Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO REMEMBERED EVERYTHING|
I knew better than to meet an unknown person alone.
Rebecca agreed. Gideon sent his investigator, and we arranged to meet in a public hotel lobby with security nearby.
The sender was a woman named Nora Bell.
She had been a nurse at the hospital where I recovered.
I recognized her immediately. She had been gentle, patient, and unusually protective of my privacy. I remembered her adjusting my pillows when the skin grafts were painful.
She looked nervous when she saw me.
"I wasn't sure you'd come," she said.
"I want to know why you sent that photograph."
Nora glanced at the investigator, then back at me.
"Because I saw something in your medical file that never made sense."
She explained that Preston had requested access to my belongings after the fire. He told the hospital that he was my husband and needed to recover personal items for insurance purposes.
Among those belongings was my phone.
"Did he take it?" I asked.
"Yes. But before he did, I saw him remove a small memory card."
My heart began pounding.
"What was on it?"
"I don't know. But Martin Kessler came to the hospital the next morning. He spoke with Preston in the corridor. I heard them arguing about a recording."
The word struck me.
"A recording?"
Nora nodded.
"Preston said you had been in the office when the argument happened. Kessler said you might have heard too much."
I struggled to breathe.
"What did Preston say?"
Nora looked down.
"He said you wouldn't remember anything after the smoke. Then he asked whether your medication would affect your memory."
The investigator made a note.
"Did you report this?"
"I tried. But I was a temporary nurse, and the hospital administration told me not to get involved in a police matter."
Nora opened her handbag and removed a small envelope.
"I kept this because I thought someone might need it one day."
Inside was a photocopy of a hospital property receipt.
It listed my phone as received by Preston Hale. Beneath his signature was a handwritten note:
Memory card removed and retained for company investigation.
I stared at the words.
"Why would my phone have anything to do with the company?"
Nora's voice softened.
"Because I remember you telling me you had recorded a conversation that night. You were worried Preston was hiding something from you."
I searched my memory.
A week before the fire, I had started recording voice notes while reviewing financial documents for Preston. I had noticed irregular payments and wanted to remember the names he mentioned.
I had forgotten about them after the accident.
"Did you hear anything else?" I asked.
Nora hesitated.
"Yes. On the night you were admitted, Preston told a doctor that you had fallen before the fire reached the office."
I felt my stomach twist.
"I didn't fall. I was burned pulling him out."
"I know. I saw the injuries. But the medical notes said your burns were consistent with prolonged exposure to an enclosed fire."
The investigator exchanged a look with me.
Nora leaned closer.
"There's something else. When Preston thought you were asleep, he told Martin that the recording had to be found before you recovered."
I gripped the edge of the table.
"Did he say what was on it?"
Nora shook her head.
"No. But Martin asked him whether the woman had heard the whole conversation."
"And Preston?"
Nora swallowed.
"He said, 'She heard enough to ruin us.'"
For five years, I had believed the fire had taken my old life.
Now I understood that someone had been trying to erase what I knew.
Nora gave us the name of a hospital administrator who had authorized Preston's access to my belongings.
Before we left, she touched my hand.
"I'm sorry I didn't speak sooner."
I looked at her.
"You were afraid."
"So were you."
She was right.
But fear had kept me silent long enough.
That evening, Rebecca received a message from the administrator.
He had agreed to provide the original property log.
There was only one condition.
He wanted to meet us privately.
May you like
And he said the person who ordered the memory card removed was not Preston.
It was someone from Gideon Ashford's company.
