‘I do just want to help,’ she said quietly.
‘I know that,’ he said, giving her a small smile. She felt warm. ‘I just wonder—and don’t bite my head off for this—but why not go to the authorities, have them deal with it?’
She sighed. ‘It isn’t so simple, nor so easy.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘People like you are taken seriously by the authorities,’ she said. He was rich, powerful, important. ‘But people like me … the people I help … we aren’t.’ These were women, the poor; those who were abused, overlooked, discarded, undervalued. ‘Sometimes you have to take things into your own hands.’
‘Oh.’ He considered this. ‘I’ve never thought of it that way.’
Of course he hadn’t. Why would he? But that wasn’t his fault, either; she knew that. It was getting harder and harder to be cruel to him, especially when he seemed so adamant on not being frightened away by her.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said again. ‘And thank you for explaining that to me, though it was not your duty to do so. You know I’ve—’ He broke off, suddenly shy.
That piqued her interest.
‘What?’
He laughed nervously before fixing his green eyes on her. ‘I’ve always been interested in you,’ he said. ‘From that very first time, when you did what you did to Luna’s father. Even when I didn’t agree with your poison work, from an academic standpoint, I was always fascinated—in awe, really. You motivated me; I wanted to be as good as you, even when I was away at school. I thought of you often.’
His cheeks were pink, and he looked away, clearly embarrassed by what he’d said, but his words cooled her like a salve against a burn.
She had always wanted to be as good ashim, even when he had been away. She had thought of him, as well. She still did. More than she would ever care to admit.
But she didn’t say any of that. She couldn’t say anything, not until her heart stopped pounding so hard.
She cleared her throat. ‘The reason I brought up the woman poisoning her husband,’ she said, trying to get back to the topicat hand, ‘was because I didn’t hear from her again for a second dose, which I was expecting since I gave her enough for a month, but told her it would take three before her husband died.’
‘Does that happen often?’ Xander asked. ‘What if she changed her mind?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Bisma said. ‘She was determined to end her suffering. But what if the husband found out about the poison and is trying to get revenge on me? She said he traveled for business sometimes, so he could have hired a witch to make the poison for him.’
Or Eleanora, she thought to herself.
‘It’s possible,’ Xander said, considering it. ‘Though it’s also possible that the woman ran away, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose.’ Bisma hadn’t thought of that. She certainly wanted to believe it. For some odd reason, Bisma didn’t want Eleanora to be guilty, and she suspected the reason was standing right in front of her.
‘Even so, do you know the man’s name?’ Xander asked. ‘With a bit more information, I could try and find out.’
‘No, but I do know the wife’s,’ Bisma said. ‘Leilani.’
Xander froze. His face flashed with pain so severe that Bisma felt sorry for bringing it up.
‘What is it?’ she asked, unable to keep the worry from her voice.
‘I knew someone called Leilani—she was like an aunt to me,’ he said, voice thick. ‘She was like a sister to my mother; they grew up together and were the best of friends.’
‘Do you think it’s the same woman?’ Bisma’s heart pounded. ‘Wait, what do you meanwas?’
‘I never knew her husband …’ He trailed off, horrified. ‘But, Bisma, she died in her sleep two months ago. That’s why you never heard from her.’
Bisma’s suspicions were confirmed.
This gave Eleanora a clear motive. Leilani’s husband must have found out about the poison and used it—or something else—on Leilani. Eleanora must have known it was Bisma that sold Leilani the poison and was the cause of all this.
Ohno.
