Chapter 5 - Dr. Vale
Dr. Martin Vale agreed to meet Detective Ruiz only after she threatened a subpoena.
He chose his office.
Grant chose to attend.
Vale looked older than Grant remembered. Gray skin. Shaking hands.
"I made mistakes," he said before anyone sat down.
Ruiz placed Claire's report on the desk.
"Start with this one."
Vale stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
"Claire kept it."
His face fell.
Grant leaned forward.
"Did you alter my daughter's medical file?"
Vale rubbed his forehead.
"Yes."
Grant stood.
Ruiz lifted a hand.
"Sit down."
"He drugged my child."
Vale shook his head violently.
"I never gave Lily anything."
"Then why change the chart?"
"Because Renata told me to."
"And you obeyed?"
Vale's eyes filled.
"She had something on me."
Ruiz's expression sharpened.
"What?"
Vale looked toward the closed door.
"Years ago, I signed off on experimental medication supplied through a private wellness clinic. The paperwork was dirty. Renata found it."
Grant said, "So she blackmailed you."
Vale nodded.
"At first she only wanted access to lab reports. Then she wanted changes made."
"Claire's toxicology too?"
Vale looked sick.
"Yes."
Grant gripped the edge of the desk.
"Was Claire drugged before the accident?"
"The level in her blood was enough to impair judgment and reaction time."
Grant's breathing turned rough.
"And you called it incidental."
Vale whispered, "I was scared."
Grant stared at him.
"My wife died scared. My daughter stopped speaking. You were scared?"
Ruiz stepped between them.
Then Vale said something that changed the room.
"Claire's car accident wasn't the first crash."
Grant froze.
"What?"
"Three weeks earlier, someone tampered with her brake sensor. She brought the car to a private mechanic."
"Who?"
Vale reached for a folder.
"Owen Pike."
Ruiz searched the name on her tablet.
Her face changed.
"Owen Pike died six months ago."
Grant looked at Vale.
"How?"
Ruiz answered.
"Single-car accident."
Outside Vale's office, Grant sat in the car without starting it.
Emma had come only to pick up Lily's copied records. She found him gripping the steering wheel.
"I keep thinking there had to be one moment when all of this could have stopped," he said.
May you like
Emma replied, "Then make this the moment it stops now."
Grant finally looked at her. It was the first useful thing anyone had said to him all day.
