Chapter 15 - THE SECOND GLASS
The note was genuine in one respect.
Its paper came from the private stationery Graham’s father used before his death. Chemical testing dated the sheet to the year of the plane crash.
The writing could not be authenticated immediately.
Adrian had possessed enough old documents to imitate it.
Detective Rachel treated the note as a threat rather than a message from the past.
The ballroom security system showed no door opening during the intrusion.
The figure appeared first beside the service curtain and disappeared near the same wall.
Police reopened the concealed storage room.
Behind the shelves, they found a narrow passage connecting the ballroom to the old foundation archive.
Adrian had built more than one hidden access point.
Graham ordered the passage sealed only after investigators completed a full search.
Inside, they found fresh footprints, bottled water, and a portable monitor displaying feeds from the ballroom, hospital, and foundation headquarters.
Adrian had been living within the mansion for at least several nights.
A single dinner cup rested beside the monitor.
It matched Graham’s formal service exactly.
The cup contained traces of the same ototoxic compound.
Rachel looked at Graham.
“He planned another dose.”
“For whom?”
The answer appeared on the monitor.
A live camera showed the foundation’s boardroom, where an emergency meeting would begin the following morning.
At Graham’s assigned seat sat a glass of water.
Lily’s stuffed rabbit was visible near the door because she had left it there after visiting the new family-support office.
The feed zoomed toward the glass.
A gloved hand entered the frame and released several drops.
Rachel called foundation security.
No one answered.
The boardroom camera shifted.
Nora appeared in the hallway outside, carrying meeting files. She did not know someone was already inside.
Graham reached for his phone.
Before he could call her, the monitor changed again.
Adrian appeared for the first time without hiding his face.
He was older than Graham remembered, with gray hair and a scar beside one ear.
He looked directly into the camera and began signing.
You learned faster than your father.
Graham signed back even though he did not know whether the transmission allowed Adrian to see him.
Why are you doing this?
Adrian smiled.
Because your father discovered the wrong account.
He lifted a second glass.
This one carried Lily’s name on a small paper tag.
Graham’s breathing stopped.
The boardroom door opened on the live feed.
Lily entered ahead of Nora, searching for her stuffed rabbit.
Adrian stepped outside the camera’s view.
The poisoned glass remained on the table between them.
Then Lily noticed movement reflected in the dark window.
She turned slowly toward someone standing behind her.
The feed cut to black.
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To be continued...
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