Chapter 5 - The Man in the Chapel
Hospital security arrived within minutes.
Two officers examined the envelope, checked the corridor cameras, and questioned every nurse on the floor.
Nobody had seen anyone approach Room 307.
The security footage showed the hallway clearly.
At 9:14 p.m., the corridor was empty.
At 9:15 p.m., the envelope was already lying outside the door.
No person appeared between those moments.
“That’s impossible,” one guard muttered.
The second guard replayed the footage.
“It skips three seconds.”
Olivia exchanged a worried glance with Emily.
The same thing had happened the previous night.
Inside the room, Harold held the message in silence.
He did not seem surprised anymore.
Only tired.
“You know who sent it,” Emily said.
Harold looked toward her.
“I know who might have.”
“Then tell us.”
Before he could answer, Richard suddenly left the room.
He moved quickly down the corridor, ignoring calls from the nurses.
“Richard!”
Olivia followed him.
The dog passed the elevators, turned near the rehabilitation wing, and headed toward the small hospital chapel.
The door was slightly open.
Inside, the lights were dim.
A lone man sat in the last row.
He wore a dark coat and held a wooden cane between both hands.
Richard stopped at the entrance.
His entire body became still.
The man slowly turned.
He was perhaps seventy-five, with silver hair and a deep scar running from his temple to his jaw.
“Hello, Richard,” he said.
Olivia froze.
The dog walked toward him.
Not cautiously.
Not aggressively.
Almost as if he recognized him.
The man reached down and touched Richard’s head.
“I knew one of you would remember.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
The stranger smiled without warmth.
“My name is Samuel Vale.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“It answers more than you realize.”
Richard sniffed the man’s coat, then sat beside him.
Samuel looked toward the chapel doors.
“Harold is still alive?”
“Yes.”
“For now.”
Olivia’s expression hardened.
“Did you leave the envelope?”
Samuel ignored her question.
Instead, he opened one hand.
Inside lay an old brass military tag.
Stamped into the metal was the name:
RICHARD VALE
Olivia stared at it.
“Your father?”
“My brother.”
Samuel closed his fist.
“The boy in the photograph.”
The words struck her like cold water.
“You’re saying the child Harold rescued was your brother?”
Samuel nodded.
“And Harold has spent seventy years hiding what happened after that night.”
Olivia stepped back.
“That isn’t what he said.”
Samuel slowly stood.
His cane struck the chapel floor once.
“Then perhaps you should ask him why my brother vanished.”
Before Olivia could stop him, Samuel walked toward the exit.
Richard remained seated for a moment, torn between following the stranger and returning to Harold.
Then the dog turned and ran back toward Room 307.
When Olivia arrived seconds later, Harold was awake.
May you like
And the sealed envelope marked FOR RICHARD was gone.
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