Officer Miller: Police department! Master key override active, coming through the front entrance!
Marcus: Over here! In the main kitchen area!
Two uniformed Dallas police officers rushed into the wide open kitchen space, their hands resting cautiously near their belts. Behind them stepped a tall, sharp-eyed detective wearing a dark trench coat, his eyes instantly taking in the scene of shattered glass, green liquid, and the crying young girl in Marcus's arms.
Detective Vance: I am Detective Reynolds. We got a 911 dispatch regarding an attempted poisoning at this residence. Who made the call?
Marcus: I did. My name is Marcus Vance. My wife, Clara Vance, just attempted to poison my drink with industrial arsenic.
Clara: Detective, that is a complete lie! My husband is under immense pressure from his corporate merger, and he is experiencing a psychological breakdown! He is making delusional accusations!
Detective Reynolds: Ma'am, keep your voice at a calm volume and step away from that garage exit door immediately.
Lily: She did it, Mr. Police Officer! I saw her put the liquid from the blue bottle into Daddy's cup!
Detective Reynolds: Officer Miller, secure the perimeter and secure that glass evidence on the floor. Don't let anyone touch a single shard.
Officer Miller: Copy that, Detective. Placing evidence markers now.
Detective Reynolds stepped forward, taking the sealed plastic bag containing the small blue bottle directly from Marcus's hand. He held it up to the kitchen light, reading the partial label with a cold, focused expression on his face.
Detective Reynolds: Mrs. Vance, where did this bottle come from?
Clara: I have no idea! I have never touched that bottle! My husband or one of the housekeepers must have put it there to frame me!
Marcus: Frame you? I signed a full updated life insurance policy three weeks ago, naming you as the primary beneficiary of fifty million dollars! Why on earth would I frame you?
Detective Reynolds: Fifty million dollars? That provides a very significant financial incentive, Mrs. Vance.
Clara: Lots of wealthy couples have life insurance policies! That isn't a crime! You can't arrest me based on the word of a hysterical child!
Lily: I am not hysterical! You told me yesterday that Daddy was going to go away on a long trip and never come back!
Marcus: What? She said what to you, Lily?
Lily: Yesterday when you were at the office, she told me that soon it would just be me and her living in this big house, and that I had to obey her or she would send me to boarding school!
Clara: She's making it up! She's a manipulative little brat!
Marcus: DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT!
Detective Reynolds: That is enough out of everyone! Mrs. Vance, place your hands behind your back right now.
Clara: You can't be serious! On what charges? You haven't even tested the liquid on the floor yet!
Detective Reynolds: You are being detained for attempted first-degree murder and child endangerment pending full chemical lab analysis of this crime scene. Put your hands behind your back or I will add resisting arrest to the charges.
Clara's face turned beet red with rage, her breath hitching as Officer Miller pulled her arms behind her back, snapping the cold steel handcuffs around her wrists. The sound of the metallic click echoed through the spacious kitchen, making Lily hide her face in her father's neck.
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