Poisoned Fortune

Five Killers in One Room

By 9a.m., Eric was at the mansion with the detectives who were in charge of his case. He sat in his car for a few minutes, watching the mansion that extended out before him. going in made him feel a little apprehensive.

Henry Ford, the detective, cleared his throat. “Are we planning to go in today or should we wait?”

Eric sighed. “We’ll go in. this house just gives me this weird vibe, you know?”

“Yeah, I get your point.” Tricia nodded.

“Why did you want us here, by the way?” Henry asked. “We have other police duties to attend to, you know? You have two officers already playing guard.”

Eric scoffed. “This isn’t about having guards with me. plus, I’m sure someone can’t just get up and kill me in there. I want you to be present so you’ll observe and possibly see if you can figure out who would have the motive to kill me.”

Tricia nodded and gave Henry a knowing look. “I’m sure we can do that, Mr Casper.”

Of course, the detectives hadn't wanted to come. They’d wanted to send the other officers over but Eric had placed a call to their captain and requested that they should be put in charge of the case. It was quite easy since the request was coming from Eric. Even if his name didn’t ring any bells, the name Casper would definitely ring a thousand bells.

Eric stepped out of the car and his police escort followed behind. The mansion opened up into a huge interior that had exquisite and state-of-the-art furnishing. It was exotic with a dark theme. There were several paintings hung on the walls and flower pots kept at strategic points.

A domestic worker met them and ushered them to the living room. “Mr Chris has been waiting for your arrival, sir.”

Eric nodded wordless and stepped in. everyone was waiting. He took a few seconds to look into their faces in turn. Chris, Grey, Barry, and Sally—his father’s most recent mistress. He tried to figure out which of them would benefit most from assassinating him. it was hard to judge.

“Eric, you came…” Chris started but paused when he noticed the two officers behind him. “…with escort. What’s going on?”

“Nothing much. I just thought they should be here with me.”

Chris stood up and approached him while others looked on with dismissive gazes. “This is a private family meeting. You can’t have them in here. we need to discuss sensitive matters.”

“I’m sure we can keep secrets, Mr Casper,” Tricia said.

Chris scoffed, turning to her. “Yeah? And the next day we’ll have more news about our family flying all over the media.” He turned to Eric again, this time he was sterner. “What are you so worried about? First, you asked if you could do it virtually and now police officers?”

“Because someone tried to kill me!” Eric said, raising his voice a tad.

A series of gasps ran through the living room and everyone perked up. Eric glanced around, his heart thumping.

Chris frowned, stepping back. “What are you saying?”

“Two days ago, a sniper shot at me. it took a miracle otherwise I’d be a dead man by now.”

Grey perked up as well. He was mostly the eccentric one, the outsider of the family. He always appeared dishevelled. “Someone attacked you too?”

Eric nodded and Grey cursed. “When I told everyone that I suspected someone was after my life, you all thought I was making a mountain out of an ant’s hill. I know what happened. Someone attacked me and I still have the bruises to show for it.”

Henry stepped forward this time. “Someone attacked you? May I ask what happened and how you got away?”

“Not now, gentlemen!” Chris said. “You’ll have a moment to ask those questions but I believe we have a meeting to get to.”

“Do you think it’s a coincidence or someone’s really after us? Maybe the same people who…murdered dad?” Eric asked.

Barry shrugged. “Dad’s death was ruled as an accident because of the plane’s engine failure and subsequent explosion.”

“Thank you!” Chris said. “We need to all take a moment and handle this like grownups. That starts with the officers waiting in the other room while we have our meeting. Then, anything else can follow.”

It took a lot of debate before Eric agreed to let the detectives wait in the adjourning room. Finally, everyone settled and Chris took the floor. “You’re all welcome. I want us to disucss this with an open mind with no bias. I talked to the lawyers again and they assured me that dad’s last will and testament will be enforced in less than four months.

“You all know the situation of things. Now, I’m not coming out here to suggest anything in my favour, but I’m looking for a way to unite all of us…”

Eric knew the situation. After their father died, the will had been read and assets were shared excluding the multi-billion-dollar real estate company. The only way for any of them to inherit the company was if they met two conditions:

One, whoever would inherit would have to get married before the six months’ time frame were up and have a stable marriage.

Two, the five brothers had to unite and select a sole heir of their choice to inherit the company. This second clause was the catch. Of course, they all wanted a share of the company so none of them would willingly step down to make someone else advance.

But there was a second catch. Failure to provide a sole heir in six months would result in the company being sold to the highest bidder and the proceeds given away to charity and for philanthropic activities.

Again, none of them wanted that. Well, Eric didn’t want it that much, but it was an inheritance he was entitled to anyway.

Chris continued, “for our own benefit, I think we should cheat the clause.”

“Cheat the clause?” Sally asked. She didn’t have a share in the company directly, but she seemed interested in the family’s business. She worked there as an assistant manager.

Chris adjusted his shirt. “We need to unite and select a sole heir. Dad did this to make us forcefully form bonds with each other—”

“—would’ve been easier if he’d told us we had brothers,” Barry chipped in.

Chris ignored him and went on, “—we can have one person take the company and once the will is ratified, that one person can then give the others positions in the company as joint owners. It would be a win-win.”

“And who would be this sole heir?” Grey asked.

Chris hesitated and Sally laughed. “Him of course. Who else would be better suited than Christopher Casper?”

Chris shot her a glare. “For someone who has very little at stake, you talk a lot.”

“Maybe because I have more at stake?” Sally said.

Chris growled. Those two had never gone along. At a point, Eric has suspected that they used to have an affair that went sour. However, Chris didn’t argue further. “Think about it, I have a fiancée already. I know the business inside out because I’ve worked on it my whole life. I know the board and arranging this idea will be easier for me to handle. Most of all, I’m trustworthy. I wouldn’t swindle you all.”

“You wouldn’t swindle us?” Barry asked, sitting up. “Or maybe you’d kick us all out?”

“Speak for yourself,” Grey said. “I don’t know why I’m listening to this.”

“Then you should step down!” Chris bellowed, his brow tensing.

Finally, Eric spoke. “Or maybe this is why people want to kill us. This inheritance stuff.”

They all fell silent. Then, Sally said, “you think someone with a stake in the company wants to eliminate the others so they can be the sole heir?”

Chris whipped at her. “You’re not helping and I don’t appreciate that conspiracy theory!”

Sally chuckled and sat back. “What, isn’t this fun? A room full of five killers—or suspect killers?”

Chris realized too late that the meeting had gotten out of hand. No one wanted to stand down. They had equal rights to the company and the more they had these kinds of meetings, the worse it would be. For all Eric knew, any of them could be the killer.

“That’s bull crap,” Chris said. “Maybe you all offended some dangerous people. if that’s true, why haven’t I been attacked? Why hasn’t Barry and Sally been attacked? Why just the two of you?”

“I honestly don’t want to be attacked, Chris,” Sally said with a smile. Eric felt she was hiding something.

Chris was getting irritated. “What you all fail to understand is that in less than four months, if we don’t make a choice, the company is as good as gone. If I forfeit my interest in the company, it still doesn’t change much because there’s three of you left. This was the only cheat I could think of which preserves everyone and builds a connection.”

Regardless, no one was willing to listen. The more they argued about the company, the more Eric felt one of them was behind the attacks. Was he getting obsessed with things that weren’t real? Definitely not. That bullet was as real as they could get.