Chapter 5: The Night Before Eight A.M.
Margaret worked at the desk.
Daniel worked the phones.
Alexander sat across from Emily and Maria in the small sitting room off the main corridor.
Maria had her arm around her daughter.
Emily still held the rabbit.
"I need to ask her something," Alexander said to Maria.
"Will you tell her it's all right to answer?"
Maria nodded and signed to Emily.
Emily looked at Alexander and waited.
"How long have you been watching them?" he signed.
Emily thought for a moment.
SINCE THE LADY STARTED COMING TO THE KITCHEN AT NIGHT.
"How many times?"
Emily held up both hands.
Then added three more fingers.
Thirteen times.
"Did you see her face clearly each time?"
YES.
THE LIGHT ABOVE THE SINK IS ALWAYS ON.
Alexander nodded slowly.
"Emily." He signed carefully, making sure each word was clear.
"What you did tonight took more courage than most adults I have ever known.
Do you understand that?"
Emily looked at him for a long moment.
Then she signed: MAMA SAID YOU WERE A GOOD MAN.
I WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU STAYED ALIVE.
Maria pressed her hand over her mouth.
Alexander looked at the little girl holding her worn rabbit and felt something shift in his chest that had not moved in a very long time.
"I'm going to make sure you and your mother are safe," he signed.
"Whatever happens tomorrow.
That is a promise."
Emily studied his face the way children do when they are deciding whether to believe something.
Then she gave one small nod.
Maria wiped her eyes quickly and looked away.
Alexander stood and returned to the study.
Margaret had her laptop open and three documents spread across the desk.
"I've contacted a judge I trust," she said without looking up.
"He's reviewing the petition now.
The filing has procedural problems — the notarization is irregular and the psychiatric evaluation attached was conducted six weeks ago by a physician with a prior professional relationship with Hale.
That's a conflict of interest."
"Can you get it dismissed before eight?"
"I can get it delayed.
Dismissed entirely will take longer." She looked up.
"But delayed is enough to change the morning."
Daniel knocked and entered.
"I found the outside contact," he said.
"A paralegal at a firm downtown.
She filed the petition electronically at nine thirty-two.
She's a former employee of Hale's previous practice."
"Previous practice," Alexander said.
"Where?"
Daniel placed a printed page on the desk.
"Portland.
Twelve years ago.
Hale ran a private geriatric care clinic.
It closed after a patient died under disputed circumstances.
The family sued.
The case was settled out of court.
Records sealed."
Margaret took the page and read it.
"The patient's name?" she asked.
"Warren Ellison.
Seventy-one years old.
Widower.
No children.
Substantial estate." Daniel paused.
"Hale was listed as his primary physician and emergency medical proxy."
The three of them looked at each other.
"This is what Emily meant," Alexander said.
"Not first.
To someone else."
"A dry run," Margaret said quietly.
"He's been doing this for over a decade." Alexander sat down.
"And he's never been caught."
"He was careful," Daniel said.
"Elderly patients.
Isolated.
No family to ask questions."
"Claire wasn't elderly," Alexander said.
"No," Daniel said.
"But she was isolated.
Her brother lived abroad.
Her parents were gone.
And she trusted Hale completely because you did."
Alexander looked at the wall.
"I handed him everything he needed."
"You trusted your doctor," Margaret said.
"That is not a crjme."
"It cost Claire her life."
Neither of them answered that.
The clock on the desk read 2:14 a.m.
Margaret gathered the documents into a neat stack.
"I need two more hours," she said.
"The Portland records, the pharmacy receipts, the forged codicil, and the petition irregularities together form a pattern.
A judge looking at this pattern tomorrow morning will not rubber-stamp an emergency competency hearing."
"And Hale?"
"Hale needs to be kept in this house until morning." She looked at Daniel.
"Can you do that?"
"He hasn't asked to leave," Daniel said.
"He thinks the petition is going to work."
"Good," Margaret said.
"Let him think that."
Alexander nodded.
He walked back to the door and stopped.
"The Warren Ellison family," he said.
"The ones who sued.
Do we know where they are?"
Daniel checked his notes.
"A daughter.
She lives in Ohio.
Her name is Patricia Ellison-Ward."
"Find her number," Alexander said.
"I want to speak with her in the morning."
He paused.
"She deserves to know that someone finally found the pattern."
He went to his office and sat alone for a while in the dark.
He did not sleep.
He thought about Claire.
About the last evening they had spent together before she got sick.
She had been laughing at something on television.
She had fallen asleep on the sofa with her feet tucked under her and he had covered her with a blanket rather than wake her.
That was the last night she had been fully herself.
Three weeks later she was gone.
He had blamed himself for not seeing it sooner.
He understood now that he had been meant to blame himself.
That was part of the plan too.
At 4:47 a.m., his phone lit up with a message from Margaret.
*Petition delayed.
Judge wants a full review before any hearing proceeds.
Hale's filing physician flagged for conflict of interest.
We have time.*
Alexander set the phone down.
Then he picked it up again and typed one message to Daniel.
*At six a.m., bring them both to the study.
Together.*
He set the phone face-down on the desk.
Outside the window, the sky had begun to change.
May you like
Not light yet.
But the deepest part of the dark was over.
