Poison Branches

by Cynthia Raleigh

  Making family connections and researching people who had lived more recently than the early 1900s, or who were still living, was sometimes much more difficult than those who had lived further in the past since restrictions were in place to prevent finding out too much personal information without some sort of official access. But Perri had an idea that might make it easy to at least get a general idea of the Blackwell family, if she could find it.

  After eating a light lunch of steamed veggies and taking a walk, Perri felt justified in sitting down with a glass of sweet tea to nose around on the internet for the Blackwell bunch. She searched online trees on various genealogy sites and finally came up trumps with one she felt may be the same Blackwell family.

  The tree allowed public viewing, so she was able to go through each generation. The more recent generations in this Blackwell Family Tree were not the same as Patricia’s, but at the fifth generation, they converged; the tree was the same. It could have been a coincidence, but it seemed unlikely. There were too many matches. The sixth generation backward was Isaiah Blackwell, same birth and death years, as well as his wife, Judith Parr, same birth and death years. The fifth generation, their son, was Jonathan Blackwell, born 1856, just as Patricia’s 2x Great Grandfather. This is where the similarity to Patricia’s line ended. As Perri had found in the Oklahoma marriage record, this tree showed Jonathan Blackwell married to Prudence Noble with the same three children that she had noted on the 1900 census.

  The branches of the online tree continued down from Jonathan, through his son Edward and grandson Nathaniel. Beginning with Nathaniel’s son, names no longer appeared and the next generation was designated only as “Living.” And born in 1941. No personal information was viewable. Since the most recent census record available to the public was 1940, Perri wouldn’t be able to find that information on a census. The next generation was of course also noted as Living, with a son being born in 1977. Again, no identifying information was available.

  Perri saved a couple of screen shots of the tree, which included the tree owner’s site ID in case Sarah wanted to contact them for information, then composed an email to her. She explained that since she was going to attend the festival in Russellville with Nick Silver on Friday night and would maybe see him again on Saturday, she had gone ahead and done some more checking in advance. Perri described what she had found and how to contact the person who created the tree. She attached the screen shot files, and sent it. She shut down her laptop and placed it on the desk in the second bedroom. She had decided not to take it with her, but to try to have a weekend as free from electronics as possible. Feeling she had done what she could at not-so-subtle hinting around that she didn’t want to do research over the weekend, Perri got back to fretting about her date.

  ***

  Sarah Vines opened Perri’s email and the screen shots that were attached to it as soon as it popped up on her screen. She read the email and looked at the images with a cold creeping at her neck. At Perri’s suggestion, she had immediately emailed the owner of the online Blackwell tree. She would check her email frequently until she got an answer.

  Before she was finished in the office, Sarah had contacted the Guthrie Police Department and explained the situation in Russellville. She told them about the documentation she had concerning the Blackwell family, their possible relation to the incident, and her experience when talking to the receptionist at Blackwell Oil. She gave enough detail to ensure they understood why it was important she, or someone in their department, be able to talk to Joseph or a member of his family. Sarah had been told they would check on Mr. Blackwell and call her back.

  After straightening up her desk and washing out her coffee cup, Sarah headed home with a sneaking feeling this might be the last full night’s sleep she had until this was over. And she wasn’t placing any bets on sleeping well tonight.

  Chapter 31

  Friday morning, Sarah checked her email while eating a bowl of cereal in the kitchen. Her stomach soured a little when she read the reply from the Blackwell tree creator, a woman named Laura Wyatt. The information from the tree was consistent with the idea Sarah had been forming the day before. She was eager to figure out the mystery and solve the murders, but she didn’t like the direction it was going. In reality though, no direction was going to be good. No point in wishing it was different.

  According to Laura Wyatt, the first unnamed ‘Living’ person in the online tree, the one born in 1941, was Joseph Blackwell. This significantly bolstered Sarah’s newly hatched idea. The other ‘Living’ person was his son, Jason, born in 1977. The creator of the tree was not a Blackwell, but a relative of the maternal side of Joseph’s wife, Blanche Wyatt. Laura was a once or twice removed something or other. She couldn’t tell Sarah anything about their personal lives since she didn’t live in the same area and was not in contact with them. She said she only knew them through her family and hadn’t met them in person before. However, she had been able to verify enough information about them that Sarah could confirm the Joseph Blackwell in the tree was the Joseph Blackwell who owned the oil company in Oklahoma, and it seemed certain that he was the descendent of the Jonathan Blackwell from Logan County, Kentucky. Laura had been instructed not to notify anyone in the Blackwell family that she had been contacted. Sarah shot a quick email to Perri to let her know who the two Living members of the tree were, and to thank her for checking.

  As she was getting dressed after her shower, she took a call from the Guthrie police department. According to Officer Simms, they had been unable to interview Joseph Blackwell. He was not in his office and when officers had gone to his home and asked to speak briefly to Mr. Blackwell, his wife had refused, saying her husband was too ill to talk. Officer Simms had asked what illness Mr. Blackwell was suffering from, but she had also declined to comment on this. Officer Simms asked if Jason Blackwell was available for an interview, but Mrs. Blackwell had insisted the police mind their own business unless they had a warrant or planned to arrest her. The officer had been obliged to leave without obtaining any information, since, at that point, there was no firm information with which to secure a warrant.

  Lacking any progress with the family, he had spoken with the neighbors on each side of the Blackwell home. The neighbors gave benign summations of Joseph, but their estimations of Blanche were not as harmless. Joseph was described as being a rather quiet man who was polite when they encountered him, but that it wasn’t very often. The picture painted of Mrs. Blackwell was of an aloof, snooty woman who only cared to talk to people outside her social circle if she could be giving them instructions on mowing the lawn, caring for the gardens, or cleaning the pool. The neighbors hadn’t seen Joseph for some time, but it wasn’t all that unusual since the houses were situated on large lots and the Blackwells drove into their garage and closed the door without walking around outside where someone might speak to them. Jason was not an unfamiliar visitor to his parents’ house, but the neighbors had not noticed him lately either.

  Sarah guttered out a sigh of exasperation and finished getting dressed.

  ***

  Perri hadn’t slept very well Thursday night in anticipation of seeing Nick the next day. Contributing to her restlessness was that Nick had called her in the evening to say hello and, as he said, make sure she hadn’t changed her mind about coming back to Russellville. She had known she was going to have difficulty getting to sleep, but she hadn’t wanted to take something for fear she’d sleep like a corpse as well as feel like she had a hangover the next day. Instead, she drank two cups of chamomile tea which mainly caused her to get up to go to the bathroom during the night.

  After what seemed like sixteen hours of fighting the covers, flipping the pillow over a couple dozen times to get to the cold side, and tossing like a jumping bean, Perri got up as soon as light peeped around the blinds. Her bag was already packed and the clothes she wanted to wear that day were laid out. She was eager to get on the road, figuring the tense apprehension she felt would get be
tter if she could get the day started.

  She was ready to go by 8:30 which was way too soon because she didn’t want to get there so early that she looked like a stalker. Nick would be working the day shift anyway. He had asked her to come in to the Arrogant Rogue when she got to town, but she figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to sit on a stool and ogle him for most of the day. She spent as much time as she could by watering her flower beds, putting away the folded laundry, and anything else she could find to do to keep her busy.

  Nina called close to noon to catch up and see if there were any developments. “No, I haven’t heard from Sarah.”

  “No, you dope, I mean Nick. Have you talked to him?”

  “Oh, yeah, I have. He called last night.”

  “Good. Spill!”

  “He just called to make sure I was still coming, and to ask me to come by the tavern when I got into town.”

  “See, this is why I ask. I didn’t know that and it’s important for me to know. You know that I am living through you on this. Keep me in the loop.” Nina laughed, then asked in a conspiratorial tone, “Soooo, where are you staying, hmm?”

  “I did get a hotel room, come on now. It’s just one of those generic places, right as you get into town. I was glad to be able to get a room at all. I’m not going down there without a place to stay. That would be pretty bold, wouldn’t it? And what would Nick think then?”

  “Yeah, I get it. I wouldn’t do that either. I’m just a bit overzealous. I’m hoping you have a really great time.”

  “And that you will have a really great time by me telling you about it?” Perri laughed.

  “You got it.”

  “Thanks, Nina, I think I will have a wonderful time. I’m nervous though. It’s been a while since I was all nervous like this.”

  “Once you get there and get the ball rolling, you’ll be fine.” Nina’s tone shifted gears, “Alright, I gotta go. I grabbed a break to call and see what was going on.”

  “Oh, sorry, that’s right, you’re at work. How’s it going?” asked Perri.

  “Same as usual, the case I would have been in on right now cancelled though, blood sugar sky high, too high for surgery. I had a few minutes before starting the prep for the next one.”

  “I’ll call or text you when I can this weekend, ok?” said Perri.

  “You bet! Have a good time, catch you later girl.” Nina sung into the phone, and hung up.

  Perri looked around the house. Everything was done, put away, or taken care of. “I’ll make lunch and eat, then I’ll go.” Which is what she did.

  Chapter 32

  The drive back to Russellville calmed Perri’s nerves a little bit. She kept the top up on the Cooper, but sang to the radio at the top of her lungs. Maybe she’d be a little hoarse when she got there. Wasn’t it sexy when a woman has a husky voice? Her stomach wasn’t churning like it had been since last night, at least not until she pulled into town. It was around 3:45 when she drove into the hotel lot and checked in. Her room was on the second floor, about as far from the elevator as it could be, but she wasn’t going to complain about that since she had at least gotten a room.

  After putting her bag in the room and freshening up a bit, Perri left the hotel and drove to the Arrogant Rogue. Her palms were sweaty on the wheel but not from the heat, which had mercifully let up and dropped down to the upper 70s. It was still only September 4, but the temps were starting to give way on some days. Perri looked forward to Fall, her favorite season, and the first day when the heat broke seemed like a signal to her.

  After locking the car, she checked her image in the window of the driver’s side door, which wasn’t a good idea since it made her look squat and misshapen, then took a centering breath and walked toward the tavern. She couldn’t resist looking at her reflection in the passing window fronts, decided she didn’t look too bad after all, and even if she did it was too late to do anything about it. She pushed the door open and stepped into the cool interior of the tavern.

  It was a quarter past four o’clock and there were a few tables of early diners and a handful of patrons at the bar. Nick was mixing up a cocktail of some sort in the shaker tin, his t-shirt sleeve sliding up and down with the motion. Perri could see the ripple of defined bicep and triceps muscles in his arm as he shook the canister back and forth. As he poured the drink into a martini glass, he caught sight of Perri still standing just inside the door and smiled. He slid the drink down the bar to the pick-up area and wiped his hands on a towel. Perri walked to the short portion of the L-shaped bar and sat on a stool, hanging her purse on a hook.

  “Hey, look who’s here! I’m glad to see you. Was your trip ok?” Nick asked as he spread his arms wide and leaned on the edge of the bar.

  “It was, thanks. I’m glad to see you too.”

  “I’ve been looking forward to tonight all day, well, really since you left.” Nick looked directly into Perri’s eyes. “Are you staying out at the Crow’s Rest again?”

  “No, Alice didn’t have any vacancies for this weekend, because of the festival. I’m staying at the hotel over on 9th Street.” Perri grinned what she felt was a goofy smile.

  “I know the one.” Nick continued, “I’ll be done here at five o’clock. We can go down to where the food booths are and get something to eat. Hope you’re hungry, food is the biggest attraction at this festival. There’s going to be a get-together out at a friend’s place tonight too, bonfire and all that.”

  “That sounds great.” Perri felt a little self-conscious under Nick’s steady gaze and looked around the bar.

  “You want a drink? Wow, I’m a bartender and I didn’t ask you if you want something to drink.” Nick shook his head.

  “No, thanks, I think I’ll wait, maybe have something later.”

  “Ok. Hang on a minute, be right back.” Nick took a few long strides to the opposite end of the bar to fill a drink order for two beers. Perri surveyed the room and the other customers. Most people seemed to have just gotten off work and were eager to start their weekend. A couple of the people seated at the bar were alone. At the further end of the long section of bar was a woman who looked to be in her mid-fifties. She was dressed up, bleached haircut and styled, and keeping a close eye on the door. The other customer, at the near end of the bar, about three stools down from Perri, was a man probably in his late 30s, early 40s, his sandy blond hair combed with some sort of gel but still obviously curly. He sat stiffly on his stool, looking straight ahead or down into his highball glass. Nick came back to where Perri was seated.

  “I should let you get back to your work,” she laughed. When Nick looked like he was going to protest her leaving, she interjected, “I want to go back to the hotel and get cleaned up. Traveling, even for only a couple of hours, always makes me feel like I’ve been walking on a dusty road all day.”

  “I know what you mean,” agreed Nick. “Are you free from doing work for Sarah Vines this weekend?” Nick turned around to get a soapy cloth to wipe a spill on the bar next to where Perri was seated. The blond man at the bar closely watched Nick and frowned at him. Nick stopped and said to him, “Can I get you something else?” The man shook his head and looked back down to the bar.

  “I am work free, as far as I know. She called me when I was on my way home Wednesday and said she might need me to look up…well that she might need some more research done on Patricia’s family, but she couldn’t be sure yet. She just wanted to know if I’d be available if she did. I told her I was busy tonight, and probably tomorrow too, but that she could let me know.”

  “Let’s hope she solves her murders without needing further assistance from you! I don’t want to have to share you this weekend!”

  “Why, thank you, I truly hope I don’t have to be shared. I took preemptive action and did the research and sent it to her already.” Perri took her purse from the hook under the bar. “I will go ahead back to my hotel and get cleaned up. I’ll await your call.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll buzz
you when I’m leaving here, ok? It’ll only take me a few minutes to get to the hotel. Which room are you in? I can come up when I get there.”

  “I’m in 227.” Perri stepped down from the foot rail. “I’ll see you soon then.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Nick smiled his dimpled smile again. Perri slid off the barstool and turned to leave, nearly colliding with the man who had been seated at the bar who had also risen to leave. He mumbled a quick “Excuse me,” and left. Perri smiled back at Nick, then exited behind him. She continued to smile to herself walking back to her car, not even thinking about looking at her reflection.

  Chapter 33

  Sarah set the receiver back into the cradle. The hunt for the last owner of the Chrysler had been a laborious search of stored paper records by some unfortunate desk duty officer in Frankfort. His relief in finishing the task was obvious when he called Sarah just after three o’clock in the afternoon with the registration information. The car was last registered in 1997 to a Frank Quillen. The registration address was in Elkton.

  Sarah checked the current property records for the address listed on the registration through the Todd County Assessor’s Office, but unsurprisingly, the home no longer belonged to the Quillen family. In 1997, the house had been owned by a Mr. Walter Quillen who purchased the house new in 1969. The property was sold in 2004 and had changed hands twice since then. Sarah figured Walter Quillen was most likely Frank’s father, or at least a relative. A check of three different online telephone directories placed a Frank Quillen in Needles, California. She thanked her lucky stars for the unusual name.