Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN WHO FINALLY TOLD HER STORY
Nia met with investigators, accompanied by her own attorney.
She described everything she had observed.
The symptoms.
The herbal tea.
Carlo's repeated visits.
The silver canister.
His reaction when she touched it.
She was careful to distinguish what she had seen from what she suspected.
The investigators listened.
Then showed her photographs of several containers recovered from the estate.
Nia identified the silver canister.
Laboratory analysis had detected cardiac glycosides in the retained tea material, supporting the medical findings.
The investigators explained that the evidence did not, by itself, establish who had placed the toxic substance there.
But combined with the financial records, communications, and witness accounts, it formed part of a larger investigation.
Nia signed her statement.
When the interview ended, she sat outside the building with her attorney.
Her hands were shaking again.
"You did well," the attorney said.
Nia looked down.
"I was terrified."
"Courage doesn't require the absence of fear."
She smiled faintly.
"That's something my grandmother used to say."
For the first time since her mother's death, Nia felt as though she had done something that mattered beyond surviving another month.
May you like
She had spoken.
And someone had listened.
