"Because it seemed insignificant at the time, and you were too difficult." Eleanore said, a note of frustration creeping into her own voice now, directed as much at herself as anyone. "But now, hearing this—" she paused, the pieces settling into place with an unpleasant kind of clarity. "Victor, I think it might be the same man who poisoned Stella."
The room went silent for a moment. Victor's jaw tightened, and Caelestis's hand found Eleanore's on, steadying, though his own expression had gone hard with something close to alarm.
"What makes you think that?" Victor asked carefully.
"The timing," Eleanore said. "It was around the same period Stella was poisoned. And there was something about him, I couldn't place it then, but looking back, he felt like someone who didn't belong in that garden at all. Like he was there for a reason, not by accident."
