Chapter 5 - THE INVISIBLE POISON
My heart leaped into my throat. “And?”
Adrian looked at me, his face pale. “The bottle was clean. No poison. No medication. Nothing but milk and formula.”
I stared at him. “That’s impossible. Olivia saw her—”
“I know,” Adrian said. “But the lab report is definitive. There is nothing in the milk.”
I sank into a chair, my mind reeling. Vanessa had switched the bottle. She had taken something from her bag. Olivia had seen a vial. And yet… the bottle was clean.
“Maybe she didn’t have time to add it,” Olivia said quietly. “Maybe I stopped her before she could.”
Adrian nodded slowly. “That is possible. Or…”
“Or what?” I asked.
“Or she never intended to put anything in the bottle at all,” Adrian said, his voice grim. “She only wanted to create a scene. To frame you. To have you removed from the house. And then… who knows what she would have done once you were gone.”
The thought made me shudder.
“Which means,” I said slowly, “the bottle was never the danger. The danger is that she is still free. And she is still planning something.”
Adrian stood up. “I am going to the police station. I need to speak to the detective in charge of the case. I need to show them the new detail in the video. And I need to know why Vanessa was granted bail so quickly.”
“I’m coming with you,” I said.
Adrian hesitated. “Clara—”
“I need to be there. If they say something about Emma… if they have questions… I should hear it too.”
Adrian nodded. “Very well. Olivia, will you stay here with Emma? The security guards will be outside. And I’ve asked a trusted family friend to come sit with you until we return.”
Olivia sat up straight. “I’ll keep Emma safe. I promise.”
Adrian squeezed her shoulder gratefully. “I know you will.”
Ten minutes later, we were driving toward the police station. The car was silent. Adrian gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white. I stared out the window at the passing city, my mind racing. Clean bottle. Powerful lawyer. Unknown man at the gate. Vanessa walking free and smiling. None of it made sense. Unless…
“Adrian,” I said suddenly. “Who posted her bail?”
Adrian glanced at me. “I don’t know. The records are sealed.”
“Sealed?” That was unusual for a case like this. “But you’re her husband. You should be able to find out.”
“I will,” Adrian said grimly. “Today.”
We arrived at the station and were escorted immediately to a conference room. Detective Miller—a sharp-eyed woman in her forties—joined us moments later, carrying a thick file.
“I have the lab report here,” she said, placing it on the table. “As you can see, the bottle contained nothing but formula. No foreign substances detected.”
Adrian leaned forward. “And the video? We found something in the video.”
He handed over Olivia’s phone. Detective Miller examined the paused image carefully, zooming in, adjusting the brightness. When she looked up, her expression was serious.
“It is very small,” she said. “But I agree—it appears to be a vial of some kind. I will have our technical team enhance this image. But I must be honest with you: even if we confirm it was there, it is not proof that she put anything in the bottle. It is only proof that she had something in her hand.”
“Which means she could walk away entirely,” Adrian said, his voice tight.
Detective Miller paused. “Not necessarily. We are looking into other aspects of the case. The note found in her bag is very damaging. And we are also investigating her financial records.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because,” Detective Miller said, “Vanessa withdrew a very large sum of money from a private account three days before the incident in your kitchen. And the money was transferred to an offshore account hours after she was arrested.”
“Whose account?” Adrian demanded.
Detective Miller looked at him steadily. “That is what we are trying to determine. But Adrian… the account belongs to someone you know.”
Adrian frowned. “Who?”
May you like
Detective Miller opened the file and slid a photograph across the table. It was a man in his late fifties, with gray hair and sharp, calculating eyes.
“Judge Robert Sterling,” she said. “The same judge who granted her bail.”
