Chapter 6 - the doctor who never examined lily
Dr. Samuel Voss had disappeared six weeks before Julia died.
His office had closed without warning.
His apartment had been emptied.
His professional license remained active, but he had not treated a patient in months.
Detective Shaw found the first lead through a toll-road camera.
A vehicle registered to Voss had crossed into Vermont three days after Julia's death.
After that, nothing.
Gabriel drove with Shaw to the abandoned office.
The building manager opened the door.
Inside, dust covered the desk.
Cabinets were empty.
But someone had forgotten an old shredder.
Shaw removed the collection bin.
Most fragments were too small to reconstruct.
One was not.
It contained part of a name.
LILY MERCER.
Gabriel stared at it.
Shaw looked at him.
"This proves her name passed through this office."
"It doesn't prove he examined her."
"No."
"She never came here."
"I believe you."
They continued searching.
In the back room, Gabriel noticed a framed medical diploma hanging slightly crooked.
Behind it was a safe.
The building manager did not know the combination.
Shaw obtained permission to open it.
Inside were three flash drives.
Cash.
And photographs.
Gabriel picked up one.
Julia.
She was leaving a restaurant.
Another showed Nora entering Mercer House.
Another showed Lily outside her school.
Someone had been watching his family.
The third flash drive contained recorded consultations.
Most were ordinary.
One was labeled M FAMILY.
Shaw played it.
Voss's voice came first.
"You understand I cannot diagnose a child I have never met."
A man's voice answered.
"You are not diagnosing her. You are preparing a professional opinion based on information provided by the family."
Gabriel froze.
He knew that voice.
Shaw looked at him.
"Who is that?"
Gabriel listened again.
The voice was older.
Measured.
Controlled.
"Malcolm."
The recording continued.
Voss sounded uncomfortable.
"What exactly is the purpose of this report?"
Malcolm answered.
"Protective planning."
"From what?"
"An unstable household."
"Is the father abusive?"
"No."
"The mother?"
"No."
"Then why would the child need to be removed?"
A pause followed.
Then Malcolm said, "Because circumstances can change."
The audio ended.
Gabriel stood perfectly still.
Shaw immediately called for Malcolm to be located.
His driver said Malcolm had left home before sunrise.
His phone was off.
His office did not know where he was.
Gabriel's anger became physical.
He wanted to find his uncle himself.
He wanted to drag him into the same marble foyer where Julia had once welcomed him for Christmas.
Shaw stopped him.
"If Malcolm knows we're looking at him, we need to assume he's dangerous."
"He threatened my children."
"We don't know he wrote the card."
"He hired a psychiatrist to fabricate reports."
"Yes. And that gives us leverage."
Gabriel looked at the flash drive.
"What kind?"
"The kind that makes people around him start talking."
They began with Caroline.
Her attorney refused an interview.
But when Shaw informed him that investigators had recovered audio linking Malcolm to false psychiatric reports concerning Lily, the tone changed.
Caroline agreed to speak under limited conditions.
She arrived at the police station wearing sunglasses.
Gabriel watched through one-way glass.
Shaw sat opposite her.
"Did Malcolm ask you to remove Lily or Emma from Gabriel's custody?"
"No."
"Did Malcolm discuss the Children's Trust?"
"Everyone in the family knows about the trust."
"Gabriel didn't."
Caroline shrugged.
"Gabriel never cared about financial details."
"Did you release the stroller brake?"
"No."
"Did Malcolm tell you to create an incident involving Nora?"
Caroline's face changed.
Shaw leaned closer.
"There it is."
Caroline looked away.
"What?"
"That reaction."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Shaw placed a printed transcript from Voss's recording on the table.
"Your uncle was preparing to have Lily declared psychologically unreliable."
Caroline read it.
Her expression tightened.
Shaw continued.
"Your sister-in-law discovered it."
Caroline said nothing.
"Then Julia died."
Still nothing.
"Four months later, Lily recorded you touching Emma's stroller immediately before it fell down the stairs."
Caroline's eyes became wet.
"I didn't mean for it to happen like that."
Gabriel moved closer to the glass.
Shaw remained calm.
"What did you mean to happen?"
Caroline realized what she had said.
Her attorney touched her arm.
"Stop talking."
But Caroline ignored him.
"I only wanted Nora gone."
Shaw leaned forward.
"Why?"
Caroline began breathing faster.
"Because Malcolm said she had Julia's files."
Gabriel's pulse hammered.
Shaw asked, "Did you release the brake?"
Caroline closed her eyes.
Her attorney said, "Do not answer."
Caroline whispered, "I thought Nora would catch it before the stairs."
Gabriel shut his eyes.
There it was.
Not denial.
Not misunderstanding.
An admission.
Shaw asked, "Why would you risk a baby's life to remove Nora?"
Caroline started crying.
"Because he said if I didn't help, he would tell Gabriel what I did the night Julia died."
Gabriel opened his eyes.
Shaw became perfectly still.
"What did you do?"
Caroline looked toward the one-way glass.
As though she knew Gabriel stood behind it.
Then she whispered, "I followed her."
Gabriel felt his heart stop.
"Where?"
Shaw asked.
May you like
Caroline covered her face.
"To the road where she crashed."
