Chapter 18 - Samuel’s Last Hour
The bottle opened a door the Coles had spent four years trying to keep closed.
Lab testing showed the pills carried a dangerously wrong dosage. Old hospital files also showed that Dr. Marcus Venn had altered Samuel Bennett’s chart after his death.
When police found Venn trying to leave the country, he started talking.
He admitted falsifying records for Vale. He denied switching the pills. But he gave investigators access to a Graystone server containing a hidden camera recording from Samuel’s office.
Claire watched the final hour of her father’s life.
At 5:19 p.m., Vivian entered and left a pharmacy bag on Samuel’s desk.
At 5:47, another man entered.
Claire stopped breathing.
George Cole. Ethan’s father.
The man everyone believed had died six months earlier.
On the recording, George waited while Samuel compared two prescription bottles. They argued. Samuel reached for the phone, collapsed, and George calmly exchanged one bottle for the other before leaving.
“He was alive,” Claire whispered.
Nolan nodded. “And we just got a passport hit.”
“Where?”
“Boston. This morning.”
May you like
Claire looked back at the frozen image of George Cole walking out of her father’s office.
Then Nolan added, “He was preparing to leave on a private boat.”
