Chapter 4 - A WIFE'S PERFECT ALIBI
By midnight, every major network in the country had shown the same eight-second clip.
A ragged boy grabbed Adrian Vale's wrist.
Celeste Vale rose in diamonds and called him a filthy brat.
The boy accused her of poisoning her husband.
The video ended before Chef Louis collapsed.
That was not an accident.
Someone had supplied the press with a clean, tightly edited version that made Eli look aggressive and Celeste look shocked.
The missing seconds became rumor.
Some guests claimed the chef had suffered an ordinary heart attack.
Others insisted he had been foaming at the mouth, though no such thing had happened.
A senator told one reporter that Eli had tried to stab Adrian with a fork.
By one in the morning, the hashtag STREETLIAR was trending.
Adrian watched the coverage from a hospital bed while a nurse drew his blood for the third time.
Eli sat in a chair near the window with a blanket around his shoulders and silent fury on his face.
Detective Torres had obtained emergency approval to keep him under protective supervision until Nora was found.
The child-services caseworker objected to his staying in Adrian's room.
Eli refused to move.
After twenty minutes of argument, Adrian's physician threatened to call security on everyone.
The caseworker left.
Celeste remained.
She stood beside the television in a cream suit brought from home, her hair restyled and her public composure restored.
Her attorney sat in the corner, reading every message before she sent it.
"Turn that off," Celeste said.
Adrian did not move.
On the screen, an entertainment commentator replayed Celeste's insult in slow motion.
The commentator called it the understandable reaction of a frightened wife.
Eli gave a bitter laugh.
"They like her."
"They like a simple story," Adrian said.
"Then tell them the real one."
Celeste answered before he could.
"There is no real story until the laboratory results come back."
"A chef fell down after eating his food," Eli said.
"A man with a known cardiac condition suffered a medical event."
"You said he was healthy."
Celeste's eyes narrowed.
"I said no such thing."
"At the party, you said no one poisoned anything."
"That is not the same statement."
"It sounds the same when you're lying."
Her attorney looked up.
Adrian hid a smile.
Celeste saw it and came closer to the bed.
"This is amusing to you?"
"Nothing about tonight is amusing."
"You seem to enjoy watching him insult me."
"You called him a filthy brat in front of two hundred guests."
"He grabbed you."
"He may have saved my life."
The words landed harder than Adrian intended.
Celeste's face went blank.
"There it is," she said.
"You have decided."
"I have decided nothing."
"You believe a stranger's child over your wife."
"I believe thirty-seven empty bottles require an explanation."
Celeste sat at the edge of the bed.
"They are fragrance samples."
"Why were they in a hidden cabinet?"
"Because the oils are concentrated and expensive."
"Where is the full bottle?"
"I threw it away last week."
"Why?"
"It leaked."
"What was the fragrance called?"
For the first time, she hesitated.
"Luna Blu."
Adrian held out his hand.
"Show me the receipt."
"I do not keep receipts for perfume."
"You keep receipts for flowers."
"That is because the foundation reimburses event expenses."
"You keep a spreadsheet for shoes."
"Because they are insured."
"You keep photographs of every wine label you purchase."
"Adrian."
"But you have no receipt, no order confirmation, and no remaining bottle for a custom fragrance that came in thirty-eight identical vials."
Celeste stood.
"I will not be cross-examined by my husband while he is concussed."
"Then answer the detective."
Torres entered as if summoned by the sentence.
She carried a tablet and a sealed folder.
Grant followed her.
The expression on his face told Adrian the news was not simple.
"Chef Louis is stable," Torres said.
Eli sat upright.
"Can he talk?"
"Not yet."
"What was in the food?" Adrian asked.
"The hospital found traces of aconitine in his blood."
Celeste's attorney stood.
"Aconitine?"
"A toxic alkaloid derived from monkshood."
Torres placed the folder on the table.
"It can cause numbness, vomiting, dangerous heart rhythms, and cardiovascular collapse."
Adrian looked at Eli.
The boy's eyes had gone to Celeste.
"So she poisoned it."
"We know the chef was exposed," Torres said.
"We do not yet know how."
"He ate Mr. Vale's food."
"The plate is missing."
"Because someone stole it."
"Yes."
Celeste folded her arms.
"Aconite is found in ornamental gardens."
Torres nodded.
"Including yours."
Adrian turned to her.
The west greenhouse at their estate contained rare plants collected by Celeste's mother.
He had never learned their names.
"We have monkshood?"
"Purple monkshood," Celeste said.
"It has been there for twelve years."
"And you know how toxic it is?"
"Anyone with a search engine knows."
"The search team found gardening gloves and pruning shears in the greenhouse," Torres said.
"They are testing them."
Celeste's attorney stepped forward.
"My client employs six gardeners."
"We are testing their tools too."
"Then why are you presenting this as incriminating?"
"I am presenting facts."
Torres opened the tablet.
"Here is another one."
She played security footage from the Vale Club's north stairwell.
The timestamp read 7:21 p.m.
Celeste appeared at the end of the corridor and approached event director Melissa Grant.
The two women spoke for nearly five minutes.
Three staff members passed them.
At no point did Celeste enter the kitchen.
Eli leaned toward the screen.
"That's fake."
"It came directly from the club's security system," Grant said.
"Then the time is wrong."
"The system synchronizes automatically."
"I saw her."
Celeste looked at Adrian.
"There is my alibi."
Eli jumped from the chair.
"You changed it."
"How would I change security footage?"
"The man with the silver watch helped you."
Celeste's lips parted.
Damon Cross entered the room before anyone answered.
His silver watch caught the fluorescent light.
He carried a leather folder and wore the solemn expression of a man arriving to save a company from scandal.
"I came as soon as Grant called," he said.
Adrian looked at Grant.
"You called him?"
"The board is assembling an emergency committee."
"At one in the morning?"
Damon closed the door.
"Vale Global has lost nine percent in after-hours trading."
"The market is closed."
"Private derivatives and international positions are moving."
"Then let them move."
"We have lenders asking whether you are competent to remain chief executive."
Adrian stared at him.
"Because someone tried to poison me?"
"Because you publicly accused your wife based on the word of a child found carrying stolen jewelry."
"I did not accuse her."
"The footage does not show nuance."
Eli pointed at him.
"He was there."
Damon looked down.
"Who?"
"At the service door."
"I was on the stage."
"Not the whole time."
"I have never seen you before tonight."
"My mom took your picture."
Torres held up the photograph from the motel.
Damon's eyes moved to it and back.
"That was an investor conference."
"Why did Nora Brooks photograph you?" Torres asked.
"I do not know Nora Brooks."
"Her late husband worked for the company."
"Thousands of people work for the company."
Adrian watched Damon carefully.
"Daniel Carter was investigating something when he died."
"I have no idea who that is."
Grant spoke from the wall.
"Daniel audited executive access to restricted accounts."
Damon looked at him.
"Then he worked for you."
"He flagged irregular transfers connected to the Vale Children's Foundation."
Celeste became very still.
Damon's expression did not change.
"That foundation is audited annually."
"By a firm selected by your office," Adrian said.
"Are you accusing me now too?"
"I am asking why you were in Montreal with my wife while I was unconscious in a hospital."
Damon stepped closer to the bed.
"Because the foundation's credit facility was collapsing, and someone had to prevent a default."
"Why was it collapsing?"
"You signed a personal guarantee against a portfolio that lost value."
"I signed no such guarantee."
Damon opened the leather folder and removed a document.
Adrian's signature appeared on the final page.
The date was May sixteenth, one day before his collapse.
"That is not possible," Adrian said.
"I watched you sign it."
"I was at Blackridge for the board retreat."
"We were all at Blackridge."
Damon placed the document on Adrian's blanket.
"You had been drinking."
"I do not drink during board meetings."
"That week, you did."
Celeste touched Adrian's arm.
"You were not yourself."
He pulled away.
"What does that mean?"
Her voice softened.
"You were confused."
"I was poisoned."
"You had another episode."
"Another?"
Damon looked at Torres as if reluctantly sharing a private tragedy.
"Mr. Vale has experienced intermittent blackouts for almost a year."
Adrian stared at him.
"That is a lie."
Celeste began to cry.
The tears arrived silently and beautifully.
"We tried to protect you."
"From what?"
"From yourself."
Damon handed Torres a second document.
It was a letter from Adrian's private neurologist describing memory loss, paranoia, impulsive decisions, and episodes of aggression.
Adrian recognized the doctor's signature.
He did not recognize the diagnosis.
"I have never seen this."
Celeste covered her mouth.
"You have seen it three times."
Eli moved closer to Adrian's bed.
"She's lying."
Damon looked at the boy.
"You need to be quiet."
"My dad found your transfers."
"Your father died in a car accident."
"How do you know?"
Damon's face changed.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But everyone in the room saw it.
Torres stepped between him and the door.
"You said you had no idea who Daniel Carter was."
Damon recovered quickly.
"The detective mentioned his death earlier."
"No," Eli said.
"She didn't."
Torres's eyes sharpened.
Damon checked his silver watch.
"This is turning into a circus."
His phone rang.
He answered, listened, and looked at Adrian with something close to pity.
"The emergency committee has voted."
"On what?"
"You are suspended as chief executive pending a competency review."
Adrian's hand closed around the forged guarantee.
"You cannot suspend me without a full board meeting."
"Your wife exercised the medical proxy you signed last year."
Adrian turned to Celeste.
She wiped one tear from her cheek.
"I had no choice."
The hospital door opened again.
A uniformed officer entered carrying a clear evidence bag.
Inside was the missing blue bottle.
"We found this in the motel dumpster," he said.
Eli stared at it.
"That's the one."
The officer looked at Torres.
May you like
"It has the boy's fingerprints all over it."
THE BOY WHO STOPPED THE BILLIONAIRE'S LAST BITE
