Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF SPEAKING
Adeline read the note three times before she took it to Mrs. Bell.
The housekeeper did not panic. She locked the door, called Marco, and asked him to preserve the paper without touching the writing. Detective Price was notified within minutes. The photograph was sent to the police, and Adeline gave them her brother’s school address so they could assess the threat.
“I’m sorry,” Adeline said, though she did not know why she was apologizing.
Mrs. Bell shook her head. “You are not responsible for someone else choosing to threaten you.”
Enzo arrived while Detective Price was still at the estate. When he saw the photograph, the muscles in his jaw tightened.
“I can move your brother somewhere safe,” he said.
Adeline’s first reaction was relief. Her second was suspicion.
“Would he have to work for you?”
“No.”
“Would you expect me to owe you?”
“No.”
“Would he be able to leave whenever he wanted?”
“Yes.”
She studied him, searching for the hidden price. “Then I’ll speak to Peter first. He has a right to decide.”
Enzo nodded. “Of course.”
He did not send a car until Adeline had spoken with her brother. Peter was frightened but agreed to stay with a family friend while the police reviewed the threat. He refused a bodyguard and asked only that someone check the school route for the next few days. The police arranged it.
That small choice mattered to Adeline. For once, people were discussing her family’s safety without treating her as someone to be managed.
The same afternoon, Detective Price identified the man with the snake ring. His name was Victor Sloane, a former security consultant who had worked for the Ashford family and had been investigated for selling access codes to private estates. He had not been charged in that earlier case, but he had lost his license.
A search of his apartment found a laptop containing copied files from Enzo’s study. Investigators also recovered messages between Sloane and a number registered to Camilla’s personal assistant. The messages did not yet prove that Camilla ordered the sedative, but they showed she had paid Sloane to access the estate’s security system.
Enzo read the report in silence.
“She was preparing this for months,” he said.
“Possibly,” Detective Price replied. “We still need to establish what she intended to do with the information and whether she knew about the sedative.”
“I understand.”
Price closed her folder. “I want you to understand something else. Your staff are witnesses, not your private investigators. Don't ask them to gather evidence. Let us do that.”
Enzo nodded. “They won’t be asked.”
After the detective left, Camilla’s father, Richard Ashford, arrived unannounced. He was a broad-shouldered man in his sixties, with silver hair and the polished confidence of someone used to having his calls returned.
“You’ve made a mess of this,” he told Enzo in the study.
“Your daughter did that herself.”
“She's upset. She made a mistake with the maid. You could have handled it discreetly.”
“A woman was assaulted. A drink was tampered with. Security footage was disabled. Business files were copied.”
Richard waved a hand. “You have no proof Camilla did any of those things.”
“The police are investigating.”
“And in the meantime, you’re letting a servant destroy a family alliance.”
Enzo stood. “Adeline did not destroy anything. She stopped me from drinking something I shouldn’t have.”
Richard’s expression flickered.
It lasted less than a second, but Enzo saw it.
“You knew about the drink,” Enzo said.
“I know nothing about any drink.”
“Then you won’t mind speaking to the police.”
Richard’s smile became thin. “Be careful, Enzo. Your companies rely on relationships. People can become uncertain when they hear rumors.”
“Let them ask questions. We’ll answer with records.”
Richard moved closer. “You think this is about a maid? Camilla was trying to secure her future. You have enemies. She wanted a legal role in the estate so no one could take advantage of you.”
“By sedating me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No. You didn’t.”
Richard left without another word.
Enzo immediately told Detective Price about the conversation, including Richard’s reaction to the drink. He did not ask Marco to follow him or threaten his businesses. He knew the police needed facts, not revenge.
Later, he found Adeline in the staff lounge, preparing to return to work despite her injury.
“You don’t need to prove your courage by coming back early,” he said.
“I’m not proving anything. I need the wages.”
“Your wages are secure whether you work today or not.”
She looked up. “Then I’ll work when I’m cleared, because I want to. I don’t want fear to decide every part of my life.”
He accepted that.
“May I ask you something?” she said.
“Of course.”
“Will you keep your promise if the investigation becomes inconvenient? If your lenders complain, if your friends turn away, if the truth makes your family look bad?”
Enzo did not answer quickly.
“Yes,” he said at last. “And if I fail, you should hold me to it.”
Adeline nodded, not fully satisfied, but willing to see.
That night, Detective Price called with a new development. Sloane had agreed to cooperate. He claimed Camilla had hired him to copy the business files and disable the cameras. He also said Richard Ashford had attended one meeting.
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But Sloane insisted he had never been told to poison Enzo.
The question remained: who had put the sedative in the wine, and why?
