Chapter 5 - The Detective’s Shadow
The flashing red and blue lights cast eerie, dancing shadows across the faces of the wedding guests as Detective Marcus Vance stepped through the threshold. He possessed an imposing physical presence, his sharp grey eyes scanning the ruined reception table with the cold precision of a seasoned homicide investigator. Without a word, he bypassed the panicking crowd and walked straight toward Julian and Clara, his heavy leather shoes clicking rhythmically against the hardwood floor.
“Officer, you need to help her!” Clara cried out, gesturing frantically toward Evelyn, who was now being loaded onto a stretcher by the paramedics with an oxygen mask strapped to her face. “She drank something toxic from our table!”
Detective Vance didn’t look at Evelyn. Instead, his piercing gaze remained locked on Julian, who stood rigidly beside his weeping bride. The detective pulled a small digital tablet from his trench coat pocket, tapping the screen a few times before holding it up. The glowing display clearly showed the overhead footage of Evelyn slipping the syringe into the glass, followed by Julian’s lightning-fast switch.
“I don’t think we need to worry about the guest of honor dying just yet, Mrs. Vance,” the detective said evenly, his voice deep and gravelly. “The hospital staff pumped her stomach within minutes of the call. She’ll make a full recovery—straight into a jail cell.”
Julian let out a slow, cautious breath, though the knot in his stomach only tightened.
“Then why are you looking at me like that?” Julian asked, his voice steady despite the adrenaline hammering in his veins.
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“Because,” Detective Vance replied, stepping closer until he was standing mere inches from the groom, “swapping a lethal poison instead of reporting it to security or stopping her isn’t just heroic intervention, Mr. Vance. Under the law, when you knew exact dosages and failed to seek immediate medical help for the person who drank it until it was almost too late... it looks an awful lot like attempted premeditated homicide by omission.”
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