Chapter 24 - The Nurse Who Remembered
Only hours after Maya's visit, an elderly nurse requested to speak with Detective Harris.
Her name was Eleanor Brooks.
She had retired six months earlier after nearly forty years at the hospital.
"I saw your photograph on the news."
"You recognized someone?" Harris asked.
She nodded slowly.
"Not the suspect."
"The children's mother."
Ethan immediately stood as much as his injuries allowed.
"You knew my mom?"
"Yes."
"Very well."
"When Maya was first admitted..."
"Your mother volunteered in the pediatric ward every day."
Ethan listened in stunned silence.
"She wasn't just a parent."
"She kept detailed notebooks."
"What kind of notebooks?"
"Everything."
"Visitors."
"Doctors."
"Equipment deliveries."
"Staff schedules."
"She said someone inside the hospital couldn't be trusted."
Detective Collins leaned forward.
"Did she tell anyone?"
"She tried."
"What happened?"
Eleanor sighed.
"No one believed her."
"Why not?"
"They thought stress was affecting her judgment."
She slowly opened her old handbag.
"I kept something."
From inside, she removed a worn envelope sealed with yellowing tape.
Across the front, written in elegant handwriting, were four words.
If anything happens...
Give this to Ethan.
Every person in the room stared at the envelope.
Ethan's hands trembled as Detective Harris carefully accepted it.
The seal had never been broken.
Whatever Ethan's mother had discovered years ago...
She had trusted only one person to preserve the truth.
May you like
And after all these years...
That truth was finally about to be opened.
