Chapter 4 - The House of Glass and Lies
Downstairs in the grand salon, Licenciado Morales, a senior partner from one of Santa Fe’s most feared defense firms, paced across the imported Italian marble floor with an expression of manufactured outrage. Beside him stood two federal police officers who had been summoned under the pretense of an illegal domestic detention.
The double doors swung open.
Alejandro Arriaga walked into the room, flanked by Ramiro and Lucía, who carried the silver tray with the poison bottle.
“Mr. Arriaga, this is an outrage!” Morales barked, stepping forward and waving a legal document in the air. “Holding my client, Mrs. Regina Arriaga, under armed guard without formal charges constitutes unlawful kidnapping and deprivation of liberty! I am ordering you to release her immediately, or my officers will execute an immediate rescue and arrest warrant for you and your staff!”
The two federal officers shifted uncomfortably, recognizing Alejandro’s immense political influence and economic sway in the capital.
Alejandro didn't flinch. He walked slowly to the center of the room, stopping just a few feet from the defense attorney. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't yell. He simply reached into his jacket pocket and placed a clean, transparent evidence bag on the glass coffee table between them. Inside the bag was the dark dropper bottle and a certified laboratory toxicology printout signed by Dr. Cárdenas.
“Counselor,” Alejandro said, his voice dropping to a low, lethal purr. “Before you threaten me with federal warrants, I suggest you review the contents of that bag.”
Morales frowned, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, and leaned over the table. He picked up the toxicology report, scanning the medical terminology, the organophosphate compound levels, and the official hospital seal. As his eyes tracked down the page, the confident smirk on his face slowly dissolved into a pale, sickly gray.
“This... this is...” Morales stammered, looking up at Alejandro.
“Attempted aggravated murder of a minor,” Alejandro finished for him. “Combined with systemic financial fraud, forgery of corporate proxies, and conspiracy to commit unlawful institutionalization.”
Regina, who had been escorted into the room by the security guards behind Morales, let out a piercing shriek. “He’s lying! That’s a fabrication! They planted that bottle! Lawyer, do something!”
Morales turned slowly toward Regina, his professional veneer entirely shattered. He looked at the bottle, then at the federal officers, and quietly took two steps backward, distancing himself from her as if she were carrying a plague. “Mrs. Arriaga... I was told this was a simple domestic dispute regarding property rights. I was not informed of a criminal poisoning investigation.”
“You’re abandoning me?!” Regina screeched, lunging forward, but Ramiro’s heavy hand gripped her shoulder, pinning her firmly in place.
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Alejandro turned to the two federal officers. “Officers, my home is a private residence, but I am formally turning over a suspect caught in the act of administering a restricted agricultural pesticide to my ten-year-old son, along with complete forensic documentation and security camera footage of the crime.”
The senior federal officer looked at the toxicology report, then at Regina, and nodded grimly. He unclipped his handcuffs from his belt. “Mrs. Arriaga, you have the right to remain silent...”
