Frannie let out a mirthless laugh, but she almost seemed relieved. “Is that what this dramatic confrontation is about? A tiny white lie I told months ago?”
“And yet it was much more than that. You tried to poison Mr. Parker against me,” Grace said, taking another step toward her. Frannie retreated with one of her own in response. “But that isn’t the only person you poisoned. Is it?”
Frannie’s eyes narrowed for a split second before Grace’s meaning hit home.
“You think I killed Harriet?” This time when Frannie laughed it was laced with genuine surprise. Her eyes widened. “She was climbing well beyond her social bounds but that doesn’t mean I wanted herdead.” She shook her head as if they were ridiculous. “Fine, I’ll admit that I lied to Theodore about you that first night at the Chicago Ball. It was clear you had set your sights on him, and it bothers me when people don’t abide by the social rules. They are there for a reason. But that doesn’t make me amurderess.”
She laughed again, still shaking her head in reproach. She began to walk away, but Grace stopped her.
Grace thought quickly, reaching for another card to play.
“And yet, we don’t think you were trying to poison Harriet. We think you were trying to poison Earnest. After all, it was his drink that was poisoned, not hers.”
“Earnest?” For the first time, Frannie’s composure faltered. She paused. “Someone was trying to poison my brother?”
“The murderer put strychnine in Earnest’s drink, and then he gave it to Harriet by accident.”
“But I would never… Earnest is my…” she trailed off. But her face paled. As though in that moment, she had realized something. There was a faint twitch by her eye. She reached up to touch it.
“What is it?” Theo asked sharply. “You’ve put something together just now, haven’t you?”
Frannie swallowed. She looked dizzy.
“What does strychnine look like?” she asked, her voice faint.
Grace pulled out her makeup compact. Hidden inside was a small bag of crushed white powder.
“Like this,” she said.
Frannie took it from her. Stroked the bag with a finger that betrayed the slightest tremble. She was silent for a tense moment.
“It wasn’t me,” she said fiercely. “I would never, ever hurt my brother. He’s all I have left.”
“But you know who did it,” Theodore said. “Don’t you?”
Frannie exhaled, looking at the bag. “I saw this once. They use it for running, did you know that? He was trying to get Earnest to use it for rowing. I saw it but I didn’t realize until now that it’s what strychnine looks like.”
“Who, Frannie?” Grace asked.
Frannie closed her eyes. She whispered, “Copper.”
Theodore frowned. “But why would Copper want to kill your brother?”
“Why does anyone kill?” Frannie asked bitterly. She tightened her grip on the bag of strychnine. “To get to our money somehow. Now that my parents are gone, we’re all that’s left.” Her face looked pained. “Copper must have been courting me and planning to marry me for my inheritance, especially with my brother out of the way.” Her mouth turned down into a sad, resigned grimace. “Well, I’ll bedamnedif that happens.”
Grace glanced over her shoulders at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Here he comes,” Grace said.
“Quick,” Frannie said, scowling. “Hide. I’ll get a confession out of him. Just you wait and see.”
She pushed them into the shadows and smoothed her face into a mask. Then, when she had composed herself, she turned and welcomed Copper with a smile.
He strode toward her, leaning down to greet her with a kiss.
She managed to turn her face at the last moment.
And it was at precisely then that Grace realized that Frannie was still holding the little white bag.
