I Gave Him Half My Liver, Then He Sold My Father's House novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: The Date That Cannot Exist

The discharge summary lands beside the codicil before Daphne can explain either page.

I put my gloved hand over the corner of the codicil and keep it there. The paper claims my father signed it on 14 March. The hospital record places him at St Anne's that day, recovering from surgery and an infection.

Daphne stops behind the visitor's chair. Her leather folder hangs from one hand, its brass clasp still open.

'You might have allowed me to explain the document, Nell.'

'I allowed you to put it in front of me.'

Cormac reaches for the file. His sleeve brushes mine, then he leaves the papers where I placed them.

Elena closes the office door and returns to her desk. Her flask sits beside the keyboard. The smell of coffee reaches us before she does.

Daphne removes her gloves finger by finger. She has always made delay look like courtesy.

My coat presses against the healing scar beneath my ribs. The skin still pulls when I twist. I keep my hand on the page anyway.

I had read Daphne's letter before she came upstairs. It said my father discussed transferring the house after my marriage. It never said he did it.

Now the letter and declaration sit together. One suggests intention. The other supplies a date.

'Your letter said he discussed a transfer after my marriage,' I say.

'It recorded a conversation.'

'Your declaration says he signed a codicil on 14 March.'

Her gaze moves to the discharge summary. 'You decided what the papers mean before hearing me.'

'I read the dates before inviting you here.'

My father entered St Anne's on 9 March. The summary records the operation, the infection, and his discharge. He was not at home on the date beneath his signature.

Daphne turns towards Cormac.

'Perhaps Mr Deane would prefer to review the papers before we draw conclusions.'

'Clever,' Elena says. 'You brought the person least able to make this disappear.'

Daphne gives her a mild look. 'I am sure you intend that as a joke.'

'It was a professional observation.'

Cormac lifts the declaration by its upper corner.

'Who prepared this?'

'The codicil was executed in accordance with your father's instructions.'

'That was not my question.'

Her eyes narrow. 'You have the declaration. Read it.'

'I am asking who drafted the text, copied it from another document, or received it already completed.'

'You seem suddenly concerned with authorship.'

'I am concerned with whether the statement can be relied upon.'

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