Chapter 8 - Margaret WellsVictoria admitted meeting Margaret.
“She called me.”
“When?”
“Three months after Robert died.”
“Why?”
“She wanted money.”
“For what?”
“Silence.”
Richard stared.
“About Dad?”
“Yes.”
“What did she know?”
Victoria looked frightened.
“She prepared his tea.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“What did she put in it?”
“She claimed Eleanor asked her to crush medication into it.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says my paralyzed mother ordered everything.”
Victoria snapped:
“I didn't believe her!”
Richard stopped.
“What?”
“I thought Margaret was lying.”
“Then why pay her?”
“I didn't.”
“Why meet her?”
“To record her.”
Victoria retrieved an audio file.
Margaret's voice:
“Mrs. Coleman told me Mr. Coleman couldn't sleep.”
Victoria:
“Eleanor?”
Margaret:
“Yes.”
Victoria:
“She can't even prepare her own medication.”
Margaret:
“She told me which bottle.”
Victoria:
“Why are you telling me?”
Margaret:
“Because he died.”
Then Victoria:
“Go to the police.”
Margaret began crying.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because it wasn't the first time.”
The recording ended.
Richard stared.
“What did that mean?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is Margaret?”
“I genuinely don't know.”
Richard studied Victoria.
“You kept this from me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother already hated me.”
“And you thought hiding evidence would help?”
“I was scared.”
Richard almost laughed.
“You threatened her life.”
Victoria looked ashamed.
“I know what I did.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“I wanted her frightened.”
“I wanted her to stop accusing me.”
“I wanted her to feel powerless.”
Richard stared.
“But I did not want her dead.”
The distinction didn't excuse anything.
But it mattered to the mystery.
Emily located Margaret through Robert's foundation records.
A small assisted-living residence outside Santa Barbara.
Richard went alone.
Margaret was dying from cancer.
She cried when she saw him.
“I'm sorry.”
“What happened to my father?”
“I drugged his tea.”
Richard's face went cold.
“Why?”
“Your mother asked me.”
“No.”
“She did.”
“My mother can barely speak.”
“She could speak much better six months ago.”
That was true.
Eleanor's condition had worsened.
“Why would she drug her husband?”
Margaret looked confused.
“Not to kill him.”
“Then why?”
“To keep him home.”
“What?”
“He was leaving.”
Richard remembered the divorce consultation.
Margaret continued:
“Mrs. Coleman wanted him sleepy.”
“She thought if he missed his flight, they'd have another night to talk.”
Richard felt sick.
“She didn't know the dose?”
Margaret cried.
“I gave too much.”
“So it was an accident.”
Margaret looked at him.
“No.”
Richard froze.
“What?”
“He didn't die from the tea.”
“How do you know?”
“Because after he collapsed…”
Margaret began shaking.
“…he woke up.”
Richard stared.
“What?”
“He was alive.”
“Then what happened?”
Margaret looked terrified.
“Someone came into the room.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“I ran.”
“WHO?”
May you like
Margaret stared at him.
“Your wife.”
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