Chapter 12 - Into the Spider's Web
An hour later, Daniel arrived at the Federal Courthouse building in downtown Blackwood. The grand marble halls echoed with the footsteps of attorneys, marshals, and reporters gathering news of the massive syndicate bust.
Inside a private conference room on the fourth floor, Emily sat with Mark, holding a warm cup of coffee while little Lily slept peacefully on the leather couch nearby. Margaret sat at the far end of the long oak table, looking nervous and fidgety, her eyes darting toward the door every time someone passed by.
The heavy oak door opened, and Daniel stepped inside.
"Daniel!" Emily gasped, jumping up and throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank God you're okay! The agents told us Clara was arrested at the mill!"
"It's over, Emily," Daniel said, holding his sister tightly before looking over her shoulder at Margaret. "At least, Clara's part of it is over."
Margaret forced a small, trembling smile onto her face. "Oh, thank goodness, Daniel. You saved us all. You're a hero, son."
"Don't call me son, Margaret," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a ice-cold tone that made the room instantly quiet.
Emily pulled back, looking confused. "Daniel? What's wrong?"
Daniel walked slowly toward the table, pulled the leather ledger from his jacket, and slammed it down onto the polished wood right in front of Margaret.
"Page twenty-two, Margaret," Daniel said flatly. "Care to explain why my father's three-million-dollar life insurance policy was transferred to your personal shell company two weeks before he died?"
Margaret's face went completely drain of color. Her hands began to tremble violently on the table. "I... I don't know what you're talking about. Edward set that up himself! He wanted to make sure I was taken care of!"
"Liar!" Daniel shouted, slamming his hand on the table. "Edward was poisoned, Margaret! The autopsy report from three weeks ago noted irregular traces of synthetic digitalis in his bloodstream! The doctors thought it was a natural heart attack, but it wasn't! You were the one giving him his daily cardiac medication!"
Emily gasped, clutching her chest, staring at her mother-in-law in horror. "Mom... no... tell me that's not true! Tell me you didn't hurt Dad!"
"I didn't have a choice!" Margaret suddenly broke, her voice turning into a ragged, desperate screech as she pressed her hands over her face. "Clara was threatening to kill Mark! She knew Mark owed two point five million dollars! Clara told me if I didn't help her get Edward's life insurance money to cover the debt, she would kill Lily!"
"So you poisoned my father?!" Daniel yelled, tears of anger rising in his eyes. "You murdered my father to cover up Mark's debt?!"
"I didn't mean to kill him!" Margaret sobbed hysterically. "Clara gave me the drops! She said it would just make him sick so he'd be admitted to the hospital where she could access his safe deposit key! I didn't know the dose was lethal! I swear to God, I didn't know!"
Mark stood up, his jaw slack with absolute horror as he looked at his mother-in-law. "You... you did that to Edward? The man who welcomed me into his home? The man who tried to help me?"
May you like
"I did it for you!" Margaret screamed at Mark. "I did it for your stupid gambling mistakes! I did it to keep this family together!"
"You didn't keep us together, Margaret," Daniel said quietly, stepping back as two federal marshals knocked on the door and entered the room. "You destroyed us."
