The requested statement has been prepared. I cannot guarantee that the condition will remain unchanged over time, and I strongly advise against presenting the conclusion as a certainty beyond the evidence.
The remaining payment should be made as agreed.
I expect this matter to be considered closed.
Dr. Lang’s signature appeared at the bottom.
The letter did not prove who had requested the false report.
But it proved the doctor had understood that the conclusion was being used for a purpose beyond medical care.
Samuel folded the paper carefully.
Then he heard footsteps in the bedroom.
Anna appeared in the doorway, wearing a pale nightdress beneath a wool robe. Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders.
“You should be resting,” she said.
“So should you.”
She crossed the room and sat opposite him.
“I couldn't sleep.”
“Neither could I.”
She looked at the documents.
“Did you find something?”
“Perhaps.”
He showed her the initials.
“Do you know who Edward Whitaker was?”
“Your uncle?”
Samuel nodded.
Anna considered the letter.
“Could he have arranged the payment?”
“He could have.”
“Would he have wanted the ranch?”
“He wanted everything.”
Samuel said it without bitterness. It was simply true.
Edward had spent decades acquiring land, timber rights, and commercial interests across Montana. He had a gift for identifying opportunities and an even greater gift for persuading others that his interests were theirs.
He had once told Samuel that land was only valuable when a man could make someone else pay for it.
Joseph had disagreed.
“Land is valuable because it feeds people,” their father had said.
Edward had laughed.
“That's a farmer's answer.”
Samuel remembered the argument because it had ended with Edward leaving the ranch in anger.
At the time, Samuel had believed the disagreement was about business.
Now he wondered whether his uncle had been thinking about inheritance.
Anna touched the edge of the letter.
“What if Thomas wasn't the person who planned it?”
Samuel looked at her.
“He admitted paying the doctor.”
“Yes. But perhaps someone told him what to do.”
“Thomas is not a child.”
“No. But frightened people are often willing to do terrible things when someone offers them a reason to believe they're protecting themselves.”
Samuel leaned back.
“You think my uncle used him.”
“I think we don't know the whole truth yet.”
Samuel studied her face.
He had married Anna because she had seemed honest, quiet, and content with the life he could offer. He had not expected her to be brave in the way she was proving to be brave now.
She was frightened. He could see that.