Chapter 2 - THE BOTTLE
Police secured the terrace and relevant areas of the villa after statements were taken.
Leonor was not convicted that night.
She was investigated.
There is a difference.
My injuries were documented.
The terrace scene was photographed.
The rope recovered below was collected.
My phone was found where I described.
Its metadata helped establish when the photographs and video were created.
The video was seventeen seconds.
I had started recording after seeing Leonor in the service pantry.
It showed her holding the garden-chemical bottle.
Then pouring liquid into an unmarked dropper bottle.
No Mateo.
No food.
No poisoning.
Still important.
Investigators recovered the garden product.
It contained a pesticide compound capable of causing gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms if ingested in sufficient amounts.
That did not prove Mateo had ingested it.
So doctors tested carefully.
Some compounds disappear rapidly.
Others leave metabolites.
Toxicology required interpretation.
Mateo’s initial testing identified abnormalities consistent with exposure to the compound in question.
Not proof Leonor administered it.
But now we had:
A symptomatic child.
A chemical.
Evidence of exposure.
A video of Leonor transferring that chemical.
And Leonor attempting to kill—or at minimum seriously harm—the person who discovered it.
The investigation widened.
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Nicolás stopped asking whether his mother could have done it.
He started asking why.
