Aaliyah made sure none of her relief was presented in her voice as she spoke. “Now, speak. I will not ask another time.”     

Benard dropped his shoulders before asking Aaliyah “If I tell you what I know, do you give me your word that you will let me go?” 

“You have my word.”

She wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth. A few moments passed as she held her breath, waiting for his words to break the piercing silence.

“For eleven years, I worked for both Mrs Zere and Mr Gebre Tesfaye. I was both a toxicologist and an apothecary for the family.” 

He was telling the truth. Aaliyah had grown up seeing him studying poison, conducting various tests in his lab, and creating medicines for all sorts of ailments.

“Before the Tesfaye’s would eat or drink something, I would test to see if it was poisoned.” 

Growing up, she always thought her parents were being too cautious. For every food and drink they had, they would have Benard test them. Yet, the one night the wine had been poisoned he had not been there. “Where were you the night the Tesfayes were poisoned?”

He hesitated, and Aaliyah once again pressed her dagger to his throat in a deadly reminder. “A week before the Tesfaye's murder…”  He paused, taking a deep breath before he spoke in a whisper, “I had been gambling—I had lost so much money and—” he stopped speaking, his shoulders tense. 

“And?” Benard did not speak, his body trembled slightly. “What is it?” she asked, as her pulse quickened its beat. Aaliyah took slower breaths to calm herself down. She wanted to stay focused on Benard’s every word and reaction.

He took a deep breath. “When I had lost everything, I was…desperate. What was I to do? My wife had recently gotten into an accident and so I—”

“How? What happened to her?"

“Someone had a-attacked her. In the process of robbing her, they b-beat her half to d-death," Benard paused as his voice shook. "I had to pay for the medical bills but money was tight. I didn't know what to do," he hung his head. "Then...a friend of mine told me about this gambling den where people win big. So," he sighed, "I went. In the beginning, I was doing so well until...," he clenched his jaw, "everything went to sh**."

“Could you not have turned to the Tesfaye’s?” she asked, “They were generous people.”

“I was not going to beg them for money,” he said stiffly.

“So your pride got in the way.”

His body went rigged, “Don’t you dare blame me! It wasn’t my fault. I’m good at gambling but…I don’t know what happened." He clenched his hand, "The game was rigged, I’m telling you.”

“What’s the name of the place?”

“It’s called,” he hesitated, “Goldies Luck."

Aaliyah scoffed, "False advertising huh?"

"Tell me about it," he sighed. "I lost all my money and I wasn't having it. I knew they cheated. And of course, I made sure to let them know."

"I'm guessing that didn't go well?"

"What do you think?" he rolled his eyes. "The workers called security on me and as I was being kicked out, this man stepped forward. He told the guards to let me go. And they did; with no questions asked. It was all very peculiar."

This man had power and authority. Aaliyah had to get more information on him before she left Benard.

"He pulled me aside and bought a drink for me. As we drank, he told me he had a deal he could make with me. He told me," Benard hesitated. "He said he would give me a hundred pounds in gold if I…” He stopped speaking.

“If you what?” Aaliyah urged him on.

“If I—well, he wanted me to make a…” Beard paused for a long time, so long she almost drew more blood. “...poison,” he said so quietly that Aaliyah barely heard.

But she had.

Her body stilled. She took a quick breath in.

Don't tell me…

“And so…he gave me half the money upfront so I would know he was not conning me. And I…agreed to do it for him.”

Aaliyah’s grip tightened on her dagger.

“He had been specific with wanting an undetectable poison that could not be tasted or smelled, and could kill within minutes.”

Undetectable. Could not be tasted or smelled. Could kill in minutes.

Aaliyah could hardly breathe. It all fit what the investigators had reported.

“I am an expert at my craft with untold knowledge and so I—I was already working on a poison like that in my spare time."

Aaliyah's nails dug into Benard's arm.

"Y-you see, I was always a curious person so... i-it didn’t take me long to come up with what he wanted.”

A roaring was beginning to sound in her ears.

“I gave him the poison I had concocted a few days later and he handed me the rest of the gold.”

Aaliyah clenched her teeth after hearing what he had said, what it all implied. 

The burning fire within her seared hotter, it made her want to shove the dagger further into his throat.

Deep breathes.

And she listened to herself, she took in slow breaths, willing the fire to die down. Aaliyah tried to keep her voice devoid of all emotion when she asked her next question.

“Did you know it was going to be used on the Tesfaye’s and Mr Steel?”

Silence.

God, he knew. 

He must have. Still, Aaliyah had to hear the confession from his lips. “Answer me, did you know?”

Benard clenched his fist, “I didn’t have a choice.”

Are you kidding me? He didn’t have a f-ing choice? 

“You always have a choice,” she hissed. “Answer my question. I won’t ask another time.”

He let out a defeated sigh. “Yes. Yes, I knew.”

I hate him. I hate him, I hate him. He deserves to die–

Aaliyah bit down hard on her lip until a metallic taste filled her mouth. She had to distract herself from the hot fury that was boiling under her skin before she really did kill him.

“You betrayed the Tesfaye’s. You betrayed them because of your greed.”

“It wasn’t greed! I needed the money for myself—I mean for my wife!” Benard's voice was full of pity for himself and it only made Aaliyah feel sicker.

As if you didn’t want the money to indulge in your vice.

“The man warned me not to go to Mr. Steel’s honorary party the following night. He also told me to stay at the hospital the whole day and night as a perfect alibi. So I did.”

“How did the man know about your wife?”

Benard opened his mouth, then closed it. “I-I actually…don’t know. You’re right. How did he know? I don’t think I had mentioned it—maybe I did?”

“Do you not find it odd that after your wife was attacked, you lost all your money to a game you said was rigged? And then, this money man shows up to solve all your problems?" she scoffed, "I don’t know about you. But to me, that man is undeniably suspicious."

“I never thought about that." He shrugged, “Well, either way, I got my money, so it worked out in the end.”

Her body stiffened. “How could you say that? When your selfishness caused other innocent people too—” she couldn’t say it. The word seemed lodged in her throat.

“What's it to you?" Benard said harshly. "The way you're acting…hmm. Ah yes, you must have been close to the people who unfortunately passed.”

“Not passed you piece of sh**!" She couldn't stop the words from flying out. "They were murdered! Face reality, you killed my—you killed them!" Aaliyah's knees felt weak, her strength almost gone. "You don’t deserve to live," she said in a broken whisper before her voice began gaining strength. "You scum. You are cheating on your wife, you destroyed a whole family. Hell, you even tried to kill the Prime Minister. How dumb could you be?”

"I had no choice! My wife almost died."

"As if you care about her," she increasingly tightened her grip on Benard's broken arm. "And once again you did have a choice; you just chose wrong."

“Ack, Stop! I told you the information you wanted so stop hurting me!”

“I’m not done.”