Chapter 2 - what was in elodie’s blood)
Four hours before Daniel lifted the heart monitor above his mother’s head, he had believed Elodie was suffering from food poisoning.
By midnight, nobody at Westbrook Children’s Hospital believed that anymore.
Dr. Aaron Patel returned to Room 412 holding a tablet.
Daniel was seated beside Elodie’s bed.
Margaret had been escorted to a separate consultation room under security supervision after Claire made the abuse allegation.
Daniel had insisted she not be allowed near Elodie.
Claire had remained with them.
Dr. Patel closed the door.
“We repeated the toxicology panel.”
Daniel stood.
“And?”
“There are abnormalities we cannot explain by ordinary food contamination.”
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
“What kind of abnormalities?”
Patel glanced at Claire.
“Sedative compounds.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What?”
“Small concentrations. Not enough by themselves to cause what happened tonight. But there are indications of repeated exposure.”
Claire looked sharply at him.
“Repeated?”
Patel nodded.
“The metabolite levels suggest this may not have been a single event.”
Daniel felt the room tilt.
Elodie was asleep now.
Her rabbit rested under one arm.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“What exactly are you telling me?”
Patel chose his words carefully.
“I’m telling you someone may have been giving your daughter medication she was not prescribed.”
Daniel immediately thought of Margaret.
Then another thought stopped him.
Margaret had not been with Elodie all week.
Daniel’s work schedule had been unusually light.
He had picked Elodie up from school himself Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday evening Margaret had visited for dinner.
Friday, today, Daniel had taken Elodie to a school art exhibition, then home.
Margaret arrived at the hospital only after Daniel called her.
“How far back?” he asked.
Patel shook his head.
“We can’t determine that from tonight’s test alone.”
Claire looked at Elodie.
“Could it explain the episodes?”
Daniel turned to her.
“What episodes?”
Claire paused.
Patel answered.
“The headaches, nausea, fatigue and occasional confusion documented in her medical records.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What medical records?”
Patel frowned.
“Her prior visits.”
Daniel said nothing.
Patel’s expression changed.
“You knew about those, correct?”
“No.”
Claire stepped toward the tablet.
“How many visits?”
Patel scrolled.
“Seven urgent-care or emergency visits in the last twenty-two months.”
Daniel’s face went cold.
“That’s impossible.”
“They are in the regional record.”
“I took her to the hospital twice.”
Patel looked at him.
“Someone else brought her the other five times.”
Daniel already knew the answer.
He still asked.
“Who?”
Patel hesitated.
“Margaret Hayes.”
Daniel sat down because his knees had stopped cooperating.
Five hospital visits.
Five times his daughter had been sick enough to receive urgent treatment.
Five times his own mother had taken her without telling him.
He looked at Claire.
“She said Elodie was dramatic.”
Claire said nothing.
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He ignored it.
Then it vibrated again.
A message appeared from his executive assistant.
Need you to call me. Police are at your house.
Daniel stood.
“What?”
Another message came.
They say hospital security contacted them.
Daniel called immediately.
His assistant, Noah Benson, answered.
“Daniel?”
“What police?”
“Two officers. They’re with your housekeeper.”
Daniel felt his pulse jump.
“Why?”
“They want access to Elodie’s room and kitchen.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
The nurse understood.
“Let them search.”
Daniel nodded.
He put the call on speaker.
“Give them everything. Every cabinet. Every room. Don’t touch anything.”
Noah paused.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Mrs. Ellison found something after you left for the hospital.”
Mrs. Ellison had worked as Daniel’s housekeeper for nine years.
“What did she find?”
“A small plastic bottle under the kitchen trash bag.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“What bottle?”
“She says the label was peeled off.”
Patel stepped closer.
“Do not open it.”
Noah heard him.
“Who is that?”
“Doctor. Noah, tell the police.”
“I already did.”
Daniel’s mind replayed the evening.
Elodie had come home from the art exhibition hungry.
Daniel had made grilled cheese.
She had drunk apple juice.
Margaret had not been there.
But Margaret had visited the previous night.
His mother had entered the kitchen while Daniel took a business call.
She had left twenty minutes later.
Could she have placed something there?
Could she have prepared something in advance?
The door opened.
A hospital security officer entered.
“Mr. Hayes?”
Daniel turned.
“The police would like to speak with you.”
Two detectives were waiting in the hall.
Detective Lena Brooks introduced herself first.
Her partner, Michael Reed, remained slightly behind.
Brooks looked through the glass panel toward Elodie.
“We’re treating the possible poisoning separately from the physical assault.”
Daniel nodded.
“What did you find?”
“We haven’t tested the bottle yet.”
“Then why are you here?”
Brooks studied him.
“Because we need to understand access to your home.”
Daniel answered every question.
Housekeeper.
Assistant occasionally.
Margaret.
Elodie’s babysitter.
His sister Caroline, when visiting.
A neighbor with an emergency code.
Brooks wrote each name down.
Then she asked, “Does anyone else have access to your security system?”
“My mother knows an old code.”
“Still active?”
Daniel thought.
“No.”
He opened the security app on his phone.
He checked authorized users.
His own account.
Mrs. Ellison.
Noah for emergencies.
One additional profile.
M Hayes.
Daniel stared.
“That’s not possible.”
Brooks leaned closer.
“What?”
“My mother’s access was removed six months ago.”
“But?”
“It’s active.”
Brooks asked, “Can you see access history?”
Daniel opened the log.
A list appeared.
Front door.
Side door.
Garage.
Most entries were expected.
Then he saw something.
Wednesday, 2:14 p.m.
M Hayes.
Wednesday was a school day.
Daniel had been at home until 3:10.
He had heard nothing.
Tuesday, 11:38 a.m.
M Hayes.
Monday, 1:06 p.m.
M Hayes.
Sunday, 4:42 a.m.
Daniel looked up.
“She’s been entering my house when I’m home.”
Detective Brooks’ expression hardened.
“Are there cameras?”
“Yes.”
“Show me.”
Daniel opened the camera archive.
Sunday.
4:42 a.m.
The front entrance remained dark.
No person appeared.
Yet the system showed the door unlocking.
Daniel switched cameras.
Kitchen.
Empty.
Hallway.
Empty.
Garage.
Nothing.
Then Claire, standing behind him, pointed at the screen.
“There.”
Daniel rewound.
At 4:47 a.m., the camera in the upstairs hallway flickered.
For less than three seconds, the feed went black.
When the image returned, Elodie’s bedroom door was slightly open.
It had been closed before.
Daniel felt cold all over.
Detective Brooks said, “Can someone disable your cameras remotely?”
Daniel answered slowly.
“My mother helped me choose the security company.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel looked at Elodie through the glass.
He had spent years believing money could make a home safer.
Better locks.
Better cameras.
Private school.
A carefully screened housekeeper.
Emergency doctors.
Insurance.
Protection.
And somehow danger had been entering with a code he thought he had deleted.
Brooks put away her notebook.
“We’re going to need your mother’s phone.”
Daniel looked down the hallway toward the consultation room where Margaret was being held.
“You’ll have it.”
Brooks started walking.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
Mrs. Ellison.
He answered.
Her voice was trembling.
“Mr. Hayes?”
“What happened?”
“The police found something.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“What?”
“In the pantry.”
“What did they find?”
Mrs. Ellison whispered.
“A second bottle.”
Daniel waited.
She continued.
“And a notebook.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“What notebook?”
May you like
Mrs. Ellison took a breath.
“It has Elodie’s name on every page.”
