A chill came over Ava’s body. “By whom?”

“Sorry, Ava, it sounds like you’ve not been kept abreast of things. It was in the report that we forwarded to you.”

“Sorry, I’m not a report reading person.” She squeezed the phone tightly.

“They found an unknown substance in Madeleine’s bloodstream and there was no trace of the active ingredient the doctor prescribed.”

“Poisoned?”

“Yes. That’s what they’re going to investigate. They had some procedural mishaps initially with a misplaced sample, but it looks like they have their ship in order now. We did our best with appealing but it looks like they’ll start investigating soon.”

Ava’s heart pounded against her chest. “Okay, I’ll pass this on to Anthony. Thank you.”

Ava found her way to her husband’s chair and sat down. Poisoned? She rested her head in her hands. Poisoned? Who would do such a thing? Surely not her school friends? She heard the door open.

She looked up.

Anthony paused and looked directly at his wife. “What’s the matter, dear?”

“Someone poisoned our daughter.”

His response was different. Not a trace of shock. He walked around the table and asked if he could have his seat back.

Ava used all her willpower to not strike out.

He gulped down some supplements. “That’s not the case dear. She suffered depression and took her own life. The problem they have is that Madeleine didn’t take the drugs prescribed by the doctor. She took medication I provided.”

“You provided?”

“It was when we were testing the new drug. The results that were coming in were extremely positive.”

“Anthony, words, reports can be edited. They can be made confidential. Things can be hidden. We needed to do that. You must have been reading a filtered report. There were some severe side–effects, even deaths. We were lucky—the affected patients had complicated medical histories and the doctors never even considered our drugs might be a factor.”

“Our daughter was not a sick child. The drug wouldn’t have affected her to the extent you’re making out.”

“Maybe that’s true. But why didn’t you tell me?” Ava got up and walked around the room. “I sense danger here. We need to work out a strategy.”

She headed out of the room and tried hard to slam the door but there were sensors everywhere. The door slowed down as it got closer to the wall.

Her husband was an idiot.

<°)))><

Morality. Someone once asked Ava where her morality came from. Of course, the person was a Christian who soaked up moral teaching by going to Church, listening to like-minded people preaching about morality, and reading ‘the good book’ as they called it. Her response was simple: she made up her own moral teachings. That was why death didn’t disturb her. She didn’t see anything morally wrong about taking someone’s life.

Trust. Now trust was a different matter. Trust was important. She had trusted nobody until Anthony came along. She blamed this largely on her parents, who had no time for her, no boundaries, and who lied. And now Anthony had become like them.

The noose was being tightened. She knew they were coming to get her. There were too many loose ends. She had lost her daughter and maybe she was responsible for that—busy running away from her own past, and at the same time neglecting her daughter. She wouldn’t have allowed Anthony to put Madeleine on those drugs. They knew they could cause problems, particularly for the young underdeveloped brain. What a fool he was.

But now they were coming to get her. Them. Her darling Madeleine took her life because she was teased, then something took control of her. There was no need to kill Mrs Rose’s daughter. There was no need to find the secret ingredient. It was all a distraction anyway. The transporting device—that was the goal. Now go get it and get out of this godforsaken country. She chided herself for using such a term. Another reason for getting out of the country—too much God chatter.

And trust. She didn’t trust her husband any more. Just like that, the trust was gone, and she would deal with it. Quickly.

68 – Welcome back

JAMES SAT ON HIS BALCONY. The ravens were singing to him. He fiddled with the peace sign on his jeans and thought of Lucas. He hoped all was well.

The timing of his re-entry into the world was all but a bluff and he’d decided to morph back into the hermit life, for now anyway.

He missed his neighbour and decided when the dust settled he would go visit him.

And that lady? Well, he hoped the authorities had her restrained under ball and chain.

A raven landed on the balcony rail. Its white eyes stared at James. He was sure it winked.

Welcome back, James.

69 – Cheers to King Anthony

THE PERDU’S APARTMENT looked out towards the city. Anthony was out running again. He was doing it every day now. Evening jogs through the suburb promoted a good night’s sleep, or so he said.

The last twenty-four hours had been a torment for Ava. She had packed a suitcase and loaded it in the boot of her car. She also placed the Mother and Child painting in the boot.

A glass of water sat on the kitchen bench. Ava had got into the habit of having a drink ready for her husband the jogger. He would drink the water and run off to have a shower. It was all about Anthony.

He came in panting and puffing and drank all of the water in one gulp then screwed up his nose. “That had an unusual taste to it. They must be cleaning out the pipes or something.”

She watched him walk off to the shower and went to sit at the table. She no longer loved him. Snap, it was gone. The word love confused her. Was it just an emotion? Her parents showed her what love was and that left her with an emptiness Anthony had filled for a little while. Then it was just the company.

But with Madeleine it was something different. Madeleine filled some kind of void. She’d often told Madeleine how much she loved her. Was it a species thing, or just a state of mind? A moral code, she decides what’s right or wrong. Was that right? Ava knew where her thoughts were heading and she knew she had a choice. There is no God. Madeleine took her own life, because there is no God. He would have stopped it. He would not have let her put a rope around her neck. He would not have let her jump. He would have brought help.

Anthony made his way to the dining table, refreshed and wrapped in his Ralph Lauren Polo robe with his hands tucked in the oversized pockets, thumbs protruding. Ava ushered him to a chair. A glass of red wine sat in front of him.

Ava sat with her elbows resting on the table and her hands clenched, staring at her husband as he made himself comfortable. Yes, his majesty had arrived.

“You told me you feel like a secret king, apart from humanity, far superior to them all. Do you still think like that?”

Anthony smiled. “I do, but only in my thoughts. I feel my kingdom is growing.” He looked around the room. “Where’s the Mother and Child painting?

Ava ignored his last question. “So, Anthony my dear,” Ava raised her glass and moved it towards Anthony’s. “Here’s to King Anthony, good health, and knowing we trust each other.” Their glasses clicked. The wine splashed around in the glass.

He was hesitant and looked slightly confused but he sipped his wine.

“You remember how I spoke about the school of thought in medieval times where it was common to poison an enemy’s wine? And the clicking of glasses told the host that you trusted he hadn’t poisoned the drinks.”

Anthony looked at Ava and gave a half nod. His eyes widened in expectation.

“If there was a lack of trust, the host would pour some wine in the guest’s glass and drink it, to prove it wasn’t poisoned.”