“Is... she... she going to be okay?”
Nancy had that same deer-in-headlights look she’d had earlier in the kitchen.
“She’ll be all right,” I said, unsure of my own words.
“Please be okay,” whispered Nancy, rubbing her arm. “Please get better.”
“Stay awake,” I said, desperately trying to recall my first aid lessons. “Help will be here real soon.”
I did another quick check of her body.
Mrs. Robinson didn’t have any visible cuts or bruises, or any bullet holes. She wasn’t bleeding from anywhere.
I had thought this was a stroke or heart attack, but I now wondered if it was something else altogether. She’d been wheezing and clutching her chest a few times that evening.
I scanned the room.
There were no guns, or upturned pill bottles, or even a bloodied knife. The windows were shut, and the room looked exactly in the same condition we’d seen it before. Except for the bed.
Mrs. Robinson had been asleep when this... whatever it was... had afflicted her. Either she had tumbled from her bed or had got up in a hurry and keeled over.
I glanced at Nancy across from me.
“Was it you who screamed just now?”
Nancy nodded, without looking up.
“How did you find her?”
“I... I came down and knocked on her door. When she didn’t open, I thought she was sleeping, so I turned around....”
She paused as if she wasn’t sure what to say next.
“What happened then?” I said, hearing my voice harden. “And don’t lie.”
She looked up and shot me a dismayed look.
“I’m not lying,” she said. “When I turned to go back to my room, I heard her door unlock, so I turned back. And she... she...”
“Mrs. Robinson?”
A nod.
“What did you see?”
“She was standing there...” Nancy stopped to swallow hard. “She was standing at the door and swaying. Like she was going to fall, like, she was going to faint...”
“Did you see anyone else?”
She shook her head.
“What happened then?”
“She tried to tell me something, but... it was like something got stuck in her throat. She gurgled...”
“Gurgled?”
“She clutched her chest, you know, like she always does when she coughs.”
“Why didn’t you call for help?”
I... I don’t know. I didn’t think... I didn’t know what to do.” Nancy swallowed again and gave me that wide-eyed look again. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“Then, she fell down. One second she was standing up, and the next second she was on the floor like this.”
Nancy looked down at Mrs. Robinson as if she still couldn’t believe her eyes.
“That’s when I screamed.”
She looked as shocked as I felt. Unless she was a fantastic actress, she was telling the truth. Something told me I could trust her words. This time, at least.
“Nancy,” I said, “what were you doing down here at this time of night?”
She shot me a fearful look from under her eyelids.
I leaned over and felt my voice harden again.
“You need to tell me.”
She looked away. “I came down because I wanted to—”
A loud commotion in the corridor made us both turn. It was Tetyana and the pastor rushing back.
“Doctor Fulton’s on his way,” said the pastor, panting. He hurried over and kneeled next to me. Then he glanced up at Tetyana.
“I still think we should take her to him.”
“That’s dangerous,” snapped Tetyana, “If she’s having a stroke, she can’t be moved.”
With a desperate sigh, the pastor took Mrs. Robinson’s hand from me. He bowed his head and said a prayer under his breath while we watched.
I gripped Mrs. Robinson’s shoulders and rubbed her arm, praying silently in my own way.
Please, please stay with us, Mrs. Robinson. Please.
Tetyana started pacing the room. I saw her impatiently check the window to see if it was locked. Then, she stepped over to the bedside table to check the contents on it.
Mrs. Robinson’s breaths were coming louder and raspier.
“Keep breathing,” I said, my voice cracking. “Please keep breathing.”
Pastor Graham’s head bowed even lower over her hand, and his prayers came faster.
I’d just met this woman lying in my arms. I hardly knew her. But at that moment, all I wanted, more than anything in the world, was for her to take another breath.
“Please, Mrs. Robinson,” I pleaded, hearing my voice rise in pitch, “keep breathing. That’s it. Stay with me.”
Pastor Graham’s prayers got louder and louder as he invoked all sorts of saints. Across from us, Nancy started to cry silently.
Suddenly, Mrs. Robinson shuddered like something hit her. Her eyes rolled back and a strange gurgling sound escaped from her lips. Then her body convulsed.
“Oh, my god,” I said, panic rising inside me.
What do I do? What do I do?
Then, with one horrific shudder, Mrs. Robinson’s face fell to the side, her eyes partly open.
“No!” I cried, clutching her shoulder. “Wake up. Stay with me!”
Nancy started wailing.
“CPR!” hollered Tetyana from across the room. “Give her CPR!”
I was already on my knees, leaning over Mrs. Robinson’s chest.
I put my hand on her nose and reached for her mouth. For the next few minutes, I scarcely registered what was going on around me. All I knew was I had to make her breathe again.
I hazily recalled the pastor shouting and Nancy screaming. Tetyana sat across from me, holding Mrs. Robinson’s wrist, taking her pulse. I thought I heard Katy’s voice too, but I didn’t have time to look up.
I alternated between chest compressions and rescue breathing. I was on autopilot. After a while, someone tried to pull me away, but I didn’t break. I couldn’t. I wanted this woman to live.
I didn’t realize how long I’d been going on until a firm hand rested on my shoulder.
“It’s okay,” said the voice next to my ear. “You can stop now.”
It was Tetyana.
“No,” I said, shaking my head.
“You’ve been at it for more than half an hour,” whispered Tetyana, pulling me away with a firm hand.
I wiped my face and stared numbly at the lifeless body in front of me. I barely registered the sweat streaming down my back and face.
My body was shaking uncontrollably from exhaustion and the horrible, sinking feeling I had failed.
I reached over and touched Mrs. Robinson’s hand. She was still warm, but she had stopped breathing for good.
Chapter Twenty-two
Mrs. Robinson’s room was crowded.
Almost everyone in the house was there.
Lisa, Nancy, Katy, and Pastor Graham were standing bunched together by the doorway with shocked expressions on their faces.
I presumed Barry was sleeping in a drunken coma somewhere on the third floor. And Jim, I knew, had rushed out in his truck to pick up the only doctor in town.
The only emergency services nearby were the police officer we’d met on our way here, but he couldn’t have done any more than we had.
What Mrs. Robinson had needed was prompt and proper medical attention, but the nearest clinic was an hour away.
All that was futile now.
I collapsed backward and leaned against the wall, unsure whether to scream or cry.
Pastor Graham walked over to the bed, picked up a pillow and placed it under Mrs. Robinson’s head. Not that she felt discomfort anymore, but it was a kind gesture. Then he took a sheet from the bed and covered her body, leaving only her face in the open.
Tetyana had closed Mrs. Robinson’s eyes, but her mouth was slightly open. She looked peaceful, as if she’d decided to
sleep on the floor instead of on her bed that night.
An angry yell made us all turn.
“What the hell is all this? How come no one woke me!”
It was Barry.
He pushed in between Lisa and Nancy and staggered into the room. He stared at the body on the floor, his hair standing up like he’d been electrocuted.
“What the dickens is this? Why didn’t anyone tell me what’s going on? How come I’m the last to hear anything in my house?”
He swayed like a massive pine tree in the wind. I sat up and moved away, afraid he was going to fall flat on top of Mrs. Robinson and me.
He swayed again. I watched him in shock, too exhausted to do anything, but Tetyana lurched toward him, and caught him just in time.
Barry pushed her aside, staggered back and clutched onto Lisa’s arm. Lisa’s face turned dark. I wasn’t sure if she was disgusted or incensed by her brother, but she reached over and wrenched his hand from her arm and pushed him away.
That didn’t seem to faze Barry.
He turned to the pastor.
“What the hell is wrong with her?”
The pastor crossed himself. “It’s a very sad day for—”
“She’s gone!” wailed Nancy, interrupting him from behind. “She’s gone for good!”
“What the hell do you mean she’s gone?” said Barry, snapping at Nancy.
I caught a flash of fury cross her face. Her eyes fired up, and she pointed an angry finger his way.
“You killed her, you big brute. You drove her to her death. It was you!”
Katy and I locked eyes.
Did I hear that correctly?
Those words had a strange effect on Barry.
With a howl, he stomped through the room, pulling at his hair, beating his chest and roaring like a mad bull.
I scooted to the side to avoid getting stepped on. Tetyana put an arm up to stop the man from trampling over Mrs. Robinson.
But Barry was out of control.
A flailing arm hit a glass of water on the bedside table which came crashing down, breaking into smithereens on the floor.
Nancy gasped.
Lisa shot him a furious look.
The pastor took a step toward Barry.
Yelling at the pastor to get off him, Barry swept everything on Mrs. Robinson’s table to the floor. It was like watching a child throw a tantrum.
Mrs. Robinson deserved better than this.
Damn you, Barry.
“This house is cursed!” he bawled. “It’s a sick place!” He reached for the bedside lamp and jerked it out of the outlet, making electric sparks fly.
I wanted to do something, but this wasn’t our home. This wasn’t our family.
Tetyana was standing next to me, glaring at the crazed man. Though we both had our weapons on us, we couldn’t just tackle our deranged host and pin him to the ground, like we’d do with a criminal.
Lisa hadn’t said a word since her arrival, but her face said she was beyond angry. Nancy was sobbing next to her, too hysterical to speak.
“Calm down, for heaven’s sake,” said the pastor, pulling on Barry’s elbow. “Stop this madness!”
But Barry was a big man. I didn’t think he could control himself now, even if he had wanted to. It was like watching a wild buffalo rampaging in the midst of a funeral.
Barry looked at the lamp, like he’d just noticed it in his hands. With a roar, he smashed it against the wall, breaking the light bulb.
I jumped up.
“Control yourself!” I shouted before my brain could kick in. “Show some decency for goodness’s sake.”
Barry turned and stared at me, the broken lamp handle still in his hand.
“What did you say?” he asked in a low, dangerous voice.
“Show some respect for Mrs. Robinson,” I replied with gritted teeth. “Her body’s not even cold yet, and you’re running around like a mad dog around her.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
“Mad dog?” howled Barry. “How dare you! Who the hell are you to call me mad?”
He advanced on me, his eyes burning fire, the lamp handle held high.
I ducked.
Tetyana pushed me behind her and faced Barry, her face five inches from his.
“You touch one hair on her and you’re a dead man,” she snarled.
Barry stopped in his tracks.
The pastor stepped up and pried the lamp from Barry’s hand.
“For God’s sake, settle down,” he said.
He glanced over to Nancy and let out an exasperated sigh.
“No one’s accusing anyone of anything. I know we’re all a little rattled, but Mrs. Robinson most probably died of a heart attack.”
To my surprise, Barry slipped to the floor next to Mrs. Robinson and sobbed.
I shook my head.
The man was wasted. He acted more like a child than an adult. No wonder Lisa was disgusted by her own brother.
The pastor took control of the room.
“Mrs. Robinson’s been sick for a while now. We all did the best we could do. Now, can we show some respect by staying calm, please? Jim’s gone to bring Doctor Fulton over soon. We’ll figure out what we have to do next.”
I looked at Mrs. Robinson’s helpless body on the floor. I felt responsible for her death. She had called us for help, and we had done nothing to stop this.
I swallowed hard.
Nancy was right. Or half right, at least.
Someone had driven Mrs. Robinson to her death. Someone had made her life hell in her last few weeks on earth.
This wasn’t an accidental death.
The letter writer had got their wish. It could have been anyone in this room. My task now was to find out who did this.
I looked at my friends. Tetyana was standing next to me, leaning against the wall, her expression taut. Katy was standing on the threshold of the room, her face pale, a sad look in her eyes.
The pastor cleared his throat and looked at Tetyana and me in the corner.
“I think the family would like to be alone with Mrs. Robinson for the moment.”
I nodded.
I had already begun to feel like we were intruding on a private affair. It was admittedly a strange family, but we were the outsiders here.
With one last look at Mrs. Robinson, I stepped away from the wall.
I walked past Lisa on my way out.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said, but she said nothing back.
Katy had already stepped out of the room and was standing in the corridor, her arms wrapped around her, like she was cold. I reached out to her for a much-needed hug.
Tetyana came up from behind us.
“Let’s go to the kitchen,” she whispered, “I found something you need to see.”
Chapter Twenty-three
We trooped into the kitchen.
It felt much colder here now.
One look out the window told me Jim’s black pickup truck was gone.
I wondered what was taking him so long. I hated to think of Mrs. Robinson lying on the cold floor. I wished we could have moved her somewhere more dignified, but I knew we couldn’t move her before the doctor examined her.
My mind was in a haze, trying to come to grips with Mrs. Robinson’s sudden death.
I poured myself a glass of water and joined Tetyana and Katy huddled around the kitchen counter on the same stools we’d sat on only an hour ago with Mrs. Robinson and Nancy.
“It’s horrible,” said Katy, wiping her eyes. “I know we just met her, but she was a good soul. I knew it in my bones.”
Tetyana merely nodded, eyes cast down.
I took a deep breath in to settle my frayed nerves. Mrs. Robinson’s death had rattled me more than I’d expected. Part of me wanted to cry, but we had work to do.
Work we’d promised Mrs. Robinson we’d do.
“I wish we could get everyone out of that room and lock it,” I said, lowering my voice. “Barry’s destroy
ed a bunch of evidence in there already.”
“Under any other circumstances, I’d have told the gang to get the hell out,” said Tetyana, shaking her head. “But we’re guests here, strangers they hardly welcomed. It’s not our place to tell them what to do.”
“Even if it’s a murder?” whispered Katy.
“We don’t have any evidence of that,” I said and paused. “Yet.”
“But Nancy said so.”
“We can’t be sure if she meant that literally or if she was referring to how Barry’s obnoxious behavior drove her to death,” I said.
“I’d like to know what Nancy was doing down here,” said Tetyana. “Quite convenient she showed up just as Mrs. Robinson fell to the floor, isn’t it?”
“Suspicious as heck,” said Katy. “There’s something odd about her and Jim appearing out of nowhere to work here.”
“The strange thing,” I said, leaning in, “is how she reacted to Mrs. Robinson’s death. She seemed genuinely frightened and shocked.”
“Crocodile tears,” said Tetyana.
“Could be. But I felt her sadness, then her horror when Mrs. Robinson died.”
We sat silently for a while, collecting our thoughts.
“It’s maddening,” said Katy, thumping a fist on the counter, “if we tell them about the letters, we’ll be alerting the murderer.”
“Maybe the doctor will help us,” I said. “The way Mrs. Robinson was coughing and wheezing all night, makes me think this could be a case of poisoning. I’ll be interested to hear what he finds.”
I turned to Tetyana.
“Do you think we could have saved her if we got help faster?”
“Hard to say,” she replied, pulling her mobile phone out and tapping the screen. “How do the damn cellphone towers suddenly stop working at the same time?”
I took my phone out. The signal bars were green and full, but the phone line wasn’t connecting. I reset my settings and double-checked, but it refused to work.
“Mine’s stopped too,” said Katy. “I was looking up the history of this house online when suddenly the Internet went out. I was about to text you and find out what you were up to. That’s when I realized my phone had conked out.”
“There’s no cellular reception in this house anymore,” said Tetyana, a worried expression on her face.
Merciless Legacy: Merciless Murder - A Thrilling Closed Circle Mystery Series Page 11