Chapter 9 - THE POISON IN THE GARDEN
Arthur sat across from Margaret in the living room at two in the morning.
The house smelled of smoke and wet wood.
Calvin had been taken into custody.
Linda remained in a guarded room at the sheriff’s office.
Ashley and Noah slept upstairs.
Edward sat on the staircase, close enough to hear but too ashamed to join them.
Evelyn stood by the fireplace.
Arthur told the story he should have told twelve years earlier.
On the morning of his reported death, Arthur drank tea in the garden.
The tea contained digitalis, a toxin capable of causing fatal heart-rhythm disturbances.
Linda brought him the cup.
She had been living in the house for less than a year.
“She poisoned you?” Margaret asked.
Arthur looked toward the staircase.
Edward lowered his head.
“Linda claims she did not know what was in the bottle,” Arthur said. “Calvin told her it was a medication that would make me sleep.”
“And you believe her?”
“I believe she knew it would harm me.”
Margaret folded her hands tightly.
“What happened after you collapsed?”
“The ambulance crew included two people working for the network. At the hospital, a doctor connected to Evelyn’s protection program recognized the poisoning.”
Evelyn continued.
“We knew Calvin would try again if Arthur survived publicly. So we reported his death and transferred him.”
Margaret’s voice shook.
“You made that decision without me.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You could have taken me with you.”
“Calvin’s people were watching the family.”
“They were watching us anyway.”
“I thought you would be safer as a grieving widow than as the wife of a living witness.”
Margaret rose.
“You thought wrong.”
She walked toward the window.
For twelve years, she had blamed herself for not noticing Arthur’s pain that morning.
She replayed their final conversation thousands of times.
He complained that the tea tasted bitter.
She told him the lemon was old.
Then she went inside to answer the telephone.
When she returned, he was on the ground.
All those years, he had been alive somewhere.
Eating.
Sleeping.
Aging.
Knowing she visited his grave.
“You watched me?” she asked.
“From a distance.”
“How often?”
“Every few months.”
“Did you watch me cry?”
Arthur did not answer.
Margaret turned.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
She crossed the room and slapped him again.
Edward stood.
“Mom.”
“No,” Arthur said. “Let her.”
Margaret’s anger collapsed into grief.
She sank into a chair.
“I needed you.”
Arthur knelt before her.
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because there is no sentence large enough for what I did.”
Edward stepped into the room.
“Why come back now?”
“The emergency protocol in the chamber sent an alert to the safe location.”
“Where have you been living?”
“Bellhaven.”
Evelyn looked uneasy.
Margaret noticed.
“What is Bellhaven?”
Arthur answered carefully.
“A protected community.”
“For witnesses?”
“For people whose identities have been removed from public systems.”
Margaret looked at Evelyn.
“How many?”
She hesitated.
“Approximately forty.”
“And Rebecca?”
“She was supposed to be transferred there six months ago.”
“But she disappeared first.”
“Yes.”
Edward came farther into the room.
“Linda said Rebecca recorded the person who ordered Dad’s death.”
Arthur nodded.
“Calvin did not act alone.”
“Who was above him?”
“We never proved it.”
“Who did you suspect?”
Arthur looked toward Evelyn.
She stepped away from the fireplace.
Margaret followed his gaze.
“You suspected Evelyn?”
“No,” Arthur said. “Rebecca did.”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“Rebecca suspected everyone.”
“She found payments from the network to a legal office connected to you.”
“My former partner represented one of their companies.”
“You concealed that.”
“I disclosed it to the federal investigators.”
“After Rebecca discovered it.”
Evelyn picked up her coat.
“I did not come here to be accused by a man who allowed his family to believe he was dead.”
Arthur stood.
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure Rebecca’s phone reaches an independent laboratory.”
“It is already in sheriff’s custody.”
“That is exactly why I’m concerned.”
Deputy Reynolds entered from the hallway.
He had heard the last sentence.
“Why?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Because Calvin has controlled members of local law enforcement before.”
Reynolds placed his hand near his holster.
“Are you accusing my department?”
“I am stating a documented fact.”
The wall telephone rang.
Everyone froze.
Margaret crossed the room and answered.
A woman’s voice whispered, “Mom?”
Margaret stopped breathing.
Arthur rushed toward the telephone.
The voice continued.
“You cannot trust the deputy.”
Margaret looked at Reynolds.
His hand was now on his gun.
May you like
The line went dead.
At that exact moment, every light in the house went out.
