Chapter 5 - THE AUTOPSY THAT NEVER HAPPENED
Gus found the original hospital file.
The refusal form was there.
But the signature was different.
Not Dela's.
A forensic examiner confirmed it within hours.
Someone had forged her name.
Dela stared at the report.
"Who had access to my identification?"
Gus answered immediately.
"The person who checked you into the hospital."
She looked up.
"Paul."
Gus nodded.
Paul had arrived at the hospital before Dela.
He had told staff he was Elias's brother.
He had claimed Dela was too distraught to make decisions.
Then he had refused the autopsy.
Dela's knees weakened.
Gus caught her arm.
"Easy."
She pulled away.
"Don't."
He immediately released her.
That mattered.
He didn't insist.
Didn't use his strength to keep her close.
Dela noticed.
"I need to know how Elias died."
"We'll find out."
"No."
She looked directly at him.
"I'll find out."
Gus studied her.
Then nodded.
"Okay."
It was the first time someone powerful had responded to her independence by respecting it.
They opened a new investigation.
The medical examiner reviewed the original records.
A small discrepancy emerged.
Elias had suffered a fracture to his left wrist.
The crash report had listed no defensive injuries.
Then they found something worse.
A sedative.
A trace amount in his blood.
Not enough to kill him.
Enough to impair his reaction time.
Enough to make the crash far more likely.
Elias had not simply lost control.
May you like
Someone had helped him lose control.
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