by P. Thompson
Loraine was near tears and shaking.
“Call Roy and let him know what happened. Whatever that is, Roy needs to know.” Roy and Loraine are going to be married this spring. Roy is the sheriff’s cousin and one of the best detectives we have.
When we got to the lab in the CSI building, Kenny was waiting with a wheelchair and he was donned in gloves and a mask. I never gave a thought to the fact the powder on her could be lethal.
“Get in the chair, Loraine. And Jenny, you’ve been exposed to whatever this is so I need you in the lab also.”
Great!! How can I investigate two poisoning and have to contend with the powder too? I called Bo’s cell and it rang and rang and finally went to voice mail. Then I called Bubba’s cell, but it was the same thing, voicemail. The sheriff’s phone was next, but before I could punch in the numbers my cell rang.
“What the Sam hill is going on over there?” Max wanted to know.
“I don’t know any more than you do at this point because I’m over at the lab with Loraine. She’s covered in some sort of white powder from the explosion. Because I brought her over I’m exposed so Kenny wants to keep me isolated till he knows what this stuff is. Go find out what has happened. I’m going to be out of it for a while.”
Kenny took Loraine straight in and began taking samples of the powder. I sat in a chair next to the wall and waited and waited and waited. No one was picking up their cell phones, plus it was hard to get a signal in the lab to begin with.
After two and a half hours Kenny came out and said, “Good news. Loraine is covered in corn starch, plus a little glass from the door. Nothing to worry about. Just take her home and let her shower.” And that is what I did!
~~~
After Loraine was through showering, we left her place and went back to the office. Cindy was already there helping to clean up the mess.
“What was it?” I asked Bubba. He knows explosives backwards and forwards.
“It was a small explosive device in a backpack. I think it was thrown at the door, then it was set off by remote control. Better call Scott and have him come fix the doors again. This is getting old.”
“You’re telling me? I set in front of those doors so I’m the first to get it.” Loraine said. “Maybe we need bulletproof glass this next time.”
“Well, we could just board them up permanently.”
“Oh hell no, I have to be able to see out. I’d go nuts if they were all closed up!”
I got my phone out and called Scott. “Hey Scott, do you still have those pieces of plywood you put on the door out front here?”
“Don’t tell me the glass is gone again.”
”Yep, so we need your services once again.”
“Well you’re in luck. The plywood is in the shop leaning against the wall. Be there in thirty minutes.”
And so it went. As we stood in the front of the building as the snow was falling, all I wanted to do was go home and get a shower and a hot cup of coco. That wasn’t going to happen. My cell rang and I felt like it wasn’t going to be good news.
“Detective Jordan. How can I help you?”
“Miss Jordan, this here is Ms. Miller. I’m sorry to tell you that Tonya didn’t make it. She was too weak from being sick to brush off this poison. Now that poor baby don’t have no mother or a father. He was killed in the service before the baby was born. Lordy, I don’t know what we going to do.”
“Thank you for calling to let me know about Tonya. I’m so sorry for her family at this time. Let me know when the funeral will be. I’d like to be there.”
“Yes ma’am, I’ll do that. Thank you again for all you do.” Then she hung up.
I found the sheriff and told him of Tonya’s passing. Now I could start the murder board and book.
~~~
I put a call into Doc Simpson to find out when he would be doing the autopsy. He said he didn’t have the body yet but he would let me know. One of us has to be there for an autopsy and this was my case, so I would be there for Tonya.
I then called Kenny to see if he had any results from the food that was ingested.
“Hey, Kenny, do you have anything for me yet?” I asked knowing quite well there wouldn’t be, but keeping Kenny on his toes was important to me and the case now that Tonya hadn’t made it.
“I can tell you that it was some kind of reptile venom, but not sure which one, which doesn’t help in getting an anti-venom up and going, so I’m working on tracking that down as we speak. I’ve let Atlanta know so they will be ready.”
“Did you know that Tonya didn’t make it? She had been sick and her immune system wasn’t strong enough to even begin to fight off the effects of the poison, so keep working and fast because there may be more victims to come and we need to know what we got to work with here.”
“How is Carmen doing? I haven’t heard anything here in the outer limits of the lab.”
“Carmen is in ICU and hanging in for now, but if we can get the anti-venom into her she’ll recover faster.”
I hung up from Kenny and called Ray at the hospital. He’s one of the bigwig doctors over there and really gets things done when asked.
“Good afternoon Ray. I wanted to let you know on the Carmen Gabbro case the poison is some kind of reptile poison and Kenny is trying to track it down. He said it had to be related to the extract reptile for the anti-venom to work. Just letting you know so you can pass it on.”
“Thanks Jenny. How are your mom and dad doing? Saw him for just a few minutes at Mama Leoni’s the other day, but didn’t have time to chat.”
“They are both doing just fine. Thank you for asking. I’ll let him know you inquired about him. I need to run, so many things to do with this case, and I don’t think it’s over by a longshot.” I hung up and looked around to find the snow had piled up over my boot tops. Damn, when is this stuff going to stop?
~~~
I went back inside and decided the caterer that I just didn’t like needed more looking into than just a simple conversation. Loraine wasn’t busy. She was just reading People Magazine, so I asked her to do some searching for me. His name is Andrew Gibbs and he’s part of the gay community that meets at a bar that’s in the strip mall. I turned over what info I had on him to Loraine and left to see how Anna was doing.
I took the new road they had put in when the new housing development was started and soon found her cute bungalow. It was reminiscent of the 1930s on the outside. I parked the Jeep next to her Lexus and walked a snowy walkway to her porch. There was a package on the steps and I pick it up as I rang her door bell. I could hear her high heels coming across the tile floor and saw her peek out the curtained window. I waved and she held up a finger to let me know she would be there in a minute. I thought, Come on now, it’s cold as a bat’s ass in January out here. The door swung open and she had a spoon covered in batter in one hand and a bowl in the other, trying to balance them as she got the door opened.
“Hey, surprised to see you here. Is Carmen okay?” she asked with a worried look on her face.
“As far as I know, she’s okay. I haven’t heard otherwise. I just came to see how you were doing and ask a few more questions.” I handed her the box and said, “Found this on your porch. She took the box, walked back into the house and placed it on the coffee table. She said, “Well, come into the kitchen. I’ve got to try and get this luncheon thing going or I’m out a big deposit. I need help, but I don’t have a clue who to call.”
“I wanted to let you know that they found reptile venom in the Whipping Cream. I don’t suppose you have any idea how it got in there?”
“Do I look like I would know something like that? What kind of reptile venom?”
“We don’t know yet. Our lab is working on it in hope of making a difference in Carmen’s care. What time did you buy the Whipping Cream?”
“I lied to her and told her I had just bought it, but actually I bought it late yesterday and brought it back to the shop so she would have it first thing this morning, in cas
e she got there before me.”
“So, it was there overnight?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want her to know. She is so particular about freshness.” She dumped the batter into the cake pans and stuck them in the oven.
“Are you and Carmen the only ones with a key to your shop?”
“Yep, just the two of us. I changed the lock on all of the doors when we rented the place. I didn’t even give the landlord a key. I guess I’ll hear about that one of these days, but right now, that’s how I roll!”
“So how do you think the person, or persons, that trashed your shop got in? We found no damage to the doors or windows, or at least I haven’t heard of any from CSI, and Max would have told me right away if he had found anything like that.”
“I really don’t know, but I’m telling you this, tomorrow or when I can get back into the shop, I’m having an alarm system put in first thing. I wish right now I had my luncheon plate and stuff.”
“Let me make a call to Max and see if he’ll release them to you or let you back in the shop.” I made the call and he didn’t answer. He really must be busy to not pick up when I call.
“He’s not picking up, must be in the middle of something. I’ll call later and let you know what he says. Until then, happy baking.” She gave me a hug and walked me to the door, but as we passed the box on the coffee table it moved.
“Whoa, that’s not good. I’m calling animal control unless you know what’s in that box.”
“No idea. Nothing comes here. All deliveries go to the shop.”
I took a better look at the box and found no address label attached to the top of the box or anywhere else I could see without moving the box around. I got my phone out and looked up animal control’s number and gave them a call. I really don’t know too many of them there anymore, as most have moved on in life to other more lucrative jobs. The phone rang and rang before someone picked up and told me it was animal control and to hang on a minute. Story of my life, hurry up and wait. Finally a voice that sounded out of breath said, “Bedford County Animal Control. Beth here.”
“Hey, Beth, this is detective Jordan. I got a box that was left on this lady’s front porch and now that it’s inside the house, it’s moving. I need someone to have a look at this thing.”
“Well, it may be a while. I’m the only one here right now and I have my hands full. Try taking it back outside till someone gets there.”
“You are out of your mind if you think I’m touching that box again! Get someone out here. This could be a life or death situation.” I gave her the address and hung up.
We sat staring at the box as it would move then quiet down again. Anna’s buzzer went off in the kitchen and she headed to take the cakes out of the oven. She got them racked as the doorbell rang and I answered it to find a tall skinny guy in a uniform from animal control with the name Joe printed on his shirt.
“You got a life or death situation here I’m told.”
“It could be due to other circumstances of the past few days. You mind having a look at that box on the table?”
It moved as he went to pick it up and he backed up a foot or so.
“There is definitely something alive in there, but what, not sure. Let’s take it outside to open it. We don’t want whatever it is getting loose inside the house.”
He gently picked up the box and headed for the door. I opened it for him and Anna and I stood on the front porch watching while he took out a box cutter and began to cut the tape that held the box closed. With the last cut he jumped back and took a long pole to lift the box lid and out popped the head of a snake. He said a few cuss words and then used the pole to push it back inside and hold the top down. He looked at me for answers and I shrugged.
“I’ll call the local snake wrangler, see how long before he can be here.” I looked through my phone again and found Brent Woodall’s number and gave him a call. We used Brent back in the summer on a coven’s building full of snakes. He answered on the first ring and I told him who I was and what we had and he said he was on his way. Man really loves his snakes!!
Not more than ten minutes had passed and I heard his old truck pull in front of the house. Anna had given Joe a cookie and a cup of coffee while we waited and he sat the cup down on the counter and made his way to the front door. Anna and I were right behind him, practically on his heels.
Brent held up his hand in a wave and brought his equipment along with him, which consisted of a pole and a sack.
“Brent, you’ll find our problem in that box on the porch over there. Feel free to take it away with you.”
He made his way to the box and tapped it with his pole, and then, lifting the box top up, the snake lifted its head up to have a look out. Brent reached out, grabbed it by its head, and it was in the bag in a flash.
“Brent, what kind was it?” I asked him.
“It’s what we call a chicken snake, and it’s not poisonous. Someone was just trying to scare you, that’s all.”
“Check in with Loraine and she’ll cut you a check. Thanks for coming so quickly.”
He nodded his head and then, carrying his sack and pole, returned to his truck and pulled away.
Joe went over to pick up the box. Being very cautious, he opened the box and had a look inside.
“There’s a note in here. Do you want me to get it for you?”
“No, I need to get gloved up. There maybe prints on it we can use.” I went to the Jeep and got a pair of gloves from my kit and returned to take the note out of the box. The envelope wasn’t sealed so I carefully lifted the flap up just in case there was something inside; I didn’t want anything to jump out at me. There wasn’t and I opened the note and read it to myself.
“What does it say?” Anna wanted to know as she looked over my shoulder.
“It says for you to get rid of that Mexican whore or you’ll be next.”
Anna fainted!
Joe, skinny as he is, picked her up fireman style and took her inside to the couch. I slid the note into an evidence bag and sealed it. Pulling the smelling salts from my kit, I waved them under Anna’s nose. She came up coughing and waving her arm, yelling, “Get that crap out of my face!” Which I did.
I left Anna to her baking and headed back to the office. When I was almost there my cell rang out ‘Puppy Love’ (that’s Max’s new ring tone, something from the 50’s or 60’s).
Hey, babe, how goes it?” I asked him.
“Where are you? It’s way passed dinner time and I’m starved to death.”
“Hey, don’t use that word ‘death’ too lightly today. I’m almost back to the office. I have a note in an evidence bag for the lab. Once I drop that off and let the sheriff know what my day has been like, let’s meet at The Table and eat. I’m too tired to cook.”
“Sounds like a plan, but hurry up. My backbone can feel my stomach gnawing on it.”
“That will be the day. Love you.”
I dropped off the bag, but Kenny had gone home so the night guy was going to have a look for prints. From there I called the sheriff and filled him in on the day then told him I was headed to eat and then home.
At dinner I asked Ralph if he had time to help Anna with her luncheon tomorrow and he did so I hooked the two of them up for later that night. I also got Max to let Anna have the shop back as he had all he needed from there. She was over the moon, so I guess the Woodman of the World luncheon was going to be a success after all.
Chapter 7
The first thing I did the next morning was make a fast run to the lab and see what Kenny had come up with on the type of reptile the poison had come from. Also was hoping to see if there were any prints on the note. I didn’t hold out much hope on that score; whoever had sent the snake and the note, I was pretty sure was too smart for all of that.
I found Kenny hard at work. When I entered the lab he looked up and smiled, gathered up some papers, and waved for me to come on in.
“Come on back to the office. I have some good news a
nd some bad news,” he said.
“Please, good news first. I really need to start the day off on good news,” I told him.
“First, sit down. And would you like a cup of coffee?”
“No thanks, I just got through with one. Let’s hear the good news,” I told him.
“Okay, we got the results back on the venom and it’s from Mexico and Central America. The snake that it derives from is Fer-De-lance. They are from the Bothrops family, very poisonous and nasty vipers. Now for the bad news: there was something else mixed with the venom in the whipping cream. Some unknown poison. We are still working on it, but it’s not in any of the working poisons we know of. We’ve sent this over to the hospital and they also have from Atlanta the anti-venom for Carman. But not sure about what they can do for the unknown poison. Let’s just hope her system can push it on out without too much damage to her main organs. We do know that the dose was not all that strong, and if she was in good health she should recover.”
“Yes, unlike Tonya who was in bad health. Thanks Kenny, I’ll pass this info along. Keep working on the other poison and when you get it, please let me know.”
“You got it. We’re sending it on to Atlanta to let them guys have a look at it. Take care out there and drive carefully. More snow on the way for tonight.”
“Ugh!”
I called in on Loraine to see if the sheriff was in yet, but the line was busy so I headed back to the office. I had planned on going out to Flowers Forever and seeing Ms. Miller, but that could wait till later. I wanted to have a look at whatever Loraine had found on Andrew Gibbs.
As I pulled under the now leafless oak tree out front of the office, a squirrel made tracks for the trunk and then up onto a limb with an acorn in his mouth. Little buggers will have shells all over the Jeep if I leave it here, so I pulled around to the side of the office into public parking and cut the engine. I sat for a while thinking about the past few days and how it all connected. A light bulb went off in my head: It’s a hate crime. It has to be, but we are a pretty diverse community and have been for years. For this to suddenly crop up out of nowhere baffles the mind.