Page 47 of Fatal Conspiracy

“I figured,” he agreed. “She was looking at Josh’s financials, right?”

“Yes, and she sent me that stuff. He was in serious debt that would have destroyed his business if he didn’t do something fast.”

Derek tipped his head. “Why was he in debt? Virtual Scorpion Productions wasn’t the size of Black Marlin Technologies, but he did very well for himself.”

“I was in the middle of trying to find out when Mina called,” she explained. “She got her hands on Hugo’s preliminary autopsy report.”

“I’m sure there was nothing surprising, right? He died of antifreeze poisoning.”

“He died of a massive heart attack due to a large bolus of it, according to the coroner. However, there was evidence in his system that he’d been microdosed with antifreeze for weeks before his death.”

The blood whooshed through his ears as he tried to make sense of what she’d just said. “I don’t understand.”

“According to the coroner, someone had been giving him small doses of antifreeze every day. Probably in his coffee or vitamin water.”

“And Mina thinks it was me.”

“I assured her it wasn’t,” Alayah said, squeezing his hand to keep him grounded.

He fumbled for his phone, pulling it from his pocket and opening an internet tab. “What are the symptoms of antifreezepoisoning? Hugo had been sick for at least a month with concerning symptoms.”

“You mentioned that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “You said he was forgetful and generally not healthy.”

“Look,” he said, pointing to the phone. “Forgetfulness, stomach pain and vomiting, heart palpitations, red skin and confusion. He had all these symptoms, and they were getting worse.”

“As you’d expect to happen the longer he was exposed to the poison,” she agreed. “You may have had the opportunity, but so did a lot of other people. Mina would like you to make a list of people who had means and opportunity.”

“Curtis.”

“Curtis?” she repeated and he nodded. “You think Curtis is behind this?”

“He’s been angry at Hugo for refusing to take the company public.” But was he angry enough to try to poison his boss? That was a stretch even for him, which Alayah echoed when she spoke.

“What good would it do to kill Hugo, though? We already know that none of them knew who he’d leave the business to.”

“The only thing we know is that Hugo didn’t tell anyone he was leaving it to me. We don’t know—”

“That he didn’t lie about who he was leaving the business to.”

He gave her a nod, and she popped up off the sofa and hurried to the computer, jumping up into her seat and shaking the mouse to wake the screen.

“What are you doing?” he asked, walking over to stand beside her. He always wanted to stand beside her, even once this was resolved. All he had to do was figure out how.

“Before Mina called, I was tracing Josh’s financials tosee if he had gambling debts or if he was being blackmailed.”

“What does that have to do with Curtis?”

“Well, if your business was in trouble, what would make you jump out of bed at three a.m. and drive somewhere in your pajamas without taking the time to get dressed?”

“Money,” he answered without thinking.

“What if he wasn’t being blackmailed, but he was doing the blackmailing? Theoretically, it would solve his money problem.”

“You think that Josh somehow knew that Curtis killed Hugo and wanted a payoff to stay quiet?”

“Would you put it past either of them?”

“Nope,” he answered with a shake of his head. “That would be well within both of their personalities. Unfortunately, we can’t prove it.”