2 Yule Be the Death of Me

by J. D. Shaw

  “What did you do?”

  Kathy leaned close and whispered. “It turns out that she volunteers here a few hours a week to earn her community involvement program credits from the college. “

  Vivienne knew about the credits. Lakeshore Community College had put into place a program to offer a tuition discount to any student that volunteered at least four hours a week at various agencies throughout the community. Stephanie assisted at the local animal shelter as part of her credits. She often brought pet adoption posters in to the bakery to try to help place pets in family homes. “So why is she helping us?”

  “I asked nicely and she remembered all the big tips I have left for her lately.” Kathy smiled.

  “What if she gets caught?” Vivienne worried.

  “She’s a smart girl.” Kathy smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about that.”

  “Did you pay her off?” Vivienne began to worry about her friend’s ethics.

  “Of course not.” Kathy seemed genuinely insulted at the question.

  “I saw you give her something.” Vivienne folded her arms. “What was it then?”

  “My business card.” Kathy replied flatly.

  “What else?”

  “I promised her fifty percent off an outfit or accessory at my store of her choosing.” Kathy finished.

  Vivienne picked up the basket and stared at the whoopie pies inside. “I sure hope this doesn’t create a scandal. If the college found out, they could expel her.”

  “No money changed hands so it’s not a bribe.” Kathy explained. “We’re not breaking the law.”

  “I think we are bending it a little.” Vivienne watched nervously as Alexis talked with Helen at the front desk and then accessed the computer database. She then wrote something on a piece of paper and walked away toward the gift shop.

  “Looks like she didn’t have any luck.” Vivienne sighed. “Let’s go.”

  Kathy put her hand on Vivienne’s arm and held her in place. “Just a second.”

  Alexis walked over to a trash can and carelessly missed throwing the paper into the bin. It tumbled off to the side as she disappeared into the double doors that led to the pediatric ward.

  “Come on.” Kathy pulled Vivienne along as they hustled past the reception desk where Helen eyed them suspiciously.

  They reached the trash can where Kathy opened her purse and began to toss a few scraps of paper into the bin, missing two or three pieces which tumbled onto the floor. “Oh, drat.” She knelt down and grabbed the paper Alexis had left for them. After a quick glance she slipped it into her purse and whispered to Vivienne. “She’s in room 508.”

  “So how do we get there?” Vivienne looked over at Helen who kept them in her field of vision. “She’s suspicious of us already.”

  “Just play it cool.” Kathy added. “When she gets swamped, we just slip by.”

  Vivienne looked at her wrist watch. “It’s almost quarter to one. I told Stephanie I wouldn’t be late today.”

  “She’ll be fine.” Kathy hushed her and sat down in one of the chairs.

  Vivienne sat down beside her. Some soothing orchestral music played softly from speakers in the ceiling above them and for a moment, she relished the peace. “Why are you so certain that there’s going to be a sudden crowd?”

  Kathy pointed toward the windows where two large vans pulled up slowly along the curb, each packed to the gills with the faces of boy and girl scouts. “How’s that for a reason?”

  The children began to file out of the vans in neat lines, heading for the automatic doors. “Oh, I see.” Vivienne remarked as the first wave of excited faces stomped their feet on the rubber mats, knocking clumps of dirty snow out of boots and shoes.

  Vivienne tried to look casual, but she could feel her cheeks reddening. She didn’t like all this sneaking around and hoped that she wasn’t setting up another situation where Joshua was going to have to explain to the sheriff why she was somewhere she shouldn’t be.

  The children hurried into the lobby carrying homemade paper ornaments and cards. Several chaperones were trying their best to keep their conversations down to an acceptable level, but the excitement of a field trip just proved too much.

  “Go for the elevators.” Kathy ordered like a general directing troops on the battlefield.

  Vivienne could see that Helen was suddenly overwhelmed with the group of children and was soon surrounded on all sides by a colorful horde of puffy jackets, knit hats, and woolen mittens. She pressed the call button three times as Kathy waited impatiently behind her.

  Just as one of the scout leader’s raised his voice to quiet the group down, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Vivienne and Kathy rushed inside and pressed the five key.

  Once on the fifth floor, it was a simple matter to find Eunice’s room. As they neared the nurse’s station, they were relieved to find it unmanned. “This way.” Kathy led them both down a hallway and stopped outside room 508. From inside the double room, they could hear a television program squawking from one of the bedside speakers. Kathy popped head into the room and noticed a petite member of the blue rinse crowd crocheting happily away on the first bed. “Hello there.” Kathy said sweetly.

  “Are you looking for me?” The little lady smiled hopefully.

  “No, I’m here to see my friend Eunice.” Kathy glanced around the room.

  “I’m Delores.” She replied. “Your friend is on the other side of the curtain.”

  “Thank you.” Kathy replied as she walked slowly toward the other side of the curtain divider.

  “Are you here to see me?” Delores asked Vivienne as she followed behind Kathy.

  “Well, I’m here to see our friend Eunice too.” Vivienne replied. “But I can visit with you if you’d like for a few minutes.”

  Delores’ face brightened and she reached over with shaky hands to turn off the television. “Really?”

  Kathy peeked around the curtain and then looked at Vivienne with concern. “She’s asleep.”

  Delores pointed to the basket in Vivienne’s hands with a metal crochet needle. “Is that for me?”

  “Do you like peppermint?” Vivienne asked.

  Delores nodded. “My Leroy used to buy me peppermint sticks when we were teenagers.”

  “Eunice.” Kathy spoke softly trying to rouse her. “Eunice?”

  Vivienne reached into the basket and pulled out a chocolate peppermint whoopie pie. She set it on the bedside stand. “I don’t know if the nurses would agree with this for your dietary plan, but I won’t tell if you won’t.”

  Delores smiled and picked up the dessert. She gave it a quick smell and closed her eyes. “I never get tired of that. I can almost see Norman’s Malt Shop if I think hard enough.”

  “Are you from Cayuga Cove?” Vivienne asked.

  Delores took a small bite of the confection and shook her head. “I was born and raised in Rhode Island. I didn’t move here until my husband died about fifteen years ago.”

  Kathy re-appeared from behind the curtain. “It’s no use. She won’t wake up.”

  “How does she look?” Vivienne asked.

  “Bruised and battered.” Kathy’s voice was low. “But alive.”

  Delores swallowed and looked up at Kathy. “She hasn’t been awake at all.”

  Kathy looked at Vivienne. “The whole time?”

  Delores set the whoopie pie down on the bedside stand and cleaned her hands off with a tissue. “They brought her in the other day but she just sleeps all the time. Haven’t heard a word out of her.”

  “Has she had any visitors?” Vivienne asked.

  “Just her brother. He’s tall, with salt and pepper hair and is always dressed very conservatively in a suit and tie. Very proper looking.” Delores explained.

  “Did he tell you his name?” Kathy asked.

  Delores thought for a moment. “Pastor Kilpatrick. He said he drove all the way from West Virginia.”

  Vivienne shrugged at Kathy. “I didn’t even kno
w she had a brother.”

  Delores took a sip of water and then licked her lips. “He seemed nice and all, but he kept pestering me about saving my soul. Asking me if I walked in the light with Jesus.”

  “Has he been in to visit today?” Kathy asked.

  “Not that I remember.” Delores smiled at Vivienne. “It’s easy to lose track of the time in here.”

  “What are you here for, Delores?” Vivienne asked.

  “My heart, dear.” Delores wrapped the rest of the whoopie pie in another tissue and set it off to the side with a small stack of magazines. “It’s been filled with joy, it’s been broken by sorrow, and now it’s winding down.” She gave a little sigh. “Leroy and I never did have children so everyone I ever loved is gone now.”

  Kathy’s eyes blinked a few times as she fought back tears. “You’re all alone?”

  “When I was a little girl, I remember wishing on many a star to live to be a hundred.” Delores spoke softly. “I shouldn’t complain after ninety-five years, but I really wish I had added in a part about having someone with me until then.”

  Vivienne reached out and took Delores’ hand in hers. “I would be happy to call you a friend, Delores. My name is Vivienne and I run a little bakery downtown.”

  “I wish I could see it.” Delores smiled.

  Kathy reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. “I have pictures on my phone if you’d like to see them.”

  They sat with her for almost an hour, before leaving with the promise to return every Monday for a visit. As Eunice dozed quietly in the next bed, she remained unaware of the circle of friends around her. Like most blessings, they didn’t announce themselves with great fanfare or trumpets. They just happened during the routine of an ordinary day.

  CHAPTER 11

  Joshua set a thick folder down on the marble topped table in the kitchen of the Sweet Dreams Bakery. “You’re not going to believe this. Eddie Robertson died of hydroxybenzene poisoning.”

  Vivienne set the bowl of wet sugar cookie ingredients down onto her large stand mixer with a thud and locked it in place. “I have no idea what that is, but it sounds an awful lot like murder to me.”

  Joshua opened the folder with the autopsy report and proceeded to recite what the medical examiner had written. “Trauma to vascular and respiratory centers suggests paralysis due to oxidation. Blood of exceedingly dark color with poor coagulating factor. Severe damage to esophagus, stomach, and intestinal lining suggests acute gastroenteritis due to long-term duration of exposure to phenol.” He scanned the next few lines and shook his head. “There’s more technical terms here that I don’t even want to attempt to pronounce.”

  “Someone poisoned him for a few weeks.” Vivienne turned the mixer on low. “So that means that the killer has been here in Cayuga Cove for some time now.”

  “Yes.” Joshua agreed.

  “Can you write some of that down on my notepad?”

  Joshua looked over the table where sheets of recipes were scattered and pulled a yellow tablet out from under a stack of wire-bound cookbooks with vintage pictures of holiday cookies from the 50’s and 60’s on the cover. “Sure thing.” He scribbled down the basics and did his best to make it legible.

  “Did you find out why Natalie was ruled out as a suspect?” Vivienne asked him as he scanned the report with his index finger and copied more information down.

  “She cooperated fully with an investigation of her home right after the incident. Nothing was found that suggested foul play.” Joshua explained as he finished his brief notes. “You’ve got the basics now.”

  As the mixing paddles churned the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract, Vivienne added the dry ingredients in small increments. “Did anyone suspect poisoning during the initial investigation?”

  “No.”

  Vivienne raised the speed of the mixer up one notch as the dough began to form. “Is Sheriff Rigsbee going to re-examine the scene again?”

  “They’re doing it now. That’s why I was able to sneak this report over to you.” Joshua added. “Speaking of which, I need to get back to the station.” He closed the report and tucked it beside his hip. “How’s Eunice doing?”

  “She’s stable but has been unconscious the entire time.” Vivienne replied as she turned off the mixer and tipped the paddles back to inspect the cookie dough. “Did you know she has a brother?”

  “I did not.” Joshua leaned forward and gave her a kiss. “But then again, she and I barely spoke.”

  “Well, he just came into town after the accident. Her roommate at the hospital met him briefly. Said he was a Pastor.”

  “I’m glad she has someone to watch over her after the accident.”

  “Me too.” Vivienne agreed. “I’m looking forward to meeting him soon.” She stared at his deputy uniform for a moment and then brushed away a few crumbles of flour. “Can’t have you looking a mess going back to the station.”

  “Are you going to be working late tonight?”

  She glanced at the stack of slips that were waiting to be started on the order board. “I’ll have Stephanie for a few hours this afternoon so not too terribly late. I should be home no later than six thirty or seven. Why do you ask?”

  “Late dinner? I was thinking of takeout from Shanghai Sunset.”

  “Sounds perfect. I’ll shoot you a text when I’m about a half hour from locking up. That way the food will be nice and hot when you bring it over.”

  “Our usual order?”

  Vivienne thought for a moment and nodded. “Could you add some spring rolls in too? I’ve been craving them lately for some reason.”

  Joshua waved goodbye and strolled out the door just as two customers pushed their way in with holiday order forms in their hands. ‘It’s going to be a long day.’ Vivienne thought as she greeted them from behind the counter with a smile.

  * * *

  As the sun slipped lower on the horizon, Vivienne couldn’t help but stare at the information Joshua had written on the notepad. Giving in to her inquisitive mind, she asked Stephanie if she would mind closing up alone as she could use the last hour to conduct some research at the public library to find out more information about this hydroxybenzene poisoning that had been Eddie’s ultimate undoing.

  Harriet Nettles was thrilled as Vivienne stepped into the front entrance and stopped at the circulation desk. “Vivienne Finch, I’m so glad you stopped by today.” She gushed. “The bake sale was a huge success and I wanted to personally thank you for your help with the tea selections. The library board was so impressed, they want to start a monthly afternoon tea and book discussion club.”

  “That’s wonderful, Harriet.” Vivienne loved the smell of old books that filled the air. There was just something about it that made her feel so at ease and eager to soak up knowledge.

  “I’ll be stopping by after the New Year holiday to talk more about it when the board comes up with a budget.” Harriet adjusted her gold wire-rimmed glasses so that the bifocals were properly lined up in her field of vision. “What brings you here today?”

  “I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction to look up some medical information?”

  Harriet straightened her back and pivoted her office chair toward the desktop computer that was in front of her. “Sure. What do you need?”

  Vivienne pulled out the notepad from her purse and set it on the desk. “Hydroxybenzene poisoning.”

  “Could you spell that?”

  Vivienne handed the yellow notepad to Harriet. “This will make it easier.”

  Harriet typed in the name and then scanned the screen as information scrolled down. “There’s quite a bit of information here. Did you want to add anything else in with your search to narrow it down a little?”

  Vivienne thought for a moment. “Could you cross-reference Cayuga Cove?”

  Harriet nodded back. “This new system has made finding information so much easier these days.” She waited for the query to yield the new r
esults. “Everyone just hops onto the internet and finds things on their own these days. But the problem is, not everything on there is factual.”

  “I agree.” Vivienne thought back to her days in school having to write a paper on some random subject. Having to learn to use a card catalog and understand the Dewey Decimal System.

  “Here we go. It looks like I found quite a few cemetery records that match your query.”

  “So, other people have died from this?” Vivienne leaned forward to try and read the information on the screen.

  “Not recently. Most of these records are from the late 1800’s. Let me print you a copy.” Harriet sent the information to the printer. “Do you want a medical encyclopedia for symptoms and signs of this type of poisoning?”

  “That’d be great.” Vivienne smiled, finally feeling as if she were getting somewhere. “I knew you’d be able to find what I needed.”

  Harriet pulled the paper from the printer.

  “Okay, the cemetery records are stored on disc up in the genealogy section on the second floor. You can use the terminals up there to find and print what you need as the actual books are not stored here.”

  Vivienne nodded. “I can do that.”

  Harriet printed another document and handed that to Vivienne. “Now, the medical encyclopedia is on this floor. If you want to head upstairs, I’ll locate it and bring it up.”

  ‘That’d be great.”

  “We’re only open for another half hour, so I thought I’d save you some time.” Harriet glanced at the clock on the wall which read four-thirty.

  “Thanks. I’ll get right on it.” Vivienne hurried to the staircase that led upstairs, forgoing the elevator ride and figuring the extra burned calories would help offset the extra holiday calories that invaded her hips every winter.

  Upon reaching the top level, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye as another patron pulled a book off a shelf and disappeared into the long rows of bookcases that lined the carpeted floors. The roof of the old building had been retro-fitted with modern skylights to allow natural light to fill the space, saving money on the electric bills. But, in the winter months, the sunlight was weaker and it gave a rather dim pallor to the upper level that made one want to gravitate to one of the nice walnut tables where brass reading lamps glowed softly.