she'd found pills in a bottle that didn't belong to her.""
"Pills?""
"Yes.""
"What kind?""
"I don't know.""
"Why didn't you tell anyone?""
Martin's voice cracked.
"Because I was terrified.""
"Of Eric?""
"Yes.""
"Did Eric know about the bottle?""
"I think so.""
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Where is Eric?""
"I don't know.""
"Stop lying.""
"I'm not!""
Harris gestured toward an officer approaching with a tablet.
The officer whispered something.
Harris's face changed.
Daniel ended the call.
"What?""
"We found the footage.""
The tablet showed Central Station earlier that afternoon.
A man in a baseball cap entered the locker area.
He went directly to 215.
Used a key.
Removed something wrapped in cloth.
Then left.
The camera caught his face for half a second.
Daniel recognized him.
"That's Greg.""
"Who?""
"Eric's assistant.""
Harris immediately issued instructions.
Daniel stared at the frozen image.
Greg Mason had worked at Carter Development for six years.
He managed schedules, payroll paperwork, and company vehicles.
Another person Daniel had trusted.
Harris asked, "Where would he go?""
"Office. Home. Eric's properties.""
"Think.""
Daniel did.
Greg hated driving.
Eric owned a storage facility fifteen minutes from the station.
Greg handled it because it housed archived company records.
"Wallace Storage.""
Police moved quickly.
Daniel wasn't allowed inside when officers searched.
He waited in Harris's vehicle.
Twenty-five minutes later, Harris returned carrying an evidence bag.
Inside was a small prescription bottle wrapped in faded cloth.
Daniel stared.
"You found it?""
"In a locked desk.""
"Greg?""
"Not there.""
"Eric?""
"No.""
Daniel leaned back.
The bottle looked ordinary.
Tiny.
Almost insignificant.
Could something that small hold the answer to three years of grief?
"What happens now?""
"Laboratory testing.""
"How long?""
"Depends.""
Daniel hated waiting.
But there was something else.
"Rachel's medical records.""
"We're obtaining them.""
Daniel looked at the bottle again.
"She thought something was wrong with her medication.""
"That's what her letter suggests.""
"Could someone have caused her illness?""
Harris remained cautious.
"We don't know.""
Daniel nodded.
He appreciated that Harris refused to turn suspicion into fact.
Hours later, Daniel returned to the safe location where Ben and the children were waiting.
Lily ran toward him.
"Daddy!""
He lifted her.
For the first time all day, he let himself breathe.
"You came back.""
"I promised.""
She touched his cheek.
"You're sad.""
Daniel smiled faintly.
"A little.""
"Because Mommy Rachel?""
"Yes.""
Lily wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I miss her too.""
Daniel closed his eyes.
Later, after both children were asleep, Ben sat across from him.
"Anything?""
Daniel told him about the bottle.
Ben went pale.
"You think Eric—"
"I don't know.""
"But Rachel suspected something.""
"Yes.""
Ben looked toward the hallway.
"What happens to Melissa?""
"Police are questioning her.""
"And Carol?""
"Same.""
Ben shook his head.
"How did all these people live around you carrying pieces of this?""
Daniel stared at the floor.
"Because I never knew which questions to ask.""
His phone rang.
Harris.
Daniel answered immediately.
"We got preliminary information from Rachel's hospital records," Harris said.
Daniel stood.
"What?""
"Her initial toxicology screening wasn't designed to detect every substance.""
Daniel's heartbeat increased.
"And?""
"The lab is testing the bottle.""
"Okay.""
"But that's not why I'm calling.""
Daniel gripped the phone.
"What happened?""
"We found Greg.""
"Where?""
"At Eric's lake property.""
"And Eric?""
"Gone.""
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Did Greg talk?""
"Yes.""
"What did he say?""
Harris paused.
"He says Eric ordered him to remove the bottle from the station locker.""
"Then arrest Eric.""
"We're working on locating him.""
Daniel paced.
"Did Greg know what was in it?""
"He claims he didn't.""
"Do you believe him?""
"That's for the investigation to establish.""
Daniel stopped.
"What else?""
Harris's silence told him there was more.
"Greg gave us access to an encrypted company archive.""
Daniel's pulse quickened.
"We found records matching Rachel's notebook. Transfers, shell companies, forged authorizations.""
"So Rachel was right.""
"About the financial scheme, the records strongly support that.""
Daniel closed his eyes.
Finally.
Proof.
Then Harris continued.
"But we found something else.""
"What?""
"A folder containing surveillance photographs.""
Daniel's eyes opened.
"Of whom?""
"You.""
His stomach dropped.
"Me?""
"You, Rachel, Lily.""
Daniel sat slowly.
"How far back?""
"Six years.""
Before the foundation dinner.
Before Lily.
Before the trust was finalized.
Daniel whispered, "Why would Eric watch us before the money existed?""
"That's what we're trying to determine.""
Daniel heard pages turning on Harris's end.
Then the detective said, "There's one photograph you need to see.""
"What is it?""
"It was taken outside the hospital the night Rachel was admitted.""
Daniel remembered that night vividly.
Rain.
Emergency lights.
His hands shaking while nurses rushed Rachel through double doors.
"Who's in it?""
Harris hesitated.
"Eric.""
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"That doesn't surprise me anymore.""
"It should.""
"Why?""
"Because he isn't alone.""
Daniel went completely still.
"Who is with him?""
Harris answered carefully.
"Rachel's doctor.""
Daniel stood.
"What?""
"The physician who treated her during her first twelve hours.""
Daniel struggled to breathe.
"Dr. Keller?""
"Yes.""
Daniel remembered the man.
Calm voice.
Silver glasses.
The doctor who had told Daniel Rachel's condition was unpredictable.
The doctor who had assured him everything possible was being done.
"What are they doing in the photograph?""
"They're exchanging an envelope.""
Daniel gripped the table.
May you like
Then Harris added:
"And according to the timestamp, the photograph was taken forty minutes before Dr. Keller ordered the medication that Rachel received that night.""
