Chapter 8 - The Foundation Archive
Elliott drove too fast.
"Slow down."
"My mother is alone with him."
"And I am thirty-seven weeks pregnant in your passenger seat. Slow down."
He did.
When they arrived, police were already outside.
Evelyn stood near the entrance wrapped in a blanket.
Elliott ran to her.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. Grant left before security came."
"What did he want?"
"The stamp."
Detective Ellis stepped forward.
"What stamp?"
Evelyn opened a small evidence bag.
Inside was a brass signature stamp bearing Edward Sutton's name.
"My husband used it for ceremonial letters when his hand became weak," she said. "After he died, I thought it had been destroyed."
"Where was it?" Mara asked.
"In a locked box filed under Grant Voss's old foundation consulting work."
Grant had served as a healthcare strategy adviser to the Sutton Foundation before becoming chief operating officer at Arbor Crown.
Corinne Blake had been outside counsel for both.
Charles Lang sat on both boards.
The same names kept appearing in different rooms.
Leah looked at Evelyn.
"Did Edward know Crown Access was being used to move patients?"
Evelyn's eyes filled.
"I do not think so."
"That is not an answer."
"Then no. I do not know."
For once, Evelyn did not hide behind certainty.
A records clerk brought out a sealed envelope Edward had left in a private file.
Elliott opened it.
One page.
His father's handwriting.
Evelyn,
I told Grant today that guaranteed access must end. If donor promises are being interpreted as medical priority, we have crossed a line I never intended to cross.
Cancel the addendum before the next board meeting.
Edward.
Dated eleven days before his death.
"I never saw this."
Rachel photographed it.
Mara asked, "Who controlled his files after he died?"
Evelyn looked toward the basement door.
"Grant."
Leah felt the baby shift again.
Then Rachel's phone rang.
She answered.
"Naomi?"
Everyone turned.
Rachel listened, then put the call on speaker.
Naomi whispered, "I am safe."
Leah closed her eyes in relief.
"Where are you?"
"I cannot tell you yet. Somebody came to my apartment, so I ran through the back stairwell."
"Who?"
"I did not see his face."
A pause.
"But I heard him call Corinne."
Rachel said, "What did he say?"
May you like
Naomi's voice dropped.
"He said, 'The pregnant one still has the copy.'"
