Chapter 9 - THE TEA
The confirmatory toxicology result came back.
A sedating prescription medication was present in Lucia’s blood.
Not prescribed to her.
Concentration consistent with recent exposure.
Could it alone explain the fall?
Miles said:
“It could contribute to impaired balance and drowsiness. Pregnancy, fatigue, hydration and other factors also matter.”
Could the lab say who administered it?
No.
Could it say whether Lucia took it knowingly?
No.
Then Adrian’s prescription history.
Police obtained records through proper process.
He had received the same medication after his back injury six months earlier.
Small prescription.
No refills.
He claimed he had discarded the remainder.
No inventory existed.
Then the Costa house.
Lucia consented to police collecting relevant items from shared areas.
Adrian’s private locked office required additional legal authority.
Kitchen evidence included:
Tea tin.
Cups.
Kettle.
Nothing useful by itself.
No loose tablets lying beside a confession.
Then house staff.
The cook said Adrian began preparing Lucia’s evening tea personally around five weeks earlier.
Unusual.
He had never been interested in tea.
The housekeeper noticed he sometimes carried the cup upstairs himself.
Still circumstantial.
Then a household security camera in the pantry hallway showed something more.
Not enough detail to identify a substance.
But twice, Adrian entered a small medicine cabinet before preparing Lucia’s tea.
His prescription had been stored there.
He later moved the medication box to his office.
Again.
Pattern.
Not proof by itself.
Then the phone search found a video from three weeks earlier.
Lucia at the kitchen island.
Eyes heavy.
Speech slow.
Adrian filming.
He asked:
“Do you remember what you said?”
Lucia:
“No.”
Adrian:
“You threatened to take my child away.”
Lucia:
“I didn’t.”
“You don’t remember.”
Then he turned the camera toward himself.
“Exactly.”
That video chilled me more than the staircase.
The fall was violence.
The kitchen video was construction.
He was creating a version of Lucia who could not trust her own memory.
May you like
But why?
Tomorrow, investigators would discover what Adrian planned to do with that version.
