Chapter 9 - The Witness They Tried to Erase
Judge Evelyn Mercer arrived just after noon.
She was seventy-one, with sharp blue eyes and a posture that made everyone in the room straighten instinctively.
She did not bow to Alexander.
Instead, she examined his bruised face.
“Your father warned me this day might come.”
Alexander stood.
“You knew him?”
“I knew the man he was trying to become.”
She looked toward Isabelle.
“And I owe you an apology.”
Isabelle frowned.
“For what?”
“I was the judge assigned to review the first challenge to your confinement.”
The room fell silent.
Alexander stepped forward.
“You reviewed her case?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you release her?”
Evelyn looked at Isabelle.
“Because the documents presented to me stated that you had voluntarily entered protective custody.”
Isabelle shook her head.
“I never signed anything.”
“I know that now.”
Evelyn opened a folder.
“Your signature was forged.”
Alexander stared.
“Again?”
The judge nodded.
“Harrow built his operation on documents that appeared lawful.”
“Who challenged the confinement?”
“A junior physician.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Dr. Michael Reed.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Do you know him?”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“He was my colleague.”
“What happened to him?” Alexander asked.
Sarah looked away.
“He died.”
Evelyn corrected her.
“He disappeared.”
Sarah looked up sharply.
“What?”
The judge opened another file.
“Michael Reed submitted evidence that Blackthorn was administering medication without informed consent.”
“Three days later, his car was found abandoned.”
Alexander felt sick.
Another disappearance.
Another manufactured silence.
Isabelle gripped the edge of her chair.
“Michael tried to help me.”
Alexander turned.
“You knew him?”
She nodded.
“He was kind.”
“Did he know about Henry?”
“Yes.”
“He helped me hide letters.”
The room was silent.
Then Eleanor Reed's name seemed to hang between them.
Alexander looked toward Gabriel.
“Eleanor.”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“Michael Reed was her father.”
Alexander stared.
The maid who interrupted his wedding.
The girl who risked her life to expose the truth.
Her father had disappeared trying to save Isabelle.
“Where is Eleanor?” Alexander asked.
Gabriel looked troubled.
“We haven't located her.”
“Then we need to.”
Evelyn closed the folder.
“Before anything else, I need you to understand the legal situation.”
Alexander sat down.
“Go on.”
“The Blackthorn files may be sufficient to establish unlawful confinement and financial fraud.”
“And the king's death?”
“We have evidence suggesting a criminal conspiracy, but not yet proof of who administered the fatal medication.”
Alexander nodded.
“What about my mother's role?”
Evelyn took a breath.
“Her signature appears on the initial confinement order.”
“That makes her responsible.”
“For what she knowingly authorized, yes.”
Alexander frowned.
“But not necessarily for every crime that followed.”
He stared at the judge.
“She let Isabelle remain there for eleven years.”
“Then we need to establish what she knew and when.”
Alexander looked away.
He hated the distinction.
But Evelyn was right.
Anger was not proof.
And if he wanted his family protected, he needed more than righteous fury.
Evelyn continued.
“We also have a constitutional problem.”
“Harrow's attempt to remove me?”
“Yes.”
“The regency petition is already being drafted.”
Alexander stared.
“Can we stop it?”
“Only by presenting evidence directly to Parliament's Constitutional Committee.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Gabriel looked up.
“That's too soon.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Which is precisely why Harrow chose it.”
Alexander leaned forward.
“Then we present what we have.”
“Not enough.”
“Why?”
“Because Harrow will argue that you're emotionally compromised.”
Alexander looked toward Isabelle.
She lowered her eyes.
He reached for her hand.
“Then let him.”
Evelyn studied him.
“Your Highness, if you want the truth to survive scrutiny, you must let the witnesses speak for themselves.”
Alexander nodded slowly.
“Then we find Eleanor.”
Gabriel's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then stood.
“We may have a problem.”
Alexander turned.
“What?”
“A body has been found near the eastern riverbank.”
Isabelle went pale.
“Eleanor?”
“We don't know.”
Gabriel continued listening.
Then he closed his eyes.
“It's a young woman.”
Alexander stood abruptly.
“I'm going.”
Evelyn caught his arm.
“Not without protection.”
He looked at her.
“I've already lost eleven years.”
His voice hardened.
“I'm not losing another person because we spent too long discussing protocol.”
They traveled to the river under the protection of officers personally trusted by Evelyn.
A forensic team was working near an abandoned pumping station.
Alexander approached the medical examiner.
“Has she been identified?”
The examiner looked startled.
“Your Highness—”
“Please.”
He was led toward the covered body.
His stomach tightened.
Then the examiner lifted the sheet.
Alexander stopped.
The woman was not Eleanor.
Relief struck him so sharply that he felt ashamed.
Somebody was dead.
Somebody mattered to another family.
He looked at the young woman's face.
“Who is she?”
Gabriel studied the identification card recovered from her coat.
“Clara Mason.”
Sarah stiffened.
Alexander turned.
“You know her?”
Sarah nodded.
“She worked at Blackthorn.”
“What did she do?”
“Records management.”
Gabriel checked the belongings.
A phone.
An identification badge.
A small paper notebook.
The notebook contained only one legible entry.
REED — LOWER ARCHIVE — 6:40.
Alexander looked toward Gabriel.
“Eleanor was going to the archive.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Possibly.”
Then the medical examiner approached.
“Your Highness, there's another detail.”
Alexander turned.
The examiner held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a thin silver chain repaired with copper wire.
Alexander's blood ran cold.
It matched Isabelle's necklace.
But the locket attached to it was different.
A small rectangular pendant.
Inside was a photograph of a girl.
Eleanor.
And beside her stood a man.
Dr. Michael Reed.
Gabriel stared.
“If Clara had this, she may have been carrying something for Eleanor.”
Alexander looked toward the pumping station.
“Can we search the building?”
The examiner nodded.
Inside, the investigators found an overturned chair, a broken phone charger, and a torn page bearing Blackthorn's medical seal.
On the wall, someone had written three words in black marker.
SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING.
Alexander stared.
Then Gabriel's phone vibrated.
A video message arrived.
Eleanor appeared on the screen.
She was seated in a dark room.
Her face was bruised.
Her wrists were restrained.
But she was alive.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Your Highness.”
Alexander leaned forward.
“Eleanor.”
She swallowed.
“If you're watching this, don't come for me.”
His jaw tightened.
“Where are you?”
She shook her head.
“Please listen.”
A sound came from behind the camera.
Eleanor flinched.
Then she spoke quickly.
“The original evidence isn't at Blackthorn anymore.”
“Where is it?”
Eleanor began crying.
“My father hid it somewhere only the king could reach.”
Alexander frowned.
“Where?”
She looked toward someone offscreen.
Then whispered five words.
May you like
“Under the throne room floor.”
The video ended.
Related Stories
