Chapter 7: The Doctor Who Had Been Hiding for Twenty Years
Theron Viremont had spent his life believing that the worst thing his father had ever done was make him afraid of disappointing him.
Now an elderly doctor was telling him that Edmund Viremont had deliberately poisoned his mother, altered the course of her medical treatment, and arranged for someone to disappear before the truth could emerge.
Theron gripped the phone so tightly his knuckles whitened.
"Dr. Vale, where are you?""
"I cannot tell you over the telephone.""
"You called me.""
"Because I saw what happened to your family. The video of you and Corisande is everywhere. Edmund is using it to distract everyone from what he did.""
Theron glanced at Seraphina, who was already reaching for a notebook.
"Tell me where to meet you.""
"Tomorrow morning. St. Bartholomew's Cemetery. The old chapel entrance.""
"Why there?""
"Because Eleanor is buried there.""
The doctor's voice broke on his mother's name.
"I owe her that much.""
Theron took a breath.
"And the person you said was murdered?""
A long silence followed.
"His name was Gabriel Sloane. He worked for your father's accounting firm. He found the original trust transfers and helped Eleanor make copies.""
Theron felt his stomach tighten.
"What happened to him?""
"The official report said he died in a car accident.""
"And unofficially?""
"I saw him three days before the accident. He told me he had been followed. He said Edmund had discovered the copies.""
"Did you go to the police?""
"No.""
"Why not?""
"Because I was a coward.""
The admission was so quiet that Theron almost missed it.
Dr. Vale continued.
"I convinced myself that if I stayed silent, I could protect my own family. I told myself I hadn't killed Eleanor. I told myself I hadn't pushed Gabriel into that car. I repeated those lies for twenty years.""
Theron felt anger rise through him.
"You let me bury my mother believing she had died of an illness.""
"Yes.""
"You watched my father stand beside her grave.""
"Yes.""
"And you said nothing.""
The doctor began to cry again.
"I know.""
Theron closed his eyes.
For a moment, he wanted to shout until the man understood the size of the damage he had caused.
But Eirlys's face appeared in his mind.
Her little hand touching his forehead.
Don't be angry at me.
He forced himself to speak calmly.
"Bring every document you have. Medical records. Financial records. Anything that can be independently verified.""
"I will.""
"And if this is a trap?""
Dr. Vale did not answer immediately.
"Then I suppose I will have deserved what happens to me.""
Theron ended the call.
Seraphina stared at him.
"We cannot go there without telling Marcus.""
"I know.""
"Do you?""
She folded her arms.
"Theron, you are not allowed to rush into a cemetery because an old man has decided to grow a conscience.""
"I said I know.""
"Good. Because I have no intention of watching you make another decision that could destroy your life.""
He looked at her.
She softened slightly.
"I'm not trying to stop you from finding out what happened to Mother. I'm trying to make sure you survive long enough to do something about it.""
An hour later, Marcus had arranged for a private investigator to accompany them at a distance, and a second attorney was preparing the necessary documentation to preserve any evidence Dr. Vale provided.
They would not confront Edmund.
They would not approach Corisande.
They would listen, collect the documents, and leave.
It was a plan Theron could accept.
Barely.
That night, he found Eirlys asleep with the golden-haired doll beside her pillow.
He sat in the dim light, watching her chest rise and fall beneath the blanket.
Her cheek was almost back to its usual color.
He reached out, then stopped before touching her face.
"Your grandmother loved you," he whispered.
Eirlys stirred.
"Daddy?""
"I'm here.""
"Is Grandma coming?""
Theron swallowed.
"No, sweetheart. Grandma Eleanor isn't coming back.""
Eirlys opened her eyes halfway.
"Is she in the sky?""
He brushed a curl from her forehead.
"I hope she's somewhere peaceful.""
"Can she see me?""
He had no answer that he could prove.
But he had spent enough of his life accepting his father's answers without question.
"I don't know," he said.
"But I can tell you about her.""
Eirlys smiled sleepily.
"Was she nice?""
"She was the kindest person I knew.""
"Did she like tea parties?""
Theron's eyes stung.
"She loved them.""
"Then I would give her some.""
He kissed her forehead.
"I think she would have loved that.""
The next morning, rain covered the cemetery in a fine silver mist.
Theron arrived with Marcus's investigator, Daniel Cross, who parked several rows away. Theron carried no briefcase, only his phone and a small umbrella.
The chapel stood near the older section of the cemetery, its stone walls darkened by decades of weather. Beyond it, rows of gravestones disappeared into the fog.
Dr. Julian Vale waited beneath the entrance arch.
He looked smaller than Theron remembered.
The last time Theron had seen him, the doctor had stood at Eleanor's funeral in a black overcoat, offering condolences with the solemn confidence of a man who understood death.
Now his shoulders were bent. His silver hair was thin, and his hands trembled around a leather satchel.
"Mr. Viremont.""
"Dr. Vale.""
The doctor looked toward the graveyard.
"You have your mother's eyes.""
Theron's expression hardened.
"Don't.""
Vale lowered his head.
"You're right. I haven't earned the right to say that.""
He opened the satchel.
Inside were several folders, a small cassette recorder, and a bundle of papers tied with string.
"I kept these because I thought one day I might find the courage to tell the truth.""
"Why now?""
"Because I saw your daughter.""
Theron stared at him.
"What?""
"The video. I saw the way she clung to you. I saw your face when you looked at her. And I remembered Eleanor asking me whether her son would ever understand what it meant to protect someone.""
Theron felt a sharp ache behind his ribs.
"Tell me what happened.""
Vale sat on the low stone wall beside the chapel.
"Eleanor was not suffering from the condition your father described. She was experiencing symptoms consistent with exposure to a substance that affected her cognition, coordination, and memory.""
"Which substance?""
"At the time, I suspected a medication interaction. Later, I learned that the substance had been introduced deliberately.""
"By my father?""
Vale nodded.
"He paid me to administer it under the guise of treatment. He said Eleanor was becoming unstable and that he needed a short period to arrange the family's affairs.""
Theron's voice became cold.
"You knew she wasn't getting better.""
"Yes.""
"And you kept giving it to her.""
"Yes.""
"How much?""
Vale looked down at his hands.
"Enough to make her confused. Enough to make people doubt what she said.""
Theron turned away.
The image of his mother appeared in his mind: pale, exhausted, sitting beside a window while Edmund explained that she was too ill to attend a family dinner.
He had believed every word.
"Why did she die?""
"The dosage was increased without my knowledge. When I arrived, she was already in severe distress. I tried to stabilize her, but the damage was too great.""
"Did you call an ambulance?""
"Yes.""
"Did you tell the paramedics what she'd been given?""
"No.""
Theron stared at him.
"You let them treat her without knowing what was in her system.""
"I was afraid Edmund would destroy me. I told myself that if I admitted what I had done, I would lose everything.""
"And my mother lost her life.""
Vale began to cry.
"Yes.""
Theron walked several paces away.
The investigator remained near the gate, watching without interfering.
When Theron returned, his voice was quieter.
"You said the poison wasn't intended to kill her.""
"That is what Edmund told me. He wanted her declared incapable of managing the trust. He intended to transfer control to himself before she could challenge the financial irregularities.""
"And Gabriel Sloane?""
"He found the transfers. He came to me because he suspected Eleanor's medical records were being altered. We arranged to give the documents to an independent auditor.""
"What happened?""
"Edmund found out.""
Vale opened a folder and handed Theron a photocopy of a ledger.
The entries showed payments to Ashcombe Holdings, a private medical company, and two accounts registered under unfamiliar names.
Beside several transactions was a handwritten notation.
*E. Viremont — authorization received.*
Theron examined the dates.
The transfers had begun years before Eleanor's death.
They had continued after she died.
One recipient was a company associated with the Viremont family's current financial administrator.
Another was connected to Corisande's brother, Alistair.
Theron looked up.
"Why would Corisande be involved?""
Vale hesitated.
"Because she was not a stranger to the family when she married you.""
"What does that mean?""
"She had been working with Alistair for some time. He introduced her to Edmund. Their relationship was presented as a chance meeting, but it wasn't.""
Theron felt a wave of nausea.
"You're saying my marriage was arranged?""
"I'm saying your father encouraged it.""
"Why?""
"Your marriage gave him access to your future inheritance and a way to influence the trust through a new generation. If anything happened to you, or if you were declared incapable of managing your affairs, the guardianship arrangement would become important.""
Theron looked at the papers again.
"And Eirlys?""
Vale's face crumpled.
"She was born into a plan that began before she existed.""
For a long moment, the cemetery was silent except for the rain.
Theron thought of Corisande's carefully chosen words, her public tears, and the speed with which she had turned the pool incident into a weapon.
He thought of Eirlys asking whether she was trouble.
And he realized that whatever Corisande had felt for him, she had never been allowed to love him without the shadow of her family's ambition.
"Do you have proof that Edmund arranged the marriage?""
Vale reached into the satchel again.
He produced a letter bearing Edmund's signature.
It was addressed to Alistair Ashcombe.
*Corisande is intelligent, presentable, and understands the importance of discretion. If she and Theron develop an attachment, encourage it. The trust will require a more cooperative family structure in the future.*
Theron read the letter twice.
Then he folded it carefully and placed it in his coat.
"Is there anything else?""
Vale nodded.
"Gabriel made a second copy of the financial records before he died. I believe he sent it to someone outside the family.""
"Who?""
"I don't know. But there is a name in his last letter.""
He opened the final folder.
Inside was a handwritten note addressed to Eleanor.
At the bottom, beneath several lines about the trust, was a name Theron had not heard in years.
*Vivienne Ashcombe.*
Corisande's mother.
Theron looked up sharply.
"Why would Gabriel send evidence to Vivienne?""
Vale's expression darkened.
"Because she was the person who introduced Corisande to Edmund.""
Theron felt his blood run cold.
"You're saying Corisande's mother was involved from the beginning?""
"I believe so.""
A sound came from the far side of the chapel.
A car door slammed.
Daniel Cross straightened near the gate.
Theron turned.
A black sedan had stopped beside the cemetery wall.
The rear window lowered.
Edmund Viremont looked out.
Even from a distance, his expression was unmistakable.
Disappointment.
Not fear.
Not guilt.
Disappointment, as though Theron had broken a rule.
"Theron," his father called.
The old doctor went white.
"How did he find us?""
Theron stepped in front of Vale.
"I don't know.""
Edmund opened the car door and climbed out.
He wore a charcoal overcoat and carried a black umbrella. His shoes remained clean despite the wet ground.
"Son," he said, walking toward them, "I believe you've been speaking to someone who has spent twenty years trying to save himself.""
Theron held up the folder.
"And you've spent twenty years making sure he never had to.""
Edmund's eyes flicked toward the papers.
For the first time, his expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Theron saw it.
Fear.
Then Edmund smiled.
"Whatever he has told you, you should know one thing.""
"What?""
"Your mother was not the only person in this family who kept secrets.""
His gaze shifted to the leather satchel.
"Ask Dr. Vale what happened to the original death certificate.""
Before Theron could respond, Vale staggered backward.
His hand flew to his chest.
The satchel fell from his fingers.
"Dr. Vale!""
Theron caught him as his knees buckled.
The doctor's face had turned gray. His breathing came in short, desperate gasps.
Daniel Cross rushed forward and called emergency services.
Theron lowered Vale carefully to the ground.
"Stay with me," he said.
"Do you hear me? Stay with me.""
Vale clutched Theron's sleeve.
His lips moved.
Theron leaned closer.
"Your mother...""
The doctor struggled for breath.
"She had a child before you.""
Theron froze.
"What?""
Vale's eyes filled with terror.
"Edmund... never told you...""
His grip loosened.
Then his eyes rolled shut.
Theron shouted for the paramedics.
Across the wet cemetery, Edmund stood motionless beneath his umbrella.
He watched as the doctor was lifted onto a stretcher.
May you like
Then he looked directly at his son.
And smiled.
