Chapter 8 - The Dead Crew List
Rebecca arrived at the apartment just after midnight.
She looked at the copies and whispered three names before she had to sit down.
“I knew them.”
Sergeant Moreno asked, “How?”
“All flight attendants.”
“Cause of death?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Cancer. Accident. One heart attack.”
Ethan looked at the dates.
All six had died within the previous four years.
Every page contained emergency contact forms, insurance details, next-of-kin information, and benefit estimates.
Natalie’s file was the seventh.
The eighth belonged to Rebecca.
Rebecca stared at it.
“Oh my God.”
Moreno sealed the folder as evidence.
“What did Mrs. Grant do for the airline?”
“She didn’t.”
Daniel Mercer, who had come after Rebecca called him, answered from the doorway.
“But she volunteered with the crew family assistance committee.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Three years ago.”
Daniel nodded.
“She helped organize paperwork after Maria Chen died.”
Ethan felt cold.
Allison had gained access through grief.
She had learned how airline insurance worked.
Which benefits paid quickly.
Which families were overwhelmed.
Which forms nobody examined closely because somebody had just died.
Natalie sat on speakerphone from the hospital.
“Allison helped Maria’s husband.”
Rebecca said, “We thought she did.”
Moreno asked whether any money had gone missing.
Daniel hesitated.
“There were rumors that one widow got less than expected.”
“Name?”
“Felicia Ward.”
Moreno wrote it down.
Ethan stared at Natalie’s photocopied life insurance page.
Half beneficiary: Allison Grant.
He wanted to believe his sister-in-law was greedy, manipulative, criminal.
He did not want to consider the darker possibility.
Had Allison believed Natalie would die soon because she wanted Natalie to die soon?
He said it anyway.
“Can you test whether anyone tampered with her medications?”
Silence.
Natalie spoke first.
“Ethan.”
Moreno looked at him.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because she convinced my wife she was terminal. She canceled real treatment. She tried to move her to a wellness clinic. She changed beneficiaries.”
Daniel swore under his breath.
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Moreno’s face became unreadable.
“I’ll contact the hospital.”
At 1:14 a.m., Dr. Shah called Ethan.
“We reviewed Natalie’s supplements.”
“What supplements?”
“She brought a bag of vitamins and herbal capsules. She said her sister gave them to her.”
Ethan looked at the detective.
“What’s in them?”
“We don’t know yet. Pharmacy is testing.”
“Could they interfere with treatment?”
“Some supplements can. I don’t want to speculate.”
Then Dr. Shah paused.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Natalie’s liver enzymes were abnormal tonight.”
“How abnormal?”
“Enough that if they were worse tomorrow, I might have postponed treatment.”
Ethan’s blood went cold.
“Postponed how long?”
“Until we understood the cause.”
Moreno raised a hand.
“Doctor, preserve everything she brought in.”
“I already have.”
Ethan walked to the window.
Below, police lights painted the wet street red and blue.
His anniversary surprise had become a criminal investigation.
His wife had cancer.
Her sister had lied about his marriage.
A former financial adviser was missing with her.
And somebody might have been giving Natalie something that could delay the treatment she desperately needed.
Then Moreno’s phone rang.
He listened without speaking.
When he hung up, he looked at Ethan.
“We found Nolan Pierce.”
“Where?”
Moreno’s eyes narrowed.
“Outside New Horizons Oncology.”
“Is Allison with him?”
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
Moreno picked up his coat.
“Nolan says she’s the one we should be afraid of.”
— — —
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