The Night Emily Called
Chapter 03 - The Night Emily Called
Jonathan listened to the recording three times.
Emily's voice was weak but clear.
She explained that two weeks before her death, she had confronted Michael about money missing from accounts established for Lily and Noah.
Nearly eighty thousand dollars was gone.
Michael claimed he had invested it.
Emily discovered otherwise.
Gambling debts.
Loans.
Credit cards opened in her name.
When she threatened to report him, he became furious.
Emily never described physical violence.
What she described was almost worse.
Threats.
Manipulation.
Isolation.
Michael told her that if she left him, he would take the children.
He said nobody would believe a woman who had recently been hospitalized for anxiety.
Then Emily revealed something Jonathan had never known.
Her illness had started months earlier.
Persistent fatigue.
Dizziness.
Heart problems doctors initially struggled to explain.
Michael told everyone Emily was emotionally unstable.
But Emily believed something else was happening.
"I found medication in his bathroom bag," she said on the recording.
"I don't know why he has it."
Jonathan sat frozen.
The medication was not illegal.
But it was not prescribed to Michael.
And according to Emily, she had discovered traces of the same drug in supplements Michael insisted she take.
Jonathan immediately stopped the recording.
He called the police.
The detective who arrived two hours later listened carefully.
"This doesn't prove he caused her death."
"I know."
"But it gives us a reason to look."
Jonathan nodded.
Before leaving, the detective asked one question.
"Why didn't your daughter tell you sooner?"
Jonathan looked toward the staircase where his grandchildren slept.
"Because she thought protecting us meant handling everything alone."
The detective left.
Jonathan remained at the kitchen table until sunrise.
At seven in the morning, someone knocked at the door.
Michael stood outside.
May you like
Alone.
And somehow, he already knew about the phone.
