Chapter 10 - WHAT HAPPENED TO EMILY
Richard needed an answer about Emily that medicine could not give him.
He eventually accepted that.
The old records were reviewed by specialists.
The conclusion was carefully written.
Several episodes in Emily’s history were concerning for possible caregiver-induced illness, particularly unexplained medication exposure and symptoms that clustered around Martha’s care.
However, evidence was insufficient to determine whether Martha caused the infection that ultimately killed Emily or whether intentional actions contributed materially to her death.
Possible.
Concerning.
Unproven.
Richard hated those words.
Then he realized they protected Emily too.
Her story did not need to be rewritten into something investigators could not establish.
He could grieve what he knew.
Question what he did not.
And still protect Leo based on present evidence.
He visited Emily’s grave with Leo.
Leo knew only that Emily had been his sister and died before he was born.
He placed a small plastic dinosaur beside the headstone.
“Do you think she would like dinosaurs?”
Richard laughed.
“She liked horses.”
“Dinosaurs are better.”
“Probably.”
They went home.
No ghost.
No secret note.
No final revelation from Emily.
May you like
Some questions remain unanswered because evidence has limits.
The central conflict involving Leo did not.
