Chapter 3 - Nora’s SilenceNora woke to the smell of antiseptic and the beep of a monitor.
Her body felt distant, as though it belonged to someone else. Her wrist throbbed beneath a splint. Her throat burned. When she tried to move, pain flashed through her ribs.
A nurse appeared beside her. “Mrs. Walsh, you’re safe. You’re at Mercy General.”
Safe.
The word almost made Nora laugh.
Instead, she turned her face toward the window and cried without making a sound.
A doctor came. Then a detective. Then a social worker named Karen who spoke gently and did not ask why Nora had stayed with a man who could lock her outside in November.
That helped.
Pity would have destroyed her.
When Detective Madsen asked what happened, Nora closed her eyes.
“I don’t remember falling,” she whispered.
“Do you remember anyone coming into the apartment?”
Nora’s fingers curled around the hospital blanket.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Nora swallowed.
“Gwen.”
Detective Madsen leaned closer. “Liam’s sister?”
Nora nodded.
“She had a key. Liam gave her one months ago. She came in after he fell asleep.”
“Why?”
“She wanted the folder.”
“What folder?”
“The one that proves she’s been stealing from him.”
The detective’s pen paused.
Nora’s lips trembled, but her voice steadied.
“Gwen and her husband have been using Liam for years. Credit cards. Loans. His mother’s pension. His father’s old insurance policy. Liam thought Gwen was helping the family. She was bleeding it.”
Detective Madsen watched her carefully.
“The eight thousand dollars?”
“It wasn’t his money. Not really. I took extra shifts. I sold my grandmother’s earrings. I sent money to an attorney and a forensic accountant because Gwen would never let Liam believe me without proof.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
Nora looked at her bandaged wrist.
“Because every time I said anything about Gwen, he looked at me like I was insulting his mother.”
The room went quiet.
“And last night?”
Nora’s breathing hitched.
“Gwen came in wet. She must have parked far away. She told me Liam would never choose me. She told me the transfers made me look guilty and that if I didn’t give her the folder, she’d make sure I ended up arrested.”
“Did she threaten you physically?”
Nora’s eyes filled again.
“She opened the balcony door. She said, ‘You want out so badly? Then go.’ I tried to move past her. She grabbed my wrist.”
Nora stopped.
The detective did not push.
After a moment, Nora whispered, “I remember the railing. My hand on it. Her face. Then nothing.”
Detective Madsen wrote it all down.
“Where is the folder now?”
Nora turned her face away.
“If I tell you, will Liam get it?”
“No.”
“Will Gwen?”
“No.”
Nora looked back at her.
“It’s not in the apartment.”
“Where is it?”
“With Mrs. Alvarez downstairs. I gave it to her two days ago because I was scared.”
Detective Madsen nodded.
That was when Nora finally asked the question she had been avoiding.
“Is Liam here?”
“Yes.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“Tell him I don’t want to see him.”
The detective hesitated.
“He’s asking about you.”
“He should have asked last night.”
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No one in the room argued.
Because there was nothing to argue with.
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