Chapter 2 - THE TEA THAT NEVER REACHED HIM
Alessandro did not look at Vincent immediately.
He looked at Sophia.
She was holding Emma's hand so tightly that the little girl began to squirm.
“Mommy, you're squeezing.”
Sophia released her.
“Sorry, baby.”
Alessandro kept his voice calm.
“Emma, can you tell me what you saw?”
Emma nodded enthusiastically.
“The shiny bird man had the little bottle.”
Vincent spoke.
“Sir, surely you don't intend to interrogate a toddler.”
Alessandro turned.
“I asked her a question.”
Vincent lowered his eyes.
Emma continued.
“He went like this.”
She mimed twisting a cap.
“Then drip, drip.”
Sophia felt cold.
Alessandro looked toward the shattered teapot on the marble floor.
The tea had spilled before he drank it.
“Where were you standing?” he asked Emma.
She pointed toward the staircase.
“Behind the big plant.”
“And when did you see this?”
“When Mommy was upstairs.”
Vincent stepped forward.
“Children imagine things. She was painting a sleeping man five minutes ago.”
Alessandro's expression hardened.
“Then you won't object to an examination of the tea.”
Vincent said nothing.
Alessandro summoned his personal physician and instructed his security chief, Nicholas Vale, to preserve the spilled liquid, the cup, and the remaining contents of the kitchen teapot for independent testing.
He also ordered Vincent's access suspended pending review.
Vincent's eyes flashed.
“After thirty years?”
“Especially after thirty years.”
For the first time since Sophia had joined the household, the estate manager had no immediate answer.
Nicholas escorted Vincent from the room.
Sophia stood motionless.
Alessandro turned toward her.
“Your daughter may have saved my life.”
Sophia shook her head.
“She's only three.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Emma.
“And apparently she notices things the rest of us don't.”
Emma tugged his sleeve.
“Can I have my cookies now?”
Alessandro laughed softly.
“Of course.”
That evening, preliminary medical testing identified an unexpected sedative in the recovered tea.
Further analysis was required to establish its source and concentration.
But Alessandro understood the implications.
Someone had attempted to drug him inside his own home.
And the person suspected of doing it was the man who had served his family for three generations.
Nicholas entered the study carrying a tablet.
“We have another problem.”
Alessandro looked up.
“What?”
“Several security recordings from this afternoon are missing.”
Alessandro stared.
“Which cameras?”
“The living room. The service corridor. The kitchen entrance.”
He leaned back.
“Who has administrative access?”
Nicholas hesitated.
“Vincent.”
Alessandro looked toward the door.
May you like
For years, he had believed his fortress protected him from enemies.
Now he wondered whether its walls had been built to keep the truth out.
