“No way.” Max thought back to the kid who came running through the woods. “I can’t believe that.”
“I think I have a way to check,” Ivy persisted, grabbing Max’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “I need you to come with me to be sure, though.”
“Absolutely.” Max didn’t hesitate, instead pulling on his shoes. “I want to know the truth as much as you. It could be important when it comes to my meeting with OSHA.”
“Then let’s go. Dad is taking Josh to the nursery. I want to check my hunch before confronting him.”
“That sounds like a plan to me.”
THE STATE PATHOLOGIST was an older woman – she had to be pushing sixty and looked tired – but she offered Jack a bright smile when he sat across from her desk. He’d gone out of his way to drive to the Grayling post so he could talk to the woman directly. After all, she was the one who made the final ruling on Melanie Masters’ death.
“Thank you for taking time to see me,” Jack started. “I know this is probably not how you wanted to spend your day – going over an old case and bringing up closed files – but I really appreciate you taking the time.”
Addison Strawser waved off Jack’s concern and merely smiled. “That’s my job, son. Besides, I was expecting someone to ask further questions about this one eventually. I figured it was only a matter of time.”
Jack inched forward on his chair. “What do you mean by that? You didn’t seem surprised when I called this morning and asked to go over your findings a second time. I found that … curious.”
“That’s because I wasn’t surprised,” Strawser explained. “I always knew my decision on this case would come back to haunt me.”
“And, if I’m understanding things correctly, your decision was that Melanie Masters wasn’t poisoned, correct?”
“Actually, I found inconclusive results on that front,” Strawser replied. “I couldn’t find anything that pointed toward a specific toxin. Melanie Masters was very clearly sick, and something was eating away at her from the inside. The doctors couldn’t find what that something was, though. When it came time for an autopsy and tests, I couldn’t find the reason either.”
Jack was flustered. “But you have suspicions, don’t you?”
Strawser heaved out a sigh. “I do. I think she was poisoned. Although, I have no idea what poisoned her. In truth, I was leaning toward a particular toxin, rather than a poison, but backed off at the last minute because it was a theory rather than fact.”
“Well, I’m willing to listen to your theory,” Jack said. “Abraham Masters was killed in Shadow Lake a few days ago and it’s looking more and more likely that his death is somehow tied to that of his wife. I need to know what you suspected if I hope to untangle all of this.”
“Okay, but just remember, it’s nothing I can testify to in court,” Strawser warned. “I believe that Melanie Masters was poisoned with false morels.”
Jack blinked several times in rapid succession. “You mean … mushrooms?”
“Yes. Do you know what morels are?”
Jack barked out a hollow laugh. “I do. My fiancée is obsessed with the things. I don’t happen to be a fan, but she loves them.”
“Yes, well, real morels are delicious and even healthy. False morels are another story.”
“I guess I don’t understand.” Jack shifted in his chair. “How can you tell the difference?”
“True morel hunters know. They know to avoid them, at least. Let me guess, did your fiancée search through your bag before cooking up anything you collected?”
“How did you know she made me go mushroom hunting with her?”
“Morel hunting is a sport to people up here,” Strawser replied. “It’s basically an Olympic sport. Other people don’t get it but those interested in medaling understand exactly what they’re doing.”
“Well, okay. Now that you mention it, Ivy did search through the morels I found. It wasn’t a lot anyway. She’s much better at spotting them than I am. She threw a couple away.”
“I’m going to guess those were false morels,” Strawser said. “The thing is, false morels look a lot like real morels but are easy to separate if you pay attention.”
“And false morels are poisonous?”
“Oh, yes.” Strawser bobbed her head. “The toxins from false morels can stay in your system for a long time. The mushrooms themselves are tasty and go down smooth – at least if you like regular morels, which it sounds like you don’t – but they can kill you.”
“Do you think Melanie Masters was fed false morels over an extended period of time?”
“I think Melanie Masters was likely fed small doses of false morels to keep her sick,” Strawser corrected. “I don’t have proof of that, though. There was nothing in her autopsy report to prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
“Abraham Masters was a morel enthusiast,” Jack noted, his mind busy as he mulled a myriad of possibilities. “He was out in the woods hunting for them when he was shot. I’m assuming he was your prime suspect when you came up with the false morel theory.”
“More often than not it’s always the spouse who is considered to be the primary suspect,” Strawser supplied. “Like I said, I don’t have proof that he did anything in this particular case.”
“Yeah, but you strongly suspect.” Things were starting to come together for Jack and he didn’t like the way the puzzle looked now that pieces were snapping into place. “I wonder if Josh Masters knew what his father did to his mother.”
“I don’t know how he would figure something like that out,” Strawser countered. “My understanding is that he’s a child, and one who was often overprotected.”
“He is, but he’s a smart kid,” Jack noted. “He’s a smart kid who understood more than the adults around him realized. He knew his father was having an affair. Maybe he knew his father poisoned his mother, too.”
“So, where does that leave you in your investigation?” Strawser was legitimately curious. “If Josh knew his father killed his mother, how does that play into a shooting in the woods?”
“We’ve known from the start that Josh was lying,” Jack said. “Maybe he was lying because he killed his father as payback.”
Strawser was taken aback. “Isn’t he a little young for that?”
“It’s never too late to get vengeance for your mother.” Jack slowly got to his feet. “Maybe Josh was getting vengeance for more than his mother, too. Maybe he was getting vengeance for the baby as well.”
“What baby?”
“The Masters had a baby who died of SIDS.”
“I didn’t know that. SIDS is often the diagnosis when a doctor can’t come up with an underlying reason for the death of an infant. There is no test to prove it.”
“What if the baby didn’t die of SIDS but the mushrooms, too?” Jack asked. “I mean … the baby died almost a year before Melanie. That would’ve been during morel season, too.”
“A baby wouldn’t be able to survive a false morel,” Strawser noted. “A small piece would be enough to kill an infant.”
“Yeah. That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Jack shook his head to dislodge the bevy of ideas floating through his brain. “I think I know someone who has a few more questions to answer. I thought she was a suspect at first, but now I’m starting to think she suspected Josh killed his father for retribution and didn’t say anything. Or at least was covering up something that she didn’t want to tell us about.”
“Keep me informed,” Strawser instructed. “I’ll go through Melanie Masters’ file again. I’ll also pull the record on the infant and see if I can find any tissue samples on file. We might be able to run a poison panel after the fact.”
“That would be great.” Jack was practically vibrating with energy. “I think we’re finally getting somewhere.” Unfortunately for him, it was a place that Ivy would fight visiting tooth and nail.
Seventeen
Where’s Ivy?”
Josh was barely out of the car, ice crea
m cone in hand, when he began searching the nursery.
Michael, his stomach and mind troubled, flicked his young charge a frustrated look. “I already told you. She’ll be here soon. She’s at the hospital with Max.”
“Why would she be with Max when she could be with me?”
Michael had no idea how he was supposed to answer that question. “Because Max is her brother and everyone was terrified for him yesterday.” Michael managed to keep his demeanor calm, but just barely. “Ivy loves her brother. She probably arranged with her mother to pick him up.”
“But … she knew I was coming out here today,” Josh persisted. “Why would she want to spend time with Max when she knew I was out here?”
“I think she believed she could do both.”
“Well, that’s … not fun.” Josh’s face was serious as he licked his ice cream cone. “I hope she doesn’t keep doing stuff like this. I won’t like it if she does.”
“Well, she has things to do so … .” Michael broke off and held his hands palms up. “I guess she’s going to have to do what she has to do,” he said lamely.
“Yeah. Can we start in the greenhouse without her?”
“Sure.” Michael shifted his eyes to the ominous sky. “It’s going to storm today. I saw on the news where it’s supposed to last all day. I doubt very much that we’ll get very many customers. I can keep a lookout for them at the greenhouse.”
Josh brightened considerably. “Then let’s go. Ivy said you’re the one who taught her how to do a lot of the things she does with the plants. I was hoping you could teach me.”
Some of the dread and annoyance that had been wrapping around Michael’s heart like a squeezing fist lessened at the boy’s excited demeanor. “I think I can arrange that.” He ruffled Josh’s hair. “You like learning stuff, don’t you?”
“Oh, I want to learn it all.”
“WHERE ARE WE going?” Max asked as he picked his way through the woods, Ivy’s pink hair bobbing in front of him. When his sister said she had a plan to figure things out, he had no idea it would entail hiking through the trees in search of something Ivy wouldn’t identify. “How am I supposed to keep up my ruse that I need constant bed rest and nurses in skimpy outfits to take care of me if I’m seen wandering through the forest an hour after being released?”
Ivy didn’t bother to hide her eye roll as she glanced over her shoulder. “You’re fine.”
“I had a head injury and could have died.”
Ivy slowed her pace, the reality of his words setting in. “You’re right. You should turn around. I’ll do this alone.”
Instead of making him feel better – he really was wearier than he would’ve been under normal circumstances – Ivy’s offhand statement made Max feel like a righteous jerk. “No, no, no.” He waved off the suggestion right away. “I’m going with you. I have no intention of letting something happen to you on my watch.”
Ivy snorted as she turned back to her trek. “No one has to watch me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“I don’t happen to believe that Jack feels the same way.”
“And I happen to believe that Jack overreacts sometimes.”
“That’s what happens when you love someone.” Max adopted a pragmatic tone. “Jack loves you.”
“I should hope so. We’re getting married.” Ivy stopped long enough to close her eyes and unravel her senses. Using magic – and she could think of no other term to use even though the M-word made her leery – to help her solve something of this magnitude wasn’t exactly a new thing. Her growing abilities had helped her a time or two over the past year. What was different about this particular case was the fact that she was actively trying to use her magic for a change. Before this, everything that happened had been predominantly on a passive level.
“You are getting married,” Max agreed, watching her with unveiled interest. “I wasn’t sure it would ever happen.”
“Because people think I’m nutty and weird?”
“Because you close yourself off to people,” Max replied without hesitation. “Because you tend to think the worst of people. I don’t blame you for that. You were attacked quite often as a kid. You surrounded yourself with a protective shell. Mom, Dad, Aunt Felicity, and I helped you do it, so I know what I’m talking about.”
Ivy’s expression was hard to read as she focused her full attention on her brother. “Are you feeling okay? You’re not lightheaded or anything, are you?”
Max made a disgusted face. “I’m being serious. It’s not the head injury talking.”
“Okay, but I don’t exactly know what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying that I spent a lot of time worrying about you being happy,” Max supplied. “That’s all I ever wanted for you and I was afraid it would never happen. I was wrong, though. It did happen. Jack came out of nowhere and stole your heart.
“I’m not going to lie, when he first showed up I didn’t want to like him on principle,” he continued. “I didn’t like the way he looked at you – as your older brother, that’s my prerogative so don’t give me grief about it – and I definitely didn’t like the way he acted when he was around you. It was as if he wanted to throw himself on a live grenade at every turn, somehow protect you even though I always thought of that as my turf. I was wrong, though.”
Ivy licked her lips, unsure. “Meaning?”
“Meaning that he makes you happy,” Max replied. “I don’t think you even realize how happy he makes you. The second he walks into a room you light up. Then, you two are like magnets gravitating toward one another. Even when I didn’t like the way you looked at each other, before any of this happened, I sensed some … inevitability, I guess that’s the word … between you guys. I knew it was going to happen.”
“You didn’t have faith the entire time,” Ivy pointed out. “After I got shot and Jack took that brief break of his, you didn’t think we would end up together then.”
“That’s actually not true.”
Max’s answer caused Ivy’s eyebrows to hop toward her hairline. “You’re telling me that you still believed even then? When you were ranting and raving and threatening to rip his head off, you still had faith?” Ivy was understandably dubious. “I’m calling bull on that one.”
“It’s true.” Max refused to back down. “I was furious with him that day. I wanted to kill him. I also saw the way he was suffering. What’s more important is that you saw it, too, and even though you were hurt and angry you still cared about him. That’s when I knew.”
“Knew what?” Ivy was honestly puzzled.
“That he was your match. I never believed in soulmates until I saw you guys together. Now, even though I understand I’m not quite ready, that’s what I want in the end. I want someone who believes in me no matter what, who makes me smile even when things seem terrible, and who doesn’t put up with my crap when I’m being a moron.”
Ivy’s shoulders stiffened. “Excuse me. I think there was an insult buried in there.”
“And I think you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Max countered. “You were set in your ways before Jack.”
“I’m still set in my ways.”
“You are, but you often take Jack’s feelings into consideration and adjust what you’re doing and feeling to accommodate him now, and that’s something you never would’ve considered before,” Max said. “That’s how I really knew you guys were meant to be. You put Jack first and you weren’t even a little bitter about it.”
“Yeah, well … he puts me first, too.”
“He absolutely does,” Max agreed. “That’s why I didn’t kill him when I saw the way he was looking at you.”
Ivy made a grumbling sound in the back of her throat. “I don’t understand why we’re having this conversation.”
“We’re having it because I want you to know how happy I am for you,” Max said. “You’re my baby sister and I love you. What you have with Jack is what I always wanted for you.”
Max snorted, easing the serious mood. “Yes, well, I still wanted to tell you. Coming close to death makes you reevaluate things. I needed you to know how much I love you … and how proud I am of who you’ve become.”
“You didn’t almost die,” Ivy shot back, her annoyance evident. “Don’t say that. You’re fine.”
“I am, and I intend to keep being fine. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to tell you how I proud I am of you.”
Ivy’s cheeks burned under her brother’s intense scrutiny. “I love you, too.”
“I know.”
“You’re acting like a schmuck, though.”
Max broke out in a wide grin. “I know that, too. Now, come on.” He prodded her forward. “Let’s find whatever you think it is that Josh hid out here. I’m still not convinced you’re right about this.”
“I hope I’m wrong,” Ivy said. “I simply don’t think so.”
“Well, then we’ll prove you’re right and move on from there. Let’s get to it.”
“Okay, come on.” Ivy pointed toward a parcel of woods that was very familiar to her. “I think I know where we should look next.”
BRIAN WAS EXPECTING Jack’s call, but he was stunned by what the other detective had to say.
“You can’t be serious.” Brian sucked in a deep breath. “You think Josh killed his father.”
“I do,” Jack confirmed without hesitation. “I think that Josh somehow figured out that his father killed his mother and decided to pay him back.”
“I can’t see that kid as a murderer.”
“I can.” Jack was grim. “He has a needy way about him. He was attached to his father. Imagine finding out the man you look up to most in the world killed your mother. It had to shake him.”
“But … to plan something like this out,” Brian countered. “What kind of little psychopath is capable of something like that?”
Wicked Whimsy Page 16