“I’m sorry, Daniel,” Caleb said. “I didn’t know she was going to do it. She told me Emily was sick.”

“You knew enough to lie to me,” I said.

“She said she’d pay my debts,” he whispered. “I was desperate.”

“You sold your sister-in-law’s life for a few thousand dollars,” I said.

Caleb covered his face with his hands and began to sob.

Margaret looked at him with pure disgust.

“Useless,” she muttered.

She turned her attention back to me.

Her hand reached into the deep pocket of her wool coat.

“Don’t do it, Margaret,” Sophia warned, stepping forward.

Margaret pulled her hand out.

She wasn’t holding a weapon.

She was holding a small, glass vial and a syringe.

“This is the same sedative we used to keep Emily quiet,” Margaret said, her voice steady.

“If you take another step, Daniel, I’ll make sure he never wakes up.”

My chest felt like it was being crushed.

“You wouldn’t,” I whispered.

“I have nothing left to lose,” she said. “If I can’t have him, you won’t either.”

“She’s bluffing,” Sophia said, her voice tight. “Daniel, don’t let her get to you.”