Taking the pills as she slowly sipped her sweet tea, Mary sat quietly trying to remember anything at all after dessert at the restaurant. She could remember their arrival at the Forge and her dinner of roast lamb with all the fixings. She remembered drinking three glasses of champagne with the meal and then going to the Ladies while Jim ordered dessert and coffee, but after her Eton Mess…nothing.
A sudden scratching at her kitchen door startled Mary, causing her hand to shake, sending tea down the front of her robe and onto the floor. Hurrying to the door, she flung it open to find Jess, her sheepdog, standing there, soaking wet. Grabbing a towel, she began to quickly dry him as she soothed him, “What happened fellow, I’m so sorry. I would never have left you out all night.”
As she quickly filled Jess’s bowl with food and water, she thought, ‘He must have locked him out last night.’ Once Jess had settled down and curled up on his bed by the kitchen range, Mary headed for the shower.
After staying in the hot shower until the room was so steamed up she could barely see her hand in front of her face, Mary quickly dried herself off, dressed, and went out to feed her animals. As she scattered the chicken feed in the courtyard, she tried to recall everything that she could about dinner before everything went blank. Mary wondered if she had in her innocence missed some sexual innuendo. Had she said or done anything that might have led Jim to believe that she was up for a shag or had he just brought her home, and she undressed and got into bed without bothering to put her nightdress on?
Once the animals were taken care of, Mary locked up her house, climbed in her Range Rover, and headed to her office. The toxicology reports from Ali and DNA results for the residue under Tony’s fingernails were due today, and she wanted to get the results to Cam as soon as possible. Mary had every intention of going straight to work, but when she spied Helen out on her patio, watering her potted plants, she pulled into her drive. As soon as Helen spotted her friend, she broke into a broad smile and approached the car, “How was your date?” One look at Mary’s face told her she had asked the wrong question, as Mary’s eyes welled up with tears, and she covered her face with her hands. Helping Mary from the car and into the house, she sat her down at the table, switched on the kettle and pulled her chair up close to her friend’s, “Mary, what in the world happened? Did you and Jim have an argument?”
By now, Mary was sobbing so hard, all she could do was shake her head. Getting up to grab a handkerchief for her friend, Helen quickly fixed the tea and placing an arm around Mary’s shoulders, “You just sit quietly now and have your tea, we can talk about it when you’re ready. I have all day.”
Helen knew that whatever it was must have been traumatic for Mary to break down like this. The only time she had seen Mary cry was when a young person she had known all their life died tragically. Helen quickly fixed her own cup of tea and quickly re-joined Mary at the table. Mary’s usually steady hand was shaking as she lifted the teacup to her lips, “I don’t know quite how to say this.”
Helen reached over and placed her hand over her friend’s free hand, “It’s been my experience that it’s best to just blurt it out.”
With that, Mary did just that, “I woke up naked in bed this morning with my clothes scattered all around my bedroom.”
Helen’s eyes widened, and she hesitated before saying, “I take it by your reaction that you aren’t exactly happy about that. What did Jim say?”
Shaking her head, Mary said, “Jim wasn’t there. I was alone, and the truth be told, I don’t remember how I even got home or into my bed.”
“My goodness, Mary. Did you have too much to drink?”
“That’s just it, I didn’t. I think someone must have put something in my drink,” whispered Mary, her voice cracking with emotion.
Helen could feel herself growing very angry but trying to remain calm, asked, “By someone, you mean Professor Henderson?”
Covering her face with her hands, Mary sobbed, “Yes, he must have put something in my coffee when I went to the Ladies.”
Jumping up from the table, Helen grabbed the phone, “I’m calling Cam.”
Before Helen could even dial the number, she heard the sound of tyres on the gravel drive. Looking out the window, she saw Cam approaching clasping what looked like an evidence bag in his hand.
Walking into the kitchen, Cam held up the bag to Helen, “A member of the search team found Tony’s jacket. I was just on the way to drop it off to Mary when I spotted her car here. Mary, sorry I called you last night and interrupted your dinner date. I meant to drop it off at your office last night, as I promised, but I figured it could wait until this morning. ”
It only took one look at his wife’s face for Cam to realize something terrible had happened, “Helen? Mary? What’s happened?”
Cam sat down opposite Mary and waited patiently for her to compose herself enough to repeat what she had just told Helen. Once she had finished, Cam asked, “What is the last thing you can remember?”
Leaning forward on the table and resting her head in her hands, Mary thought for a minute before replying, “I remember taking your call and Jim asking me if it was something that I needed to attend to immediately. I told him that the search team had finally located young Tony’s missing jacket and I was hoping to be able to use it to help identify who had pushed him off the castle turret. But it could wait until tomorrow since you were going to drop it off at the lab.”
“Then what happened, Mary?”
“Well, we had just finished our meal, and Jim ordered dessert and coffee while I went to the Ladies. I can vaguely recall eating my dessert and Jim helping me to the car but after that…nothing.”
“Did you have too much to drink?”
Shaking her head, “I can hold my liquor, Cam. I think someone put something in my coffee.”
Cam’s hand involuntarily formed a fist as he asked, “And by someone, you mean Professor Henderson?”
Mary stared into Cam’s eyes and just nodded her agreement.
“Well, I don’t need to tell you this Mary, but there’s only one sure way to tell if you’ve been drugged. Let’s get you over to the lab and get one of your assistants to draw some blood. We don’t want to accuse an old friend of this if we aren’t sure, now do we? You’re too upset to be driving, so leave your car here, and I’ll bring you back here when you finish up at the lab.”
Mary nodded her agreement and followed Cam to his car for the short drive to the lab.
Chapter 16
Sergeant Dan Roberts had spent the best part of the evening and following morning visiting the coffee shops and pubs closest to the university. While he was verifying Hopwood’s alibi with the counter lady at the coffee shop, an elderly lady with purple-tinted hair approached him.
“Excuse me, I couldn’t help but hear you asking about Charlie and that pretty little American girl he was talking to a few weeks back. See, I was sitting at the next table, and I heard their entire conversation.”
“Yes ma’am, Mr. Hopwood has told us about talking to her.”
“I know it’s not nice to eavesdrop, but I wasn’t the only one listening to their conversation,” she continued as her wrinkled face turned to stare off to a nearly hidden table in the corner.
Before Sergeant Roberts could interrupt her, she continued, “I saw him watching her, and he followed her out the door and was talking to her, then they walked down the pavement together.”
Taking his notepad out, he ushered the elderly lady to the closest table, held out a chair for her, then sitting opposite her, pulled out his notebook, “Ma’am, I’m Sergeant Dan Roberts of West Mercia Police, could you give us your name and address?”
“Miss Alma Lacey, 61 Cottage Lane. I come in here every day for my morning tea and a teacake after I finish my morning shopping, so I know everyone who comes in here regularly.”
“So had you seen this man in here before?”
“Yes, he has been in here a number
of times, usually with some younger people. Students, I expect.”
Scribbling into his notepad, Dan asked, “Can you describe this man you saw talking to the young lady?”
Tutting, the elderly lady said, “Of course I can, I might be old, but I have perfect vision, and my memory hasn’t failed me. He was older, I would say early 50’s, and about your height, 13 stone, brown hair with grey at the temples, high forehead, dressed in a tweed sport coat…brown it was, and oh yes, denim jeans.”
“Well, that’s quite a detailed description, Miss Lacey. Is there anything else?”
Thinking for a minute, the old lady replied, “Yes, I noticed when he was drinking his coffee…he’s left-handed.”
Dan smiled at the elderly lady, and handed her his card, “If you think of anything else, please call me. You have been very helpful.”
With that, Miss Lacey stood up and grabbing her bag of groceries, waved goodbye and headed out the door, leaving Dan shaking his head as he returned to speak to the lady working the counter, “She missed her calling, she would have been a good detective.”
Laughing, the woman said, “Didn’t she tell you?”
“Tell me what?” asked Dan.
“Our Miss Lacey is the former Detective Chief Inspector Lacey with the London Met. She retired after thirty years of service.”
Dan walked to the door and watched the little old lady cross the street and smiled, “Well, I’ll be jiggered.”
Thanking the counter lady, Dan walked out the door and headed towards his car, reaching for his mobile he called Cam, “Sir, I’ve just verified Mr. Hopwood’s alibi and while I was there I had a conversation with an elderly lady that gave me a detailed description of the mystery man that Hopwood told us about. The funny thing was that it appears the old lady was a Detective Chief Inspector at the Met before retiring.”
Cam was just preparing to drive Helen to the lab, when he stopped and asked, “What was her name, Dan?”
“Miss Alma Lacey,” replied Dan.
“You’re kidding? Well, I’ll be damned. She was one of the finest DCI’s that the Met ever turned out. Did you get her address?”
“Yes, Sir, I have it right here.”
“Alright, I’m heading over to the lab with Mary. You go over and see Miss Lacey and ask if she could spare some time to come in and work with the police artist to see if we can put a face to this mystery man. Tell her that I have personally requested her assistance. She’ll remember me. I’ll call the station and have PC Parks process Mr. Hopwood for release and arrange his escort back to Hereford.”
Chapter 17
As soon as Cam pulled his car to a stop in front of the low, brick building that served as the morgue and Mary’s lab, he realized that something was wrong. Lucy Martin, Mary’s young assistant, was pacing up and down, clutching her mobile phone in her hand and shouting into it. As soon as she spotted Cam, she ran over to his car, “Well, you really got here fast!”
Exiting the car, Mary ran to her assistant, “What in the world is wrong, Lucy?”
Grabbing Mary by the forearms, she exclaimed, “Someone’s broken into the offices and trashed everything!”
Cam quickly placed a call for the Crime Scene Investigation team, and waited while Mary calmed down her assistant before asking, “Do you have any gloves in your pockets, Mary?”
Mary always carried extra crime scene examination gloves in her over-sized coat pockets, knowing full well that Cam always forgot his. In all the time that they had worked together, Cam never remembered to bring his own. After instructing Lucy to sit and wait in Cam’s car, Mary handed Cam a pair of gloves, and the two of them entered the lab.
Lucy hadn’t exaggerated as Cam and Mary made their way into the offices they found filing cabinets and desk drawers pulled open, and their contents spread all over the floor. Leaving Cam to look around the office for clues, Mary quickly made her way down the hall to the autopsy room. Pushing open the metal doors, she breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank goodness, nothing seems to be disturbed in here,” she called to Cam.
Wandering down the hall, Cam placed his hand on Mary’s shoulder and asked, “Didn’t you have a television and video recorder in your office?”
“Yes, we just bought them. I guess they’re gone, huh?”
“They sure are. It looks like a typical break-in, probably kids or someone with a drug habit looking for something easy to sell. We’ll have the team dust for prints, of course, and then you and Lucy can try to get everything put back where it belongs. Let me know if you do find that anything else is missing.”
Cam and Mary had just walked outside when the Crime Team pulled into the drive, followed by Jim Henderson. Pulling his car to a stop behind the police van, he jumped out and ran over to Mary, “Mary, I went to the farm as soon as I woke up, but you had already left. I was just coming to see you. Are you alright? What’s happened here?”
Before Mary had a chance to utter a reply, Cam took Henderson by the arm and walked him back towards his car, “There’s been a break-in here at the lab. I’m sure you’ll understand when I tell you that this is a crime scene, so we can’t have you, or any other member of the public trampling all over the scene.”
Nodding his head, Henderson lowered his voice, “I understand Chief Inspector, but I was extremely concerned about Mary this morning, and just had to find her and see if she was alright after last night.”
Acting the innocent, Cam asked, “Why? What happened last night that would cause you to be so worried about Mary?”
“I’m afraid it was entirely my fault. I should have realized Mary was a bit nervous about dating after all these years and wasn’t used to Champagne. I’m afraid she drank way too much. I almost had to carry her to my car, and when we got to her farm, I tried to help her get undressed and into bed and she… well…”
“She…well…what ?”
Henderson’s voice dropped to a whisper, as he leaned closer to Cam’s face, “She must have thought I was getting amorous and literally ripped her blouse off. Under normal conditions, I would have been more than happy about the prospect, but I have way too much baggage in my life, besides I am not the type of man that would take advantage of any woman in that state. I managed to disengage myself and left. When I woke up this morning, I was worried. The last thing I want is for Mary to feel embarrassed, so please don’t mention any of this to her. ”
Cam’s eyes searched Henderson’s face. He didn’t like the man and was almost sorry that he had reopened the archeological site to the students last week, giving him an excuse to hang around, but something about his demeanor left Cam wondering if he had misjudged the man. Until he could determine whether he was telling the truth or a con man, Cam wasn’t going to do anything to cause Mary any further distress. Finally, Cam took Henderson by the elbow, and maneuvered him back to his car, “Mary has had enough upset for this morning with the break-in, and is going to be very busy the rest of the day. I think it would be a good idea to wait until tomorrow to talk to her.”
Climbing into his car, Henderson hung out the window as he started to reverse his car out of the parking lot, “Whatever you say, Chief Inspector. I don’t want to cause her any further distress. I’ll be back working at the dig with my students for the rest of the week before we head back to Hereford.”
Cam nodded and turned on his heel and headed back into the lab. Reaching the door, he turned and stared at the retreating tail lights of the Professor’s car before muttering, “Baggage…what baggage?”
Pulling out his mobile, Cam quickly called Sergeant Roberts, “Dan, Cam here. I just had a conversation with Professor Henderson, and he mentioned having a lot of what he referred to as ‘baggage’ in his life. Run a full background on him. I want to know everything there is about him. Yes, full financials, too.”
On the other end of the line, Dan said, “Sir, I spoke to Miss Lacey, and she can come in after the weekend. She has family members coming for a long-aw
aited visit and didn’t want to put them off until another time.”
“That’s fine, Dan. At her age, her family is the most important thing to her. Just make sure that the police artist is available when Miss Lacey can come, and Dan, you pick her up and see she gets home safely.”
“Yes Sir,” replied Dan as he hung up the phone and headed back to his office to begin the background check on Professor Jim Henderson.
Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Cam entered the lab to find Mary sitting on the floor gathering up the envelopes scattered about. Looking up at the sound of his approaching footsteps, “Well, I called the lab in Hereford, and those DNA tests on the scrapping from under Tony’s nails were delivered last night, and from what I’ve been able to determine so far, they’re missing. I hate to say this, but I have a horrible feeling that Jim has something to do with this. How could I be so stupid as to think a man like him would be interested in me?”
Squatting down beside his friend, Cam consoled her, “Slow down, Mary. It’s not like you to jump to conclusions like this.”
“Well, what should I think, Cam? Other than you and me, he was the only one I told that I was expecting the results of the tests to be delivered late yesterday. Add that to the fact that he obviously drugged me last night, and I think my conclusions hold a lot of merits.”
Cam debated for a few moments before deciding to tell Mary about his conversation with the Professor, “I see your point, Mary, but isn’t it possible that just perhaps you did have too much Champaign last night, and that he was only trying to get you home and into bed.”
Growing angry, Mary exclaimed, “Yeah, he wanted to get me into bed, alright!”
“Calm down, Mary. Now, is there any other possible explanation for what happened when you got home?”
Mary sat cross-legged on the floor, not saying a word, until suddenly her face turned blood red, “Oh dear lord, Cam, I remember now. It must have been the drink. I’m only used to drinking ciders and beers, and I’d eaten nothing before the first two glasses. I’ve made a terrible fool of myself. What must Jim think?”
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