by Leslie Leigh
“May I ask a question for further clarification?”
“Please do,” Francesca said.
“Can you get any clarification on the gender struggle?”
Francesca pulled another card, The Hanged Man. “Well, this is not a typical interpretation,” she said, “I normally don’t pay attention to the direction of the Major Arcana cards, but in this case, the High Priestess is reversed. That probably means that Cheri rejects her sexuality, and I’m guessing that The Hanged Man, taking it quite literally, is her father as the cause of it.”
Melissa found herself staring off into space, processing it all. This had certainly given her a specific direction for thought.
“Our minds always know,” Francesca said. “We have access to all the information subconciously—it’s just a matter of bringing it to our conscious mind.”
“Thank you so much,” Melissa said, graciously taking Francesca’s hand. “How much do I owe you?”
“Oh, no, dear. This one’s definitely on the house.”
“Thank you,” Melissa said again, departing the store and putting together a new plan.
Chapter 14
“So put the pieces together more clearly for me,” Brian said. “I know you’re talking around it because you don’t want to falsely accuse anyone. But what are you thinking? We can work back from there.”
“That perhaps Cheri was abused in some way by her father, even if it was just withholding himself and his love for her, and that in some subtle but nefarious scheme, she had her mother kill her father slowly—in a way that she thought most likely could not be traced back to her.”
“To what end?”
Melissa shrugged. “For revenge. Who knows how much of an estate he has? Or what conditions Cheri lives under? Perhaps she wants to move back here and take care of her mother.”
“Or maybe it’s just an unfortunate accident, and the surface details are as they seem.”
“Except for the holes in Cheri’s story.”
“With so little to go on, if the assay comes back positive for foxglove, what do you want to do? They will have no choice but to arrest Mrs. Hodges because the circumstantial evidence shows that she is the most likely perpetrator.”
“I think the evidence shows it could be either of them.”
“Or that they colluded.”
“Which I doubt,” said Melissa.
“Why? Because you think Helen Hodges is a nice old lady? So was Lizzie Borden.”
“She was not,” Melissa said. She pressed her lips together, remembering the final card in the Tarot spread.
Melissa sighed in frustration. “I need to hear the end of that story,” she said. “I’ve been over there twice now and still haven’t gotten to the end of it. I need to talk with each of them separately.”
“Do you know what the most efficient way to do that is? Take them both down to the station, separate them, and see how their stories hold up.”
“I’m afraid, though, that if, as I suspect, Mrs. Hodges has had some kind of psychotic break, or even if it’s just plain old dementia, the stress of the police interrogation could trigger another episode,” Melissa said.
“At which point they would be much less likely to charge her.”
“At which point Cheri would know I betrayed her and did exactly what she asked me not to.”
“No, she asked you not to request an autopsy. Besides, Melissa, your part in this will come out at some point anyway.”
“What if I simply choose to walk away from this?”
“You can’t now. We asked for the assay. Once the foxglove is discovered—”
“The harm is done. Good cannot come from this.”
“But more harm can. Has it entered your mind that Cheri might not stop with her dad? Why do you think we put murderers away? Partly to punish them, but also to keep them from doing it again.”
# # #
The next morning Brian’s phone rang.
“I’m not sure what divine connections you have, but we got the results back from your test. He had a high level of digoxin, and evidence of foxglove specifically. So where to from here?”
Brian brought him up to speed on everything, including Melissa’s conjectures.
“I’m with you that the quickest way through this is to bring them both down to the station. It doesn’t have to be done forcefully, simply to tell them what the blood work from the body showed and see where it goes from there. I can have a couple of decent cops bring them in, and you and I can work together to ask the right questions.”
“I’m going to let you take the lead on this, then. Plus Melissa can ask any clarifying questions regarding the herbal aspects of this.”
“I understand. One thing, bring the book; maybe that will shake something loose.”
“Will do. When do you want to do this?”
“I’ll have them brought in tomorrow morning around nine.”
Brian disconnected the call and turned to Melissa.
“The assay came back positive. We’re going to meet them in the morning at nine. They will have rounded up Cheri and her mother. He asked that you bring the book.”
# # #
Mrs. Hodges sat primly behind the table in the interrogation room with her hands folded in front of her. Her face was placid. Just before entering, the detective said that Cheri hadn’t been at Mrs. Hodges’ home, but there was an officer waiting outside the home for her whenever she arrived.
When Detective Lemson and Melissa entered the room, Mrs. Hodges looked up at Melissa and smiled. “Oh, it’s you, dear,” she said. “Are we here to see my husband?”
“N-no, Mrs. Hodges. Your husband is at the funeral home,” Melissa said.
“Oh, I thought this was the funeral home,” Mrs. Hodges replied with a puzzled look on her face.
“Mrs. Hodges,” Detective Lemson took up the conversation, “you’re in the police station.”
“Police station? Why on earth?”
“We just have some questions for you regarding your husband’s death,” he continued.
“Have I done something wrong?”
“Mrs. Hodges,” the detective continued, “have you ever seen this before?” He set a brown dropper-top bottle on the table. It’s original label had been scrubbed off, and in its place was taped a piece of lined paper with FOXG scrawled on it with a marker.
“Of course,” she said. “It’s the tonic I gave my husband every morning?”
“Mrs. Hodges, are you aware that your husband was poisoned?”
“Oh,” she said, looking distressed. “It was those lemon cookies. I knew it.”
The detective looked at Melissa, confused, and she shook her head. “I’ll tell you about the cookies later,” she whispered, “but they’re not relevant.”
“Mrs. Hodges, did you know that foxglove can work like poison?”
The woman sat silent for a moment, looking back and forth between Melissa and the detective.
“It’s a homemade tonic.”
“Who told you it was a tonic?”
She looked confused for a moment, and Melissa produced the 3x5 card. “This tonic, Mrs. Hodges?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s the one. I made it fresh every week and gave some to my husband every day.”
Melissa suddenly had an idea. “If I may, Detective?” she asked. He gestured for her to go ahead. “Mrs. Hodges, was it easy for you to remember to give it to your husband every day?”
“Oh, my, no. I could never have done it without my Cheri. She would call me every morning and remind me to give it to my husband.”
“All right, Mrs. Hodges, thank you. You just sit tight. Would you like some coffee?”
“I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea. Would that be possible?”
“A cup of tea comin’ right up,” the detective said.
Detective Lemson and Melissa walked out of the room, and the detective dispatched someone to get a cup of tea for Mrs. Hodges.
“I heard all I need to know from her, right now a
nyway.”
Melissa nodded. “Is it possible that she can see a court psychologist right away to establish her state of mind?”
“I’ll ask the Chief, but I don’t see that being a problem,” he said.
“Good. The sooner the better.”
The detective nodded.
Just then, Cheri stormed in, furious. An officer was trying to hold her arm, but she jerked it away from him.
“What in the hell is going on here?” she asked. “Melissa, what is this? Why is my mother in there?”
“Why don’t you take a seat in the room over there, and we’ll come talk with you,” the detective offered.
“I want to see my mother.”
“I think it’s better that you not. We don’t want you to upset her,” said Melissa.
“Me not upset her? Good god! The woman’s husband just died, and you think that bringing her to the police station and grilling her isn’t upsetting her?”
“Nonetheless, if you want to talk with your mother, you need to cool off first,” said the detective.
She gave Melissa a deadly look, as they guided her toward the second interrogation room.
Before she and the detective went in, Melissa asked that he allow her to inform Cheri why she was here and then turn the questioning over to him. He concurred.
Melissa sat down across from Cheri—who was breathing shallowly. Melissa could tell she was angry. Melissa swallowed before speaking, trying relax the knot in her throat, and then began, “Cheri, your dad’s bloodwork showed a high level of digoxin in his system. It has been determined that a chronic overdose of digitalis was what killed him.”
If looks could have killed, Melissa would be on her way to the morgue.
“You betrayed me, Melissa,” she said.
“You put me in a difficult position, Cheri, when you told my mother your suspicions about the poisoning but then refused to have an autopsy run. I had no choice but to turn the matter over to the police and request bloodwork to determine the presence of foxglove.”
Detective Lemson laid the Book of Shadows on the table and opened it to the foxglove page where the card had been stuck back in place.
“Is this your handwriting?” he asked.
Cheri began to laugh. “Yes, it is. I created that book thirty years ago,” she said.
Melissa spoke up without asking the detective’s permission this time. “Why did you call it a Men’s Tonic? The recipe is not gender specific; it’s for heart regulation.”
“Do you really think I remember why I wrote something thirty years ago? I’m sure it was part of an assignment or something.”
“Except that I spoke with your teacher who assured me that she would never have given you a specific formula for foxglove or called it Men’s Tonic.”
Cheri shrugged. “If I don’t remember what I did thirty years ago, how reliable do you think her memory is?”
“You told both my mother and I that your father was not ill until just a few days before his death.”
“That’s right.”
“So, you were unaware that he had a heart condition?”
Cheri looked at both Melissa and the detective. “No—Yes, I was unaware that he had a heart condition.” Her eyes and nostrils began to flare again.
The detective took a second bottle from his pocket and set it on the table. “Go ahead, Miss Hodges, pick it up and take a good look at the label.”
She picked it up and squinted to read the label.
“Whose prescription is it?” Detective Lemson asked.
“My father’s,” Cheri said.
“And what is it a prescription for, Miss Hodges?”
“Let’s see, umm…digitalis.”
“Digitalis? Isn’t that prescribed for a heart condition?” he asked.
“I’m sure I wouldn’t know. I’m not in the medical profession.”
“But you were apprenticing to be an herbalist at one time, correct? That’s indicated by your journal there.”
“I was a kid, dabbling in a bunch of stuff. Herbalism was one of them, but, again, that was thirty years ago.”
“But having handwritten the recipe for the tonic, you likely wouldn’t have forgotten that foxglove is digitalis, right?”
She didn’t respond.
“Right, Miss Hodges. You were aware that foxglove is digitalis in its raw and highly potent form, correct?”
“I guess at one time I probably did,” she said.
“Miss Hodges, can you read me the year under the word, ‘Since,’ on the prescription bottle?”
“Umm…2010.”
“So, your father had had a heart condition for four years and you didn’t know about it?”
“That’s right. My father and I weren’t on very good terms. We didn’t talk. I also live three-thousand miles away.”
Melissa had known she would use the distance as a dodging strategy.
“You didn’t talk to your father, but I understand that you spoke with your mother on a daily basis.”
She shot Melissa another dirty look knowing she had told her that.
“You don’t need to look at Miss Michaelson, Miss Hodges; your mother told us that as well. Do you expect us to believe that in four years, your mother never once mentioned your father’s condition or anything about it?”
“Believe what you want to.”
“She also says that your reason for calling her every day was to remind her to give your father his tonic.”
Silence.
“Were you the one who suggested this particular tonic to your mother?”
“Of course not, you stupid S.O.B. Wait, are you implying that I wanted to kill my father?”
There was no response from either the detective or Melissa.
Cheri threw herself across the table at the detective, grabbing the front of his shirt.
The detective jumped up, tipping his chair over, moving out of her reach and straightening his shirt.
“We’re done here; Miss Michaelson, you can come with me.” He opened the door, and another office appeared. “Please arrest Miss Hodges for assaulting a police officer.”
Chapter 15
As they passed the first interrogation room, Melissa saw that Mrs. Hodges was talking to an attractive young woman. She seemed to be telling her a story, and the woman was listening with rapt attention.
Melissa walked to the break room where Brian was sitting, drinking coffee.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
She shook her head. “She just got herself arrested for assaulting a police officer. If you ask me, I think it was Detective Lemson’s way of holding her for a while. I doubt that any charges will be brought, but it will keep her busy while they process her for the arrest. At the moment, everything we have is circumstantial, and she’s denying it all, or has a pat answer.”
“Well, we expected that.”
“Truthfully, Brian, I think the only way we can get what we need is to provoke or trick her into a confession.”
“So you’re convinced that it was her?”
“Her mother told us that Cheri called her every morning to remind her to give her dad the tonic.”
“But her testimony will likely not be considered reliable.”
“Exactly.”
“But you do?”
Melissa sat in silence for some seconds. “Except for the fact that she initially thought she was at the funeral home waiting to see her husband, she’s been fully lucid. And I blame the former on easy disorientation given the circumstances and that she’s likely never been here before.”
Melissa looked back down the hall, and saw that the psychologist was speaking with Detective Lemson in the hallway. She put her finger up to indicate to Brian that he should wait, and she walked toward them.
“Dr. Shattuck, this is Melissa Michaelson. She’s the one who requested your presence on the case.”
Dr. Shattuck extended her hand to Melissa. “I was just telling the detective that I’m sure that Mr
s. Hodges has stage III dementia and clearly cannot stand trial. I also believe that she is not culpable in this matter. I don’t believe that she had any idea that what she was doing to her husband was killing him.”
“Did she tell you that her daughter called her every morning to remind her to give it to him?”
The doctor raised her eyebrows at that. “No, she didn’t. Is that what she told you?”
Melissa nodded her head. “Of course, the daughter is going to use Mom’s dementia to combat that one, even though she told me that she called her mother nearly every day. And, of course, our evidence is thirty years old and no one can attest to how the recipe got into Mrs. Hodges’ hands. We could ask her, I suppose; however, she already told me that she got it out of a book of Cheri’s and who knows whether she can be more specific than that?”
The detective looked at Melissa. “So, where do you want to go with this?”
“I think we need to get Cheri to talk about her mother,” Brian said, coming up from behind them.
“Dr. Shattuck, this is Brian Byrne, a private investigator on the case.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Shattuck. In fact, you might be just the person to help us get what we want from Cheri Hodges.”
“What is it you would like me to determine?” Dr. Shattuck asked the three of them.
Melissa and Brian looked at each other, and Detective Lemson indicated that they should speak. Melissa took the lead. “We are fairly sure that Cheri was in some way abused by her father, and I know that, classically, many girls blame their mothers for what they see as permitting the abuse.”
“We’re afraid,” Brian continued, “that if such is the case with Cheri Hodges, if she is not brought to justice for her father’s death, that she may ultimately do the same to her mother.”
“One thing you will find, Dr. Shattuck,” Melissa said, “is that Cheri has no respect whatsoever for men; she’s quite a militant man-hater.”
Dr. Shattuck stood for a moment, looking back and forth at all of them. “Where is she right now?”
“She’s being processed. She was arrested for assaulting a police officer.”
“Well, I think you can get the info that you want better than I, and I’ll tell you how.”