Chapter 2 - THE DEATH THEY CALLED NATURAL
The guests were escorted from the ballroom one group at a time.
Nobody complained.
Nobody wanted to be the last person standing near Victoria when the police arrived.
Reporters gathered outside the estate gates before midnight.
Someone had already leaked the security footage.
Elena did not care who had done it.
For three years, Victoria had controlled every story told about the Langley family.
Tonight, Elena finally controlled one truth.
Detective Aaron Cole led her into Jonathan’s former study.
The room still smelled faintly of cedar and old books.
Elena had kept everything exactly as Jonathan left it.
His reading glasses remained beside an unfinished biography.
A fountain pen rested across a yellow legal pad.
The last sentence he had written stopped halfway through.
Elena had stared at it every morning since his death.
Aaron closed the door.
“The original toxicology sample was preserved.”
“How?”
“Jonathan paid for private storage.”
Elena frowned.
“He expected something to happen?”
“We believe so.”
Aaron placed several documents on the desk.
The official report listed cardiac arrest caused by an undiagnosed heart condition.
The private report found repeated exposure to digitalis.
In small doses, the drug could create nausea, weakness, and irregular heartbeat.
In larger doses, it could kill.
Jonathan had received it over a period of at least six weeks.
Elena lowered herself into his chair.
“He thought he had the flu.”
“He complained that coffee tasted strange.”
“He became dizzy after dinner.”
Her voice cracked.
“I made those dinners.”
Aaron sat across from her.
“You prepared the food.”
“But you were not the only person who had access to it.”
Victoria had moved into Ashcroft Manor two months before Jonathan died.
She claimed her townhouse was being renovated.
She stayed long after the work was completed.
She brought her own chef.
Her own assistant.
Her own physician.
Dr. Malcolm Hayes had examined Jonathan three times.
Each time, he dismissed the symptoms as stress.
Aaron showed Elena a bank transfer.
Three days after Jonathan’s death, Dr. Hayes received two million dollars from a foundation controlled by Victoria.
Elena stared at the page.
“Why wasn’t this discovered earlier?”
“The payment was routed through four companies.”
“We found it while investigating a different fraud case.”
Elena thought about the accusation in the ballroom.
Victoria had planted a necklace because she wanted Elena removed publicly.
She wanted witnesses.
She wanted humiliation.
She wanted a reason to claim Elena was unfit to manage the estate.
“What was she trying to gain tonight?”
Aaron looked toward the study door.
“Ashcroft Manor is worth forty-eight million dollars.”
“That is not enough.”
Elena’s voice became quiet.
“Victoria would not risk murder for a house she could buy twice.”
Aaron studied her.
“You know her well.”
“I survived living with her.”
A knock sounded.
Peter Shaw entered under the supervision of an officer.
His face looked twenty years older.
He placed an envelope on the desk.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena did not touch it.
“How much did she pay you?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“To disable the cameras?”
“To disable them and make sure the guests believed the necklace was found in your bag.”
“Why?”
Peter looked toward Aaron.
“Victoria told me Mrs. Langley had been stealing company documents.”
“She said Jonathan had left proof.”
“What documents?”
Peter hesitated.
Then he removed a small brass key from his pocket.
“This opens the old vault beneath the library.”
Elena frowned.
“There is no vault beneath the library.”
Peter looked at her.
“Jonathan built it six months before he died.”
“He told me never to tell Victoria.”
“Then why are you telling me now?”
Peter’s eyes filled with fear.
“Because she knows you have the key.”
Elena stared at the brass object.
“I’ve never seen this.”
Peter shook his head.
“That is not the key she wants.”
May you like
Before anyone could ask another question, the study windows shattered.
A bullet struck Peter in the chest.
