Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Hall
The man standing beyond the dining room doors was Detective Owen Hart.
Daniel knew him.
That only made things worse.
Owen had investigated the death of Daniel’s wife eighteen months earlier.
A death everyone had called an accident.
Until tonight.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Owen’s gaze moved across the dining room.
“What happened?”
Daniel stared at him.
“How did you get here so quickly?”
A brief silence passed.
Then Owen said, “Your security chief called.”
Daniel turned.
The chief shook his head.
“No, sir.”
Owen’s face changed.
Everyone noticed.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Who called you?”
Owen took out his phone.
“The call came from this house.”
“When?”
“Eleven minutes ago.”
“From whom?”
“No name.”
“What did they say?”
Owen looked at Lily.
“They said Daniel Mercer was about to be poisoned.”
Nobody moved.
Daniel felt Lily’s fingers close around his hand.
Owen continued.
“And they told me the child would stop him.”
Daniel stared at him.
The room seemed to shrink.
“You’re telling me someone called you before Lily came into this room?”
“Yes.”
“And predicted exactly what she would do?”
“Yes.”
Michael whispered, “Jesus.”
Claire looked genuinely shaken now.
Daniel crouched beside Lily.
“Sweetheart, did anyone tell you to come in here?”
“No.”
“Did anyone tell you what to say?”
“No.”
“How did you know about the tea?”
Lily wiped her cheek.
“I saw the lady.”
“What lady?”
“The one with the bottle.”
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Where?”
“Near the kitchen.”
“What did she do?”
“She put something in your cup.”
Everyone looked at Nora again.
Lily shook her head.
“Not Nora.”
Nora sagged slightly with relief.
Daniel leaned closer.
“Who?”
“I didn’t see her face.”
“Why?”
“She had a scarf.”
“What color?”
“Black.”
Claire suddenly touched her throat.
Daniel noticed.
So did Owen.
Claire was wearing a dark green silk scarf around her shoulders.
Not black.
But close enough in low light to raise questions.
Claire saw their expressions.
“Oh, come on.”
Daniel remained silent.
“You cannot seriously think I—”
“I’m not thinking anything yet.”
“You’re looking at me like a murderer.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“My daughter watched somebody tamper with my drink.”
“Then find that person.”
“I intend to.”
Owen crouched near the broken cup.
He examined the foam without touching it.
“We’ll need the lab.”
Daniel nodded.
Owen looked at Nora.
“You prepared the drink?”
“Yes.”
“Who handled it afterward?”
“No one that I saw.”
“That you saw?”
Nora explained the west hallway interruption.
Owen’s eyes narrowed.
“You heard Mrs. Whitmore call you?”
“Yes.”
“But she says she was here.”
“Yes.”
Owen stood.
“So somebody may have impersonated her voice.”
Richard scoffed.
“That sounds ridiculous.”
“Does it?”
Owen turned toward him.
“A voice heard from ten feet away in a hallway isn’t hard to imitate.”
Richard stopped smiling.
Daniel studied his brother-in-law.
Richard Whitmore had married Claire six years earlier.
He came from money.
Or at least he claimed he did.
Daniel had never bothered investigating deeply.
He suddenly wished he had.
Owen ordered everyone separated.
No phones.
No private conversations.
No one left the property.
While officers photographed the dining room, Daniel took Lily upstairs.
Her bedroom overlooked the garden.
She usually loved it at night.
Tonight she kept checking the windows.
Daniel sat on the edge of her bed.
“Tell me everything you remember.”
Lily hugged her stuffed rabbit.
“I was looking for Nora.”
“Why?”
“I wanted hot chocolate.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Okay.”
“I went downstairs.”
“Then?”
“I heard somebody in the little hallway.”
“The west hall?”
She nodded.
“A lady was talking.”
“To who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she say?”
Lily thought.
“She said, ‘Put enough in. We only get one chance.’”
Daniel stopped breathing for a second.
“And then?”
“Another person said something.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“A man?”
Lily nodded.
“What did he say?”
“I couldn’t hear all of it.”
“Anything you remember?”
She squeezed the rabbit harder.
“He said, ‘After tonight, the trust changes.’”
Daniel went completely still.
“The trust?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“I think so.”
Daniel stood.
Only four people outside the law firm knew about the Mercer family trust.
Daniel.
Claire.
Michael.
And Thomas Vale.
The attorney downstairs.
Lily looked frightened.
“Did I do something bad?”
Daniel immediately sat again.
“No.”
He kissed her forehead.
“You did something very brave.”
“Is Nora bad?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
“She looked scared.”
“So did I.”
“You didn’t look scared.”
“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t.”
Lily leaned against him.
For several seconds Daniel simply held his daughter.
Then she whispered, “Mom used to be scared too.”
Daniel stiffened.
“Of what?”
Lily’s eyes moved toward him.
“Tea.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“What did you say?”
“Mom didn’t like drinking tea before she died.”
Daniel stared at her.
His wife, Rebecca, had drunk herbal tea nearly every night.
It had been part of her routine.
A mug while reading.
Sometimes two.
“What makes you say she was scared of it?”
“I heard her and Nora arguing.”
“When?”
“Before Mom went away.”
Daniel’s pulse quickened.
“What were they saying?”
Lily looked toward the door.
“Mom told Nora somebody was putting things in her drinks.”
Daniel stood so quickly the mattress moved.
“Stay here.”
“Dad?”
He forced himself to calm down.
“I’m going downstairs.”
“Don’t leave me.”
Daniel stopped.
Then he opened the bedroom door and called a female officer stationed in the hall.
He gave strict instructions that Lily was not to be left alone.
Then he went downstairs.
Nora was sitting in the library.
Daniel entered and locked the door behind him.
She looked up.
“You should have told me.”
Nora’s expression tightened.
“Told you what?”
“Rebecca believed someone was tampering with her drinks.”
Nora froze.
That was enough.
Daniel stepped closer.
“How long have you known?”
Tears filled Nora’s eyes.
“Since two weeks before she died.”
Daniel felt as though somebody had hit him.
“And you said nothing?”
“She made me promise.”
“My wife is dead.”
“I know.”
“You knew she was afraid someone was poisoning her and you let the police call her death an accident?”
Nora stood.
“I didn’t know she was right.”
“You knew enough to argue with her.”
“She was frightened.”
“Of who?”
Nora looked toward the locked door.
Daniel’s patience disappeared.
“Of who?”
Nora whispered one word.
“Family.”
Daniel stared.
“What family?”
“She never gave me a name.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“She said she found something in your office.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
Daniel stepped back.
His wife had died after losing control of her car on a rain-soaked mountain road.
The official conclusion had been driver error.
There had been no alcohol.
No mechanical failure.
No evidence of foul play.
But Rebecca had complained of dizziness during the week before her death.
Daniel suddenly remembered it.
He remembered telling her to rest.
He remembered her laughing.
He remembered the final call he had missed because he was in a meeting.
His stomach twisted.
“What else?”
Nora’s voice dropped.
“The night before Rebecca died, she gave me something.”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
“She never said.”
“Where is it?”
Nora looked at him.
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
Nora opened her mouth.
The lights went out.
Total darkness swallowed the library.
Daniel instinctively reached toward where Nora had been standing.
“Nora?”
No answer.
A dull sound came from the opposite side of the room.
Something struck the floor.
Daniel moved toward it.
“Nora!”
The emergency lights flickered on.
Nora was gone.
The library window stood open.
May you like
And on the carpet beside Daniel’s shoe lay a single brass key.
---
