1983 (#12) - Eve and Max's plan, Victor's poisoning and the trip to Tahiti

Eve's chance to put her crazy plan into action is imminent. When Victor allows his trusted butler and personal chef, Charles, to take a long vacation after years of service, Eve kindly offers to replace Charles in the kitchen to prepare Victor's meals. Eve, exploiting her old friendship with the mad chemist Max Siebalt, decides to poison Victor and thus receive the inheritance. Max, whom Eve introduces to a curious Julia as a wealthy count she's dating, thus prepares a lethal cure for Victor, which Eve immediately begins to mix in small doses, so that it can't be traced in the man's meals, who in the meantime, with the firm intention of forgetting Nikki, begins to date Julia again. As the days go by, Victor is so slowly and methodically poisoned to the point he begins to lose weight until, weakened, he falls to the ground stunned. Julia, worried, immediately calls the doctor, who, not perceiving anything about the real causes of the sickness, attributes the episode to tiredness, thus advising him to rest and to think only of relaxation. Victor then plans to go on holiday to Tahiti with Julia, happy for the man's thoughts. However, Eve and Max have other plans in mind. Having failed one of their attempts to kill Victor in a fake horseback riding accident, after having drugged this one too, the couple decide to hide Victor, now increasingly powerless, in his ranch and continue poisoning him to death. Julia appears perplexed when Eve informs her that Victor has decided to leave alone for Tahiti, not wanting to have Julia in his way; motivation which leaves the woman disappointed. But Julia, soon, begins to be skeptical about Victor's alleged departure, and begins to be suspicious when she is unable in any way, even because of a tropical storm on the island, to get in touch with Victor. In reality, the idea of telling Julia that he only went to Tahiti is Victor's idea, partly because he doesn't want the woman to see him in those conditions, partly because he is now subjugated by the control of Eve, who takes advantage of the man's confused state. When Victor asks Eve to call a doctor, the same Max shows up in front of the man who, pretending to be a doctor, prescribes a cure with the promise that will certainly make him feel better. In reality, what Max prescribes to Victor is an additional bacterial poison capable of causing him to become addicted. Soon, in fact, Victor finds himself too weak to eat and begins to be fed by IV, in which of course there is a strong dose of poison.