Chapter 12 - the daughter behind the institution walls
St. Catherine’s Residential Hospital had closed twelve years earlier.
At least, that was what its public records showed.
The original property stood two hours outside the city, surrounded by woodland and a rusted iron fence. Several buildings had been demolished, but the oldest structure remained.
A private company owned the land.
The company was controlled through three layers of holding entities.
The final owner was a Hale Meridian subsidiary.
Robert claimed he knew nothing about it.
No one believed him.
Rachel obtained permission to inspect the property after finding recent medical supply payments in the archived financial records.
Mark did not bring Ava.
She stayed with Rachel’s sister under private protection.
Before he left, Ava hugged him at the door.
“Are you finding the blue-coat lady?”
“I’m trying.”
“Is she bad?”
“I don’t know.”
Ava looked worried.
“What if she knows Mommy?”
Mark crouched.
“Why would you think that?”
“She had Mommy’s picture.”
His breath caught.
“When?”
“At school.”
“You saw it?”
“She opened her bag when she talked to Mrs. Hill. There was a picture inside.”
“What picture?”
“The one from our living room.”
Mark knew every photograph displayed in their home.
“Was Mommy wearing a red scarf?”
Ava nodded.
The picture had never been posted online. Elena had hated social media. Only a few copies existed.
Mark kissed Ava’s forehead.
“I’ll come back tonight.”
At St. Catherine’s, the main gate opened after Rachel showed the court order.
The building looked abandoned from the outside.
Inside, the electricity worked.
A receptionist sat behind a clean desk.
She did not appear surprised to see them.
“We have no patient named Marianne Hale,” she said.
Daniel placed the shareholder record on the counter.
“Search again.”
The receptionist looked at the document without touching it.
“No patient by that name.”
Mark noticed a camera turning above them.
“Try Marianne Vale.”
The receptionist’s eyes flickered.
Rachel noticed.
“Search that name.”
The woman typed slowly.
Then she shook her head.
“No record.”
A door opened at the far end of the lobby.
A man in a physician’s coat approached.
“I am Dr. Samuel Cole, facility director.”
“This facility is officially closed,” Rachel said.
“We provide private long-term residential care.”
“To whom?”
“Our patients’ identities are confidential.”
Mark stepped forward.
“My sister may be here.”
Dr. Cole studied him.
“You have no sister.”
The certainty of the reply exposed more than a denial.
Mark moved closer.
“How do you know who I am?”
Dr. Cole looked toward the receptionist.
She lowered her eyes.
Rachel presented the court order.
“We are authorized to inspect all records connected to Hale Meridian funding.”
Dr. Cole read it.
“This order concerns financial records, not patients.”
“Then show us the financial office.”
He led them through a secured door.
The hallway beyond it was recently painted. Soft music played through hidden speakers. Locked rooms lined both sides.
Mark heard a woman laughing somewhere above them.
Not a joyful laugh.
A distant, disoriented sound.
They entered a small administrative office.
Daniel searched the payment system while Rachel reviewed contracts.
Mark stood near the window, watching staff cross the courtyard.
Then he saw her.
A thin woman with gray-streaked dark hair walked slowly beside a nurse.
She wore a blue sweater.
Even from a distance, Mark recognized the shape of her face.
Margaret’s face.
His mother’s face.
The woman stopped.
She looked toward the window.
Her eyes met Mark’s.
She pulled away from the nurse.
Her lips formed a single word.
Mark.
He ran from the office.
Dr. Cole tried to block the door.
Mark pushed past him without striking him and entered the courtyard.
The woman moved toward him.
The nurse held her arm.
“Please return inside, Marianne.”
Mark stopped.
The name struck him harder than any physical blow.
Marianne stared at him.
“You grew up,” she whispered.
He could not speak.
She raised one trembling hand and touched his cheek.
“You look like Mother.”
Mark’s eyes filled.
“You’re my sister.”
Marianne’s expression changed.
Fear returned.
“No. You cannot be here.”
“Robert said you were dead.”
“He needed everyone to believe that.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the building.
Cameras pointed at them from every corner.
“Because Mother gave me the part of the company he could never control.”
Dr. Cole entered the courtyard with two security officers.
Rachel followed, demanding that they step back.
Marianne held Mark’s sleeve.
“Listen to me. Elena found me.”
Mark froze.
“When?”
“Before the accident.”
“What did she know?”
“Everything.”
“Who killed her?”
Marianne’s face collapsed with terror.
She looked past Mark.
A black car had stopped outside the fence.
A woman in a blue coat stood beside it.
Claire.
Marianne pulled Mark closer.
May you like
“Do not let her see Ava.”
The building’s alarms began to ring.
