Pinch of Arsenic

Chapter 1

Lavinia Brickwood entered the office with purpose. Detective Ansel Linton looked at the intruder and was too stunned to speak. In front of him stood Lady Brickwood, clad in all black and no more than twenty years in age to seek his services. A lady of such high standing alone with a man offered no pretty picture in England's society of ranks and rules.

After a few seconds of regaining his composure, Ansel Linton offered Lavinia a seat.

"Now, how may I help you, my lady?"

"I'm in a gigantic dilemma, sir, and I believe only you can help. I'm sure you've heard but five months ago, my parents passed."

He had heard. Their deaths created a big scandal considering Lavinia was their only daughter, which made her heiress. Lavinia's father's decision to leave all his money to her, a girl, created quite a stir in the uptight nobles.

"Just yesterday, I believe someone attempted to poison me! Can you believe that?"

He saw no correlation between the attempted poisoning and her parents' death.

"What makes you think someone poisoned you?"

"Yesterday, I was having dinner with my extended family, they're staying with me to attend a dinner to celebrate my father's birthday, and the servants brought out dessert at the end. It was banoffee pie and Cook usually dusts my slice with loads of sugar: I have a sweet tooth, you see. But then, I saw the sugar had a different hue and texture, so I left it to the side so I could tell Cook later.

When my familiars retired, I went to the kitchen and found Cook working on a dough for the next day. I asked if something was wrong with the sugar. She inspected and said it looked normal but upon my further insistence, realized it had a different texture. She had a hunch and led me to where the servants kept the cleaning supplies and there was the culprit. The cap of the arsenic was slightly loose and white powder dirtied the board."

All that time, the detective took notes on a piece of parchment, his lines small but consistent.

"Do you know what's in your father's will?" Ansel asked, his eyes still on the paper.

She hesitated, "I- well, I'm the heiress, so I get everything. But, if something were to happen to me before the age of 25 and I'm unmarried, my father's wealth will be distributed amongst his family."

The fashion of his writing grew disorderly with the new information as he jotted down all his thoughts as fast as possible to not forget anything.

The change in speeds scared Lavinia. "But, sir. My family couldn't have done it. They could never. It's not them, I swear!"

"Anyone else who you suspect?"

She opened her mouth and then closed it again. "No."

"I need you to describe your relationship with every member of your family."

Lavinia began her soliloquy with a whir of words and rants. Her speech had absolutely no order and her thoughts were scattered everywhere. And yet, Ansel Linton kept up with her quick mouth, giving order and structure to Lady Brickwood's rants.

There was her aunt Holly, or the Countess of Stapleford, whom Lavinia shared a nice friendship with. She was her favorite aunt, and the one who always sent her a gift for her birthday.

The oldest sister was the dowager Baroness, aunt Emilia . Lavinia said she was a widow with William, Lavinia's twelve year old cousin. She and her aunt bonded over their love for birds, for there wasn't much conversation other than that.

The most uptight of her family was Lord Henry Brickwood. Now the oldest, he officially held the title of Marquis. He had little patience and absolutely despised disorder. Ansel realized Lord Henry was probably not very fond of the chatterbox that was his niece.