Chapter 10 - THE DOOR NOBODY WAS SUPPOSED TO OPEN|
Detective Ellis ordered us to remain at the mansion.
Luca immediately objected.
"Nora could be dying somewhere."
"And rushing into a building without knowing who's inside could get her killed faster," Ellis answered.
I stood between them.
"Where did the call come from?"
Ellis glanced at me.
"Why?"
"Because Nora didn't say she was at St. Catherine's."
"She said she was where they erased Rosa's name."
Luca looked toward me.
I continued.
"What if she meant the records facility?"
"Someplace connected to the hospital but no longer used for patients?"
Ellis considered that.
Then she turned toward Ruiz.
"Check the hospital's former archive locations and the phone's available location data."
Within an hour, investigators had identified a likely area near an old St. Catherine's administrative annex.
The building had once stored paper patient records.
Most of its functions had moved elsewhere years earlier.
A security contractor connected to Victor Bellini's development companies had recently worked there.
That was enough to make Ellis suspicious.
Officers began securing the area while investigators sought the legal authority needed to enter and search.
I waited at the mansion with Luca.
Every minute felt unbearable.
Rex paced between us.
He hadn't eaten his dinner.
Whenever Luca stopped moving, the dog nudged his hand.
Finally, Luca sat beside me.
"You're thinking about Nora."
I nodded.
"She spent three years trying to get somebody to believe her."
"And now somebody's punishing her for telling the truth."
Luca stared at the floor.
"That's what my family's silence helped create."
I looked at him.
"Then don't waste another minute feeling sorry for yourself."
He turned toward me.
"Help the people who are still here."
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he nodded.
"You're right."
He picked up his phone and called Grace Park.
"Whatever resources Nora needs for protection, make sure she has them."
"And arrange independent legal help for her if she wants it."
Grace agreed.
An hour later, Detective Ellis called again.
Officers had obtained authority to enter the annex after establishing evidence of a possible unlawful confinement.
They were searching the building.
But there was a problem.
The old records area contained several locked storage rooms.
And the original floor plans were incomplete.
"Do you have Nora's voice recording?" I asked.
Ellis hesitated.
"Why?"
"Can I hear it?"
She played the short recording over the phone.
Nora's voice was weak.
"I'm where they erased her name."
A metallic clanging sound followed.
Then the door slammed.
I listened again.
And again.
On the third attempt, I noticed something.
"That's not a hospital alarm."
Ellis waited.
"It's a train crossing bell."
I remembered the railroad tracks near the old hospital administration buildings.
My father used to drive past them when I was younger.
The abandoned annex sat beside a freight route.
"That could narrow down which side of the complex she's on."
Ellis immediately passed the observation to Ruiz.
A few minutes later, officers found a service room in the rear section of the annex.
Inside, Nora Whitcomb was lying on the floor.
Her wrists were bruised.
She was frightened and dehydrated.
But she was alive.
When Ellis called with the news, I began crying.
Luca covered his face.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he whispered, "Thank God."
Nora was taken for medical examination.
Investigators continued searching the annex.
In one room, they discovered boxes of old hospital files that should have remained under authorized records management.
Several contained patient documents associated with Dr. Adrian Vale.
Among them were records connected to property owners who had later become involved in Victor Bellini's development deals.
The discovery gave investigators a new direction.
But the most important evidence came from a locked filing cabinet.
Inside was an archival printout showing changes to Rosa Moretti's medical chart.
One entry appeared to have been entered after Rosa had already lost consciousness.
Another documented a treatment limitation that the original nursing notes did not support.
And the audit history linked the changes to accounts associated with Dr. Vale.
Detective Ellis called Grace Park immediately.
"We have the beginning of an evidence trail."
Luca listened in silence.
Then Ellis added something that made my blood run cold.
"The original record also contains an unsigned physician's note."
"It mentions a family authorization delivered by a representative from Bellini Development."
"Vanessa?" Luca asked.
"Her name appears in the related visitor records."
Luca closed his eyes.
I watched him slowly lower the phone.
For three years, he'd believed he'd married a woman who loved him.
Now he was learning that she had been connected to his mother's death before their first date.
But Nora had one more thing to tell us.
After receiving medical care, she asked to speak with Detective Ellis.
She explained that the people who had held her at the annex wanted to know whether she possessed an original recording from Rosa's hospital room.
She told them she didn't.
That part was true.
But she had remembered something about the night Rosa died.
Something she'd been too frightened to tell anyone.
While standing outside Rosa's room, Nora had heard Vanessa arguing with Dr. Vale.
Vanessa was furious.
Not because Rosa was ill.
But because Rosa was still conscious.
Nora remembered Vanessa saying one sentence.
"Victor promised she wouldn't be able to tell Luca anything."
When Ellis asked whether Nora was certain, the former nurse nodded.
"I'll testify to it."
Then she added quietly, "I should have told someone years ago."
But Ellis shook her head.
"You're telling us now."
That evening, Vanessa finally called.
Not Luca.
Not Frank.
Me.
I stared at the unknown number as my phone vibrated.
When I answered, her voice was cold and perfectly controlled.
"Claire Bennett."
"You've caused me a great deal of trouble."
I stood very still.
"What do you want?"
Vanessa laughed softly.
"The same thing I've wanted since I married Luca."
May you like
Then her voice changed.
"I want what Rosa took from my family."
