Page 117 of See You Again

“She’s not new to victimizing other people for her own profit then.” Siobhan curled her lip. “David certainly knew how to pick them. Present company excluded, of course.”

James kept his eyes on the table so as not to catch his siblings’ eyes. They hadn’t told their mothers about the faked photos they’d found in their father’s vault that allowed Courtney to blackmail their father into marriage.

Cami continued. “If she’s familiar with setting up fake companies, it wouldn’t be hard for her to order thallium on the internet. It’s readily available, and if she used different credit cards and different company names and addresses, she could have amassed the amount she needed without raising any red flags.

“The more I think about it, it has to be thallium. It passes through the skin and easily dissolves in water. She could have contaminated multiple items. Even if she started out putting it in his food, she might also have sprayed his toothbrush or the remote control in his bedroom. If it was dilute enough, I think it would definitely pass as an illness. The case I covered, Abigail Alvarez, took over two months to die after her husband slowly poisoned her. He put it in her food, but once she no longer wanted to eat, he added it to her toothpaste.”

“That’s evil.” Dahlia looked horrified.

“It also could explain why your father continued to get sick on his trip. She might have put it on the handles of his luggage or on his clothes...”

“But no one else got sick,” James said. “If she sprayed it on his things, someone else would have come in contact with it—the housekeeping staff, the landscapers, Mrs. Woodson, Menardi…”

Cara frowned. “I don’t think she’d put herself or her sons at risk like that. They were always there. The only way I even got to see my dad the last time was because she finally left the estate for a couple of days.”

“If she left, it means she didn’t need to be present for it to be administered. Okay then, it has to be something that was personal to him. Something only he touched,” Cami reasoned.

Luke shook his head. “I never saw the man even get his own glass of water.”

“I never met your dad, so I have no idea what it would be. But I can start digging and see if she set up any new companies. I’m assuming she’d need companies that had names sounding like they had a legitimate reason for ordering thallium,” Wes offered.

“Wes—”

“Everything legally,” Wes smiled down at Cara, but he winked when he met James’s gaze over the top of her head.

“There is one more interesting development,” James said, looking at Cami. “It’s not about Dad, but about Matt Crawford.”

“The case you’re covering now.” Dahlia said, before quickly summarizing the latest episode for those who hadn’t heard it.

“Stoverton.” Cara frowned. “That was Trey’s college, right?”

Cami nodded. “Yes, that’s why Matt and Courtney were there. They were packing him up for winter break.”

“I remember something about that,” Cara said slowly, her eyes unfocused as she searched for the memory. “Dad helped get him into a college closer to the estate in Rhode Island. He said something to me about how it hadn’t worked out for Trey there. This was before they were married.”

Cami took a deep breath and then bit her lower lip. “DNA found with Amy’s body tested positive as a familial match for Elliott Keller. James has told me you suspect Dr. Keller is actually Matt Crawford’s biological father.”

“What?” Anne gasped, her eyes turning accusingly to her children. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Siobhan let out a bitter laugh. “Are you telling me that witch had a relationship with Elliott? Did David know?”

Luke grimaced. “We don’t think so. And by the look on Chris Keller’s face when we challenged him on it at Dahlia’s movie premiere, he didn’t know about his father’s affair with Courtney either.”

Anne’s face wrinkled with disgust. “And now he’s living with a woman who is possibly the mother of his half-brother.”

“This is all very Jerry Springer.” Dahlia shook her head.

“If it’s Matt’s DNA, why don’t they arrest him?”

“The police don’t know about the family connection,” Cami said. “Dr. Keller’s only known son is Chris Keller, and he didn’t volunteer a sample. He also didn’t mention the possibility of there being another son.”

“He was never stupid.” Luke frowned darkly.

“Why is he in Atlanta?” James asked suddenly. He turned to Cami. “In the car, when you were talking to the detective, he said he had come to Atlanta to speak to Chris.”

Cami’s cheeks pinked but she nodded. “Why is that important?”

James pursed his lips. “I don’t know that it is. He lives in New York with Courtney.”