Chapter 4 - The Doctor Who Came BackVincent was already moving before the security officer finished speaking.
Claire followed him up the service stairs, with Mrs. Harper close behind.
“Why is Cole here?” Vincent demanded into the phone.
“We don’t know, sir. He entered through the staff garage eleven minutes ago.”
“Did anyone authorize him?”
“No.”
“Lock the exterior gates.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And don’t let him leave.”
Claire grabbed Vincent’s arm.
He stopped.
“What?”
“Don’t confront him alone.”
Vincent looked down at her hand, then at her.
“This is my house.”
“And someone may have deliberately poisoned your children in it.”
His anger flashed.
“So I’m supposed to sit quietly?”
“You’re supposed to think like their father, not like a man who wants revenge.”
The words landed.
Vincent’s shoulders lowered slightly.
Mrs. Harper said, “She’s right.”
He glanced at both women.
Apparently being challenged twice in ten seconds was not something Vincent Moretti experienced often.
Then he nodded.
“Security first.”
They entered the main floor.
Two guards approached from the opposite corridor.
“He’s in the library,” one said.
Vincent frowned.
“Doing what?”
“Waiting.”
That was stranger than running.
They moved toward the library.
Dr. Nathan Cole sat calmly in a leather chair beside the fireplace.
His medical bag rested near his feet.
When Vincent entered with two security officers, Cole looked almost bored.
“This is excessive.”
Vincent closed the door behind him.
“You entered my house without permission.”
“I’m your sons’ physician.”
“Not anymore.”
Cole’s eyes flickered toward Claire.
“I assume this is because the nanny has discovered another mysterious odor.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“She discovered a hidden chemical storage room connected to the boys’ ventilation system.”
For the first time, Cole’s composure slipped.
Only briefly.
But Claire saw it.
“Hidden?”
“You know exactly which room I mean.”
Cole stood.
“No, Vincent. I don’t.”
“You had access to the service level.”
“For medical inspections.”
“Six months ago.”
“Yes.”
“The ductwork appears to have been altered recently.”
Cole’s jaw tightened.
“You’re accusing me based on a piece of sheet metal?”
“I haven’t accused you of anything.”
“You surrounded me with security.”
“You entered my home without calling.”
Cole looked toward Mrs. Harper.
“She gave me standing medical access months ago.”
Mrs. Harper shook her head.
“Not after last night.”
“No one informed me.”
Vincent said, “Why are you here?”
Cole reached into his jacket.
The guards immediately moved.
He slowly pulled out his phone.
“Because your sons’ lab values posted this morning.”
“And?”
Cole turned the screen toward Vincent.
“One marker changed significantly.”
Claire couldn’t understand the graph.
Vincent apparently couldn’t either.
Cole continued.
“Their liver enzyme levels are improving.”
Vincent stared at him.
“After one night away from their bedrooms.”
Cole exhaled.
“Yes.”
That admission changed everything.
Claire asked, “So you believe the environment matters now?”
“I believe we need more data.”
“You didn’t believe that yesterday.”
“I received new evidence.”
Vincent’s voice sharpened.
“Then why come through the staff entrance?”
Cole paused.
“My usual entrance was busy with contractors.”
“That’s not true.”
Nobody spoke.
Cole’s eyes moved between them.
Finally he said, “Vincent, you’re upset.”
“My sons may have been poisoned.”
“We don’t know that.”
“You knew they improved away from the house.”
“I knew they experienced temporary improvement.”
“And you dismissed it.”
“Because physicians don’t make diagnoses from coincidences.”
Claire said, “But they investigate patterns.”
Cole turned toward her.
“I’m growing tired of being lectured by you.”
“Then answer the question.”
“What question?”
“Why did you tell me yesterday that I had no idea what I was interfering with?”
Cole’s face became unreadable.
Vincent looked sharply at him.
“You said that?”
Cole sighed.
“I meant she was interfering with a complicated medical case.”
“That isn’t what it sounded like.”
“To you.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“I want your medical records.”
“You already have them.”
“All of them.”
“You have everything relevant.”
“Everything.”
Cole’s mouth tightened.
“There are physician notes protected by—”
“They concern my minor children.”
“You’ll receive appropriate records through proper channels.”
Vincent looked at security.
“Escort him out.”
Cole picked up his bag.
At the door, he stopped.
“Vincent.”
No response.
Cole continued.
“You’re frightened. I understand that. But be careful who you decide to trust simply because they offer you an answer you desperately want.”
His eyes moved toward Claire.
“Easy explanations are often wrong.”
Claire met his stare.
“Sometimes expensive explanations are wrong too.”
Cole left.
Vincent immediately called his attorney.
Then police.
By evening, detectives had arrived.
The mansion changed instantly.
What had been a private medical mystery became a possible criminal investigation.
The basement room was photographed.
Containers cataloged.
Security records collected.
Staff interviewed.
Claire gave her statement.
So did Mrs. Harper.
Vincent spent nearly two hours with detectives in his office.
The twins knew only that workers had discovered “bad air.”
Claire kept them occupied with movies and pizza in the guest wing.
At eight, Ethan looked toward her.
“Are we dying?”
Claire almost dropped the plate she was holding.
“What?”
“Dad thinks we can’t hear things.”
Noah nodded.
“He whispers loud.”
Claire sat beside them.
“You are not dying.”
“Then why is everyone scared?”
Because someone may have hurt you deliberately.
She couldn’t say that.
Instead she chose something true.
“Because adults get scared when children they love are sick.”
Ethan looked down.
“Dad’s always scared.”
That hurt.
“He hides it.”
“He’s bad at hiding it,” Noah said.
Claire smiled faintly.
“You’re right.”
Ethan picked at his pizza.
“Did we do something wrong?”
“No.”
“Because we used to sneak snacks into our rooms.”
“No.”
“And Noah poured juice behind the dresser once.”
“That was one time!”
Claire placed a hand on each boy’s shoulder.
“Listen to me. Nothing you did caused this.”
Both boys became quiet.
“You’re moving into different rooms for a while,” she continued. “And people are figuring out what made you feel bad.”
Noah asked, “Will we get normal again?”
Claire swallowed.
“I think you’re already heading that way.”
Later, after the boys slept, she found Vincent in the hallway.
He looked exhausted.
“The police say they can’t assume intent yet.”
“That makes sense.”
“They asked for everyone’s employment files.”
“Also makes sense.”
He leaned against the wall.
“I hate this.”
“Waiting?”
“Not knowing who has been around my children.”
Claire understood.
“You trusted people.”
“I paid people.”
“Those aren’t the same thing.”
“No.”
He looked toward the guest-room door.
“They were my responsibility.”
“They still are.”
“You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Refusing to let me blame myself.”
Claire considered him.
“Would blaming yourself help them?”
“No.”
“Then I’m saving time.”
His mouth almost curved.
Then Mrs. Harper approached.
She looked shaken.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Vincent straightened.
“What happened?”
She held an old tablet computer.
“Security found archived access logs.”
“From when?”
“Eight months ago.”
Claire’s heartbeat quickened.
Mrs. Harper handed Vincent the tablet.
“There were eleven entries into the basement service corridor during the two weeks before the boys first became ill.”
Vincent stared at the screen.
“By whom?”
Mrs. Harper looked at Claire.
Then answered.
“Your late wife’s brother.”
Vincent went completely still.
Claire knew very little about Vincent’s wife.
Only that she had died three years earlier.
“Julian?” he whispered.
Mrs. Harper nodded.
Vincent looked down at the access log.
“Julian hasn’t been inside this house in almost a year.”
“He was here then.”
“Why?”
Mrs. Harper hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
She swiped the screen.
A security-camera image appeared.
Grainy.
Timestamped.
A man stood in the basement corridor.
May you like
And beside him was another figure.
Dr. Nathan Cole.
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