Chapter 6 - The Paper Trail
CEO Pendelton slammed his hand onto the table, his face dark with rage. "Is this true, Dr. Miller?"
"I—I can explain!" Chad stammered, pulling at his collar as if he were choking. "It was a research grant! Apex Pharma gave us research funds!"
"Research funds don't get deposited into a private trust in the Cayman Islands registered under Nadine Miller," Marcus Vance, our attorney, spoke up from the legal table. "Nor do they cover the $45,000 lease payments on your Porsche, Dr. Miller."
Marcus slid two thick folders across the table to the District Attorney’s representative, who was sitting quietly in the back row.
"Furthermore," Marcus added, turning to look at Nadine, "we have submitted evidence showing that Mrs. Nadine Miller actively used these illicit funds to pay off local journalists to suppress stories regarding Dr. Miller’s medical negligence during a 2024 spinal surgery."
Chad fell back into his leather chair, staring at the ceiling as if his world were caving in around him.
Nadine grabbed her son’s arm, hysterically shaking him. "Chad! Say something! Tell them it isn't true!"
"It is true, Mrs. Miller," Elliot said, standing up and closing his folder with a heavy, final thud. "And as of 8:15 AM today, the Medical Board has voted unanimously to permanently revoke Dr. Chadwick Miller’s surgical license, terminate his employment at Saint Jude Memorial, and refer this file to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for criminal prosecution."
Two uniformed hospital security officers, accompanied by two state police investigators, stepped into the boardroom through the side doors.
The lead investigator walked directly to Chad, unholstering a pair of steel handcuffs.
"Chadwick Miller, you are under arrest for federal wire fraud, medical bribery, and illegal prescription distribution," the officer stated loudly.
As the steel cuffs clicked around Chad’s wrists, Nadine let out an ear-splitting shriek, collapsing onto the carpeted floor in front of the board members.
"Clara! Please!" Nadine screamed from the floor, crawling toward my chair, her manicured nails digging into the carpet. "Please stop them! I’ll apologize! I’ll go on news television and tell everyone I lied about you! Just don't let them take my son to prison!"
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I stood up, stepping around her outstretched, trembling hand.
"You spent five years telling this town that I was nothing without your son, Nadine," I said, looking down at her with calm, absolute detachment. "It turns out your son was nothing without the money he stole."
