“How dare you!” Harriet exclaimed. “You have no right to speak to me that way.”
Greydon knew it was time to intercede before things got out of hand. “I just have a few questions and then you two can leave.”
Harriet crossed her arms over her chest. “Why should I answer your questions?” she asked.
“Because if you don’t, I will cut your allowance,” Greydon replied.
“You wouldn’t dare do something so despicable. You are too honorable,” Harriet said.
Greydon walked over to the table where the tea service sat. “How long were you poisoning my brother with arsenic?”
Harriet blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“It is a really simple question,” he replied. “How long were you poisoning him?”
Dropping her arms to her sides, she said in a less than convincing voice, “I was not poisoning your brother.”
Greydon picked up the teacup and held it up. “The interesting thing about arsenic is that it is odorless and tasteless but there are some physical signs on the body that show up.” He placed the cup down onto the tray. “Did you know that?”
“Why would that matter to me?” Harriet asked.
“I had the good sense to speak to your housekeeper before I came here and she informed me that you insisted on serving Phineas his tea every morning,” Greydon said. “Which would be the perfect time to poison him.”
“I did no such thing!” Harriet asserted.
Greydon shrugged. “It doesn’t quite matter though, now does it?” he asked. “The arsenic would have eventually killed him, but he was killed by a knife into the chest.”
“Then why does it matter?” Harriet asked.
“I can’t help but wonder if the arsenic wasn’t working as quickly as you were hoping for and you decided to take matters into your own hands,” Greydon said.
Harriet pressed her lips together. “That is preposterous! Besides, I haven’t even been to this apartment before.”
“I think we both know that isn’t true. I have someone willing to testify that they saw you exit the building on the morning of the murder.”
“He would be lying,” Harriet declared.
Greydon gave her a knowing look. “You didn’t want that divorce and I suspect that Phineas had no intention of dropping the matter. When Phineas got an idea in his head, he could never quite seem to think about anything else.”
“I knew I just had to wait out his whore,” Harriet said with a snide glance at Lady Charlotte. “It was only a matter of time before he would lose interest and move on to another one.”
Lady Charlotte stomped her foot. “Phineas loved me!” she stated.
“Phineas only loved himself,” Harriet responded. “He was incapable of loving another.”
“You are wrong,” Lady Charlotte said.
Harriet turned towards Lady Charlotte. “He told me that you were pregnant and he was ecstatic. But when you lost the baby, I knew he would move on from you, without another thought.”
Lady Charlotte brought a hand to her stomach. “He told you that?”
“He told me all about you,” Harriet replied. “Nothing brought him more joy than hurting me.”
Greydon spoke up. “When did you tell Phineas that you lost the baby?”
Lady Charlotte lowered her gaze. “A few days before he was murdered,” she admitted. “He started growing distant after that, but it was only because he was trying to sort out his emotions.”
“Phineas didn’t care about you,” Harriet said. “He never did. He only pretended to do so to get you into bed.”
