Chapter 13 - WHAT WAS IN HIS BLOOD
Dad’s body had been cremated.
Elaine arranged it three days after his death.
Of course she did.
For a moment, it seemed that destroyed any chance of proving poisoning.
Then Harris found the hospital.
Dad had visited his cardiologist four days before he died.
Blood had been drawn.
A sample remained in storage.
Another blood sample had been collected by paramedics the night he died and retained as part of routine testing.
Toxicology was ordered.
The result took days.
Those were the longest days of my life.
Meanwhile, Elaine stopped pretending.
She filed a civil claim accusing me of manufacturing evidence.
She gave interviews.
She described herself as the victim of “a bitter estranged daughter.”
Then Lucas destroyed her defense.
Publicly.
He issued a statement confirming Dad had planned to change his estate.
He admitted helping Elaine access Dad’s study after his death.
He turned over location records.
Text messages.
One message from Elaine at 11:31 p.m.:
GET HERE NOW. YOUR FATHER LEFT SOMETHING THAT DESTROYS US BOTH.
Another:
DO NOT CALL CLAIRE.
Lucas was not innocent.
But he was finally telling the truth.
Elaine called him twenty-seven times that night.
He blocked her.
Then toxicology came back.
Dad had digoxin in his system.
He was prescribed digoxin.
But the level was dangerously high.
Potentially lethal.
Harris explained it carefully.
“It could be accidental.”
“But?”
“His prescription records show his dosage was stable.”
“What about his pills?”
“Missing.”
Of course.
Then a search warrant changed everything.
Police searched Elaine’s condo.
In a kitchen cabinet, behind vitamins, they found an old pill organizer.
Inside one compartment were three tablets matching Dad’s prescription.
But at a dosage four times higher.
Elaine was arrested.
Not yet for murder.
For evidence tampering and fraud related to the forged trust documents.
The murder investigation remained open.
She was brought to court in handcuffs.
No emerald necklace.
No designer smile.
She saw me and stopped.
“This is what you wanted.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
“You wanted to destroy this family.”
“You did that before I was old enough to drive.”
Her face twisted.
“Your mother was leaving him.”
“She had every reason.”
“She wanted to take everything.”
“It belonged to her.”
“No.”
Elaine stepped closer until a deputy pulled her back.
“I built that company too.”
“By sleeping with the CEO?”
She lunged.
The deputy restrained her.
“You spoiled little bitch!”
The whole hallway heard it.
I didn’t move.
“Twenty years,” I said.
Elaine stopped fighting.
“You spent twenty years telling everyone my mother was bitter. That I was difficult. That you saved Dad.”
Her breathing slowed.
“You know what’s funny?”
“What?”
“You almost won.”
Her eyes changed.
I continued.
“You had the house. The money. His name. His loyalty. You even had his silence.”
I stepped closer.
“But none of it belonged to you enough.”
Her face hardened.
“That was your mistake.”
Then she smiled.
And suddenly, I understood something.
She knew something we didn’t.
“What?”
Elaine said nothing.
“What are you smiling about?”
Her voice became soft.
“You think Richard’s letter proves everything?”
My stomach tightened.
She leaned forward.
“Ask yourself why he waited twenty years.”
“I already know.”
“No.”
She smiled wider.
“You know the version that makes him look cowardly.”
I stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
Elaine’s eyes gleamed.
“Your father didn’t pay Victor Shaw years after Margaret died.”
I stopped breathing.
May you like
“He paid him before.”
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