The Killer Queen ( Noella Briony ) novel Chapter 143

Noella rounded the corner of the staircase when a peculiar noise from the basement storage room caught her attention. She frowned slightly and whispered, "Palmer, hang on a sec."

"I can wait forever."

After all, what was a little waiting if it made her fall for him?

Noella paused, sensing an undertone in Palmer's words. She slipped her locked phone into her blazer pocket and headed towards the basement, where stacks of supplies awaited.

The gallery staff had gone home for the day, but there were still some workers in blue overalls bustling about.

Noella glanced around the storage area and stealthily climbed atop a construction scaffold, crouching above the workers to eavesdrop.

"Come on, lace that batch of paint with the stuff."

"You sure they won't detect it once we put them in?"

"No way!" The ringleader was brimming with confidence.

"They’re odorless and colorless. Once they’re in, those painters will be none the wiser until they're sick. And when that happens, the gallery will be in deep water. Ms. Schnabel chose to be uncooperative and cross swords with the Gruber clan. She made such a show today, turning the Gruber's gallery into a laughingstock!"

The workers mixed the powdered substance into the paint, and then added the doctored paint cubes into the original batches.

"Is Ms. Schnabel still in her office?"

"Lights out upstairs, must've left."

The lead worker pulled a vial from his pocket, his face twisted with malice, "Just drop this into her office water cooler. One sip and she's done for!"

The other workers paled on spot, not expecting to take action against Noella.

"You can't hit Ms. Schnabel, even if you're out for Petra's blood. What if the Schnabels come after us?"

That was Ms. Noella Schnabel, for heaven's sake. If something happened to her, they wouldn't have lives enough to pay!

The lead snarled, "Relax, the Gruber family's got our backs."

That young wretch had done things without considering their feelings. All Petra did was skim some cash, chump change for the Schnabel family. But Noella had to show her authority and lock Petra up. Well, she couldn’t blame him for playing dirty!

Noella watched the scene impassively. Her gaze swept over the surveillance cameras, all predictably dead, every red light that should have been blinking was out cold. These guys came prepared.

Once the paint was tampered with, they turned to the materials stored elsewhere.

"What about the equipment?"

"Forget it. The materials we supplied them are faulty. In three days, half of this exhibition space will collapse, preferably during business hours. Wouldn't it be fun if it crushed a few patrons?"

They had it all figured out. If the equipment failed and the exhibition collapsed, killing people, not even the Schnabel family could save the gallery.

It would close for sure. And they would see who could challenge the Gruber family then!

"Just some country bumpkin thinking she's Ms. Art Connoisseur? Let's see how she handles a disaster then!"

"When the gallery falls, they'll regret handing it over to a brat. There's nothing the Gruber family can't do!"

Teeth gritted, the workers swept a glance around the stuff in the storage and left, satisfied with their sabotage to basically everything.

Noella’s gaze darkened bit by bit as she watched them leave through the back door. She recognized them; they were Petra's go-to crew, who had swindled the gallery for years under Petra's wing. Now with Petra locked away, those workers lost a cash cow, thus turned to the Gruber family and ganged up for revenge? Conspiring for money and murder, the lowest of the low.