CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
The First Attempt Was Never Reported
The recorder continued playing.
No one dared touch it.
William Hayes' voice, though weak with age, remained unmistakably clear.
"Margaret... if anyone ever hears this recording..."
A burst of static interrupted him.
Then his voice returned.
Slower.
More serious.
"...tell them the stroke wasn't the beginning."
"It was only the second attempt."
Emily felt her heart pounding.
She slowly looked toward her grandmother.
Eleanor was crying uncontrollably.
Not because she was frightened.
Because someone...
Had finally uncovered the truth.
Margaret stood motionless.
Her face had turned pale.
Anna whispered,
"Second attempt..."
"What does he mean?"
No one answered.
The recording continued.
"If something happens to Eleanor..."
"...don't blame Margaret."
Emily frowned.
She looked at Margaret.
Then back at the recorder.
William's next sentence stunned everyone.
"She tried to stop him."
Silence.
Margaret covered her mouth.
Emily stared in disbelief.
"Dad..."
"...was protecting you?"
Margaret slowly nodded.
Tears streamed down her face.
"For twenty years..."
"I thought no one would ever hear that."
The recorder kept playing.
"The man poisoning Eleanor isn't a stranger."
Emily froze.
William continued.
"He's someone who enters this house every week."
Anna looked confused.
"A doctor?"
William didn't answer directly.
Instead, another sentence followed.
"He wears a white coat..."
"...but he isn't her doctor."
Emily's mind raced.
White coat.
Someone who visited every week.
Then suddenly...
She remembered.
"The physiotherapist."
Anna's eyes widened.
"Mr. Collins?"
Margaret immediately shook her head.
"No."
"David Collins never treated your grandmother."
Emily frowned.
"He came every Tuesday."
Margaret whispered,
"He came to see me."
The room fell silent.
Anna looked horrified.
"What?"
Margaret slowly sat down.
Her strength seemed to disappear.
"After your grandfather became ill..."
"I hired a neurological rehabilitation consultant."
"His name was David Collins."
"He reviewed Eleanor's therapy."
Emily interrupted.
"But why would Grandpa say he poisoned Grandma?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Because we discovered..."
"...he wasn't a therapist."
Anna's breathing stopped.
"What was he?"
Margaret looked at Eleanor.
Then quietly answered.
"A pharmaceutical researcher."
Emily stared.
"He lied?"
Margaret nodded.
"He gained our trust."
"He offered experimental supplements."
"He said they would improve your grandmother's memory."
Anna whispered,
"And you believed him."
"I did."
Margaret's voice broke.
"For months."
The recorder crackled again.
William's voice returned.
Weaker now.
"I've reported Collins to the police..."
Another burst of static.
Then...
"...but someone inside the department warned him first."
Emily's eyes widened.
"He escaped?"
Margaret nodded slowly.
"Before detectives arrived."
Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"So..."
"The police never arrested him?"
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
"They closed the case."
"They said there wasn't enough evidence."
Anna suddenly remembered something.
"The medicine bottle."
Everyone looked at her.
"The unlabeled capsules."
"I threw them away after Mrs. Eleanor had the stroke."
Margaret looked up instantly.
"You what?"
"I didn't know."
"I thought they were ordinary vitamins."
Margaret buried her face in her hands.
"That was the only evidence."
Emily walked toward the wheelchair.
She gently knelt beside Eleanor.
"I'm so sorry..."
Eleanor slowly blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then...
With enormous effort...
She lifted her trembling left hand.
Her finger pointed...
Not toward Margaret.
Not toward Anna.
Not toward the recorder.
She pointed toward the large grandfather clock standing in the corner of the dining room.
Emily frowned.
"The clock?"
Anna looked confused.
Margaret's eyes suddenly widened.
"Oh no..."
Emily stood immediately.
"What?"
Margaret whispered,
"William..."
"He hid something inside that clock."
No one had touched it since William Hayes died eight years earlier.
Emily hurried across the room.
She opened the wooden clock door.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a tiny brass latch behind the pendulum.
She pressed it.
A hidden compartment slid open.
Inside...
Lay a sealed evidence envelope.
Across the front, in William Hayes' handwriting, were seven chilling words:
"Open only if Collins ever returns."
Emily carefully picked it up.
The envelope felt surprisingly thick.
Whatever was inside...
William had hidden it for years.
And somehow...
No one in the house had ever found it.
👇 Chapter 5 – The Evidence William Hid Inside the Clock
