Chapter 4 - WHAT THE GLASS WAS HIDING
The detective, Nora Price, arrived the following morning with a warrant and a forensic technician. She was in her forties, sharp-eyed, and unimpressed by the mansion’s marble floors or Enzo’s reputation. She treated the estate like any other potential crime scene, which was one reason Enzo respected her.
They examined the bar, the service corridor, the staff entrance, and the security room. The technician collected the silver case Camilla had carried and found residue consistent with the sedative identified in the wine. They also recovered a partial fingerprint from the inside of the case.
“Do you know why she would want you sedated?” Detective Price asked Enzo.
“I don’t know. I won’t guess in a statement.”
“Good. Guessing is how people turn a case into a story they prefer.”
Adeline gave another statement, adding the detail about Camilla stirring the wine and the strange smell. She did not embellish what she had seen. When the detective asked whether she had any personal dispute with Camilla, Adeline said no.
“I barely knew her,” she explained. “I knew she disliked staff who didn’t anticipate what she wanted. That’s all.”
“Did she threaten you before the gala?”
“She told me to keep my eyes down.”
Detective Price wrote it down.
After the interview, Enzo found Adeline sitting in the conservatory, where winter light fell through the tall glass panes. A small notebook lay open on her lap.
“What are you writing?”
“Everything I remember. Dates, times, who was near the bar. I don’t want to forget something important.”
“That’s sensible.”
She closed the notebook. “Do you know why she wanted you unconscious?”
“Not yet.”
“Could it have something to do with the files she copied?”
Enzo looked at her more carefully. “How do you know about the files?”
“I heard you and Mrs. Moretti talking yesterday. I wasn’t trying to listen. The kitchen corridor carries sound.”
He did not scold her. “It could be related. The police are investigating.”
“Camilla said you were supposed to be unconscious that night. Maybe she needed time to take something from your study.”
“That is possible.”
Adeline hesitated. “I saw her in the east hallway the night before the gala. She had a keycard. She said she was looking for the powder room, but the powder room is in the other direction.”
“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”
“I didn’t think it mattered until she said it.”
Enzo asked her to give the information to Detective Price. Adeline agreed, then stood.
“Sir, can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you get engaged to her?”
He looked out at the bare garden. “Because our families have known each other for years. Because she was charming. Because she understood the people I needed to reassure. And because I mistook the absence of open conflict for trust.”
“Did you love her?”
“I thought I did.”
Adeline nodded. “That must be hard.”
“It is.”
She did not offer comfort. He appreciated that more than he expected.
At noon, Detective Price returned with news. The sedative had been purchased under the name of a private medical clinic, but the prescription was not issued to Camilla. It belonged to a patient whose identity had been used without authorization. The clinic’s billing records showed that someone had also requested a copy of Enzo’s recent medical file.
“Someone was building a record that could make him look medically unstable,” Price said. “If he had collapsed at the gala, they might have claimed the medication was his or that he had taken it himself.”
Enzo’s jaw tightened. “Who requested the file?”
“The request came through a legal office connected to the Ashford family. We’re tracing the person who submitted it.”
Elena added another piece. Camilla had recently asked Enzo to sign a document granting her temporary authority to manage certain assets if he became incapacitated. He had refused because the wording was too broad.
The sedative, the medical file, the stolen business records, and the proposed authority document began to form a pattern.
Camilla had not simply wanted to humiliate a maid. She had wanted to control what happened in Enzo’s absence.
That evening, Enzo called a meeting with his senior staff. He told them that no one would be required to defend him or condemn Camilla publicly. Anyone with relevant information could speak to the investigators without fear of retaliation. Wages would continue. Schedules would remain stable. No employee would be dismissed because a guest disliked their statement.
A few staff members exchanged glances. One of the younger servers raised his hand.
“I saw Miss Ashford give a keycard to a man in a gray coat,” he said. “He came through the loading entrance last week. I thought he was a contractor.”
“Do you remember his face?” Detective Price asked, who had stayed for the meeting.
“I remember a scar on his chin. And he had a silver ring shaped like a snake.”
Price wrote it down.
Enzo felt the investigation shift. The sedative had been a threat, but the keycard might lead to the person who had copied the files.
After the meeting, Adeline found a folded note tucked beneath her door.
It contained a photograph of her younger brother leaving his training school.
May you like
Underneath, someone had written:
Tell the police nothing else.
