The policeman’s words hung in the cold air of the emergency room… – BICHNHU

It was a small, dark glass bottle with a partially torn label and a yellowish residue at the bottom, the kind of container we would normally see in pharmaceutical laboratories or toxicology reports.

“We found this in your kitchen,” the officer said gravely. “And we need to know if you recognize this substance or if you know how it ended up in your family’s food.”

The words took a few seconds to fully register in my mind, because my brain was still clinging to the image of Leo breathing heavily behind that curtain.

“At lunch?” I finally whispered, feeling every muscle in my body tense in disbelief.

The officer nodded slowly, as if he knew that every passing second made the reality he was placing before me heavier.

“The ambulance was called by her neighbor,” she explained. “He found her husband, sister, and son unconscious in their dining room.”