Chapter 6: The Results
Dr.
Paulson called me at 11:47 the next morning.
I was sitting in my car outside David Crane's office, waiting for the meeting Vanessa had arranged.
She was already inside.
I'd seen her go in twenty minutes earlier, her coat perfectly pressed, her bag over her shoulder, calm as a woman arriving for a routine appointment.
"Mr.
Mercer," Dr.
Paulson said.
"I've completed the preliminary screening."
"What did you find?"
A short pause.
"The substance in the bottle is a sedative compound.
It's available by prescription, but the concentration in this sample is significantly above any standard therapeutic dose."
I looked through the windshield at the front door of the building.
"How long would it take to affect someone?" I said.
"If it was added to a drink."
"At this concentration?
Twenty to forty minutes.
It would present as fatigue, difficulty concentrating, impaired coordination.
Over repeated exposure, it could cause more serious effects — memory disruption, cardiovascular stress." He paused again.
"Mr.
Mercer, I have to ask — has this substance been administered to someone?"
"I believe so," I said.
"Yes."
"Then I have to tell you that I'm obligated to document this finding.
And I would strongly recommend you speak to law enforcement before you go any further."
"I understand," I said.
"Can you send the results to my email?"
"Within the hour."
I thanked him and ended the call.
Then I sat for a moment with the phone in my lap.
I thought about Richard Hess.
Fatigue.
Confusion.
Weight loss.
Cardiac arrest at sixty-one.
I thought about myself.
The months of exhaustion I'd blamed on stress.
The mornings I couldn't think clearly until noon.
The one afternoon I'd nearly fallen asleep at the wheel and told myself I needed to take a vacation.
I got out of the car.
David Crane's receptionist showed me into the conference room where Vanessa was already seated across from her attorney.
Crane was a large man with a practiced smile and a very expensive watch.
He stood when I came in.
"Daniel.
Thank you for coming.
Please, sit down.
We're all on the same side here."
I sat down.
I did not take off my coat.
"I want to start," Crane said, "by acknowledging that there have been some very serious allegations made, and that emotions are running high.
My client is committed to resolving this in a way that protects Sophie and preserves—"
"I had a bottle of liquid tested this morning," I said.
Crane stopped.
Vanessa's eyes moved to me.
Slow and careful.
"It was found in the bathroom cabinet," I said.
"The results came back an hour ago.
High-concentration sedative.
Well above any legal prescription dose."
Crane looked at Vanessa.
She said nothing.
"I've already forwarded the lab results to a detective I spoke with this morning," I said.
"His name is Rourke.
He's with the county criminal investigations unit.
He's also been given Carol Hess's contact information, the scanned letter from Richard, and a copy of the insurance policy with Vanessa's signature."
The room was very quiet.
"This meeting," I said, "is no longer about resolving anything between us."
Crane leaned forward.
"Now, Daniel, let's be careful here.
A lab result from a private physician is not—"
"She was putting it in my coffee," I said.
I looked at Vanessa directly.
"Sophie saw you.
She told my sister.
She's seven years old and she watched you do it and you told her to keep it secret."
Vanessa's face didn't break.
But something behind it did.
"You have no idea," she said quietly, "what you're starting."
"I think I do," I said.
I stood up.
Crane was already reaching for his phone.
And Vanessa — for the first time since I'd known her — had nothing left to say.
But as I reached the door, she found one more thing.
"You'll never be able to prove what happened to Richard," she said.
"He's been gone for two years.
There's nothing left to find."
I stopped with my hand on the door frame.
"Detective Rourke requested an exhumation order this morning," I said.
"The judge signed it an hour ago."
May you like
I didn't look back.
I walked out into the hallway, and the door swung shut behind me.
