Chapter 9 - THE OLD TEST
Daniel’s daughter was located safely.
The package was intercepted before she touched it.
The pastry contained nothing dangerous.
The message was the point.
Simon wanted Daniel frightened.
Nathan understood the pattern now.
Simon rarely needed violence.
He needed people to believe violence was possible.
Fear did the rest.
By noon, Adrian’s solicitor had arrived.
Nathan requested five minutes alone with his brother.
Bennett refused at first.
Then Adrian requested the same thing.
They were placed in an interview room with cameras recording and officers outside.
Adrian sat across from Nathan.
Neither spoke.
Finally Nathan placed the photograph of the old pastry on the table.
“You ate one.”
Adrian stared at it.
His face changed.
“Daniel talked.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked away.
Nathan leaned forward.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was ashamed.”
“Of being poisoned?”
“Of why I was there.”
Nathan waited.
Adrian rubbed his face.
“Simon came to me three months ago.”
“What did he want?”
“He said Mother was planning to remove me from every trust.”
“Was she?”
“Yes.”
“Because of your debts.”
Adrian looked irritated.
“They were not gambling debts.”
“I don’t care what kind.”
“I invested in two companies.”
“They collapsed.”
“I lost money.”
“How much?”
“Eleven million.”
Nathan stared.
“You lost eleven million and told nobody?”
“I was trying to fix it.”
“With what money?”
Adrian did not answer.
Nathan understood.
“Family money.”
“Not directly.”
Nathan laughed.
“That phrase should be engraved over our front door.”
Adrian glared.
“I borrowed against future distributions.”
“From whom?”
“Simon arranged it.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Of course.
“How much leverage does that give him?”
“Enough.”
Nathan studied his brother.
“What did he ask you to do?”
“He said Mother was moving money through Aster.”
“I already suspected.”
“He wanted documents.”
“Why?”
“He said if we proved she was stealing, we could remove her.”
“And give control to you?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“He implied it.”
Nathan almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
“So you helped Simon spy on Mother.”
“Yes.”
“And the pastry?”
Adrian looked down.
“He told me Mother had been experimenting with ways to make people sick.”
Nathan frowned.
“Experimenting?”
“He showed me the blue room.”
“You knew about the insects.”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s anger rose.
“And you did not warn me.”
“I didn’t think they were meant for you.”
“Who did you think they were meant for?”
Adrian stared.
“I thought Mother was using them to frighten staff.”
Nathan leaned back.
“That may be the stupidest thing you have said today.”
“I know.”
“What happened three months ago?”
“Simon brought a pastry.”
“He said Mother had prepared it.”
“He wanted it tested.”
Nathan stared.
“You volunteered to eat suspicious food?”
“He told me it was clean.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“I took one bite.”
“Then?”
“I remember nausea.”
“Dizziness.”
“Then nothing.”
“Vale treated you.”
“Yes.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Food poisoning.”
Nathan shook his head.
“And you still continued working with Simon?”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“No.”
“That was when I started pulling away.”
“So Simon tested the poison on you without your knowledge.”
“I don’t know whether it was poison.”
“Chemicals were found in mine.”
Adrian looked sick.
Nathan leaned closer.
“Did Mother know what happened to you?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She blamed Simon.”
“Did Simon blame her?”
“Yes.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“They trapped you between them.”
Adrian looked toward him.
“Like they trapped everyone.”
Nathan’s anger returned.
“Do not make yourself a victim.”
“I’m not.”
“You helped them.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was being medicated.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew Mother wanted me ill tonight.”
“Yes.”
“And you did not warn me until afterward.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“I called the house.”
“When?”
“Six fifty.”
Nathan frowned.
“I never received a call.”
“I called Graham.”
Nathan stared.
“What did you tell him?”
“To keep the dessert away from you.”
Nathan’s heart started pounding.
“Graham knew?”
“He said he would handle it.”
Nathan stood.
The security chief had claimed he knew only about the earlier pastry.
He had lied.
Again.
Nathan called Bennett into the room.
“Find Graham.”
She frowned.
“He is still at the estate.”
“Not anymore.”
She called immediately.
The answer came two minutes later.
Graham Cole had left the property at 8:13 a.m.
He told the officer at the gate he was going to headquarters.
He never arrived.
Nathan closed his eyes.
Another person running.
Adrian looked almost amused.
“Now you see.”
Nathan glared.
“See what?”
“Everyone is guilty of something.”
Nathan hated the sentence because it was true.
Even people who had not intended murder had lied.
Covered things up.
Taken money.
Protected reputations.
Ignored warnings.
Each small act had created space for something larger.
Nathan sat again.
“Tell me about Amelia.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“Nathan.”
“No.”
“We are done avoiding it.”
Adrian looked down.
Nathan waited.
His brother finally spoke.
“She came to me two weeks before she died.”
Nathan felt his throat tighten.
“Why?”
“She thought you were being drugged.”
“We know.”
“She asked if I knew anything about Aster.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing.”
“You did know.”
“Yes.”
Nathan clenched his jaw.
“Why didn’t you help her?”
“Because I was already taking money from one of the accounts.”
Nathan stared.
Adrian’s shame was visible.
“I thought she was investigating me.”
“So you lied.”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
“She told me she had copies.”
“She said she was showing you after Frankfurt.”
Nathan remembered.
The brown envelope.
“What did you do?”
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“I called Mother.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Of course.”
“I told her Amelia knew.”
“What did Mother say?”
“She told me to stay out of it.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“And you did?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at the table.
“I went to the estate the night before Amelia died.”
Nathan’s pulse increased.
“The photograph.”
“Yes.”
“Why were you there?”
“I wanted the documents.”
“For yourself?”
“To destroy the pages showing my transfers.”
Nathan stared at him.
“You tried to steal evidence from my wife.”
“Yes.”
“At least you are finally saying it.”
Adrian looked exhausted.
“I went to the blue room because Mother told me Amelia had hidden papers there.”
“Did you find them?”
“No.”
“Who was there?”
“Mother.”
“Simon.”
“Peter Lang.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“What were they discussing?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Amelia.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“Keep going.”
“Mother was furious.”
“She kept saying Amelia was turning you against the family.”
“What did Simon say?”
“He said Amelia could be managed.”
Nathan felt sick.
“What does managed mean?”
“I asked that.”
“And?”
“Simon said he would scare her.”
Nathan’s heart pounded.
“That was when you said nobody was supposed to get hurt.”
Adrian stared.
“Jamie told you.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked genuinely horrified.
“He heard that?”
“He heard enough.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Nathan continued.
“What did Simon plan?”
“He said Peter would follow Amelia.”
“He would photograph her.”
“Create the impression someone was watching.”
“She would get scared.”
“And stop.”
Nathan’s voice turned hard.
“She died the next day.”
“I know.”
“Did you know Simon touched her car?”
“No.”
Nathan watched carefully.
Adrian looked shocked when told about Daniel’s statement.
That reaction seemed real.
Nathan hated that he still had to judge every expression.
“After Amelia died, what did Simon tell you?”
“That it was an accident.”
“Did you believe him?”
“For a while.”
“What changed?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Peter got drunk.”
“When?”
“Six months later.”
“He said something about brakes.”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
“What exactly?”
“He said, ‘Lawyers shouldn’t play mechanic.’”
Nathan stared.
“Did you confront Simon?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He laughed.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“He told me accidents become suspicious only when frightened people start talking.”
Nathan understood.
It was a threat.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Nathan stood slowly.
“Nothing.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Yes.”
“My wife may have been murdered.”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I was afraid.”
Nathan felt disgust.
“So was Amelia.”
Adrian looked down.
“So is Jamie.”
Silence.
Nathan continued.
“You do not get to use fear as an excuse when a five-year-old was braver than all of you.”
Adrian’s eyes closed.
Nathan walked toward the door.
His brother called after him.
“Nathan.”
He stopped.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan did not turn.
“That sentence belongs to Amelia.”
He opened the door.
Adrian spoke again.
“There’s one thing you don’t know.”
Nathan looked back.
“What now?”
“Mother did not order Amelia’s car touched.”
Nathan stared.
“How can you know?”
“Because after the funeral, I heard her confronting Simon.”
“What did she say?”
Adrian looked directly at him.
“She said, ‘You were supposed to frighten her, not kill her.’”
Nathan felt the words settle.
It did not absolve Eleanor.
She had called Simon.
She had wanted Amelia frightened.
She had helped create the danger.
But perhaps Simon had escalated beyond her instructions.
Adrian continued.
“Simon told her it was better this way.”
Nathan’s fists tightened.
“What did Mother do?”
“Nothing.”
Nathan laughed without humor.
“Then she chose a side.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Simon showed her copies of the Aster accounts.”
“He threatened prison.”
“Yes.”
Nathan stepped toward the door again.
Adrian whispered.
“And because he had something else.”
Nathan stopped.
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Of what?”
“I never heard it.”
“What did he claim it contained?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Mother talking about Father’s death.”
Nathan stared.
“What kind of talking?”
“She once told Simon she wished Father would die before he exposed her.”
Nathan felt cold.
“Did she kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“It is the truth.”
Nathan rubbed his face.
Adrian continued.
“But Simon used the recording to make her think everyone would believe she did.”
Nathan looked at him.
“So Mother was both accomplice and hostage.”
“Yes.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“She always had a choice.”
Adrian said nothing.
Nathan left.
Bennett met him in the corridor.
“We found Graham’s car.”
“Where?”
“Near an industrial estate.”
“Graham?”
“Gone.”
Nathan swore.
“CCTV?”
“We’re checking.”
Bennett handed him a printout.
“There’s another development.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“There always is.”
“Your medication results came back.”
He looked down.
“The tablets in your current bottle are not what the label says.”
Nathan had expected that.
“What are they?”
“Low-dose sedatives combined with another compound.”
“What does it do?”
“Long-term use can produce confusion, fatigue, memory problems.”
Nathan stared.
Exactly what Vale’s records described.
Bennett continued.
“But the laboratory compared the tablets.”
“With what?”
“With medication seized from Vale’s office.”
“And?”
“They don’t match.”
Nathan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“The pills in your bottle were not prepared by Vale.”
Nathan stared.
“Then who switched them?”
“We don’t know.”
A memory surfaced.
His medicine cabinet.
The housekeeper usually refilled toiletries.
Nora sometimes collected prescriptions.
His mother frequently entered his room.
Simon had stayed overnight several times during estate meetings.
Graham controlled cameras.
Half the house could have done it.
Bennett continued.
“We tested fingerprints.”
Nathan waited.
“One clear print was recovered from the inside of the bottle cap.”
“Whose?”
Bennett looked toward the interrogation room.
“Adrian’s.”
Nathan turned slowly.
Through the glass window, his brother sat alone.
Head bowed.
Nathan felt another betrayal.
He pushed open the door.
Adrian looked up.
Nathan threw the laboratory report onto the table.
“You touched my medication.”
Adrian read it.
His face changed.
“Nathan.”
“You said you only suspected.”
“I can explain.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“That sentence should be our family motto.”
Adrian stood.
Nathan stepped forward.
“When did you touch the bottle?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
“I replaced the pills.”
Nathan stopped.
“What?”
Adrian’s breathing quickened.
“I found out Vale was drugging you.”
Nathan stared.
“So I switched the tablets.”
“With what?”
“Placebos.”
Nathan looked at the report.
“These are not placebos.”
Adrian went pale.
“What?”
Nathan pushed the page toward him.
“These tablets contain sedatives.”
Adrian stared.
“No.”
“I ordered plain supplements.”
“From where?”
Adrian’s expression turned to horror.
“Through Simon.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Of course.
Again.
Simon had known Adrian was trying to help.
Simon simply replaced one drug with another.
Nathan leaned against the table.
Adrian whispered.
“I thought I stopped it.”
Nathan looked at him.
“You told Simon you knew Vale was drugging me.”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s anger became cold.
“And that gave Simon the perfect chance to take over the dosage himself.”
Adrian sat down slowly.
“I didn’t know.”
“No.”
Nathan stared at him.
“You never knew.”
“That was how all of you survived yourselves.”
“You made choices without wanting to know the consequences.”
His phone vibrated.
An incoming video.
Unknown number.
Nathan opened it.
Graham appeared on-screen.
He was sitting in a dimly lit room.
His face was bruised.
A voice behind the camera spoke.
“Tell him.”
Graham looked terrified.
“Nathan.”
Nathan immediately showed Bennett.
She signaled technicians.
Graham swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan’s pulse raced.
“Where are you?”
Graham ignored the question.
“Simon made me erase the cameras.”
Nathan stared.
“He paid me.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Nathan clenched his jaw.
Graham continued.
“But last night, I tried to stop the pastry.”
Nathan thought of Adrian’s call.
“I went upstairs.”
“Simon was there.”
Nathan frowned.
“When?”
“Six fifty-five.”
“He had another pastry.”
Nathan’s heart skipped.
“Another?”
“Yes.”
“The one your mother brought downstairs was not the one you ate.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Graham’s breathing quickened.
“Simon switched them.”
Nathan’s mind reeled.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
The voice behind the camera spoke again.
“Tell him the rest.”
Graham began crying.
Nathan had never seen him cry.
“He made me carry the first one away.”
Nathan stared.
“Where?”
“To the nursery.”
His blood turned to ice.
Jamie.
“What nursery?”
Graham sobbed.
“The old nursery.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan shouted.
“WHAT WAS IN THE OTHER PASTRY?”
Graham looked toward someone off camera.
Then back at Nathan.
“It had Jamie’s name on the plate.”
The video ended.
Nathan stared at the blank screen.
The room went silent.
The pastry Jamie had knocked from Nathan’s hand had never been the only pastry.
There had been another.
May you like
And according to Graham, that one had been prepared for Nathan’s five-year-old son.
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