Madam Quartley said sternly, "Tremaine, did you hear that? I had someone test the broth earlier, and it contains a potent poison! Are you still defending Yesseca with all the evidence and witnesses?"
Tremaine's brows were tightly knotted.
After a moment, he suddenly asked, "Qiana, I want you to go through everything again and think about whether there could be anything that you're missing out on."
Qiana's eyes widened as if she really was thinking about it.
After a while, she raised her head and said, "I thought of something... could there be something wrong with the meat itself?"
As she spoke, her tone became more urgent. "Miss Cowell said that she was going to go to the market to get the meat for the broth. I found it odd at the time because there was meat in Quartley Palace. She was insistent, though."
"There has to be something wrong with the meat, knowing how dirty the market is!"
Hearing Qiana's words, Madam Quartley was furious.
How could Qiana be so silly?
She immediately said, "All of the livestock in Nashaland has to be properly tested and checked. How can they have any poison in them?! Qiana, don't you get it? Yesseca went out of her way to get meat at the market so that she could take the chance to poison it, then use it as an excuse to rid herself of the blame!"
Qiana's face, which was already pale to begin with, became bloodless with Madam Quartley's words.
She mumbled to herself, "Miss Cowell... why would Miss Cowell do that? She said that she really likes Montez and I could see that she did!"
"Tremaine, Yesseca's locked up in her room now. Tell me what you're going to do with her!" Madam Quartley watched Tremaine closely.
A streak of light flashed in Tremaine's eyes.
"Grandma, we cannot base everything solely on what Qiana says," said Tremaine. "There is no conclusion to this matter yet."
After a while, Tremaine went to look for Montez.
Montez was lying in bed, looking dejected.
When he saw Tremaine, he said feebly, "Daddy."
Tremaine said, "Montez, I heard that you had a puppy?"
Montez looked sad. "Yes, its name was Linda. It was adorable, but now it's gone. Daddy, I'm so sad."
Tremaine caressed Montez's head and said, "Montez, humans have to die of old age and sickness, let alone dogs. Don't think too much."
Montez bit his lip and said nothing.
Then, Tremaine asked casually, "Why'd you suddenly think of getting a dog?"
Montez said, "I asked Mummy to get it for me. I just suddenly wanted one."
He paused, then continued, "Linda was really adorable. I played with it for about an hour, then Great-grandma came, so I helped her down the stairs. I had to put Linda aside to help her."
"Later, when I wanted to show Linda to Greatgrandma, I saw Linda in the kitchen... Linda was already dead."
A child's world was different from that of adults.
What a child saw was also different from an adult.
Therefore, Montez only paid attention to Linda, and not to the broth that was on the floor.
"Don't be sad, Montez," Tremaine said. "Perhaps the dog was already sick, to begin with. I'm sure it would have been really happy to have had fun with you before dying."
After Tremaine comforted Montez, Montez finally felt better.
Tremaine told him to get some rest.
Montez nodded. "You too, Daddy."
Tremaine walked towards the door, then paused and turned back to look at Montez. "Montez, when you put the dog down to go help your greatgrandmother down the stairs, did your mother help you watch over the dog?"
Montez shook his head.
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