Chapter 2
The physician needed only one look at Odessa’s reaction to understand the situation was serious.
He took the plate away privately.
No spectacle.
No guests gathered around chemistry.
I moved everyone to the adjoining ballroom while the conservatory remained closed.
Marielle tried standing.
Her knees almost failed.
I caught the chair instead of her.
“Stay seated.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She looked confused.
That answer told me too much about how Odessa had treated her.
I asked for water.
Then waited.
Odessa stood by the windows.
Engagement ring bright beneath the glass ceiling.
I wondered how long it would remain there.
Twenty minutes later, the physician returned.
“It contains a strong sedative.”
Not poison.
Not lethal by design.
Enough to put an adult into deep sleep for several hours.
My eyes moved to Odessa.
She looked away.
The physician added:
“If you had eaten the full portion, you likely would have become confused first. Weak. Then difficult to wake.”
Timing.
I checked my watch.
9:32.
Dessert had been served at 9:20.
“What happens at ten?”
Nobody answered.
Then the event coordinator spoke.
“Fireworks, sir.”
Of course.
Ten o’clock.
Garden lights dim.
Guests turn toward the glass walls.
Music rises.
Staff move.
Security attention shifts outside.
A perfect twelve-minute window inside.
I looked at Odessa.
“You needed me asleep before the fireworks.”
“No.”
“Then eat the dessert.”
She flinched.
Again.
Good.
I continued.
“What was supposed to happen while I was upstairs unconscious?”
She said nothing.
Then Marielle whispered:
“She had a suitcase.”
Odessa turned.
Too fast.
I looked at Marielle.
“What suitcase?”
“This afternoon.”
Her voice steadied slightly.
“I saw Miss Odessa’s dresser carrying a small case through the flower corridor.”
“Where?”
“Toward the service exit.”
Odessa snapped:
“It contained shoes.”
Marielle lowered her eyes.
I did not.
“Shoes usually don’t require my sedation.”
The conservatory clock ticked toward ten.
Outside, fireworks crews waited.
I told the coordinator:
“Cancel the fireworks.”
Odessa’s composure broke.
“Don’t.”
There.
I stared.
May you like
The dessert had been meant to put me down.
The fireworks had been meant to hide what came next.
