Chapter 9 — The Tea

Three nights later, the poison in that family finally reached its own patriarch.

Denton had me summoned to his room.

He looked defeated, staring into the black beyond the window.

“I need to confess, Jennifer.

I need to set it right before the end.”

He got no further than that.

I have gone over the timing many times since, the terrible near-miss of it — that Denton had finally decided, that very night, to break his silence, and that Dax appeared at the door within the minute as if he had been listening for exactly this.