Chapter 6 - The Doctor in the Basement
Dr. Aaron Weller entered the basement at 9:17 p.m.
He wore jeans and a gray sweater.
Not a white coat.
Not a medical bag.
He closed the door behind him.
Megan sat at the desk.
She looked exhausted.
The camera had no perfect audio, but enough.
Weller said, “You need to stop fighting everyone.”
Megan answered, “I’m not taking anything else you prescribe.”
“You’re not sleeping.”
“Because my husband is threatening me.”
Weller sighed.
“Daniel is trying to stabilize the situation.”
“My marriage is not a patient.”
The video made Lena pause.
Then Weller placed a bottle on the desk.
Clonazepam.
Megan pushed it away.
“I said no.”
Weller leaned closer.
“You’re making people worry about Ethan.”
That sentence destroyed me.
Megan froze.
“What does that mean?”
“It means if this becomes a custody issue, your recent behavior will matter.”
“What behavior?”
“Anxiety. Paranoia. Refusal to comply with treatment.”
“I’m not paranoid.”
Weller glanced toward the locked door.
Then back at her.
“Take the medication.”
Megan whispered, “Get out.”
Weller did.
He left the bottle.
The video ended twenty minutes later when Megan turned off the basement light.
The next recording showed Daniel entering.
He picked up the bottle.
Looked toward the camera.
Then climbed onto a chair.
The image cut.
He had found the camera.
But not the memory card copy Megan already hid.
State investigators questioned Weller that morning.
He arrived with counsel.
He denied conspiring with Daniel.
He admitted prescribing Megan sedatives.
He admitted discussing her mental health with Daniel.
He insisted Megan consented.
The video said otherwise.
“What about the accidental-death ruling?” Marcus asked.
Weller maintained it was reasonable based on the scene.
“You were her doctor.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was taking sedatives.”
“Yes.”
“You knew her husband claimed she was unstable.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she had told you she felt threatened.”
Weller’s lawyer interrupted.
Then Marcus asked the question that changed the room.
“Why did you sign a cremation release before the family requested cremation?”
Weller stopped.
According to timestamps, his medical release clearing the body for cremation had been entered at 3:58 p.m.
Daniel filed the cremation authorization at 4:22.
Twenty-four minutes later.
Weller’s attorney asked for a break.
They did not return that day.
By afternoon, Weller had been suspended from his county role pending investigation.
Daniel issued a statement through counsel accusing me of exploiting Megan’s death to destroy his reputation.
I did not respond.
Ethan’s emergency custody hearing happened in a small courtroom with too much beige carpet.
Daniel sat across the aisle.
He looked at Ethan once.
Ethan looked at the floor.
The judge reviewed the audio, the active homicide investigation, and the child-protection report.
Daniel’s lawyer argued no charges had been filed.
Nia agreed.
Then she said, “This child is not a reward for the first adult who avoids indictment.”
The judge granted temporary kinship placement with me and my mother pending further review.
Daniel’s face went hard.
He leaned toward his lawyer.
Ethan grabbed my hand.
After court, reporters waited outside.
We left through a side entrance.
That evening, I received an anonymous email.
Subject: YOU ARE MAKING THIS WORSE.
The message contained one line.
Ask your sister why she stole $480,000 before you call Daniel a criminal.
Attached was a bank statement.
Megan’s name.
A transfer.
Four hundred eighty thousand dollars moved from Hart Mountain Development to an account only she controlled.
I stared at it.
If real, it could change everything.
Daniel had motive to be angry.
Megan might have been hiding financial crimes too.
I called Lena.
She said, “Do not assume it means what the sender wants.”
“But she moved the money.”
“Maybe.”
“What does that mean?”
“Look at the account date.”
I did.
Opened five days before Megan died.
Then Lena said, “We already subpoenaed it.”
“What did you find?”
“The account is not Megan’s.”
I frowned.
“Her name is on it.”
“Her identity is.”
The bank had opened it online.
Facial verification used.
Documents submitted.
But the recovery email belonged to someone else.
I asked, “Who?”
Lena hesitated.
“Judith Hart.”
Daniel’s mother.
— — —
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