The Legendary Martin Garvey

Chapter 6

“What?”

Isla’s eyes widened.

“No poison? How is that possible?”

At first, she hadn’t fully believed Ethan’s words.

But the laboratory results presented right before her—those couldn’t possibly be falsified, could they?

“Yes, ma’am,” the doctor nodded. “You may ask this lady if you don’t believe me.”

He politely gestured toward the middle-aged woman.

“Aunty, is that true?”

Isla quickly turned to her.

“Y-yes, ma’am.” The woman nodded. “I saw the entire process myself.”

On one hand, she was relieved that what happened to Cody wasn’t something dangerous.

But on the other hand, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to Martin. After all, he had been the first to help the child.

Still, she couldn’t lie. She had seen everything. And the results were indeed as stated.

“Miss Horner, everything should be clear now.”

Ethan smiled broadly as he stepped closer to Isla.

“What I said has proven itself. That is not the dangerous one,” he pointed at the bottle containing the liquid sample.

“But this man is.”

His finger shifted toward Martin.

“How could you think of taking advantage of a situation like this for your own benefit?”

Isla could no longer suppress her anger as she spoke firmly to Martin.

“Do you think this is a joke? If anything had happened to that child, I would never have forgiven you.”

“Miss Horner, there’s no need to waste your energy on someone like him. There will always be people who take advantage when we’re off guard. What matters now is that everything is settled. I’ve already fired this man. I’ll handle the rest.”

Ethan then turned to Quinn.

“Miss Hayes, you don’t need to worry. The trouble caused by your husband has nothing to do with you. You are still an assistant doctor at this hospital.”

Quinn merely nodded. She didn’t know what to say.

At the same time, she couldn’t hide how disappointed she felt about what her husband had done.

Her face burned red with anger and embarrassment.

Seeing the two beautiful women now seemingly on his side, Ethan could barely contain the satisfaction swelling in his heart.

Look at what intelligence can do! Both women admire me now! Hahaha! All it took was—

Before he could finish his inner monologue, Martin’s voice interrupted.

“Mr. Director, it seems there’s a rather serious mistake here.”

Martin folded his arms across his chest. His smile widened instead.

“How can you be certain that’s the same sample taken from the child?”

Ethan smirked.

This fool still won’t give up? Fine. I’ll make you even more humiliated.

“You still refuse to admit it? Fine. Take a look at this.”

Ethan gestured for a laboratory officer to be brought into the room.

Soon, a man in a plaid shirt under a white coat, glasses resting on his nose, entered while pushing a trolley carrying a state-of-the-art microscope.

“This man is the best toxicologist graduated from Stanford University, who happens to be visiting our hospital. Let’s hear his opinion.”

“Alright, thank you,” the toxicologist said.

“This liquid is alcohol.”

He picked up the sample bottle, poured some of its contents onto a handkerchief, and set it on fire.

Whoosh!

“Not extremely dangerous, but still harmful enough. I suspect the child was poisoned because he couldn’t distinguish the color of this hazardous substance from an ordinary drink. In the future, someone at home should educate everyone about such risks.”

After that explanation, everyone looked at Martin as if their gazes could kill him.

If a renowned toxicologist had spoken, what else could Martin possibly argue?

“You heard him, didn’t you?” Ethan asked, staring at Martin. “What else do you have to say now, huh?”

His face looked furious, but inside he was grinning triumphantly.

“Everything is clear now. You’d better kneel before Miss Horner and apologize immediately. That’s the only way to avoid facing a lifetime prison sentence. Do it now.”

“That will never happen.”

Martin shook his head firmly before turning to the toxicologist.

“Anyone knows what alcohol looks like. But how do you explain this?”

He pointed beneath the microscope lens.

“Please take a look.”

“What do you mean?”

The toxicologist frowned.

“You’ll understand after you examine it.”

Though hesitant, the toxicologist eventually complied.

The moment he leaned into the lens, his expression changed.

His eyes widened.

“No… This is impossible! How could this exist in a place like this?”

Shaking his head, he looked again before lifting his gaze toward Martin.

“Y-you… Are you—”

Before he could finish, Martin gestured toward Cody.

“I’m fine. You’d better check his saliva. The same substance should be there.”

“O-okay.”

The toxicologist took a tissue and asked the child to open his mouth.

“Wait! What are you doing?”

Ethan immediately tried to stop him.

“Sorry, Mr. Downey, I need to confirm something. This is extremely serious.”

Ignoring Ethan, he collected the sample and placed it under the microscope.

Moments later, he shook his head vigorously.

“Mr. Downey, this man is correct.”

The toxicologist looked at Martin with a mixture of astonishment and admiration.

“This is venom from a pine tree snake. Extremely dangerous. If it reaches the heart, cardiac failure will occur, and death can follow within three minutes.”

That was why, if the toxin entered through the mouth, the victim had to vomit immediately—by any means necessary.

“Because this man is very familiar with this venom, I’m certain he did exactly the right thing by preventing it from reaching the child’s heart.”

The toxicologist exhaled in relief.

“You should all feel reassured. This man acted correctly. He is truly a hero.”

Martin merely nodded and smiled back.

As the two men—strangers to each other—exchanged mutual respect, everyone else in the room stood frozen in shock.

“What…?”

Isla looked at Martin with a complicated expression.

“So… he was right?”

First she had been relieved, then furious, and now it turned out the director had been wrong.

She felt she had made a grave mistake—and owed this man greatly.

My God… What have I done? I should have thanked him.

The middle-aged woman felt the same.

At least now she was relieved Martin was safe from accusation.

“Mr. Downey, can you explain this? Mr. Garvey is innocent. He saved Cody. Why were you the one spouting nonsense?”

Isla’s voice rose sharply, her chest heaving.

“Ah, Miss Horner… forgive me. Please forgive me.”

Ethan lowered his head in shame.

If there was one person completely crushed at this moment, it was him.

Damn it! How did my plan fall apart?

Earlier, he had signaled the doctors to switch the sample bottle with another liquid.

He had even cleaned the floor, the bed, and Cody’s body to erase the remaining vomit.

But how had he failed to think about the residue left in the child’s mouth?

“As the director, how could you overlook something so crucial? You were extremely careless. You must take responsibility for this mistake.”

Isla’s words made Ethan’s body jolt.

“Miss Horner, I’ve just realized something. The mistake lies with this doctor.” Ethan immediately pointed at one of them. “I’m sure he gave the wrong bottle to the toxicologist.”

“You’re utterly incompetent!” Ethan shouted at the doctor. He had to divert Isla’s attention away from himself.

“Is this how you repay my trust? You must take responsibility for this fatal error!”

Even as he yelled, Ethan blinked repeatedly—a silent signal for the doctor to comply.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

Understanding the cue, the doctor knelt before Isla.

“Forgive me, Miss Horner. This was entirely my fault.”

Ethan then turned toward Martin.

“Mr. Garvey, forgive my mistake. Don’t worry. Starting tomorrow, you may continue working at this hospital. We would gladly welcome you back.”

But Martin merely smirked and shook his head.

“Mr. Director, didn’t you say I was fired? If it were me, I wouldn’t swallow my own words. You should think before you speak.”

Martin said nothing more. He only instructed Cody to rinse his mouth with an antidote solution to cleanse the remaining toxin.

After that, he left the room with a faint smile on his face.

He hadn’t wanted to prove anything.

He had only wanted the child to survive.

And that was his greatest victory.