Chapter 7 - THE FILE HIDDEN FROM EVERYONE
I didn't sleep.
Grant spent the night in the guest room, and I spent mine reviewing everything I could remember about Laura Bennett.
She had been meticulous, compassionate, and fiercely protective of her patients.
In the months before she died, she'd raised concerns about missing equipment and discrepancies in delivery records.
I'd assumed those concerns had been addressed by procurement.
Now I wondered whether her complaints had been buried.
At seven the next morning, I contacted the hospital's compliance director and requested that Laura's previous reports be included in the independent review.
The director confirmed that a small number of concerns had been documented.
However, the records were incomplete.
Several attachments were missing.
The original file had apparently been moved to an archive that was no longer part of the hospital's active document system.
I asked who had authorized the move.
The answer was Peter Caldwell.
I felt the pieces shifting into place.
Peter had overseen procurement reviews.
Grant had helped defend him when he left.
Serena's company had received money from the foundation.
And someone had created documents suggesting that I had approved the payments.
But there was still a question I couldn't answer.
Why had they chosen me?
I wasn't the foundation's treasurer. I didn't manage procurement. My role as chief surgeon gave me clinical authority, not unrestricted control over the foundation's money.
Then I remembered the hospital's expansion campaign.
Two years earlier, Harrington had launched a public initiative to build a new cardiac center.
I had served as its most visible medical spokesperson.
My photograph appeared in promotional materials, donor presentations, and annual reports.
If my name appeared on financial authorizations, people might assume I had approved the spending because I was the face of the project.
Someone had turned my credibility into camouflage.
That afternoon, Miriam informed me that the investigators had obtained a preservation order covering relevant electronic records.
They were now examining communications between Grant, Serena, Peter, and the companies connected to the transfers.
For the first time, I felt the investigation might reach beyond the people who had already been identified.
Then Daniel called.
"We found Laura's missing report," he said.
"Where?"
"In an archived email account."
"What's in it?"
He hesitated.
"Laura documented concerns about the same vendor months before she died. She also named the person who told her to stop asking questions."
I gripped the edge of my desk.
"Who?"
May you like
Daniel's answer was almost a whisper.
"Your husband, Dr. Mercer."
