Chapter 3 - THE PROXY GABRIEL SIGNED
Ellie had chosen Mara because Gabriel told her to find an employee in a public place—not because Mara had secret training or a connection to the Bells.
The store was the nearest open business. Mara was simply the adult who listened.
At the hospital, toxicology showed Gabriel had received more of his prescribed sedative than his care plan allowed. The syringe recovered beneath the bookcase contained a concentrated cardiac medication not listed among his home prescriptions. Administered through the IV, it could have worsened his already unstable rhythm.
Adrian said the syringe was an emergency drug provided by a private physician during a previous crisis. He claimed he had not injected it. That much was true.
He explained the restraints as fall protection. Gabriel had become confused and repeatedly tried to remove the IV. The guards said they saw Gabriel struggling but did not know whether confusion came before or after medication.
The healthcare proxy was authentic. Gabriel had signed it five years earlier, after his wife's death, naming Adrian because he was the only close adult relative Ellie knew.
Adrian's lawyer, Thomas Keene, attacked the recording. Massachusetts law imposed strict limits on secret audio recording. He argued Gabriel had concealed the device, Ellie lacked capacity to consent, and Mara entered private property without authorization.
The criminal judge allowed investigators to use the file as a lead while postponing a final ruling on which portions could be played at trial. The video images, cloud timestamps, and witness observations remained separately relevant.
Adrian then petitioned for temporary custody of Ellie. He described Mara as a stranger who had terrified a child during a medical emergency. He presented photographs of Gabriel's restraints approved for home care and a letter from a physician supporting palliative treatment.
Ellie told the child specialist that her father had been afraid of Uncle Adrian for two weeks. She also said Gabriel made her promise not to tell anyone about the phone.
That secret became Adrian's strongest attack.
“A responsible father does not turn a seven-year-old into an evidence courier,” Keene told the family court.
The judge agreed that Gabriel's choice had endangered Ellie. Adrian still did not receive custody while the poisoning inquiry remained open. Ellie stayed with a licensed family friend selected by the independent guardian.
Rebecca explained why Gabriel had waited.
The next morning, the board of Bell Meridian Systems was scheduled to vote on a $680 million sale to Northbridge Equity. Gabriel had recently discovered that Adrian would receive an undisclosed consulting package if the deal closed.
Gabriel had signed a temporary voting proxy giving Adrian authority if illness prevented him from attending.
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He had tried to revoke it the evening before the library incident.
The revocation existed only on the phone Adrian smashed.
