‘It’s a privacy thing, detective inspector. As you can imagine, I do get all sorts of strange people trying to find out things about me that they’ve really no right to – things like telephone number and where I live – my personal life is a far cry from my public one.’
Burton couldn’t imagine, but nodded nevertheless. ‘So, are you saying it’s all an act, the whole astrology and fortune telling thing?’
‘No, not at all. But I would never claim to be a fortune teller as such in the way most people would interpret it. I read and convey the meaning of Tarot cards, which is quite different from the more generalised term of being able to predict the future. My mother and grandmother before her had the gift, and I appear to have inherited it as well.’
‘And what about the astrology?’ Fielding asked.
‘I do birth charts for people based upon the astrological position of stars at the time they were born.’
‘And people believe all that?’
Marilyn smiled. ‘I can see that you are an unbeliever, detective sergeant.’
‘You could say that.’
‘And you DI Burton, how do you feel about it?’
‘It’s of no consequence what I think,’ he said somewhat sharply, which took her aback somewhat. He was there to ask the questions, not the other way round. Like Fielding, he had grave doubts about the whole thing. He and his partner dealt in facts, not in airy fairy predictions. In any case, he’d once read that there was a knack to Tarot card reading, and most of it came from how the client reacted to certain questions the reader asked them during the consultation.
‘Tell me about what happened last night, with the group of women who came to see you,’ he continued.
‘It was a normal appointment from what I could see. I often get groups coming in as well as individuals. Everyone books through the website, which I think from a safety point of view is the best way to do it. As you will no doubt have seen, I don’t work from home for this very reason, especially as I have had some crank calls and some very odd mail in the past.’
‘You’ve reported all these, haven’t you?’ Burton asked.
‘What’s the point, detective?’ she admitted. ‘I’ve had so much over the years that I really don’t want to keep coming back and forth to you every week or so. How would that have made me look in the long run?’
‘Well, that’s a fair point I suppose. But you know that we would have investigated as we’re obliged to do that.’
‘I know, and thank you; but, like I said, there’s been so much, which is why I’ve endeavoured to keep my personal details as far away from my business as I possibly can. Just out of curiosity, may I ask how you managed to find me?’
‘We have our ways,’ Burton explained, adding, in order not to make his reply so cold, ‘and a very good tech team.’
Marilyn smiled, ‘Yes, of course.’
Fielding suspected that she was flirting with Burton. Her purring voice and alluring eye-contact made it pretty obvious, to her anyway. Her partner, however, appeared to be oblivious to the woman’s attempt to charm the pants off him. Time to put an end to it, she thought.
‘So, talk us through the events of yesterday evening,’ Fielding said.
‘Right, okay,’ Marilyn’s eyes were now on Fielding, whose expression could have frozen the hottest flame, ‘but I’m still a little confused. This person who died–’
‘Maria,’ Burton interjected, ‘her name was Maria.’
‘Maria,’ Marilyn repeated, taking note of Burton’s stress for respect. ‘How does this have anything to do with me?’
‘We’re speaking to anyone she was with on the evening she died.’
‘You didn’t say on the phone that this was in any way suspicious, I just thought–’
‘I didn’t say it was suspicious,’ he cut in. ‘Like I say, we just want to know how she appeared on the night. Did she show any signs of being ill, you know, that kind of thing?’
‘Yes, yes, of course, of course. Well, each of the women came in in turn. I read the Tarot cards for the first two, all straightforward enough, no great chit-chat or anything like that, but when the third came in she did ask me quite a few questions more than I normally get.’
‘Like what?’ Fielding asked.
‘Oh, well, questions about me, really. I got the impression that she was a bit of a fan so, like with other fans, you know, the kind I told you about before, I kept my answers to a minimum for privacy’s sake.’
‘Then the last woman, Maria, came in. How was she?’
‘Well, there’s the funny thing. I normally go out into the waiting area to invite whoever’s out there into my private room for the consultation, but she came barging in demanding to know what I’d just told her friend.’
‘And what was it that you had just told her friend?’
‘Nothing untoward, if that’s what you’re thinking. I read her cards, and she seemed content with the results, so I didn’t understand what this woman was going on about. Still, Maria said I could do a read for her, but she wasn’t happy with what the cards revealed.’
‘And what did they reveal?’ Fielding asked.
‘That her marriage wouldn’t last.’
‘Well, that came true.’ A surprising off-the-cuff quip from Burton. ‘Nevertheless, continue.’
‘As you can imagine she wasn’t very pleased with what I told her, and she stormed out of the room. I followed at a distance and overheard a row breaking out between her and the friend who had been in prior. I don’t know what they were arguing about as Maria left the room and was followed by the others. It was a very odd thing all round.’
‘Were they your last appointment of the evening?’
‘No. A couple came in about half-an-hour afterwards and left at around ten.’
‘So, when the four women were there, did you notice anything unusual?’
‘Like what?’ Ms Parkinson frowned, unsure what he wanted her to tell him.
‘Anything that might have caught your attention, apart from the one asking you fan questions?’
‘As I said detective, I only saw them individually, and very briefly as a group when they first entered. Apart from Maria, each of them seemed fine. I’m a professional, and I keep my consultations that way. Sometimes my clients are unhappy with what I tell them, but I’m only telling them what I see.’
‘And when Maria came in to see you, did she appear unwell to you or unsteady on her feet at all?’
‘No, she didn’t. Although, I only really saw her for a short space of time, you understand,’ Parkinson admitted.
‘Okay, that’s fine. Thank you Ms Parkinson, you’ve been very helpful.’
Burton wrapped the elastic marker around the page he was on and closed his notebook, putting it safely back into his pocket.
‘Just doing my duty, detective inspector,’ she purred. Fielding gritted her teeth. Did women still do that in this day and age? ‘If you need to ask me anything further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.’
‘I will,’ Burton replied. ‘And remember, if you do get any further mail from strangers please let us know.’
He rose from his seat, followed by Fielding and then Marilyn last.
‘I’ll be sure to do so,’ she informed him as she walked with them to the front door and then showed them out.
‘She was coming on to you big time!’ Fielding said to her partner once they were both seated in the car.
‘No, surely not!’ Burton exclaimed, eyes wide and proclaiming ignorance.
Was he joking, or was he indeed completely oblivious to what the woman was doing right in front of his eyes, and hers come to that? She didn’t know that apart from them being police partners they were also partners in real life too, how could she? But it was out of order in Fielding’s eyes, as blatantly flirting was something she would never do under any circumstances.
‘Not my cup of tea,’ he said with a wink, as he turned the key in the
ignition and pulled away.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘So, what’s the next move then?’ Fielding asked, as they drove away.
Burton quickly glanced at his watch. ‘If the DCI is back from her meeting, I think we should pay her a visit and update her with what we have so far. After all, it was initially her case wasn’t it, and I’m sure she’ll want to know.’
‘Yes, I agree. Plus, if we get the toxicity screen back before the end of the day then we’ll finally know if we have a case or not. At the moment we’re just looking at the possibility of it being foul play.’
Arriving back at the station they checked to see that the DCI was back in her office, then updated the team on the morning’s findings. Jack Summers had already put quite a bit of information up on the board, including photographs from Madame Ortiz’s website as well as images of the deceased when she was first found in the cab.
In many ways they weren’t happy with either the girlfriends’ or the fortune teller’s responses. Something appeared to be lacking from their statements, despite the fact that at this stage they were unsure what that ‘something’ was, or if there was even a case to investigate. It was just a feeling both of them shared. It seemed that Fielding had developed Burton’s infamous ‘nose’ for suspecting when something was not quite right or what it appeared; his in-built sense had apparently now rubbed off on her too.
‘Interesting case,’ DCI Ambleton said to them once they were in her office. ‘At first glance I would have said natural causes despite her young age but, as we now know, Dr Adamson suspects otherwise.’
‘And he’s usually not wrong.’ Burton had known him for a number of years now, since he was first partnered with Ambleton as sergeant to her inspector. Adamson had been the on-call pathologist for more times than they could count. He was a consummate professional, and highly respected by both members of his own profession and police officers alike. And, besides, he was a highly likeable man, mixing both humour and gravity in equal measures.
‘No, he’s not usually wrong,’ Ambleton agreed. ‘So, what is it that’s giving you cause for concern among the witnesses?’
‘Nothing specific that we can put our fingers on,’ Burton said, ‘but I think that we’re both agreed that there’s something they’re omitting to tell us.’
‘A hunch, then?’
‘More than a hunch I think, boss.’
Ambleton was well aware of her former partner’s hunches, and had always trusted him to go with them when they occurred. They’d served them well in the past, so there was no reason to think that his occasion was any different from that.
‘They all seemed to think Maria’s death was related to her known heart condition, and were genuinely surprised by the fact that we were asking a lot of questions about it. Maria’s best friend Caroline did most of the talking. She was confident, I’ll give her that, but I got the impression that she isn’t much liked by the others,’ Burton continued.
‘I got that impression as well,’ Fielding agreed with him. ‘I was carefully watching all their reactions to the news, and we had a mixed bag in there.’
‘Didn’t you say that she was the one who had misled the group into thinking that she was upset after her consultation with the fortune teller?’ Ambleton asked.
‘Yes. But as Madame Ortiz took great pains to tell us, she’s doesn’t claim to be a psychic or anything like that, but just an interpreter of the Tarot cards.’ Burton repeated Marilyn Parkinson’s own statement.
‘With a bit of astrological prediction thrown in for good measure,’ Fielding said scornfully.
‘You didn’t like Madame Ortiz then?’ Ambleton asked, noticing the disdain in the sergeant’s voice.
‘First impressions? No, not really. She seemed to think a little too highly of herself. I do agree with the shock element, though,’ Fielding continued, ‘but there’s still something there that’s bothering me.’
‘Okay then,’ Ambleton sat back in her chair and deliberated. ‘Let’s see what Dr Adamson comes back with regarding toxicity and take it from there, shall we? It could still be natural causes for all we know, and if that’s the case then we don’t have anything to investigate, do we? In the meantime, let’s do some background checks on all of them, including the husband, and see what turns up. Also, while we’re on, we might as well speak to people at Maria Turnbull’s place of employment too. Do we know where she worked?’
‘No, we don’t,’ Fielding confessed. ‘But I’ll get in touch with the husband’s mother, as she seemed to be handling the situation fractionally better than either her son or her husband.’
‘Good. Okay, let me know how things go then.’
***
Having received the results from toxicology, Dr Adamson, true to his word, contacted Burton shortly after they’d left Ambleton’s office. Even he said that he was surprised at the speed they’d been returned to him but, as he added, he’d requested that it go through as urgent. As initially suspected by him, Maria Turnbull’s death was not down to natural causes and had, in fact, been brought about by a large dose of digitalis some time prior to her death. However, it was impossible to determine the precise time it had been given to her or in what form. Apart from tablets, digitalis can also be found in foxglove plants which, to anyone in the know, is highly poisonous, with all parts of it considered toxic to humans.
‘I think it’s a pity that such an attractive-looking plant as the foxglove is so dangerous,’ Adamson had added, saying that he had many in his own garden at home. ‘I looked it up, and did you know that ingesting half a gram of dried, or two grams of fresh leaf, is enough to kill a person? I didn’t, but it goes to show how effective it is as a poison.’
‘Is it flavourless though Ben, because if not wouldn’t Maria Turnbull have tasted it when she was given it?’ Burton speculated.
‘I suppose it depends on how it was given to her. If it was administered orally, research says that it tastes spicy hot or bitter, and smells slightly bad, so if it’s disguised in something else, she probably wouldn’t have. Of course, it’s possible that it could have been injected, although I didn’t notice any injection sites on the body when I examined her. I know that it’s been posited that poison is a woman’s murder weapon of choice, but I don’t feel that’s entirely true. If it’s that easy, anyone could use it, male or female.’
‘Is the foxglove only dangerous to humans?’ Burton asked, to which Adamson replied that it was not.
‘The plants are also dangerous to cats and dogs. Thankfully, I’m not a pet-owner, so no worries on that score.’
Adamson also went on to say that he’d now seen Maria’s patient record, which he had received during the day from her GP surgery, and it indicated that she was in fact prescribed the medication in the pharmaceutical form of Digoxin for atrial arrhythmia, which was an irregular heartbeat. That backed up what her friend Barbara had already told them. But, even so, the amount found in her body was way beyond the expected norm. Adamson had no other option but to record official cause of death as ‘suspicious’, pending an enquiry.
Burton thanked him for getting back so quickly. Now they knew for sure that they were investigating a suspicious death, they could continue the investigation appropriately.
‘It’s a pity that the time it was given to her couldn’t be pinned down for you; I suspect it would have made things a lot easier?’
‘Yes, it would have, but if it can’t be done then it can’t be done,’ Burton didn’t want Adamson to think that he was blaming him for that. He knew that sometimes things can’t be cut and dry, and poisons could be unpredictable.
‘So, nobody noticed her behaving differently, like feeling queasy, being dizzy or having stomach pains even?’
‘They didn’t seem to, otherwise I’m sure they would have mentioned it.’
‘Strange,’ Adamson pondered. ‘I’ve never heard of death by digitalis poisoning being so sudden and without displaying symptoms. Wh
at I’ve read up on the subject, people who have inadvertently been poisoned from the plant display all, or some, of the signs I’ve just mentioned before seeking medical attention.’
‘So, it’s unusual then?’
‘Very.’
Burton considered the timeline again. ‘If you can’t tell when she ingested this – and it was definitely ingestion, was it?’
‘I didn’t find an injection site, so I think it’s safe to say yes,’ Adamson confirmed.
‘Then we really can’t say when she was given it.’
‘That’s true. It could have been Saturday night, or it could have been more days ago. So, if you have any suspects, I’d say any one of them could have done it.’
Great, thought Burton. That’s four suspects, at least.
‘So, is it possible, that it may not have had immediate effect because she was already taking the medication?’
‘No, I don’t think so. Like I say, the amount we found in her was more than enough to kill her. The Digoxin tablets she was taking were only 125 micrograms; enough to help her condition, but not enough to do lasting damage.’
‘So, could someone have crushed up her tablets and given them to her that way, in a drink or food, say?’
‘There was nothing in her stomach to show that. And if she’d been given them earlier in time and they’d already been digested, that quantity would have had an impact on other bodily tissue as well, and I saw nothing to indicate that. I feel confident in saying that was not the way she was given it. But I’m still puzzled as to how she appeared so normal right up to the time she died and didn’t display any symptoms whatsoever.’
‘Okay, thanks, for your help with this, Ben,’ Burton said. Although they now knew for sure that she’d met her death by foul play, the lack of time frame didn’t make the case any easier.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘Fantastic!’ Fielding declared sarcastically after hearing about the conversation Joe Burton had just had with Dr Adamson. ‘Any one of them could have done it then?’
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