As Teresa walked out into the blinding light of the sun, a heaviness settled on her. She turned and looked back at the large metal doors that led into the mountain. She knew she had gathered all the information she could from Cardin, but she still felt as if she had missed something.
"Are you also imagining how heartbroken Cardin must be?" Leah asked as she walked up to her.
"Uh, yeah he must be devastated," Teresa lied.
She had honestly forgotten all about how sad he was. While she worked as a bodyguard she had learned that a man's anger usually meant more than his anguish. Cardin displayed enough anger for Teresa to remember it.
"So was that helpful?" Leah asked as she shielded her eyes from the sun.
"It was a good start, I think," Teresa said confidently.
"Okay, so what's next?" Leah asked expectantly.
Teresa opened her mouth to answer the question and suddenly realized she had no idea what they should do next. The kitchen interview didn't point her in any specific direction, like she had hoped it would. What would Bella do next? She thought as she stared at the pretty, blonde standing in front of her. She briefly got distracted thinking about the things Leah could do with that tiny body of hers. That was when the idea came to her.
"The body," Teresa blurted excitedly.
"Does that excite you?" Leah said and gave her a cautious look.
"No, not at all," Teresa said and gave an embarrassed smile.
She didn't tell her that she was excited because she was making this up as she went along, and had no idea if she could actually catch the killer.
"Hey did I thank you for doing this for us? I'm guessing this isn't something you do normally, so I just want you to know that I'm thankful for any help you can provide," Leah said as if she had read Teresa's mind.
The two women walked through the scattered tents that made up Dagger's End, until they came to an all black tent.
"Why is this one so dark?" Teresa asked before they walked into the tent.
"It's mostly a warning to young children, they see the black tent and know not to wander in here. This is strictly where we prepare bodies for the pyre," Leah said and pointed to the funeral pyre being constructed behind them.
"When will the funeral be?" Teresa asked and walked into the tent.
"Tonight, unless the weather doesn't allow for it," Leah said.
The inside of the tent was surprisingly bright. Teresa looked up and saw that the top of the tent was made of a thin mesh material.
"That's so we don't have to burn torches to keep this place lit," A heavyset man, with long graying black hair and an even longer beard said.
There was a stone table in the center of the room with a woman's lifeless body lying on it. The man was wrapping the body in white cloth. The woman's face wore a permanent expression of agony. Her mouth was twisted and her eyes bulged.
"Is that her?" Teresa asked Leah.
Even before Leah nodded, Teresa knew the answer to her question. The tears pouring from Leah's eyes like heavy rain from storm clouds told Teresa it was Allana.
"She looks like she was in so much pain," Leah said before she turned her back to the table and doctor.
"It pains me to say that she was, and it lasted until her death," He said as he continued wrapping her body. The only part of her not covered in the cloth was her tormented face.
"Do you know what kind of poison it was?" Teresa asked hopefully.
The man fixed his eyes on Allana's frozen expression and considered his answer.
"I can't be certain, but if I had to guess I would say it was either Oleander or Water Hemlock," he said.
"What makes you think that it was one of those two poisons?" Teresa asked while staring at Allana's face.
"Well, they are both easily obtained and highly effective. Also she displayed the symptoms of them. She experienced sharp pain in her stomach, nausea, and judging by the scar on the back of her head, I believe she became dizzy and collapsed in the place she was later found by her husband," he said.
"And when you say they are both easy to obtain, do you mean they grow here?" Teresa asked.
"No, but nothing else does either. They would have to be ordered. But since they grow easily up north they are pretty cheap," the man said confidently. He began covering Allana's face with the cloth.
"You seem to know a lot about ordering poisons, is there anything else you wanna tell us," Teresa asked with an eyebrow raised.
The man looked up at her skeptically for a few seconds, then shook his head and continued his work.
"I do hope you catch the bastard that did this. Allana was a treasure to Dagger's End, she deserved better."
"Well, thank you for the information," Teresa said before leaving the tent.
As they walked back into the sunlight Teresa surveyed the scene. The funeral pyre had been set up in the center of Dagger's End. The residents were tearing down their tent homes and rebuilding them further away to make space for the event. Teresa couldn't help but notice that the people of Dagger's End didn't keep many material possessions. No one seemed to need more than a small chest for storage. She lived a similar lifestyle before she moved in with Simeon. After she moved in with him however, she found herself growing more and more sentimental. Things she would normally discard became keepsakes that she treasured. She suddenly found herself thinking about Simeon and what he was probably doing at that moment. He was probably going around making everyone in Lilyfield feel like she did the day she met him. Leah sniffled loudly beside her and ended her trip down memory lane.
"Are you going to be okay to continue?" Teresa asked Leah, who was wiping tears from her reddened cheeks.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, where to now?" Leah asked and did her best to regain her composure.
"Well, the guy in there just said that the poison would need to be ordered, so now we need to find out who ordered it. Please tell me you all keep records of what you order," Teresa said in a voice that was borderline begging.
"We do. In fact everything we order goes through...," Leah's voice trailed off mid sentence. Her head dropped and her shoulders slumped as well.
"What is happening right now?" Teresa asked nervously.
Everything we order goes through me. I ordered the poison that killed Allana, that was supposed to kill Jules," Leah said with a defeated look on her face.