Chapter 4 - TWO DOCTORSDaniel Cross arrived at 7:15.
He had represented Everett through acquisitions, lawsuits, board fights, and the sale of his first company.
He had never seen Everett’s family sitting so quietly.
Cross took the blue folder.
Read.
Then asked everyone except Everett to leave the study.
Lorraine objected.
Cross did not care.
When the door closed, he looked at Everett.
“Do you want the gentle version?”
“No.”
“Someone has done serious homework.”
Everett leaned back.
“How serious?”
“The trust does allow successor control after written findings from two independent physicians.”
“I know.”
“And your wife becomes acting trustee first.”
“I know.”
“Preston second.”
“I know.”
Cross tapped the folder.
“This draft goes further.”
Everett frowned.
“How?”
“It seeks emergency authority based on financial risk.”
“What financial risk?”
“You.”
Everett laughed.
Cross did not.
“The petition alleges you are planning to liquidate trust assets impulsively.”
“I’m not.”
“I know.”
“It says you intend to transfer controlling shares of Holloway Medical Systems to a third party without consulting family.”
Everett’s expression changed.
That was not entirely false.
He had been considering a sale of twelve percent to an institutional investor.
Confidentially.
Only three people knew.
Cross.
Everett.
And Lorraine.
He looked at Daniel.
“You didn’t tell anyone.”
“No.”
“Then how did this get here?”
Cross stared back.
“Good question.”
Everett’s suspicion returned to Lorraine.
Cross continued.
“There’s more. The draft says your judgment may be compromised by medication.”
Everett’s eyes narrowed.
His knee surgery six months earlier had left him using a cane.
He had taken prescription pain medication briefly.
No longer.
“They’re using the surgery?”
“Yes.”
Everett stood.
“Someone wants me to look confused.”
Cross watched him.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because if I’m not confused, two doctors won’t sign anything.”
The two men became quiet.
Then Everett walked toward his medication cabinet.
Blood pressure.
Cholesterol.
Anti-inflammatory medication.
Vitamin D.
All ordinary.
He removed the weekly pill organizer Lorraine often filled.
Cross noticed.
“Who handles those?”
“Sometimes me.”
“Sometimes?”
“Lorraine.”
Everett stared at the compartments.
“Sometimes Celia when she stays here.”
Cross called Dr. Weller back into the study.
“Could medication make an otherwise healthy seventy-two-year-old appear cognitively impaired?”
Weller answered carefully.
“Many medications can cause sedation or confusion.”
“Painkillers?”
“Yes.”
“Sleep medication?”
“Yes.”
“Some antihistamines, anti-anxiety medications, muscle relaxants…”
Everett looked down at the pill organizer.
“Can you identify everything in here?”
“Not visually with certainty.”
They bagged the pills.
Weller recommended laboratory testing.
Lorraine entered when she saw what they were doing.
“What is this?”
Everett looked at her.
“When did you fill these?”
“Sunday.”
“Did anyone touch them afterward?”
“How would I know?”
“You live here.”
“So do you.”
Preston entered behind her.
Celia remained in the hallway.
Everett asked:
“Who has access to my medication?”
Lorraine looked offended.
“Anyone in this house.”
“Exactly.”
Cross arranged for an independent lab.
Then they checked the second doctor.
Mason, Kline & Roth had scheduled a consultation with Dr. Evelyn Shaw, a geriatric psychiatrist, for the following morning.
Everett had supposedly agreed.
He had not.
Cross called her office.
They canceled.
Then he asked who completed the intake.
Another fake family email.
This time from:
Preston denied owning it.
Everett believed him less than Lorraine.
Cross said:
“This may be someone impersonating multiple family members.”
Celia finally spoke from the doorway.
“Or someone with access to all of us.”
Everyone turned.
She looked frightened.
“Someone who knows our schedules.”
Everett asked:
“Who?”
Celia shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Onyx suddenly made a telephone ringing sound.
Then, in a voice eerily similar to Lorraine’s cadence:
“After the cake.”
Lorraine froze.
The parrot repeated:
“After the cake, call the doctor.”
Preston stared at his mother.
Celia covered her mouth.
Lorraine whispered:
“That isn’t me.”
Everett did not answer.
Onyx had mimicked voices before.
Not perfectly.
But close enough to unsettle everyone.
Then the bird added:
“Make him tired first.”
No one spoke.
Everett looked down at the pill organizer.
The party.
The doctor.
The cake.
Make him tired first.
He did not feel afraid until that moment.
Not of losing money.
Of eating or swallowing something inside his own home without knowing who had prepared it.
He turned toward Daniel Cross.
“Nobody leaves.”
Preston frowned.
“What?”
Everett looked at all three family members.
“Until I know what is happening, nobody leaves this house with a document, phone, computer, or medication bottle.”
Lorraine’s expression hardened.
“You cannot hold us prisoner.”
“No.”
Everett nodded.
“You’re free to leave.”
Then he pointed toward the front door.
“But if you do, my lawyers will assume you prefer answering questions somewhere else.”
Nobody moved.
Onyx clicked his beak.
“After the cake.”
Everett looked at the untouched cake on the table.
May you like
Then quietly said:
“Throw it away.”
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