Chapter 10 - The Man Beatrice Hid)
Ethan did not go alone.
This time he listened to Detective Quinn.
Police watched Harbor Pier 6 from three locations.
Ethan stood near the end of the wooden dock holding an empty flash drive in his coat pocket.
At 12:07 a.m., a man emerged from the darkness.
Malcolm Reed.
He looked older than Ethan remembered.
His hair was longer.
His face thinner.
"You brought it?"
Ethan nodded.
"First you talk."
Malcolm stopped several feet away.
"Your mother will destroy both of us if she can."
"She already tried to destroy my son."
"I heard."
"Where have you been?"
"Canada. Maine. Anywhere Beatrice couldn't find me."
"She knew where you were."
Malcolm laughed.
"No. She knew how to reach me."
"What's the difference?"
"I made sure she never knew my address."
Ethan pulled out the fake drive.
"Tell me about Olivia."
Malcolm's expression changed.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't."
"I never wanted her dead."
"But you helped."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Money."
At least he did not pretend otherwise.
Ethan asked, "Did Beatrice know the medication change could kill her?"
"I don't know."
"That's not good enough."
"She told Aaron it would delay surgery. She told me the same thing."
"But?"
Malcolm looked toward the water.
"But Beatrice researched the drug first."
Ethan went still.
"What research?"
"I saw browser history on a laptop she used. Bleeding risks. Surgical complications. Fatal dosage interactions."
"Do you still have it?"
"No."
"Then it's your word."
Malcolm nodded.
"That's why I kept messages."
He took out an envelope.
Inside were printed copies of texts.
One message from Beatrice read:
Do not make this permanent. I need Olivia frightened and occupied, not dead.
Ethan stared at it.
That seemed to help her.
Then Malcolm pointed to the next message.
Sent twenty minutes later.
Unless there is no other clean solution.
Ethan felt sick.
"Was there an answer?"
"Mine."
What are you asking me to do?
"And hers?"
Malcolm shook his head.
"She called instead."
"What did she say?"
"She said, 'Use your judgment.'"
Ethan looked at Malcolm with disgust.
"And you did."
"I told Aaron not to touch anything else."
"But Beatrice already had the credentials."
"Yes."
"So she could have changed the order herself."
"Yes."
A police siren sounded faintly in the distance.
Malcolm tensed.
"They're with you."
"Yes."
"You promised nothing."
"I promised nothing."
Malcolm stepped back.
"Then we're done."
"No."
Ethan held up the pages.
"You want protection? Testify."
Malcolm laughed.
"Against Beatrice?"
"Against all of it."
"You don't understand her."
"I understand enough."
"No, you don't."
Malcolm looked directly at him.
"Your mother has one more thing."
"What?"
"Charles's original medical log."
Ethan frowned.
"What medical log?"
"The hospice nurse kept handwritten records separate from the electronic chart."
"Where is it?"
"Beatrice took it the morning Charles died."
"How do you know?"
"I saw her."
Ethan's heartbeat quickened.
"What is in it?"
"His medication times."
"And?"
Malcolm lowered his voice.
"Charles received a sedative dose four hours before the nurse recorded giving it."
Ethan went cold.
"Who gave the first dose?"
"That's what Charles tried to tell me."
"Tried?"
"I came to see him that night. He could barely speak."
"What did he say?"
Malcolm's face tightened.
"One word."
Ethan waited.
"Bea."
Beatrice.
Behind Ethan, Detective Quinn stepped from the shadows.
Malcolm did not run.
He simply closed his eyes.
"Mr. Reed," she said, "we need to talk."
Before police led him away, Malcolm turned back.
"Find the medical log."
Ethan asked, "Where?"
Malcolm gave a sad smile.
"If I knew that, I wouldn't have spent eleven months hiding."
The next morning, Ethan returned to Seabrook.
He searched Beatrice's former bedroom.
Empty.
Her office.
Empty.
Then Noah wandered into the room carrying one of Beatrice's decorative jewelry boxes.
Ethan took it gently.
"Where did you get this?"
Noah pointed toward the hallway.
Ethan followed him.
The child toddled toward the old dumbwaiter near the servants' corridor.
It had not worked in decades.
Noah touched the small wooden door.
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a velvet pouch.
And inside the pouch was a brass key.
Nora saw it.
Her face changed.
"I know that key."
"To what?"
"Your mother's private room at the old boathouse."
May you like
Ethan looked toward the ocean.
The boathouse had been locked since Charles died.
