Chapter 4
For approximately twenty minutes, the room was unattended.
During those twenty minutes, Lily went looking for her mother.
She wandered past the pantry and saw the cold-room door partly open.
Inside stood a man in a dark suit.
She did not see his face.
She saw his hand.
The small box.
The white substance.
And as he moved, light struck his wrist.
Gold flashed.
A tiny crown crossed by a star.
Lily did not understand what she had seen.
She merely remembered it.
Hours later, when Ethan raised his first bite toward his mouth, memory became instinct.
She knocked the plate away.
After the ballroom was cleared, Dominic gathered the senior household staff in his study.
Marcus stood at his right shoulder.
“Who had access to that room?” Dominic asked.
Helen answered.
“Myself. Two kitchen assistants. Vivian. Mr. Bell. And you.”
“Where was everyone between four and four-thirty?”
The list came quickly.
Helen had been receiving a grocery delivery.
The assistants were setting tables.
Dominic had been in a video conference witnessed by six people.
Marcus had supposedly been inspecting perimeter security with two guards.
Vivian had been alone with the cake for nearly twenty minutes before leaving it unattended.
Nobody said her name afterward.
They did not have to.
Vivian walked into Dominic’s study the next morning.
She wore no makeup. Her hair was tied back.
“Search my room.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Vivian—”
“Search everything. My phone. My computer. My car. Every drawer.”
Marcus stood near the window.
Vivian glanced at him, then returned her eyes to Dominic.
“I didn’t hurt Ethan.”
“I know what you’re saying.”
“That isn’t the same as believing me.”
Dominic remained silent.
Her face tightened.
“Then search.”
They did.
At first, nothing appeared.
Then a guard opened the drawer beneath Vivian’s vanity and found a folded receipt hidden beneath a stack of tissues.
The receipt came from a specialty food supplier.
One item listed was the exact allergen capable of killing Ethan.
Vivian stared at it.
“I bought that.”
Marcus looked toward Dominic.
Vivian immediately continued.
“For a dinner next week. For adults. I told Helen about it.”
Helen hesitated.
“I remember the dinner. I don’t remember that particular ingredient.”
Vivian turned.
“You weren’t supposed to. I hadn’t brought it into the main kitchen.”
Dominic studied the receipt.
May you like
“Why was it hidden under the tissues?”
“It wasn’t.”
