Politics, accusations and intrigue.
All have been at play in the riding of Surrey North, making it one of the most closely watched federal election races not only in B.C., but across the country.
The riding in the sprawling suburb south of Vancouver was won by the NDP in 2006 and is coveted now by the Tories.
The Tory candidate? Dona Cadman, the widow of late MP Chuck Cadman.
There have been suggestions throughout the federal election campaign that the widow of the maverick MP and justice advocate has hidden from the media.
She's running for the Tories despite her allegation in a biography of her late husband that Conservative party officials tried to bribe him on his deathbed, in order to topple the minority Liberal government.
The allegation contained in the book was that the Conservatives offered the Independent MP a $1-million life-insurance policy as he lay dying in 2005, in exchange for voting against the Liberals.
The allegation has hung over her and the party for months, and especially since the campaign began in early September.
Cadman has repeatedly said she couldn't talk about it because the issue is before the courts.
Despite her best efforts, the controversy flared in the final days of the campaign.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Tories are suing the Liberal party for defamation for posting a recording on their website last spring, alleging the recording of an interview between Harper and the book's author, Tom Zytaruk, was doctored.
On Friday, the expert opinion of a former FBI agent who examined the audio tape was filed in Ontario Superior Court, concluding the key part of the recording was not altered.
Harper has said he will continue with the legal action and maintained the audio posted on the Liberal website was edited.
He's testified he knew about the meeting but said it was an offer to help Cadman with campaign expenses.
Transcripts of an earlier cross-examination of Dona Cadman by the Liberals' lawyer show that she believed the offer was a bribe but she also believed Harper was not aware of it.
One of her opponents, Liberal candidate Marc Muhammad, says she didn't even show up for some of the all-candidates forums held during the campaign.
Muhammad, the only major candidate available for an interview the day before the vote, maintains he has a chance at victory.
"I think we did better than most people expected," he says. "Most people want nothing to do with Dona Cadman."
Neither Cadman nor NDP candidate Rachid Arab were not available to comment on the weekend.
New Democrat Penny Priddy, who won the riding handily in 2006 with more than 6,000 votes over the Conservative candidate, is not seeking re-election. She is a friend of Cadman and had the would-be Conservative candidate's endorsement for the last campaign.
Muhammad attributed the NDP win in the last election to the personal popularity of Priddy but with all new candidates running, he thinks the riding is anybody's to win.
The Cadmans became victims' rights activists after their teenage son, Jesse, was killed in a random attack by a group of teens in 1992.
Five years later, Chuck Cadman ran successfully for the Reform party and was re-elected under the Canadian Alliance banner. He lost the nomination for the newly amalgamated Conservatives in 2004 and won the riding again as an Independent.
The 58-year-old Cadman says she's always been a small-c conservative and remained a Conservative party member even after her husband lost the party's nomination to a rival who sold more memberships.
Dona Cadman says that one of the reasons she supports Harper is because the Tories are promising to get tough on crime, including stiffer sentences for young offenders.
