Chapter 5 - The Poison Was Already There
Anna’s statement was careful.
She did not claim to witness anyone poisoning Charles.
She described what she saw.
Charles was sweating before the argument began.
His hands shook.
He complained of nausea.
His speech briefly slurred.
Anna had medical training as a laboratory technician.
She believed his symptoms were inconsistent with the simple cardiac
event later described.
The original autopsy was limited.
Charles had known heart disease.
No toxicology panel was ordered.
Richard asked police to reopen the case.
No one promised a conclusion after eight years.
But archived blood samples still existed.
Testing began.
Meanwhile, Richard visited Anna.
Vanessa went with him.
Anna smiled weakly when she saw her sister.
“You finally told him.”
Vanessa cried.
“Not soon enough.”
Anna looked at Richard.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For letting you live inside a story we knew was incomplete.”
Richard appreciated the wording.
Not false innocence.
Not exaggerated guilt.
“What happened to my father?”
Anna’s expression changed.
“He was sick before we arrived.”
“Who was with him?”
“Evelyn.”
Richard felt cold.
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Anna continued.
“And his attorney.”
Richard frowned.
“Which attorney?”
“Jonathan Pierce.”
Richard knew him.
Jonathan had handled the Cole family’s legal affairs for thirty years.
He still chaired the foundation.
He had attended Richard’s wedding.
He was Emily’s godfather—Richard and Vanessa’s ten-year-old daughter.
Richard stood.
“Jonathan was there?”
“Yes.”
“Why isn’t that in the police report?”
“Because he left before the ambulance came.”
Richard called Evelyn.
She denied nothing.
“Yes. Jonathan was there.”
“Why did you never tell police?”
“Charles told me not to.”
“Dad was dying.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that like it fixes anything.”
Evelyn cried.
“It doesn’t.”
Jonathan had been discussing the blue box with Charles before Anna
arrived.
They argued about Thomas’s ownership records.
Evelyn left briefly to check on dinner.
When she returned, Jonathan was pouring Charles a drink.
Richard froze.
“What drink?”
“Bourbon.”
Charles drank it.
Twenty minutes later, Anna and Vanessa arrived.
Richard called Jonathan.
No answer.
His office said he had left for an international trip that morning.
Convenient.
Police contacted border authorities.
Jonathan had not boarded the flight.
His ticket existed.
His passport had not been scanned.
He was still in the country.
Then toxicology returned.
Charles’s archived blood contained a high concentration of digoxin.
A heart medication.
Charles had never been prescribed digoxin.
Richard stared at the report.
The drug could produce nausea, confusion, abnormal heart rhythms, and
death.
Someone had poisoned him.
The family had spent eight years calling it a natural heart attack.
Then investigators checked Evelyn’s current medications.
One bottle made Richard stop.
Digoxin.
Evelyn had been prescribed it two months earlier.
The prescribing physician’s signature was legitimate.
But the pharmacy records showed one refill picked up by an authorized
family representative.
Vanessa.
Richard slowly turned toward his wife.
She went pale.
“I picked up her medications.”
“Did you know what was in them?”
“No.”
“Who asked you to?”
May you like
Vanessa swallowed.
“Jonathan.”
