His Wife Poisoned Him—A Servant's Daughter Saw Everything

CHAPTER 2 -- The Housekeeper Who Knew Too Much

Before her arrest, Margaret Finch had served the Vale family for eighteen years.

She knew which floorboards creaked, which doors failed to lock and which members of the household smiled only when someone important was watching.

She had never trusted Eleanor.

Two months after Eleanor married Adrian, the new mistress dismissed the family accountant and replaced him with her cousin. Then Dr. Mercer began visiting the manor several evenings each week.

Margaret noticed that Adrian became ill only after meals.

First came headaches.

Then dizziness.

Finally, his vision began to fade.

One evening, Margaret found blue powder beneath the false bottom of Eleanor's tea cabinet. She collected a sample in a handkerchief and wrote Adrian a warning.

Eleanor intercepted the note.

The following morning, her sapphire necklace was discovered inside Margaret's room.

Margaret was arrested before she could speak privately with Adrian.

Everyone accepted Eleanor's story--except Lucy.

The child had watched Eleanor enter her mother's room carrying the necklace.

Lucy later found her mother's handkerchief hidden behind the pantry wall. She had been sleeping in an abandoned gardener's cottage, waiting for an opportunity to reach Adrian.

"Why didn't you go to the police?" Adrian asked.

"I tried. Dr. Mercer told them I was making stories because I missed my mother."

Adrian clenched his jaw.

Lucy led him to the manor chapel. Behind a loose stone beneath his father's memorial plaque was a narrow keyhole.

The brass key opened a steel compartment.

Inside lay the original Vale family will, company records and a sealed letter from Adrian's father.

The will placed Blackthorn Manor and the family manufacturing company into a protected trust. A spouse could inherit only if Adrian remained mentally competent at the time of death.

However, if he were declared permanently incapacitated, control would pass temporarily to his wife.

Adrian understood.

Eleanor did not need him dead.

She needed him alive, blind and legally helpless.

His father's letter contained another surprise.

He had investigated Dr. Mercer years earlier for falsifying medical reports. The doctor had been secretly paid by Eleanor's family.

Footsteps sounded outside the chapel.

Adrian quickly replaced his glasses.

The door opened.

Dr. Mercer entered carrying a medical bag.

"I heard your condition has changed," he said.

Adrian faced the wrong direction deliberately.

"No. I still see nothing."

Mercer relaxed.

Then he removed a syringe from his bag.

"In that case," the doctor said, "it's time we completed your incapacity examination."