AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She turns her chair to look him in the eye. “Oh, yeah. That’s the worst part of this whole thing. Your brother hit him square in the chest, don’t get me wrong. But that bullet missed every vital organ and went clean out the back. Luckiest shot in the world, if you ask me.”
“My brother didn’t shoot him.”
“Sure. Maybe not. Whether he did or he didn’t doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is, even if he did? Michael Little would have pulled through just fine.”
I lean back in my own chair. “If it weren’t for the poison.”
Alice nods. “Exactly. But that wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Tolya Zakrevsky needed to go down for this murder, one way or another. Could I prove he’s the one who poisoned Michael Little? No. I can’t prove who did, either, not without a hell of a lot more evidence to go off of. All I could do was test the substances, write up my official report, and file the death certificate.”
Demyen looks like he wants to punch something. Instead, he shoves his hands in his pockets. “So? What was the poison?”
“A weird one, that’s for sure. I’ll never forget it. Used to only hear about it in fairy tales.”
I pause as something occurs to me like a bolt of lightning. “It was wolfsbane, wasn’t it?”
She nods. “That’s the one.Aconitum. Poor guy drank it that afternoon and had no idea what was in his system. Judging by the damage to his heart, he went into cardiac arrest the same time that bullet ripped through his chest. Lucky shot, but an unlucky guy.”
“How do you know he drank it?”
“Stomach contents. He didn’t eat much that day, but he had coffee in his stomach. Judging by the amount, the timing of his death matched up with the digestive timing of the coffee, I figured he drank a cup of poisoned coffee sometime around fouror five in the late afternoon. Just one, too, because otherwise, he would’ve died within minutes. That poison works fast.”
Demyen runs a hand over his jaw. He moved so quickly this morning, he forgot to shave, so his face is a bit darker with a five o’clock shadow. “And you wrote all this in your report?”
Alice nods. “Every detail. And then I was told to rewrite it or risk losing my job.”
“By who?”
She looks over at me. “Who do you think? Tolya’s arresting officer, of course. It washiscase.”
I swallow hard. Now, her original animosity toward me makes sense. “My father threatened you?”
“Professionally. Said we couldn’t ‘risk allowing a mob thug back into the streets,’ and if I valued my job, I’d do as he said. Of course I refused. I filed my report, and two days later, I was fired.”
“On what grounds?!”
She shrugs. “Fabricating evidence. The new medical examiner was quick to play ball with Everett and managed to make it look like I was the one falsifying documents and altering evidence to help an organized crime family. Rumors said I was in the Zakrevsky pocket.” She turns to Demyen. “Apparently, you owe me a few paychecks, young man.”
Despite everything, Demyen manages to smirk. “I do owe you for a door.”
Alice drums her fingers on the armrests and sighs. “A week after your brother’s trial, I woke up to bullet holes through mybedroom window. Two days after that, I had the presence of mind to remote-start my car to turn my A/C on while I grabbed my purse. Blew up my car and tore apart my favorite avocado tree.”
“Someone wanted you to assume it was a mob hit.” Demyen doesnotlook pleased about this.
“It worked, didn’t it? I fled the state, the continent, then the country. Helen Cooper died of drowning and Alice Tremaine set up shop as a basket weaver on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.”
“We’ll keep your secret,” I promise her.
Demyen shoots me an exasperated look. “Unless we need her for trial.”
Alice shakes her head. “Oh, no. You’re on your own there.”
“But—”
“You want to nail the real murderer? Find out who gave him the coffee.” She slides a very pointed stare to me. “And ask yourself why it mattered so much to your father that Tolya took the fall.”
It’s obvious that Alice is done sharing what she knows. After all of it is said and done, she looks ten years older than she first did when we arrived. The wrinkles in her brow are a bit deeper, and the silvery streaks in her hair look more ashen than before.
My heart breaks for her. She just wanted to do the right thing, and this is what she was rewarded with.
