Chapter 5: The Doctor Who Knew My Secret
Elaine Foster insisted I make no further contact with Andrew Harris until the police had been informed.
For once, I listened.
Detective Shaw returned within twenty minutes. She photographed the message, recorded the details of the call, and asked whether Harris had given me a meeting place.
“No,” I said.
“He said he couldn't explain over the phone.””
“Did he threaten you directly?””
“Not directly.””
“What did he mean when he said your daughter might not survive?””
I looked down at the photograph of Lily standing beside Emma.
“I don't know.””
Detective Shaw studied the image.
“Can you send me the original message and photograph?””
I forwarded everything.
Then she asked me to describe my interactions with Harris, including the last time I'd seen him.
I remembered him from Emma's funeral.
He had stood beside Vanessa near the graveside, one hand resting on her shoulder. He wore a dark suit and carried a black umbrella. When I'd approached him, he'd shaken my hand and said Emma had been a remarkable nurse.
I'd thanked him.
He'd looked directly into my eyes.
“Some people leave this world before they get the chance to make things right,” he'd said.
At the time, I had thought it was a clumsy attempt at comfort.
Now I wasn't sure what he'd meant.
Detective Shaw wrote down my recollection.
“Did he ever contact you afterward?””
“No.””
“Did you know he and Vanessa were still in contact?””
“Not until last night.””
She closed her notebook.
“We'll follow up with him. In the meantime, I need you to avoid making assumptions about what these documents mean.””
“I understand.””
But I couldn't stop thinking about the hidden room.
The photographs.
The medical report.
The statement written in my handwriting.
And the sentence that had been underlined three times.
I agreed.
I had no memory of agreeing to anything.
Yet someone had gone to considerable trouble to preserve a record claiming that I had.
Lily was staying with a trusted family friend while the safeguarding team worked with the police to determine the safest arrangements for her care.
I visited her that afternoon.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, drawing with colored pencils. Mr. Buttons rested in her lap, his crooked button eye facing me.
When she saw me, she set down the pencil.
“Dad?””
I crossed the room and hugged her.
“Hey, sweetheart.””
“Are you going to take me home?””
I sat beside her.
“Not today.””
Her face fell.
“Because Mom is there?””
“Because the grown-ups need to make sure everything is safe first.””
She stared at the table.
“Did I make Mom go away?””
My heart twisted.
“No. You didn't make anything happen. You told me something important, and now the adults have to deal with it.””
“Is Mom in trouble?””
I chose my words carefully.
“The police are asking questions. I don't know what will happen.””
Lily rubbed the teddy bear's ear.
“Will they take Mr. Buttons away?””
“No, sweetheart. Nobody is taking him away from you.””
She nodded, but her expression remained troubled.
“Can I tell you something else?””
“Anything.””
She glanced at the doorway, then leaned closer.
“Mom told me not to remember Aunt Emma.””
I felt my chest tighten.
“What do you mean?””
“When I was little, I used to wake up crying. Mom said I had bad dreams because I was making things up.””
“What did you dream about?””
Lily looked at the bear.
“A loud noise. Broken glass. Aunt Emma telling me to hide.””
I stayed very still.
“Did you see Aunt Emma that night?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know. I was little.””
“That's okay.””
“But I remember her voice.””
I brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead.
“What did she say?””
Lily's eyes filled.
“She told me to close my eyes and count to ten.””
I swallowed hard.
“Why?””
“So I wouldn't see the bad thing.””
She began to cry.
I pulled her into my arms and let her cry against my shoulder.
I didn't ask more questions.
I didn't need to.
Whatever had happened six years earlier, my daughter had been frightened by it. And someone had spent years teaching her that remembering was dangerous.
When she finally calmed down, she reached for Mr. Buttons.
“Dad?””
“Yes?””
“Can I show you something?””
She turned the bear over and carefully pulled apart the loose stitching near its back. The small silver key had already been documented by the police, but Lily had noticed something else.
A narrow strip of fabric was sewn beneath the lining.
She tugged it gently.
A folded piece of paper slid out.
I stared at it.
“Where did that come from?””
“Mr. Buttons had it when Mom gave him back to me.””
I unfolded the paper.
It wasn't a letter.
It was a photograph, so small that it could have fit inside a matchbox.
The image showed a woman lying on a hospital bed.
Her face was turned toward the camera.
Emma.
A tube ran beneath her nose, and bruises darkened one side of her face. Her eyes were open.
On the back, in faded handwriting, were three words.
*I WAS ALIVE.*
I stared at the photograph until the room blurred.
Emma had been alive when the photograph was taken.
If the date on the medical report was accurate, it might have been shortly before the night she died.
I showed it to Elaine and contacted Detective Shaw immediately. The photograph was documented and transferred to the police for examination.
Lily watched quietly while the adults discussed how to preserve it.
Then she tugged my sleeve.
“Dad, there's another thing.””
I crouched beside her.
“What is it?””
She whispered, “Aunt Emma gave me the bear.””
I stared at her.
“Emma gave you Mr. Buttons?””
Lily nodded.
“Before she went away.””
“When?””
She frowned, trying to remember.
“I don't know. It was nighttime. Mom was crying. Aunt Emma hugged me and put the bear in my arms.””
“Did she say anything?””
Lily closed her eyes.
“She said, 'Keep him safe, little bird.''”
My breath caught.
Little bird.
Emma had called Lily that because, as a toddler, she used to flap her arms whenever she was excited.
I remembered it suddenly, vividly.
Emma laughing as Lily ran through the garden.
Vanessa watching them from the kitchen window.
And a voice behind me saying, She shouldn't be here.
I opened my eyes.
“Who said that, sweetheart?””
Lily shook her head.
“I don't remember.””
I kissed her forehead.
“That's okay.””
But inside, my mind was moving faster than I could control.
Emma had given Lily the teddy bear.
Vanessa had tried to throw it away.
The recorder had been hidden inside it.
The key had been sewn beneath the lining.
Someone had made certain that the evidence survived.
And that person might have been Emma herself.
That evening, Detective Shaw called me with an update.
The photograph appeared to be genuine, although the date and location still needed confirmation. The hospital records were being examined, and officers were attempting to locate Dr. Harris.
“He hasn't returned our calls,” she said.
“Do you think he'll run?””
“I don't know. But we have enough reason to want a formal interview.””
“Can I ask you something?””
“Go ahead.””
“If Emma was alive after the alleged assault, why would everyone say she died in a car accident?””
“That is one of the questions we're investigating.””
“What if the accident was staged?””
Detective Shaw paused.
“We're looking into that possibility. But I need you to understand that we can't treat every theory as fact.””
I understood.
I just didn't know how to live inside the uncertainty.
After the call, Michael came to my apartment with takeaway food. Neither of us ate much.
He sat opposite me and turned the old photograph over in his hands.
“Do you remember the funeral?”” he asked.
“Every detail.””
“Did Vanessa cry?””
“Yes.””
“Did Harris?””
I thought about it.
“No.””
Michael placed the photograph on the table.
“That's what I remember too. Everyone was grieving, but Harris looked like he was waiting for something to end.””
I rubbed my face.
“What if he was involved?””
“Then we let the police establish that.””
I looked at my brother.
“What if I was involved?””
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he leaned forward.
“Dan, I know you. I know what you're capable of, and I know what you're not. But knowing you doesn't mean I can tell you what happened six years ago.””
His honesty hurt.
It also helped.
I couldn't build the truth around what I wanted to believe.
I needed evidence.
At nine thirty, my phone rang again.
Unknown number.
This time, the caller didn't speak immediately.
I heard breathing.
Then a woman's voice.
“Daniel?””
My heart stopped.
“Who is this?””
“It's Emma.””
I gripped the edge of the table.
“No.””
“Please listen to me.””
My brother stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.
I could barely breathe.
“Emma is dead.””
“I know what they told you.””
“Who is this?””
“My name is Emma Harris. And if Vanessa knows I'm alive, Lily is in danger.””
I shook my head.
It had to be a trick.
A cruel trick.
But then the woman said something that only Emma could have known.
“Do you remember the little bird song you used to sing to Lily? The one you made up when she was afraid of thunderstorms?””
My knees weakened.
I remembered.
A silly song about a little bird finding its way home.
Emma had laughed when she first heard it.
She'd said it was the worst song she'd ever heard.
Then she'd asked me to teach it to Lily so she'd always have something comforting when I wasn't there.
“Where are you?”” I whispered.
“I can't tell you yet.””
“Why?””
“Because the people who tried to kill me are still watching.””
I closed my eyes.
“Emma, what happened that night?””
Her voice broke.
“Vanessa found out I was going to expose Dr. Harris. She told him I had evidence. They came to the house to take it.””
“Why was I involved?””
“Because you saw what they did.””
“I don't remember.””
“I know.””
“Why don't I remember?””
There was a long silence.
Then Emma whispered, “Because you were the only witness they couldn't afford to leave with a clear memory.””
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Michael was pale.
“What did she say?””
I looked at him.
“She says she's alive.””
Before he could respond, another message arrived.
A photograph.
This one showed a woman standing outside a small roadside diner, her face partly obscured by a scarf.
The date on the photograph was today's date.
May you like
Beneath it was a message.
*Tomorrow. Noon. Come alone. And bring the truth about what happened to Lily.*
