Chapter 3 - THE MEDICINE
The medication found in Sofia’s blood was digoxin.
At a proper dose, it treated certain heart conditions.
At a high dose, it could cause nausea, confusion, irregular heartbeat, and death.
Sofia had no prescription.
Daniel’s father did.
He lived in a private nursing facility.
Detectives found a bottle missing from his room.
Visitor records showed Daniel signed in two weeks before Sofia’s death.
Daniel claimed he picked up family photographs.
Security footage showed him leaving with a small pharmacy bag.
That did not prove he gave the medication to Sofia.
Then investigators searched the Mercer home.
Inside a locked drawer in Daniel’s study, they found disposable droppers, empty gelatin capsules, and a printed chart of pediatric dosages.
Emma had never seen the drawer key.
Daniel carried it on his personal ring.
The prosecution theory emerged slowly.
Daniel intended to poison Emma.
Not Sofia.
He had been pressuring Emma to drink a nightly herbal tonic he prepared before leaving for the resort.
She refused after the first evening because it tasted metallic.
Sofia sometimes drank from Emma’s glass when she found it on the bedside table.
Daniel knew that.
Or should have.
The night he secretly returned, he entered the house and replaced the tonic bottle.
Sofia saw him.
Later, she drank from Emma’s glass.
Daniel left.
Sofia collapsed.
The poison meant for Emma killed their daughter.
But motive remained unclear.
Why kill Emma?
Money was the obvious answer.
Emma inherited a chain of rehabilitation centers from her mother.
Daniel managed portions of the business but owned no controlling shares.
If Emma died, her shares passed into a marital trust he would administer until Sofia turned twenty-five.
If Sofia also died, Daniel inherited directly.
The structure created a second possibility.
Maybe Sofia was always the target.
Bennett refused to choose too early.
“Evidence before theory,” she told Emma.
Emma appreciated that.
Everyone else wanted a dramatic answer.
A monster with one simple plan.
But real families were rarely simple.
Vanessa asked to speak privately with Emma.
Emma refused at first.
Then changed her mind.
They sat in the funeral home library.
Vanessa still wore the white dress.
She looked at it as though noticing it for the first time.
“I did not know Sofia was dead,” she said.
“You ignored my calls.”
“Daniel told me you were trying to ruin the trip.”
“You blocked me.”
“He took my phone.”
Emma said nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“He said you were having another breakdown.”
“Another?”
“He told me you became unstable after Mom died.”
“You believed him.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
May you like
“I wanted to.”
That answer hurt more than denial.
