Simon Crest Returns
Chapter 11 - Simon Crest Returns
Simon Crest was arrested at a private airstrip using a false passport.
He carried two million dollars in cash and a medical bag containing the same paralytic drug used on Victor.
Under interrogation, Simon blamed Vivian.
“She designed the plan.”
“You declared him dead,” Detective Brooks said.
“She threatened to expose my earlier work at Evermore.”
Simon had falsified death certificates for years. Vivian discovered the scheme while investigating a disputed estate and used the knowledge to control him.
That made him vulnerable.
It did not make him innocent.
Simon agreed to demonstrate how the drug combination created a false death presentation. Independent specialists verified the mechanism without repeating dangerous dosage details publicly.
He also revealed a backup plan.
If Victor showed signs of waking before burial, the coffin would be transferred for immediate cremation due to an invented infectious risk.
Vivian changed to burial only because the foundation wanted a televised graveside ceremony.
Her desire for public sympathy gave Leo time to intervene.
The irony spread through newspapers.
The performance designed to strengthen Vivian’s authority produced hundreds of witnesses when the coffin knocked.
Simon provided account passwords and records related to the earlier Evermore deaths.
Prosecutors offered no complete immunity.
He faced murder-related charges in those cases and attempted murder in Victor’s.
Victor watched the arrest footage from rehabilitation.
“Was he my friend?” Leo asked.
“He was my doctor.”
“Is that different?”
“It should not have been.”
Victor had confused professional prestige with trustworthiness.
The lesson would shape every medical-governance reform that followed.
Simon’s arrest revealed another weakness in the medical network.
High-status physicians moved between private hospitals with limited sharing of disciplinary concerns. Earlier complaints about unusual sedation practices remained sealed inside confidential settlements.
Ward Seven funded a national database allowing verified safety findings to follow doctors while protecting unproven allegations.
Patient advocates held seats on the oversight board.
Victor insisted his own name be included in the review because he had repeatedly selected Simon for private care.
“I recommended him to other families.”
No investigation found Victor knew of Simon’s crimes.
The disclosure still mattered.
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Prestige spreads trust faster than evidence.
Doctors and executives needed responsibility for how they lent credibility, even when they did not intend harm.
