Chapter 11: The Cup of Tea
Rachel stopped breathing.
“No.””
Daniel stared at her.
Harris remained expressionless.
“Your mother says you gave Thomas the medication.””
“No.””
“She claims you crushed tablets into his tea.””
“That’s a lie.””
Daniel stood between them.
“Rachel brought Dad tea.””
Rachel turned on him.
“You heard the tape! He didn’t drink it!””
“That night.””
“What does that mean?””
“It means Dad had been sick for days.””
Rachel recoiled.
“You think I did it?””
“I don’t know what to think anymore!””
Her face crumpled.
“I was nineteen.””
Daniel’s anger vanished for a moment.
Rachel sank into the chair.
“I loved Dad.””
Harris spoke carefully.
“Then come to the station and tell us exactly what happened.””
Rachel looked terrified.
“Am I under arrest?””
“No.””
“Do I need a lawyer?””
“You have the right to speak with one before answering questions.””
“I want one.””
“That’s reasonable.””
Daniel stared at his sister.
Rachel looked at him.
“I didn’t poison Dad.””
He didn’t answer.
That hurt her.
I could see it.
But after what she had done to me, trust was something she no longer had the right to demand.
Rachel left with Harris.
Evelyn went home.
Daniel and I finally returned to our house.
For hours, neither of us spoke much.
Then at nearly nine that evening, Harris called.
Rachel had given a statement with an attorney present.
She admitted bringing Thomas tea on the night before his death.
But she claimed Margaret had prepared it.
“She told Rachel it was chamomile,” Harris explained.
“Did Rachel know about medication?”” Daniel asked.
“She says no.””
“And the bottle Dad saved?””
“We’re testing it.””
“How long?””
“Hopefully not long.””
Daniel paced.
“What about Margaret?””
“She claims the medication belonged to Rachel.””
“Why would a nineteen-year-old have prescription sedatives?””
“Margaret says Rachel had trouble sleeping.””
Daniel frowned.
“Did she?””
“Yes.””
That answer came from me.
He turned.
“How do you know?””
“Rachel told me once. Years ago.””
I remembered a Christmas dinner.
Rachel had joked that she’d barely slept through college without medication.
Daniel sat down.
“So Mom could be telling the truth.””
“Or she could have had access to Rachel’s prescription.””
He looked at me.
That possibility was worse.
The next morning, Harris called again.
“The tea tested positive.””
Daniel put the phone on speaker.
“For what?””
“The same medication Dr. Hayes detected in Thomas’s blood.””
Daniel gripped the table.
“What level?””
“High.””
“So Rachel poisoned him?””
“Not necessarily.””
Harris continued.
“The medication was prescribed to Rachel Bennett.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then Harris added, “But we found something else.””
“What?””
“The bottle recovered from the safe-deposit box has a partial fingerprint.””
“Whose?””
“We’re comparing it.””
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“Hello?””
A woman spoke.
“Is this Daniel Bennett?””
“Yes.””
“My name is Melissa Vale.””
Daniel looked at me.
Jonathan’s daughter.
“How did you get my number?””
“Your sister called me.””
Daniel’s expression darkened.
“When?””
“Before she went to the police.””
“What did she want?””
“She asked about my father’s records.””
“The Hart ledger?””
Melissa went quiet.
“So you know about it.””
“Yes.””
Another pause.
“I have it.””
Daniel stood.
“Where?””
“In a safe.””
“Can we see it?””
“I’m not sure.””
“Ms. Vale, that ledger may prove your father and Margaret Bennett stole property from Evelyn Hart’s family.””
“I know.””
Daniel froze.
“You know?””
“My father told me before he died.””
“Then why didn’t you come forward?””
“Because he made me promise not to.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Everyone in this family loves promises more than truth.””
Melissa didn’t respond.
Then she said, “There’s something else in the safe.””
“What?””
“A photograph.””
“Of what?””
“My father and Margaret.””
“That doesn’t prove anything.””
“No.””
Melissa’s voice became quieter.
“But the date on the photograph does.””
“Why?””
“Because Margaret was holding a newborn baby.””
Rachel.
Daniel sat down again.
“And?””
“My father wrote something on the back.””
“What?””
Melissa hesitated.
“Rachel is mine. Thomas can never know.””
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“So Jonathan was Rachel’s father.””
“Yes.””
“Why does that matter now?””
“Because my father kept more than financial records.””
“What else?””
“Letters Margaret sent him.””
Daniel looked at me.
“What kind of letters?””
“Love letters at first.””
Melissa paused.
“Then instructions.””
My skin went cold.
“Instructions for what?”” Daniel asked.
“For altering Charles Hart’s financial records.””
Silence.
Melissa continued.
“And years later, there was another letter.””
“What did it say?””
“That Thomas had discovered everything.””
Daniel gripped the phone.
“When?””
“The week he died.””
May you like
Melissa’s voice dropped.
“In that letter, Margaret told my father she needed Thomas silenced before he went to the police.””
