"Why didn’t you wake up?" he grumbled, annoyance lacing his tone.
The servant bit her lip, struggling for words. In this household, nobody dared to rouse Sean from sleep nobody but Hunter. Yet, she dared not voice this truth, rely replying, "Next ti, I’ll be sure to wake you, Mr. Sean."
Learning that his sister had already had breakfast, Sean felt his own appetite wane. He nibbled on a few bites before setting off to find her.
At that mont, Rosemary and Hunter were about to check on Erik, who was locked in the basent,when a servant rushed in with urgent news.
"Mr. Collins, Ms. Collins, Erik’s been motionless for quite so ti," the servant said, breathless with worry. "We didn’t dare to open the door and check, fearing a trick, but from the surveillance, he’s been in the sa position for so long, it looks like he might be dead."
Without hesitation, Rosemary and Hunter hurried down to the basent.
There lay Erik, sprawled on the floor. As Rosemary moved to check on him, Hunter held her back, "Let go first."
Concerned for his sister’s safety, he feared Erik might be faking.
Rosemary nodded, watching as Hunter approached and cautiously checked for Erik’s breath. It took a mont before he announced, "He’s gone, cold to the touch."
Rosemary stepped forward to examine the body and concluded, "He died about two hours ago, around six-thirty this morning. Did either of you notice anything unusual at that ti?"
She looked up, questioning the two servants nearby.
The servants, visibly shaken, shook their heads.
"We’ve been on watch the whole ti, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and nobody has co by."
"Because Mr. and Mrs. Collins were worried about accomplices coming to rescue him, they set a trap outside. If soone had slipped him poison, we couldn’t have missed it."
The servants were near tears, fearing the bla for this oversight. They bowed deeply, trembling, not
daring to lift their heads as they spoke.
"You were on watch the entire ti? Never stepped away?" Rosemary pressed.
"We each took turns to use the restroom, but one of us always stayed. Ms. Rose, we swear it wasn’t us.We didn’t kill him."
Their bodies were bent at a ninety-degree angle in fear.
They knew the man was of great importance to the Collins family, and now with him dead, they were naturally the pri suspects.
"Mr. Cooper brought him in last night unconscious. We assure you, he didn’t wake up for a mont."
"We kept a close eye on the surveillance; there couldn’t be a mistake. At first, he was just lying there,occasionally moving a bit. Then he was still for so long, we thought perhaps he was trying to lure us in."
"We didn’t want to disturb your rest since you hadn’t gotten up yet, so we didn’t voice our suspicions,just kept watching."
"Ms. Rose, his death has nothing to do with us, we’re not his accomplices."
Their voices were tinged with a cry, anxious and unsure of what to do.
"I’m not suspecting you, just asking for details. Calm down," Rosemary reassured them before turning to Hunter, "I need to get sothing."
Hunter nodded, staying by Erik’s side.
Rosemary returned shortly with her dical kit. Inside, alongside the acupuncture set, were various other items. She took a detection kit from it and took his blood as sample. Several minutes passed, the detection kit finally showed the result.
"He died of poisoning."
Rosemary’s conclusion sent a wave of panic through the two. Poisoned? How could this have happened?
Now they were in deep trouble, and not even the mighty Mississippi could wash away their suspicion.
Under their watch, Erik had been poisoned. But as to when this had happened, they were clueless.
"Let’s keep this under wraps for now," Rosemary directed, her gaze steady on them. "You two will continue your duties here as if nothing’s amiss."
"Yes, Miss," they replied, shivering.
"All right, dry those tears. Take a break over there; but stay out of sight. I’ll call you when I’m done."
The basent was expansive, housing not only this room, but also many other rooms like a ga room, a ho theater, and a storage room.
Besides these, there were two small gardens in the basent, perfectly illuminated by shafts of light from above.
"Steer clear of the gardens," Rosemary instructed, wary of onlookers from above.
"Yes, Miss," they nodded before retreating.
"Hunter, I want to perform an autopsy on the body, see what kind of poison leads to his death, maybe we can find so clues," Rosemary whispered to Hunter. "Make sure to tell Mom and Dad without anyone
overhearing."
"Got it. You sure you don’t need an extra pair of hands to help?"
"It’s better if it’s just ; I don’t want to draw attention."
"Alright, co up when you’re done," Hunter said before leaving.
Rosemary closed the door, slipped on her gloves, and laid out her tools—a scalpel, shears, and bone cutters among others.
Elsewhere, Louisa was grappling with the news of Erik’s death, her mind reeling with disbelief.
"Could Martin have poisoned him last night before delivering him to us? Was he afraid Erik would suffer more in our hands, so he decided to strike first, give him a quick out? Was this a plan Martin and Erik had hatched together, or was it Martin acting alone?"
The thought that Martin might have double-crossed her sent Louisa spiraling into rage.
On the surface, Martin proposed a trade, but behind the scenes, he’d pulled a fast one.
Erik was the key to unraveling the truth behind the fire at the old health clinic—if only he could identify the mastermind, the whole truth would erge.
But now Erik was dead, and with him, all leads had co to a dead end!
"Erik is Serena’s biological father, after all. How could Martin just hand him over to face our wrath? So, it’s either a faked death, a ruse to slip by us, or,"
Kenneth’s speculation was cut short by Hunter’s input, "It’s likely a true death. Rose’s diagnosis is never off, Kenneth."
If it were a faked death, Rose’s dical expertise should have caught it.
"If it’s a real death, then there’s only one explanation—Martin poisoned Erik before the handoff,whether Erik was complicit or not."
"That Martin, playing us for fools! I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!" Louisa fud, dialing Martin’s number with a vengeance.
anwhile, Martin sat on a bench outside the ergency room, surrounded by highly skilled doctors who had yet to bring Serena back from death’s door.
The light above the ergency room had been on all night and still, there was no good news.
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