Chapter 13 - The Witness They Tried to Silence
Every face in the room turned toward Detective Harris.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Harris grabbed his radio.
"Is she alive?"
Static crackled.
The officer answered immediately.
"Yes."
"Barely."
"An ambulance team is with her now."
Emily let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
Raymond was already moving toward the door.
"Harris."
"I'm coming with you."
Detective Harris nodded.
"Let's go."
Dr. Brooks stepped in front of Emily once again.
"You are staying here."
Emily shook her head.
"No."
"Margaret might know what happened to my father."
"And she might not survive."
Dr. Brooks looked at Raymond.
Raymond hesitated.
Then he looked at the fetal monitor.
The baby's heartbeat remained strong.
Steady.
He turned back to Emily.
"You'll ride in a wheelchair."
"And you'll stay behind security."
Emily nodded without arguing.
Within minutes, they reached the underground parking garage.
Police cruisers surrounded a black executive sedan.
Crime scene tape stretched across several parking spaces.
Paramedics were working frantically beside the open trunk.
Margaret Ellis lay on a stretcher.
Her wrists were bound with plastic zip ties.
There were bruises around her neck.
An oxygen mask covered her face.
Emily gasped.
"Oh, my God."
Raymond's jaw tightened.
Detective Harris approached the lead paramedic.
"What happened?"
"Severe dehydration."
"Minor head trauma."
"She was sedated."
The paramedic glanced toward the trunk.
"If another hour had passed..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Margaret would have died.
A female detective photographed the trunk.
"There are fibers."
"Duct tape."
"And a syringe."
Another officer held up an evidence bag.
"The syringe is still half full."
Detective Harris nodded.
"Send it to the lab."
He looked toward Margaret.
"Can she speak?"
The paramedic hesitated.
"For a minute."
"Maybe two."
Raymond stepped beside the stretcher.
Margaret slowly opened her eyes.
She looked terrified.
When she saw Raymond, tears filled her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Her voice was weak.
"So... sorry."
Raymond gently squeezed her hand.
"Don't apologize."
"Just tell us what happened."
Margaret struggled to breathe.
"It was Daniel."
Emily leaned closer.
"He took you?"
Margaret nodded.
"He found out..."
She coughed.
"...that I copied the records."
Detective Harris immediately pulled out his notebook.
"What records?"
"The original board files."
"The real appointment documents."
Raymond frowned.
"You kept copies?"
Margaret nodded again.
"I didn't trust him."
"So I made duplicates."
"Where are they?"
Margaret looked at Emily.
"They're safe."
"Where?"
Margaret swallowed painfully.
"Your mother's house."
Emily blinked.
"My mother's house was sold years ago."
Margaret managed a faint smile.
"No."
"It wasn't."
Emily stared at her in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Your uncle..."
She looked at Raymond.
"...never sold it."
Emily slowly turned toward him.
"You told me it was gone."
Raymond lowered his eyes.
"I told everyone that."
"Why?"
"Because someone kept breaking into it."
"I wanted them to believe there was nothing left."
Emily's heart raced.
"So the house..."
"...still belongs to our family?"
Raymond nodded.
"Yes."
Margaret whispered,
"The copies..."
"...are hidden there."
Detective Harris asked,
"Where exactly?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"The library."
"The false bookshelf."
"Left side."
She struggled for another breath.
"There's..."
She coughed again.
"...another safe."
Raymond looked surprised.
"Another one?"
Margaret nodded.
"I put everything inside."
"The real board records."
"The financial ledgers."
"The audio backups."
Emily frowned.
"Audio backups?"
Margaret smiled weakly.
"I never trusted..."
"...just one cassette."
Detective Harris looked at Raymond.
"She made copies."
Raymond nodded slowly.
"Smart."
Margaret suddenly gripped Raymond's sleeve.
Her strength surprised everyone.
"You have to get there first."
Raymond looked into her frightened eyes.
"Why?"
She whispered only three words.
"They know."
The smile disappeared from Raymond's face.
"Who knows?"
Margaret tried to answer.
Instead, she began coughing violently.
The heart monitor attached to her stretcher started beeping faster.
The paramedic stepped forward.
"That's enough."
"We have to move."
Margaret reached toward Emily.
Emily took her hand.
"There was something else."
Margaret nodded weakly.
"The safe..."
She struggled to finish the sentence.
"...needs two keys."
Emily frowned.
"Two?"
Margaret nodded.
"You already have..."
Her eyes slowly closed.
The paramedic checked her pulse.
"She's unconscious."
They rushed her into the ambulance.
The sirens echoed through the parking garage.
Emily stood silently.
Trying to process everything she had heard.
Raymond looked toward Detective Harris.
"We're going to the house."
The detective nodded.
"I'll bring a team."
Before they could leave, another officer came running across the garage.
He looked out of breath.
"Detective!"
Harris turned.
"What now?"
"We searched Daniel Mercer's office."
"And?"
The officer held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was an old brass key.
Its handle was engraved with a single letter.
E.
Emily stared at it.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"I've seen that key before."
Raymond looked at her.
"Where?"
Emily closed her eyes.
A forgotten memory surfaced.
She was sixteen.
Her mother was still alive.
She remembered watching her mother lock a small wooden box.
Using that exact key.
Emily slowly opened her eyes.
Her voice trembled.
"That isn't Daniel's key."
"It belonged to my mother."
The parking garage fell silent.
Detective Harris carefully turned the evidence bag over.
A tiny folded note had been taped to the back.
He peeled it away.
May you like
There was only one handwritten sentence.
The second key is buried with Thomas Bennett.
