Chapter 1 - The Secret Doctor
Hannah did not stop checking Eleanor's wrist.
She kept her eyes firmly on the second hand of her simple silver watch.
Eleanor shifted slightly in her expensive leather chair.
She told the young maid that holding hands in silence was a ridiculous waste of time.
Hannah calmly ignored the insult.
She pressed her fingers a little deeper into the older woman's fragile skin.
Dominic stepped out from the heavy shadows of the conservatory doorway.
His dark eyes analyzed the strange scene unfolding before him.
He asked why a housekeeper was desperately checking his mother's pulse.
Hannah finally let go of the old woman's wrist and stood up straight.
She turned to face the most dangerous man in Chicago.
She told him that she was not checking a simple pulse.
Hannah stated she was checking for a very specific cardiac arrhythmia.
Dominic closed the distance between them in three long strides.
He demanded to know exactly what she was talking about.
Hannah looked directly into his intimidating eyes without a trace of fear.
She explained that the glass of wine Vanessa had offered was laced with a digitalis derivative.
Dominic completely froze as the horrifying realization hit him.
He realized Hannah had intentionally provoked the beating to knock the poisoned glass away.
She had taken a leather strap to her own skin to save his mother's life.
Dominic asked where the tainted wine glass was right now.
Hannah told him she had hidden it in the deep sink of the main kitchen.
Eleanor quietly confessed that she had known about the poison all along.
The old woman said she was simply waiting to see if the new maid was brave enough to stop it.
Dominic pulled a heavy pistol from the inner pocket of his charcoal suit.
He told his mother that she was playing a very foolish game with her life.
He grabbed Hannah by her uninjured arm and pulled her toward the hallway.
They needed to secure the physical evidence before Vanessa realized it was missing.
The massive estate was completely silent as the party continued on the opposite side of the house.
They walked quickly through the dark corridors leading to the staff quarters.
Dominic pushed the heavy wooden swinging doors of the kitchen open.
The room was pitch black and smelled strongly of metallic copper.
Dominic flipped on the harsh overhead fluorescent lights.
Walter was lying on the pristine white tiles in a massive pool of his own blood.
The old steward had a deep laceration across his throat.
Dominic rushed to the sink and found it completely empty.
The poisoned wine glass was gone.
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Walter weakly raised a shaking hand toward the back door of the kitchen.
The killer was still inside the house.
