Chapter 2 - Nobody Leaves
By the time the paramedics arrived, Nora had recovered her voice.
"This is ridiculous," she told the first officer through the open front door. "My stepdaughter has anxiety. She knocked over ordinary tea, and now my husband is turning it into a crime scene."
Ethan heard every word.
He also watched Nora inch toward the hallway.
"Stay where you are," he said.
She turned. "You don't get to order me around in my own home."
"Then don't make me ask the officer."
A hazmat technician collected the tea and broken porcelain while another officer photographed the stain on the marble. The guests were moved to the dining room and told to wait.
"Tell me what you saw," he said gently.
Her fingers worried the edge of the fabric.
"Nora was in the kitchen. She thought I was upstairs. She took a little bottle from her pocket."
"What did it look like?"
"Green glass. Black top."
"And then?"
"She put drops in your tea."
Ethan kept his face calm.
"Did you see anything else?"
Lily nodded.
"Uncle Grant was there."
The name hit harder than Ethan expected.
Grant Mercer was his younger brother and the chief financial officer of Mercer Systems. He had left the party twenty minutes before the tea was served.
"What was Uncle Grant doing?"
"He said, 'Not too much. He still has to look normal.'"
Ethan felt the room tilt.
Lily started crying again.
"I thought they were making medicine. Then Nora said if you got sick again, everybody would finally believe her."
"Believe what?"
"That you can't take care of me."
The library door opened.
Detective Mara Chen stepped inside.
"Mr. Mercer, we have a preliminary field result."
Nora appeared behind her, arms folded.
Mara looked from Nora to Ethan.
"Whatever was in that cup," the detective said, "it wasn't tea alone."
Then Nora's phone began ringing.
May you like
The screen lit up with one name.
GRANT.
