Chapter 12 - The handwritten note
The line:
ETHAN CANNOT SEE THIS
was not written three years earlier.
Forensic examination suggested the ink was much newer.
That raised another question.
Why was Marlene carrying the hospital paper now?
Her attorney eventually explained.
Two months earlier, the hospital conducted an archival records review after a separate lawsuit involving missing scanned documents.
During that process, certain patient-advocacy pages were found outside the main electronic chart.
The hospital sent notice to Claire’s estate contact.
Who still received some forwarded correspondence?
Marlene.
Because an old mailing designation had never been updated.
She received a copy of the missing page.
She immediately understood what it threatened.
If I saw it:
The estate settlement could be revisited.
Her credibility would collapse.
Questions would begin.
So she wrote:
ETHAN CANNOT SEE THIS.
May you like
Then placed it in her purse because she planned to bring it to her attorney.
Lily found it first.
