Also upright.
Also with no visible cause.
This time, the authorities took notice.
Two deaths connected to the same man in such a short span could not be ignored.
An investigation was reopened.
Quietly.
Carefully.
And this time, Elias Varenne was no longer just a grieving widower.
He was a person of interest.
The Interview
They brought him in for questioning.
Elias sat calmly across from the investigators, hands folded in his lap.
“Did you love Arthur Delacroix?” one officer asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you marry him for his money?”
“No.”
“Where were you the night he died?”
“In the house.”
“Did you see him before his death?”
“Yes.”
“What did you talk about?”
Elias paused.
Then he said, “He told me he was ready.”
“Ready for what?”
Elias smiled faintly.
“For the end.”
The Truth Unfolds
The breakthrough came from an unexpected place.
A private laboratory, one that specialized in experimental pharmaceuticals, reported a missing compound.
It was designed to induce rapid, undetectable cardiac failure.
It left behind almost no trace.
Except for the enzyme imbalance noted in Arthur’s blood.
The lab’s records showed that the compound had been accessed—legally—by a shell corporation.
One that, through a chain of ownership, led back to Arthur Delacroix himself.
He had purchased it.
Months before his death.
The Final Revelation
Claire finally published her story.
Not as an accusation, but as a question.
Why would a man engineer his own death?
And why marry a young stranger just days before it happened?
The answer came in the form of a letter.
It was discovered in a safe within Arthur’s study, one that had initially been overlooked.
Addressed to Elias.
