“No, I won’t shut up!” Vivian cried. “You told me you were just helping Eleanor with her treatments. You said you were giving her vitamins.”

Alexander looked at Vivian, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and disgust.

“You knew?” Alexander whispered.

“I didn’t know it was poison!” Vivian said, her hands shaking as she held them up. “I swear, Alexander. I thought it was just experimental therapy. She told me it would help her.”

The sergeant stepped between the two women.

“Nobody leaves this area,” the sergeant said.

He turned back to Alexander.

“Mr. Hawthorne, I suggest you take your son inside the guest house. We are going to need to secure the main building as soon as the fire is out.”

Ethan, who had been standing silently by his father’s side, looked up at me.

His large, dark eyes were filled with an understanding that went far beyond his ten years.

“Elena saved the papers,” Ethan said softly.

Alexander looked down at his son, then looked back at me.

The anger in his eyes softened for a fraction of a second, replaced by a deep, painful realization.