Chapter 23: Poisoned

Zarah and the two doctors went out of the room so they could discuss.

Zarah was pretty shaken to hear Isaiah's wish.

"What's going on Doc? He finally woke up. Isn't this a sign that he could recover?"

"I'm afraid that I will not say a big yes, Miss Jansen."

"Explain." She demanded.

"The patient's age affects many factors. It complicated everything. Before he got into the car accident, he was already sick. He had to undergo dialysis and a blood transfusion every month. You were there. Now, his heart has gotten weaker." Dr. Smith told her.

"So what do you suggest doc? That I should just give up?"

"It's what the patient wished for. His body is already so old and so weak for treatment. If not for his determination to hold on for this long, he won't wake up today." Dr. Smith then looked at the doctor beside him and continued, "Honestly, Mr. Stevens woke up because of Dr. Miller's intervention."

The doctor beside him introduced himself, "Hello, Miss Jansen, I'm doctor Miller. I'm Dr. Smith's professor at med school. Dr. Smith consulted me about your father's case and read all of his records for two days. So, I came here today to see him. And so my conclusion was right," he said in suspense.

"What is it?"

"His condition won't decline faster if he was not poisoned." Dr. Miller finally told her.

"Poisoned?!" Zarah's face turned pale when she heard that he was poisoned but then his expression turned colder and she clenched her palm into a tight fist.

"By whom? Why was this unnoticed by you, Dr. Smith?" She coldly asked him.

"Thomas." Dr. Smith answered Zarah who was in utter disbelief.

"No! You might be mistaken, doc. Thomas won't do such a thing." Zarah defended him.

She had conducted a thorough background check on Thomas before hiring him. That's why she was confident that Thomas was innocent.

"Because we recovered the poison from his pocket." Dr. Smith explained and Zarah became furious.

Zarah had tightened the security around Isaiah. Guards were positioned on the entire floor and had to convert an entire room for Isaiah's ICU room to not cause further inconvenience to the staff and the patients and their relatives.

Good thing St. George was very accommodating and understanding of the situation but of course with a higher hospital cost.

"Where is he? I need to talk to him!" She demanded.

Zarah wanted to know why he had done it. She wanted to know his motives.

"Well, he's currently at the police station. I believe the police will seek you to ask about him since you hired him."

"What?!" Zarah could not believe it. She wanted to go to the police station to confront Thomas herself but she was stopped by the two doctors.

"Miss Jansen, I need you to calm down so I can continue explaining." Dr. Miller told her but Zarah said while holding back to grit her teeth, "Believe me doc, I'm trying to calm down. Please continue."

"The reason that this was unnoticed is that he was poisoned little by little. The poison was now out of his body but it left damage to his other organs. Other than weakening the body, this also increased the development of the patient's illness." Dr. Miller paused to heave a sigh and looked at Zarah with sympathy.

"As Dr. Smith said, even if we continue the treatment, we can not guarantee that he will be cured. The worst-case scenario is that he would be in the hospital for weeks or maybe months for treatment but still won't make it. Or he could spend his remaining days however he wanted and die with a happy face."

Just then, two police officers approached them, "Are you, Miss Jansen?"

"Yes."

"Miss Jansen, can we invite you to the police station regarding Mr. Burton's case?" One officer asked her.

Just then, Elliott arrived and he frowned upon seeing two police officers talking to Zarah.

"Zarah, what's happening? Why are the Police here?"

"Thomas poisoned father and is now in the police station." She answered him.

Zarah had little trust when it came to the police as they failed to investigate the car accident. Even a bystander would know that it was not a simple car accident but could be a homicide.

"What?!" Elliott was shocked to hear it.

"Then, how's Chairman?"

"He's inside. Resting. Can you please watch over him while I'm away?"

"Okay. No problem!"

Zarah then looked at the two officers and nodded her head. "Okay. Lead the way, officers."

After arriving at the police station, Zarah was escorted to the typical interrogation room. Typical in the sense that the room was painted in black and there was a table in the middle of the room with four chairs around it and a light bulb on top.

A man in his thirties was waiting inside.

"Good afternoon Miss Jansen. I'm detective McGuire, the lead investigator of the case and these two behind me are officer David and officer Gregory."

Zarah looked at the three men and frowned when she did not see Thomas in the room.

"Where's Thomas?"

"Mr. Burton is in another interrogation room."

"Oh! When can I see him?" She asked but they did not answer her.

"Miss Jansen, I have a few questions here and I want you to answer them with all honesty."

"Sure."

"Miss Jansen, how long has Mr. Burton been working for you as Mr. Stevens' private nurse?"

"Ten months. Almost eleven to be exact." She answered.

"In almost eleven months, did you find anything suspicious with his actions?" He asked.

"No. I didn't." Mr. McGuire listed it in his notes and then proceeded to the next question.

"When you hired him, did you conduct a background check?"

"Yes, I did. His background was spotless and so I hired him."

"Why?" Mr. McGuire asked her vaguely.

"What do you mean by 'why?' Mr. McGuire?" She asked him to rephrase the statement.

"Why did you do a background check?"

"Isn't it the right thing to do?" She asked him back and he didn't answer so she continued, "The patient is Mr. Theodore Isaiah Stevens. The richest man in the city. Therefore, I have to make sure that no one could hurt him." 

"Did Mr. Stevens not have a private nurse before?"

"He did but he died."

"Do you have any idea about the cause of death?"

"No, I don't. But may I know how this is relevant?" She honestly answered and asked at the same time.

"Well, it might help us. After all, you're the only person in direct contact with Mr. Burton and at the same time, you both came from the same orphanage. Unfortunately, no one adopted him." Which was the truth. Zarah sympathized with him after knowing that they were both from the same orphanage.

"Detective, I do not like the tone of this conversation." She frankly said and Mr. McGuire retracted.

"What we have is pure speculation, Miss Jansen."

"That I'm involved in this? That's ridiculous!"

"Miss Jansen, your actions might influence our assessment of you." Mr. McGuire reminded her.

"Detective, do you hear yourself? If you were in my situation, how would you react? Do you expect me to stay cool? My adoptive father is in the hospital and instead of staying by his side, I'm wasting my time here." She emotionally said.

"Look, I'm sorry to say this but the moment the police didn't investigate that car accident a year ago, I lost my trust in the system." She honestly told them.

"That car accident was a pure accident. A drunk driver collided with Mr. Stevens' car. He died in the accident. So did Mr. Stevens' driver."

"Do you think so?" Zarah challenged him.

"Yes."

"Have you investigated the driver's background?"

"We did. He was a tourist and was on a vacation." Officer Gregory said but paused and decided to change the topic.

"Anyways, that case was closed. We're here for another case. If you're trying to divert our attention, then you failed."

"I'm not trying to divert it, Officer Gregory. I'm helping you connect the dots."

"Do you think that the car accident was connected to this?"

"There's a higher chance. Whoever was behind the car accident, might also be the person behind this. And I'm confident that it is not me."

"Are you sure? How do we know that you're not poisoning your adoptive father so you could get his money?" Mr. McGuire was leading her.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Zarah scoffed and looked at the three people.

"I never wanted even a single penny from him. All I care about is his health and that I could be with him longer. I love him like he's my real father."

She had no motives to commit such a crime.

Just then, the door opened and the investigator in the other room called on Mr. McGuire.

The two talked for a few minutes outside and Mr. McGuire entered.

"Miss Jansen, do you have any idea why Mr. Burton would commit suicide?"

"What?" Zarah was shocked to hear that.

It seemed like it would be a dead end for the investigation.

"How did that happen?" Zarah asked him.

"He said he wanted to pee and so he was escorted to the toilet but when it took him time to come out, the officer went inside and then saw him lying on the floor with his mouth bubbling."

"Is he alive?"

"Unfortunately, he died."

"What?! How can you let this happen?!"

"We're currently investigating the matter. For now, you're free to go." Mr. McGuire then closed his notes and prepared to leave.

They could not find a shred of solid evidence to bind Zarah into the case. Therefore, they had no option but to let her go.

"Detective McGuire, can I speak with you alone?" Zarah said while looking at the two officers behind him.

"Sure. Will you excuse us, gentlemen?" He said and the two officers had no other choice but to leave first.

When the two were both alone in the room, Zarah spoke first, "Is this being recorded? Are they listening behind that glass?"

"No, Miss. The people behind that glass are our people." Mr. McGuire's tone changed completely.

"Good. How many are they?" Zarah nodded in satisfaction.

"Two, Miss. I assure you that they can be trusted." Mr. McGuire convinced her.

"Did they suspect that you're working for me?" What Zarah meant were the higher-ups.

"They didn't. Or else they would have reassigned me to another city or I might be kicked out of service." He honestly said.

"Good. I want you to look into Thomas' death. I'm sure that there was no foul play. Someone must have given him cyanide while he was in the toilet. The question is who."

"I understand, Miss. And I apologize if my questions are a little out of line. I have to prove that you're not after the inheritance." He said after recalling his actions earlier.

"Am I greedy with money?"

"You're not, Miss."

"Good. It's enough that you believe me. And you're just doing your job. Well, I'm quite impressed that they failed to make Thomas point me out as the mastermind."

"Do you have any idea who possibly did this, Miss?"

"It's either Nikolai or Franklin," Zarah told him.

She never trusted those two people. All they cared about was their inheritance.

She still believed that one of them was the culprit behind the accident but she could not prove it.

All she had were baseless speculations.

"Why don't we start with Officer Gregory? I think he knew something." Zarah said after recalling the latter's reaction when she mentioned the car accident.

"Okay, Miss. I'll check on that."

"Be careful Zed."

"I will Miss."

***