Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WITH THE BLUE CROSS
The first thing Nicholas did was call the mansion.
“Keep Ethan away from the front hall. Nobody approaches the doctor until I arrive.”
Daniel listened through an earpiece.
“The security team has them in the morning room, sir.”
“Are they armed?”
“The doctor isn't carrying a visible weapon.”
“And Margaret?”
“She's in her wheelchair. She appears exhausted.”
Nicholas turned toward Charlotte.
“You're coming with us.”
Charlotte nodded.
For once, she didn't argue.
During the drive, I sat beside Thomas in the back seat.
He held the repaired paper airplane carefully between both hands.
“Why did Arthur choose this?” I asked.
Thomas looked down.
“Ethan loves making them with his grandfather.”
“I know.”
“Arthur knew Ethan would protect it.”
That answer hurt more than I expected.
An old man had trusted a little boy with a secret because the adults around him could no longer be trusted.
“Did Arthur know Elena was in danger?” I asked.
Thomas didn't answer immediately.
“I believe he suspected it.”
“Then why didn't he help her?”
“He tried, Miss Collins.”
“How?”
Thomas stared through the window.
“By making the wrong choice.”
At the mansion, Nicholas entered first.
I followed with Charlotte and Thomas.
The morning room smelled of roses and cold coffee.
Margaret Vale sat beside the fireplace.
She was a thin woman in her eighties with silver hair, trembling hands, and a blue cross resting against her dark cardigan.
Dr. Prescott stood behind her.
He was younger than I expected.
Late sixties.
Neatly dressed.
Gray hair.
A face that might have belonged to an ordinary family physician.
Nicholas stopped several feet away.
“Where is my father?”
Prescott looked at him.
“Alive.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“I know.”
Nicholas moved closer.
Daniel stepped beside him.
Prescott raised both hands.
“I came because Vincent has decided Arthur is no longer useful.”
Charlotte made a frightened sound.
“What does that mean?”
Prescott looked toward Margaret.
“She insisted we tell Nicholas before it's too late.”
Nicholas stared at the elderly woman.
“Who are you?”
Margaret looked at Charlotte.
“My granddaughter.”
Charlotte's voice broke.
“Grandma?”
Margaret held out a trembling hand.
Charlotte approached slowly.
“You told me you were too ill to travel.”
“I was.”
“Then why are you here?”
Margaret's eyes filled.
“Because I have spent too many years allowing people to suffer for what I did.”
Nicholas crossed his arms.
“Start with Elena.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“She was brought to St. Agnes as an infant. Her mother had nowhere safe to go.”
“Who was her mother?”
Margaret looked toward Thomas.
“Tell him.”
Thomas stared at her.
“You promised Arthur that name would remain protected.”
“Arthur isn't here.”
Thomas's voice hardened.
“Because your people took him.”
Margaret began crying.
Prescott placed a hand on her shoulder.
Nicholas stepped forward.
“Don't touch her.”
Prescott withdrew his hand.
Margaret looked directly at Nicholas.
“Elena's mother was a young woman named Rose Marsh. She worked as a nurse at St. Agnes.”
Nicholas frowned.
“Then why was Elena adopted?”
“Because Rose discovered children were being transferred to families without proper consent.”
Margaret's voice weakened.
“Some mothers were told their babies had died. Others were pressured into signing papers they didn't understand.”
Charlotte covered her mouth.
“Grandma…”
Margaret shook her head.
“I was the head nurse. I knew what was happening.”
Nicholas stared at her.
“And you allowed it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Margaret looked ashamed.
“Because I believed the hospital would close if the donations stopped. Because powerful families promised they could give the children better lives.”
She wiped her eyes.
“Because I was a coward.”
Nicholas turned toward Prescott.
“And you?”
“I wasn't employed there when it began.”
“But you helped cover it up.”
Prescott's silence was answer enough.
Nicholas stepped closer.
“My wife died under your care.”
Prescott looked directly at him.
“She did.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No.”
Nicholas's hands tightened.
“Give me one reason to believe you.”
Prescott reached into his medical case.
Daniel immediately stepped forward.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Prescott opened the case slowly.
Inside was a small velvet pouch.
He removed a gold ring with a blue sapphire.
Nicholas froze.
“Elena's ring.”
Prescott placed it on the table.
“I kept it because Arthur asked me to.”
Nicholas stared.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena gave it to Arthur the day before she died. She believed someone was watching her.”
Nicholas looked at the ring.
“You signed her death certificate.”
“I did.”
“And you told me her heart stopped.”
“It did.”
“Why?”
Prescott took a breath.
“Elena had an undiagnosed cardiac condition. She collapsed during an argument at the clinic. By the time emergency treatment began, she was critically ill.”
Nicholas looked devastated.
“Who was arguing with her?”
Prescott looked toward Margaret.
The elderly woman began trembling.
“I was.”
Charlotte slowly turned.
“Grandma?”
Margaret nodded.
“Elena had discovered what happened to Charlotte.”
Charlotte stared.
“What happened to me?”
Margaret couldn't speak.
Prescott answered.
“You were one of the children transferred through the hospital.”
Charlotte looked down at her hands.
“But I knew I was adopted.”
“You didn't know your mother never consented.”
Charlotte stepped back.
Margaret began sobbing.
“I told your adoptive parents she had abandoned you.”
Charlotte whispered, “Why?”
“Because your mother was a hospital employee who threatened to expose us.”
Nicholas stared.
“Who was she?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I won't say her name until Arthur is safe.”
Nicholas's expression became dangerous.
“You don't get to bargain with my father's life.”
Prescott intervened.
“Vincent believes Arthur hid the original transaction ledger. Without it, he can't prove ownership of certain companies.”
“The blue book,” Nicholas said.
Prescott's expression changed.
“You found it?”
Nicholas didn't answer.
Prescott looked frightened.
“Then you need to protect it.”
“From Vincent?”
“From the people Vincent borrowed money from.”
Nicholas studied him.
“Why come here now?”
Prescott placed a second object on the table.
A silver pocket watch.
Its glass was cracked.
Thomas immediately recognized it.
“Arthur's watch.”
Prescott nodded.
“Vincent gave it to me yesterday. He said Arthur wouldn't need it anymore.”
Nicholas picked it up.
The hands had stopped at 4:17.
The same number written on the bracelet and airplane.
Nicholas examined the back.
There was a tiny engraving.
For my sons. May they always find their way home.
Nicholas stared at it.
“My mother gave him this.”
“Yes,” Thomas whispered.
Prescott looked toward the doorway.
“Vincent is moving Arthur tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“A private property near the coast.”
Nicholas's voice sharpened.
“Which property?”
Prescott hesitated.
“I'm not certain.”
Margaret suddenly reached for the watch.
“Open it.”
Nicholas looked at her.
“The back.”
He pressed the small release.
The watch opened.
Inside was a folded strip of paper.
Nicholas carefully removed it.
Three numbers were written in Arthur's handwriting.
12\. 6. 26.
Beneath them was one sentence.
The truth is in the house where the children were never allowed to stay.
Thomas stared.
“I know that place.”
Nicholas turned.
“Where?”
Thomas swallowed.
“The old Bellomo summer house in Cape May.”
Charlotte looked frightened.
“My grandmother used to take me there.”
Nicholas turned sharply.
“What?”
Margaret began crying again.
Then she looked directly at Charlotte.
May you like
And said the words that made the young woman collapse into a chair.
“CHARLOTTE, I DIDN'T JUST HELP ARRANGE YOUR ADOPTION. I WAS THE ONE WHO TOOK YOU AWAY FROM YOUR MOTHER—AND YOUR MOTHER IS STILL ALIVE.”
