Chapter 7: The Witness Who Forgot
Richard Brooks held the hospital identification card as though it might burn through his fingers.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The card was yellowed around the edges, its plastic surface scratched, but the photograph was unmistakable. A younger Richard stared back at us, his dark hair neatly combed and his expression serious. Beneath his picture was the name of the hospital where my grandfather had died.
I looked at my stepfather.
“You were there that night?””
Richard swallowed.
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
He lowered his eyes.
“Because I didn't remember everything.””
“That doesn't make sense.””
“I know.””
I stood beside the desk, my hands trembling. Only hours earlier, I had believed my biggest problem was a stepsister who thought her Mercedes made her more important than everyone else. Now I was learning that the people who had raised me might have been present during a crime involving my grandfather, my inheritance, and a man who had spent fourteen years believing his daughter was dead.
“Richard,” Daniel said carefully, “why were you at the hospital?””
Richard turned the identification card over.
“Michael called me that night. He said our father was having another episode and needed family members nearby. I drove there immediately.””
“What time?”” Daniel asked.
“Just after nine.””
Daniel looked at Claire.
“Grandpa died at ten twenty-three.””
Claire nodded slowly.
“That's what the death certificate says.””
Richard's fingers tightened around the card.
“I remember arriving. I remember Michael arguing with a nurse. I remember seeing Vanessa in the hallway.””
My stomach twisted.
“You knew my mother before you married her?””
He nodded.
“Not well. Michael introduced us at a company dinner several months earlier. She was working in administration for one of our business partners.””
“Then why didn't you tell me you had known her before?””
“Because I didn't think it mattered.””
He looked at me with an expression so full of regret that I almost looked away.
“Jasmine, I swear to you, I never knew she had accepted money to keep you away from your father.””
“But you knew she was there when Grandpa died.””
“Yes.””
“And you never questioned her?””
Richard closed his eyes.
“I should have.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Richard, you said you didn't remember everything. What happened after you arrived?””
Richard pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead.
“I remember voices. A door slamming. Someone dropping a glass. Then Michael told me our father had suffered a cardiac arrest.””
“Did you see the body?”” Claire asked.
“No. The doctors had already taken him away.””
Daniel's face tightened.
“Were you told the cause of death?””
“Heart failure. That's what Michael said.””
“And you believed him?””
Richard looked up.
“He was my brother.””
The words came out broken.
“I had spent my entire life trusting him. When he told me our father was gone, I didn't imagine he could be lying.””
I looked at the hospital card again.
“Why keep this?””
Richard turned it over in his hand.
“I found it in a box of old documents after Michael died. I couldn't remember why I had kept it. I thought it was just something from the hospital.””
He hesitated.
“Sometimes, I had dreams about that night. I would wake up hearing someone screaming. I thought it was grief.””
“Whose scream?”” I whispered.
He looked at me.
“I don't know.””
My bracelet lay on the desk beside the open music box. The little silver key caught the overhead light.
I stared at it, trying to force the memory to return.
A hospital room.
A broken glass.
My mother holding me.
Blood on her sleeve.
And Richard's voice, much younger, saying something I couldn't quite understand.
I pressed my fingers against my temples.
“I remember you,” I whispered.
Richard went still.
“What?””
“You were standing near a door. You were telling someone to stop.””
His face drained of color.
Daniel caught my arm.
“Jasmine, don't force yourself to remember.””
But the memory was already unfolding.
I saw a white hallway. A blue chair. A man in a gray suit carrying a leather briefcase.
Then Michael Brooks appeared.
He was shouting at my grandfather.
“You promised me!””
My grandfather's voice was weak but furious.
“I promised you nothing. The money belongs to Jasmine.””
Michael struck the desk with his palm.
“She doesn't even know what money is!””
“She is my granddaughter.””
“And I'm your son!””
My grandfather said something else, something I couldn't hear.
Then Michael reached toward a medical stand.
A glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
I opened my eyes.
“Michael was arguing with Grandpa,” I said.
“He wanted the money. Grandpa told him it belonged to me.””
Daniel gripped the edge of the desk.
“What happened next?””
“I don't know.””
Richard sank into a chair.
“Michael told me your grandfather had fallen. He said he had tried to help him.””
Daniel turned sharply.
“Help him how?””
Richard looked sick.
“I saw Michael standing over the bed. Your father was unconscious. Vanessa was holding Jasmine near the doorway.””
He stopped.
Then he whispered, “There was blood on her sleeve.””
My breath caught.
“You remember that?””
“Yes.””
“Then why did you marry her?””
Richard looked at me helplessly.
“Because I believed Michael when he said she had tried to save our father. He told me she had cut her arm on the broken glass. He said she was traumatized and needed someone to look after her.””
I felt the room spin.
“So you married her because you felt sorry for her?””
“At first, I wanted to help her. She told me she had lost someone important and was afraid of being alone. Later, we fell in love.””
He paused.
“Or I believed we had.””
Daniel paced toward the window.
“This is worse than I thought.””
Claire picked up the inventory sheet.
“The safe deposit box could contain the original medical records. If Michael altered the death certificate, there may be evidence of what really happened.””
Richard looked at the silver key.
“And the recorded statement.””
I turned toward him.
“What statement?””
“My father was suspicious of Michael before he died. He once told me he was keeping records of every irregular transfer. He said if anything happened to him, the truth would be in a recording.””
Daniel nodded grimly.
“He told me the same thing.””
My phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
*Stop asking questions about the hospital. You have no idea what your mother sacrificed to keep you alive.*
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
*If you want the truth, ask Richard what he did after your grandfather stopped breathing.*
My hands went cold.
I showed the message to everyone.
Richard stared at it for a long time.
Then he stood.
“We need to go to the bank.””
Daniel shook his head.
“We need to call the police first.””
“And tell them what? That my dead brother may have stolen money, my wife may have lied about a child's death, and my stepdaughter has recovered a fragment of a childhood memory?””
“We have documents.””
“Documents that haven't been authenticated.””
Richard's voice rose.
“Meanwhile, Vanessa and Madison are trying to access evidence!””
Daniel took out his phone.
“Then we notify the bank, preserve the footage, and let the police handle it.””
Richard looked at me.
“Jasmine, I need you to understand something. Whatever you remember, whatever you discover, I never wanted you hurt.””
I wanted to believe him.
But the message remained on my screen.
Ask Richard what he did after your grandfather stopped breathing.
I approached him.
“Did you touch anything in Grandpa's room after he died?””
Richard's mouth opened.
He looked at Daniel.
Then at Claire.
Finally, his gaze settled on me.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“What did you touch?””
He reached into his pocket and removed a small brass key.
“I took this from Michael's briefcase that night.””
Daniel stared at it.
“Why?””
“Because I heard him tell Vanessa that if the police found the original records, they would all go to prison.””
Richard's eyes filled with tears.
“I was terrified. I thought he was talking about financial fraud. I didn't know your grandfather might have been murdered.””
“Where have you kept it?””
“In a locked drawer at home.””
Daniel extended his hand.
Richard gave him the key.
For a moment, everyone stared at the tiny object.
Then Claire's phone rang.
She answered, listened, and slowly turned toward us.
“The bank has reviewed the security footage,” she said.
“Did they open the box?”” Daniel asked.
“No. They were stopped before they could access it.””
“Then what's the problem?””
Claire looked directly at Richard.
“Madison told the security officer she was acting on behalf of her father.””
Richard frowned.
“But I'm standing right here.””
“I know.””
Claire swallowed.
“She also presented a notarized document authorizing her to access every asset connected to Brooks Family Holdings.””
Richard's face turned white.
“That document is impossible. I never signed anything.””
Claire lowered her phone.
“Richard, someone has been using your identity for years.””
And then she revealed the detail that made my blood run cold.
“The authorization was signed six months ago. The notary's record says you appeared in person.””
Richard stared at her.
“Six months ago, I was in the hospital recovering from surgery.””
Daniel went completely still.
Because if Richard had been in a hospital bed when the document was signed, someone had not merely stolen his identity.
May you like
Someone had arranged for him to appear somewhere he had never been.
And the signature on that document might be the key to proving that the conspiracy had never ended.
