Arthur sighed, looking down at his hands.

The man in the dark suit opened the manila folder and slid a document across the polished wood toward me.

“Dr. Morgan,” the man said. “My name is Thomas Vance, legal counsel for the hospital.”

“We have received a notification regarding a police investigation involving you,” the lawyer said.

I looked at the document. It was a copy of the police report filed by Aunt Patricia.

“This is a private family matter,” I said. “And I am the victim of an assault.”

“The report names you as the primary aggressor, Dr. Morgan,” the lawyer said. “And the allegations involve physical violence.”

“It is a lie,” I said, my voice steady but firm. “My aunt attacked me in my home. I have the injuries to prove it.”

“Be that as it may,” Richard Sterling said, his voice cold. “The hospital cannot afford this kind of publicity.”

“We are in the middle of a major fundraising campaign,” Sterling continued. “A Chief of Medicine accused of domestic battery is not something we can overlook.”

“So what are you saying?” I asked, looking from Sterling to Arthur.