Chapter 10 - Dr. Vance Breaks
Howard Vance refused Daniel’s calls.
Then Samantha contacted him formally through counsel.
His attorney responded within hours.
Vance wanted immunity discussions before he said anything.
That told Daniel more than silence ever could.
State investigators took over.
The financial case expanded.
Bank records confirmed Margaret had transferred nearly $4.8 million through MRC and related entities over seven years.
Claire had been used as the nominal owner.
But the electronic trail pointed back to Margaret.
Vance had received $310,000.
The question was why.
Three weeks later, Daniel sat in a conference room while investigators summarized Vance’s proffer.
He was not allowed to hear every detail.
But he heard enough.
Vance had gambling debts.
Margaret knew.
She loaned him money.
Then she started asking favors.
At first they were harmless.
Expedited appointments.
Private records.
Information about Daniel and Rachel’s health.
Then Rachel started investigating MRC.
Margaret panicked.
She asked Vance to convince Rachel that stress was causing her symptoms.
Vance did.
Later, Margaret asked him to change one of Rachel’s medications.
Daniel’s hands clenched.
“Why?”
The investigator answered carefully.
“Vance claims Margaret told him Rachel was refusing treatment and needed a medication adjustment.”
“Did he believe her?”
“Initially, he says yes.”
Daniel looked away.
The investigator continued.
“But the dosage he prescribed was outside what another specialist later described as appropriate for Rachel’s condition.”
Daniel could barely speak.
“Did it kill her?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Rachel had been cremated.
At Margaret’s urging.
That made certainty harder.
But pharmacy records survived.
Hospital bloodwork survived.
And Rachel had worn a smartwatch that recorded heart-rate abnormalities in the days before her death.
Investigators obtained the archived health data.
A medical review began.
Vance admitted something else.
On the morning Rachel died, he received a call from Margaret.
Rachel had threatened to report both of them.
Vance told Margaret to leave her alone and contact an attorney.
Instead, Margaret went to Rachel’s house.
Daniel remembered Claire’s email.
It fit.
“What happened there?”
The investigator looked at him.
“Vance says he doesn't know.”
That night, Daniel returned home and found Emma asleep beside the repaired teddy bear.
He had taken it to a seamstress.
The scar across its back remained visible.
He wanted it that way.
Rachel had hidden the key there knowing Margaret would search papers first.
She had trusted that Daniel would eventually give Emma the bear.
It had been one of several birthday gifts Rachel purchased before she died.
Daniel sat beside his daughter.
Then his phone rang.
Samantha.
“Daniel, investigators recovered something from Rachel’s old cloud account.”
“What?”
“A deleted audio file.”
His heart stopped.
May you like
“From when?”
“The morning she died.”
