Chapter 6 - WHAT WAS IN THE CREAM
By sunrise, Nathan had not slept.
Jamie finally slept in a guarded hospital room.
Nora remained beside him.
Nathan sat across from Dr. Jonathan Vale in an interview room at the police station.
Vale looked twenty years older than he had the last time Nathan saw him.
His white hair was disordered.
His left cheek was bruised.
His wrists bore red marks from the restraints that had bound him to Simon Kessler’s chair.
Nathan felt no sympathy.
Not yet.
Vale looked at him.
“Nathan.”
“Don’t.”
Vale lowered his eyes.
Nathan placed copies of the medical records on the table.
“Did you write these?”
Vale did not answer.
Nathan pointed toward the page.
“Increased confusion.”
“No suspicion.”
“Subject attributes symptoms to grief.”
Nathan’s voice rose with each phrase.
“Did you write those words?”
Vale swallowed.
“Yes.”
Nathan stared.
There was something almost relieving about hearing the admission.
The uncertainty vanished.
The betrayal became real.
“You drugged me.”
Vale winced.
“I altered dosages.”
“Do not clean up the language.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“You drugged me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vale looked toward Inspector Bennett.
She sat against the far wall.
Nathan struck the table with his palm.
“Why?”
Vale flinched.
“Your mother asked me.”
Nathan laughed once.
“Of course.”
“She said you were unstable.”
“And you believed her?”
“At first.”
“What does that mean?”
“She told me you were drinking.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know.”
“She told me grief had made you reckless.”
“So you secretly changed medication?”
Vale looked ashamed.
“It began with mild sedatives.”
Nathan stared.
“You sound as though that makes it better.”
“It doesn’t.”
“No.”
“It doesn’t.”
Nathan leaned back.
“When did it become something else?”
Vale closed his eyes.
“After you announced you wanted an independent audit.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Mother wanted me confused during board meetings.”
“Yes.”
“She wanted people questioning my judgment.”
“Yes.”
“For money?”
Vale hesitated.
“Partly.”
Nathan looked at Bennett.
There was that word again.
Partly.
“What else?”
Vale rubbed his wrists.
“Control.”
“Of the company?”
“Of everything.”
Nathan’s laugh was bitter.
“She already controlled this family.”
“Not legally.”
Nathan stared at him.
Vale continued.
“Your father changed that.”
“The wills.”
Vale looked surprised.
“You know?”
“Simon called me.”
At the mention of Simon, Vale’s expression filled with fear.
Nathan saw it.
“What did Simon do to you?”
Vale looked away.
“He believes I was going to tell the police.”
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vale laughed weakly.
“Because tonight went wrong.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“My son stopped me from eating that pastry.”
Vale nodded.
Nathan leaned forward.
“What was inside?”
Vale looked toward Bennett.
She answered instead.
“The laboratory gave us a preliminary result.”
Nathan turned.
Already?
Bennett continued.
“The insect itself was not the primary danger.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then what was?”
“The cream.”
Nathan’s stomach dropped.
Bennett placed a report on the table.
“There were traces of a sedative compound and another substance that can cause severe cardiac distress in sufficient concentration.”
Nathan stared.
His first thought was Jamie.
“What if Jamie had eaten it?”
Vale spoke quietly.
“It wasn’t meant for Jamie.”
Nathan turned so quickly his chair scraped the floor.
“That is not an answer.”
“The amount was calculated for you.”
Nathan stood.
Bennett moved slightly, prepared to intervene.
Nathan pointed at Vale.
“You calculated it?”
Vale shook his head.
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“You are the doctor.”
“I provided something else.”
Nathan’s voice became dangerous.
“What did you provide?”
“A sedative.”
“For my food?”
“I thought they only wanted you incapacitated.”
“Who is they?”
Vale hesitated.
Nathan leaned over the table.
“My five-year-old son is afraid to sleep because he thinks his grandmother will come through the door.”
Vale looked down.
“My wife died after trying to expose something.”
Silence.
“My father died under your medical care.”
Vale’s face twitched.
Nathan saw it.
He slowly straightened.
“What happened to my father?”
Vale said nothing.
Nathan felt his pulse in his throat.
“What happened?”
Vale whispered.
“He was already ill.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
“That is not what I asked.”
“He had heart disease.”
“Did you cause his death?”
“No.”
“Did my mother?”
Vale looked terrified.
Bennett stepped forward.
“Dr. Vale, this is your opportunity to cooperate.”
Vale closed his eyes.
Nathan waited.
Finally the doctor spoke.
“Your father discovered the accounts.”
Nathan’s breathing slowed.
“What accounts?”
“Aster.”
Nathan stared.
“He confronted Eleanor.”
“When?”
“Three weeks before he died.”
“What happened?”
“They argued.”
“About money?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
Vale shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I was his doctor, not his accountant.”
“You were also my mother’s accomplice.”
Vale flinched.
Nathan continued.
“What happened the week he died?”
Vale looked toward the table.
“He changed his will.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“From the trust to me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he no longer trusted Eleanor.”
Nathan sat down slowly.
“Did she know?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Simon told her.”
Bennett interrupted.
“Simon Kessler?”
“Yes.”
Nathan felt rage.
Simon had just presented himself as the keeper of truth.
“He betrayed my father.”
Vale gave a hollow laugh.
“Simon betrays everyone.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“Then why did he call me?”
“Because he wants something.”
“What?”
Vale looked directly at Nathan.
“Control of Harcourt Global.”
Nathan stared.
“Simon is a lawyer.”
“He is also trustee to entities you do not know exist.”
Nathan’s mind raced.
Aster Holdings.
Family trusts.
Hidden accounts.
Vale continued.
“Your mother stole money.”
“Simon helped hide it.”
“Then he discovered he could make more money by controlling her.”
Nathan stared.
“This is blackmail.”
“For years.”
“Where does Adrian fit?”
Vale’s expression became complicated.
“Adrian found out.”
“When?”
“After Amelia.”
Nathan stopped.
The room seemed to narrow.
“After Amelia what?”
Vale closed his eyes.
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“Finish that sentence.”
“After Amelia discovered the transfers.”
Nathan felt sick.
“What happened to her?”
Vale looked toward Bennett.
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You know something.”
“She came to see me the morning she died.”
Nathan remembered Adrian’s words.
Ask Vale why your wife canceled her appointment.
“She did not cancel.”
Vale shook his head.
“No.”
“What did she want?”
“She wanted your medical records.”
Nathan’s heart thudded.
“Why?”
“She suspected someone was altering your medication.”
Nathan looked at the reports.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell her?”
“At first I denied it.”
“Of course you did.”
“She said she was going to the police.”
Nathan’s hands curled.
“And?”
“I panicked.”
“What did you do?”
“I called Eleanor.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“You told my mother.”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan stood again.
“You always stop at the part where someone dies.”
Vale’s eyes filled with tears.
“I swear to you.”
Nathan slammed both hands on the table.
“My wife drove off the road that night!”
“I did not touch her car!”
“Did Mother?”
“I don’t know!”
“Did Simon?”
“I don’t know!”
“Did Adrian?”
“I DON’T KNOW!”
Silence followed.
Jamie had seen them arguing.
Mother.
Adrian.
Simon’s investigator.
“Mommy should have stayed quiet.”
“You promised nobody would get hurt.”
Nathan replayed Jamie’s memory.
He looked at Vale.
“Why did Adrian say nobody was supposed to get hurt?”
Vale stared.
“You heard that?”
“Jamie did.”
The doctor’s face drained of color.
“What?”
“My son remembers a conversation.”
Vale leaned back.
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
“The blue room.”
Vale whispered something.
Nathan leaned closer.
“What?”
“He wasn’t supposed to see that room.”
Nathan’s anger returned.
“You knew about it.”
Vale closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“What were the insects for?”
Vale shook his head.
“They were Eleanor’s idea.”
“What kind are they?”
“Blister beetles.”
Nathan stared.
Vale continued quickly.
“She read about historical poisonings.”
Bennett’s expression hardened.
“She ordered them online?”
“Through a collector.”
Nathan felt nauseated.
“But the live insect was not supposed to kill you?”
“No.”
“Then why hide it in the pastry?”
“To create a visible explanation.”
Nathan frowned.
“For what?”
Vale looked at him.
“For whatever happened after you ate the cream.”
Nathan went cold.
The insect was a cover story.
If Nathan became violently ill after eating dessert, everyone would see the strange beetle and assume contamination.
The real substances in the cream would be overlooked.
A grotesque accident.
A wealthy executive eats an exotic insect hidden in a pastry.
Tragic.
Bizarre.
Believable enough to distract people.
Nathan whispered.
“She wanted me dead.”
Vale did not answer.
Nathan stared at him.
“You said she never intended to kill me.”
Vale’s expression changed.
“I didn’t say that.”
Nathan froze.
Adrian had said it.
Not Vale.
Nathan felt a new realization.
Adrian believed Mother wanted only to make Nathan sick.
Vale knew the dose could be worse.
Which meant Adrian might not know the full plan.
Nathan looked at Bennett.
“Adrian may have been lied to.”
“Possible.”
Vale nodded desperately.
“He was.”
Nathan turned back.
“How do you know?”
“Because Adrian confronted Eleanor yesterday.”
“About what?”
“The dosage.”
Nathan’s pulse quickened.
“He knew there would be something in my food.”
“He knew there would be a sedative.”
“Not the other compound?”
“No.”
“Did he object?”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s mind raced.
“Then why run with Jamie’s passport?”
Vale stared.
“I don’t know anything about a passport.”
Nathan believed that part.
Bennett’s phone vibrated.
She read a message.
Her expression sharpened.
“Mr. Harcourt.”
Nathan looked over.
“Forensics found a fingerprint on the inside of the dessert plate.”
“My mother’s?”
“No.”
“Adrian’s?”
“No.”
Nathan waited.
Bennett looked toward Vale.
“Simon Kessler’s.”
Nathan stared.
Simon had touched the plate.
Vale’s face went white.
Bennett continued.
“And there is something else.”
Nathan felt dread.
“The chemical in the cream matches a controlled cardiac medication.”
Nathan looked toward Vale.
He already knew where this was going.
Bennett finished.
“It was prescribed last month.”
“To whom?”
She turned the report around.
Nathan read the patient name.
Eleanor Harcourt.
His mother.
Nathan almost laughed.
Mrs. Harcourt had obtained the very substance hidden inside Nathan’s food under her own name.
The case appeared solved.
Too solved.
Nathan looked at Vale.
“Why would she use a prescription that leads directly to her?”
Vale shook his head slowly.
“She wouldn’t.”
Nathan stared.
“What?”
“She is many things.”
Vale’s eyes lifted.
“But Eleanor is not careless.”
Nathan looked at Bennett.
Vale continued.
“If the medication really came from her prescription, someone wanted you to find that.”
The room became silent.
Nathan thought of the fingerprints.
Simon.
The plate.
His mother’s prescription.
Adrian’s bag containing Jamie’s passport.
Evidence appeared to point everywhere.
Perhaps because someone wanted exactly that.
Nathan leaned back.
“Simon.”
Vale nodded.
“He has spent years keeping files on all of us.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Nathan looked toward Bennett.
“Where is he now?”
“We lost him at St. Pancras.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Vale whispered.
“If Simon is running, he already has what he wants.”
Nathan looked at him.
“What does he want?”
Vale’s answer came immediately.
“You removed your mother as Jamie’s emergency guardian six months ago.”
Nathan frowned.
“Yes.”
“You replaced her with Amelia’s sister.”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Nathan stared.
“What do you mean?”
“Did you personally read the final document Simon gave you to sign?”
Nathan thought back.
There had been dozens of pages.
Trust amendments.
Insurance documents.
Estate planning updates.
He had signed where Simon indicated.
Nathan suddenly felt sick.
Vale continued.
“Simon changes documents.”
Nathan’s voice became quiet.
“What did I sign?”
“I don’t know.”
Bennett was already calling officers.
Nathan pulled out his phone.
He accessed his encrypted cloud files.
His estate folder loaded.
There it was.
GUARDIANSHIP AMENDMENT.
He opened it.
The first pages appeared normal.
Then he reached the final provisions.
Nathan stopped breathing.
In the event of Nathan Harcourt’s death, incapacity, disappearance, or medical incompetence, temporary guardianship of James Harcourt would pass not to Amelia’s sister.
It would pass to the Harcourt Family Trust.
The trust’s acting administrator had authority to appoint a guardian.
Nathan scrolled faster.
The current acting administrator was not Mrs. Harcourt.
It was not Adrian.
It was Simon Kessler.
Nathan stared at the screen.
If the pastry had worked, Simon could potentially have controlled access to Jamie.
And through Jamie, depending on the trust structure, potentially controlled a massive inheritance.
Nathan whispered.
“He wasn’t helping my mother.”
Bennett looked at him.
“He was using her.”
Vale nodded.
Nathan continued scrolling.
Then he reached an attached schedule.
His blood ran cold.
The trust amendment had been signed eight months ago.
His signature appeared at the bottom.
But Nathan remembered that meeting.
Simon had told him he was signing tax documents.
Nathan had never knowingly approved this.
Bennett leaned over.
“Can he activate this if you’re alive?”
“Only if I am declared medically incompetent.”
Everyone looked toward Vale.
The altered medication.
The records describing confusion.
The repeated observations.
A manufactured history of instability.
Nathan finally saw the larger design.
Mother wanted control.
Simon wanted ownership.
Vale created the medical trail.
Adrian knew pieces.
And Jamie had become the key to the entire empire.
Bennett’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression turned severe.
“When?”
She listened.
“Lock the building down.”
Nathan stood.
“What happened?”
Bennett ended the call.
“Your mother just walked into Harcourt Global headquarters.”
Nathan stared.
“What?”
“She arrived five minutes ago.”
“Why?”
Bennett looked at him.
“She called an emergency board meeting.”
Nathan felt his blood turn cold.
“That meeting is Monday.”
“Not anymore.”
“What is she telling them?”
Bennett hesitated.
Then she answered.
“She is telling the board that you suffered a psychological breakdown tonight.”
Nathan could not breathe.
Bennett continued.
“She says you attacked her.”
Vale closed his eyes.
Nathan stared in disbelief.
“And she brought documentation.”
“What documentation?”
“A medical declaration.”
Nathan slowly turned toward Vale.
Vale looked horrified.
“I did not sign anything.”
Bennett shook her head.
“The signature isn’t yours.”
“Whose is it?”
Bennett answered.
“Three doctors.”
Nathan waited.
“All stating Nathan Harcourt is an immediate danger to himself and his child.”
Nathan’s face drained.
May you like
“And they are petitioning the court for emergency guardianship of Jamie.”
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