Chapter 3 β The Woman Who Saw Too Much
Police detectives arrived within fifteen minutes, sealing off the ballroom before anyone could leave.
Detective Ryan Cole wasn't interested in the dramatic assault.
He wanted the olive.
A forensic technician carefully placed it into an evidence container while another collected the shattered glass.
Victoria folded her arms.
"This is ridiculous."
Ryan barely looked at her.
"Maybe."
He turned toward Emily.
"Tell me exactly what you saw."
Emily closed her eyes for a second.
"I was serving table fourteen."
She pointed toward the VIP section.
"Mrs. Mercer asked me for another napkin."
"So I walked away."
"When I came back..."
Emily hesitated.
"I saw her remove the olive."
Ryan remained silent.
"Then?"
"She reached into a tiny silver capsule hidden inside her evening purse."
Daniel slowly looked at his wife.
Emily continued.
"She pushed something into another olive."
Victoria laughed.
"Can anyone actually hear this fantasy?"
Emily ignored her.
"I knew no one would believe a waitress."
"So I waited."
"When Mr. Mercer reached for the drink..."
"I hit the glass."
Ryan wrote nothing.
He simply watched Emily's eyes.
People lied with words.
Fear usually told the truth.
Emily wasn't afraid of being arrested.
She was afraid she had acted too late.
A forensic officer entered the ballroom carrying a sealed evidence bag.
"Detective."
Ryan looked up.
"We found this."
Inside the transparent bag sat a crushed silver capsule.
Recovered from beneath Victoria Mercer's chair.
No one said a word.
May you like
Victoria's face lost every trace of color.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
