Dr. Alan Mercer was located at his clinic before noon.<\/p>\n
He did not resist when police arrived.<\/p>\n
He asked for a lawyer.<\/p>\n
That made Ruiz suspicious.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew we were coming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sarah explained that Arthur had terminated Mercer six months earlier.<\/p>\n
Mercer insisted it had nothing to do with Arthur's death.<\/p>\n
He said Arthur had become paranoid.<\/p>\n
\u201cParanoid about what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer remained calm.<\/p>\n
He was a small man with thin glasses and a perfectly pressed shirt.<\/p>\n
He didn't look like someone who had been accused of helping kill an eighty-nine-year-old man.<\/p>\n
He looked like someone who expected the accusation to disappear.<\/p>\n
I asked whether he had treated Arthur the day before his death.<\/p>\n
He said no.<\/p>\n
The appointment card proved otherwise.<\/p>\n
He finally admitted that Arthur had visited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you lie?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn appointment you had scheduled that morning?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
Sarah asked whether he had administered any medication.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoutine examination.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInjection?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz placed the toxicology report on the desk.<\/p>\n
Mercer read it.<\/p>\n
His expression changed for only a second.<\/p>\n
But I saw it.<\/p>\n
He knew something.<\/p>\n
Ruiz saw it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou recognize the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou looked surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm a physician.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn't my question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer asked for his lawyer again.<\/p>\n
Then the receptionist interrupted.<\/p>\n
She had found something in the clinic's medication cabinet.<\/p>\n
A vial was missing.<\/p>\n
The label had been removed.<\/p>\n
Mercer said it was impossible.<\/p>\n
The cabinet was locked.<\/p>\n
Ruiz asked who had the key.<\/p>\n
Mercer.<\/p>\n
The clinic manager.<\/p>\n
And one other person.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGerald Price.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would a financial adviser have access to medication?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you say he had a key?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
The detectives searched the clinic.<\/p>\n
They found discarded paperwork in a shredder.<\/p>\n
Most of it was unreadable.<\/p>\n
One fragment wasn't.<\/p>\n
Arthur Vance.<\/p>\n
Appointment.<\/p>\n
10:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
Private consultation.<\/p>\n
Below that was a handwritten note.<\/p>\n
PATIENT REFUSED INJECTION.<\/p>\n
I felt my chest tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur refused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz asked whether anyone accompanied him.<\/p>\n
Mercer said no.<\/p>\n
But the receptionist remembered otherwise.<\/p>\n
A woman had arrived with Arthur.<\/p>\n
The receptionist didn't know her name.<\/p>\n
She described her.<\/p>\n
Dark hair.<\/p>\n
Gray streaks.<\/p>\n
Middle-aged.<\/p>\n
Nora.<\/p>\n
Nora shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn't there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer looked at her.<\/p>\n
Then he looked away.<\/p>\n
Ruiz noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was with Arthur?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer refused to answer.<\/p>\n
Sarah checked the appointment records.<\/p>\n
The visitor's name had been entered manually.<\/p>\n
NORA REED.<\/p>\n
Nora stared at the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never went there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you I didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz asked for security footage.<\/p>\n
The clinic had cameras.<\/p>\n
The footage showed Arthur arriving alone.<\/p>\n
Then someone entering behind him.<\/p>\n
The image was blurred.<\/p>\n
But the person wore a dark coat.<\/p>\n
The face was hidden.<\/p>\n
The person left twelve minutes later.<\/p>\n
Arthur remained inside.<\/p>\n
Then he left alone.<\/p>\n
Nora watched the footage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The visitor wore white sneakers.<\/p>\n
Nora wore black boots.<\/p>\n
Ruiz enlarged the frame.<\/p>\n
The shoes were distinctive.<\/p>\n
White with a dark stripe.<\/p>\n
Kevin's shoes.<\/p>\n
He had been at the clinic.<\/p>\n
Kevin had followed Arthur.<\/p>\n
The detectives found him at a bus station later that afternoon.<\/p>\n
He surrendered.<\/p>\n
His story changed again.<\/p>\n
He admitted following Arthur.<\/p>\n
He said he wanted money.<\/p>\n
He denied poisoning him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Dad go into the clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see Mercer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see Mark?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see Gerald?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
That connected all three men.<\/p>\n
Kevin said Gerald gave Mercer an envelope.<\/p>\n
He didn't know what was inside.<\/p>\n
He saw Mercer give something to Arthur.<\/p>\n
Arthur refused it.<\/p>\n
Then Gerald left.<\/p>\n
Kevin followed Gerald.<\/p>\n
He said he didn't see anyone inject Arthur.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you run?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Gerald saw me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin admitted he had taken the thermos afterward.<\/p>\n
Not to poison it.<\/p>\n
To make investigators believe Gerald had poisoned Arthur.<\/p>\n
He wanted to frame Gerald because Gerald had threatened him.<\/p>\n
The thermos had been contaminated after Arthur's death.<\/p>\n
Kevin confessed.<\/p>\n
That explained the false clue.<\/p>\n
But it didn't explain Arthur's death.<\/p>\n
Ruiz asked about Mark.<\/p>\n
Kevin finally admitted Mark had hired Gerald.<\/p>\n
But Mark didn't order the killing.<\/p>\n
He wanted Arthur declared mentally incompetent.<\/p>\n
He wanted control of the estate.<\/p>\n
Gerald agreed.<\/p>\n
Then Mercer became involved.<\/p>\n
The plan had been to convince Arthur to sign a new document.<\/p>\n
When he refused, everything changed.<\/p>\n
Mercer said Arthur's health was already failing.<\/p>\n
Gerald said there was another solution.<\/p>\n
Kevin wouldn't explain.<\/p>\n
He simply said, \u201cAsk Mark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark was still missing.<\/p>\n
His house had been searched.<\/p>\n
The police found his passport.<\/p>\n
His car was gone.<\/p>\n
But there was one item missing.<\/p>\n
A black notebook.<\/p>\n
The same type of notebook Arthur used.<\/p>\n
Ruiz believed Mark had taken it.<\/p>\n
Then Claire remembered something.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad had another notebook.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the garage.\u201d<\/p>\n
We returned home.<\/p>\n
The garage smelled of oil and dust.<\/p>\n
Arthur's old workbench stood against the wall.<\/p>\n
I had repaired dozens of things there.<\/p>\n
Claire opened a cabinet.<\/p>\n
Behind paint cans was a narrow metal box.<\/p>\n
Inside was a notebook.<\/p>\n
Not Arthur's handwriting.<\/p>\n
Mark's.<\/p>\n
The pages contained dates.<\/p>\n
Payments.<\/p>\n
Names.<\/p>\n
Amounts.<\/p>\n
Gerald.<\/p>\n
Mercer.<\/p>\n
Kevin.<\/p>\n
And one name I didn't recognize.<\/p>\n
ELENA.<\/p>\n
Claire looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Elena?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah turned pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was Arthur's private caregiver.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered her.<\/p>\n
She had visited twice.<\/p>\n
Arthur had dismissed her after one week.<\/p>\n
He told me she wasn't trustworthy.<\/p>\n
I had assumed he was being difficult.<\/p>\n
Sarah turned the page.<\/p>\n
There was a payment to Elena.<\/p>\n
Five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Then a note.<\/p>\n
KEEP HER AWAY FROM DAD.<\/p>\n
I looked at Claire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Mark pay her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah read the next page.<\/p>\n
The answer was there.<\/p>\n
Elena had worked at the private clinic.<\/p>\n
She had access to medical records.<\/p>\n
She had also been present the day Arthur visited Mercer.<\/p>\n
The page contained one sentence.<\/p>\n
Elena knows about the injection.<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
The notebook wasn't a plan.<\/p>\n
It was a record of Mark's attempts to control witnesses.<\/p>\n
He had paid Elena to stay silent.<\/p>\n
But about what?<\/p>\n
We found Elena that evening.<\/p>\n
She lived in a small apartment across town.<\/p>\n
When Ruiz showed her the notebook, she began crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you see?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Dr. Mercer prepare an injection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he administer it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur refused.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGerald came in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the refusal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur became angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described the argument.<\/p>\n
Arthur accused Gerald of stealing from him.<\/p>\n
Gerald denied it.<\/p>\n
Then Arthur said he had proof.<\/p>\n
He threatened to expose all of them.<\/p>\n
Mercer told Gerald the situation was finished.<\/p>\n
Gerald left.<\/p>\n
Elena said she followed him.<\/p>\n
She saw someone waiting in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
A woman.<\/p>\n
Dark hair.<\/p>\n
Gray streaks.<\/p>\n
Elena believed it was Nora.<\/p>\n
Nora immediately denied it.<\/p>\n
But Elena wasn't finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was wearing white sneakers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Nora looked down.<\/p>\n
She was wearing black boots.<\/p>\n
Then Elena said something else.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw her face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena looked at Claire.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena pointed toward the doorway.<\/p>\n
The person standing there was Mark.<\/p>\n
He had come back.<\/p>\n
He looked at his sister.<\/p>\n
Then at me.<\/p>\n
And finally at Sarah.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're under arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark didn't run.<\/p>\n
He simply said, \u201cI didn't kill Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz handcuffed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell us who did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark looked directly at Claire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to ask your wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the blood drain from my face.<\/p>\n
Claire stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark smiled bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk her what happened before Dad moved into your house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Alan Mercer was located at his clinic before noon. He did not resist when police arrived. He asked for a lawyer. That made Ruiz suspicious. \u201cHe knew we were … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7639,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619\/revisions\/7639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}