Joseph had. All to frame Martin.
It was a good fifteen miles to the reservation, but Bess doubted he was headed there. The look in his eyes and the words he’d said about love and final resting place told her Joseph wanted to be with Louise, and he believed she’d gone on to her ever-after. Now that he’d exacted his revenge, Bess was sure Joseph believed his soul could rest too.
But where would he go to be close to Louise? She knew his faith wouldn’t look to a rotting body for physical closeness. He wanted a spiritual connection.
The Seaside Daisies.
When Gail threatened to turn over his herbal garden and Louise’s flowers, she’d pushed Joseph over the edge. Like Harry’s ring had been for her, those daisies were a physical connection to the woman he loved. It had to be where Joseph was headed.
***
It was a short two block walk to the cab company, and a fifteen minute wait for an available driver. Now, as the car rolled through the gates and rounded Martin’s house, she saw Joseph moving through the flower garden on his knees.
Thank Heavens I’m not too late.
Bess paid the cab driver and told him there was no need to wait. As she crossed the short distance to Joseph, she forced herself to act calm and collected; knowing anything else might upset the other man.
“What are you doing here, Mrs. Houdini?” he asked as she approached.
“After you left the police station I started thinking about what you said the other day. You’ve done so much for Erich, I wanted to do something for you and thought I’d come care for Louise’s flowers.”
“That’s very kind.” A wistful smile graced his lips, and he moved his hands through the flowers, stopping to pick weeds. He used a gentle touch, like a lover’s, and paused every so often to lower his face and inhale their scent. “I’ve taken care of everything. Nothing’s going to happen to Louie’s flowers now.”
“Louise was lucky to have you, Joseph. You’re a good man.”
“I told you Gail would turn up her gardens. I came by earlier and she’d just given the order to the gardeners. I couldn’t stand by and let her do that. I had to stop her.”
Bess could see fragility in him that she’d never noticed and lowered herself to the grass, kneeling there. “Gail can be insensitive at times.”
His lips curled. “She’s a whore and has no right in that house.”
“She’s Martin’s wife.”
“Louie was his wife first. Martin broke his vow to love her alone until death and left the sweetest woman in the world to suffer alone while he desecrated their marriage bed with that trollop.”
Such anger. Such passion. Bess suppressed a tremble and laid her hand on his arm. Joseph trusted her, and if she handled this right, she’d get a confession for everything out of him. “Martin tried to help her. He took her to all the best doctors and then found you to help her with the pain.”
“God must have been watching out for her,” he answered as he continued to finger the flowers surrounding him. After a moment, he pulled a silver flask from his pocket, unscrewed the lid and drank long from it.
“Where is Gail? She let you stay and changed her mind about digging up the gardens?”
He shook his head, laughing under his breath. “She cursed me and tried to throw me off the property herself.” He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and turned his head toward the sky. “I’m sorry, Louise. You would have wanted me to just let her be. But it was grand, watching her eyes roll back in her head, knowing she’d never say another reproachful word.”
Something inside Bess seized as if her heart had stopped beating. She couldn’t show her pain and confusion to Joseph though, even if he’d just admitted to killing Gail.
She’d been such a faithful friend over the past year, and Bess had acted ungrateful in the past few days. But she wouldn’t allow herself to grieve until she had the proof the police needed. “I’m sure Gail was jealous of Louise, felt like she had huge shoes to fill among Martin’s friends and the people in town.”
“She never aspired to be anything like Louise. Couldn’t have. The only way that woman could ever have anyone’s respect is to have a man like Martin and his money. But you put a pig in a Sunday dress and it’s still a pig. People knew better, and she hated them for it. That’s why she tried to hang her name on Mr. Houdini’s star, but he saw through her too.”
“When Harry’s mother passed away, he was lost in his grief for quite some time.” Ironic. Joseph and Harry had done the same thing. “He said things to Gail he probably shouldn’t have. Probably wouldn’t have if he let some time pass and his heart heal.”
“Gail had no right to try and use Mr. Houdini’s reputation in such a self-serving way.”
“Who am I to judge? Harry and I—”
He turned his gaze to her and reached out, taking her hand. “Mrs. Houdini. The two of you may have made mistakes, but your heart is good. You saw the errors and changed your ways. Mr. Houdini even warned others. The new lady of the house had a coal-black heart filled with envy.”
“Did she have to die for that?” Bess waited for an answer, but his stare was vacant, as if everything inside him was gone. She’d sensed pain and torment before, but now, he was numb.
“With her gone, the trouble that’s surrounding you is going to lift and go away. Your soul’s mate is back. He will stand by you, protect you and love you. You’ll never have to be alone again, not in this existence or any other.” He looked away from her and toward the flowers.
Maybe Bess should have been scared. Here she sat with a man who’d just admitted to killing her friend in the name of everlasting love, but all she could feel was overwhelming sadness. Maybe Joseph had a point. Maybe Martin should have honored Louise a little every now and then. Gail certainly should have allowed him to. They both should have realized the heart’s capacity for love.
Joseph moved from his knees to sit in the grass next to her. He folded his legs and drank again from the flask. Bess let her eyes wander to the flowers, but her attention was caught by the dark, oily stains on his shoes.
Just like the rags on her back porch the previous morning.
“Did you burn down my house?” she asked.
“No one was paying attention to the little things, Mrs. Houdini. I had to do something big, something that would cause everyone to suspect Martin.”
She had to lift her hand to her face to block the strong odor on his breath — licorice. Like the tea Erich accused Joseph of tainting.
“I don’t know how that man of yours survived the poison, but that proved to me he was here for you. I couldn’t make another attempt on his life after the angel came to me.”
“An angel?” The same one that Erich spoke of?
Joseph nodded as he brought the flask to his lips again.
The image of Erich collapsing in her kitchen flashed, and she slapped her hand against the flask, knocking it to the ground. “Is the tea tainted?”
Joseph fell forward on his hands, coughing so hard she thought he might tear himself in two — like Erich had the night he whispered the code to her. “The angel. The one who reminded me love is more powerful than hate. I can see him, coming to take me to Louise.” He crawled into the flowerbed, rolled onto his back and reached toward the sky with open arms. As his eyes rolled back in his head and his arms dropped, Bess realized a moment too late exactly why it’d been so important to Joseph to give his own soul peace.
She went to him, pushed his long hair away from his face and slid her fingers down his clammy skin. His lips were already turning blue; his breathing had stopped. “Don’t do this!” She shook his shoulders, hoping to make his lifeless body gasp for air. “No more senseless dying!”
***
As Erich pulled up in front of the hospital, he saw Martin waiting out front with another doctor and nurse and a gurney. As soon as he stopped the car, Martin pulled open the back door and lifted his wife from the seat, laying her on the cot. “What happened?”
&nb
sp; Erich jumped from the car and rounded to the opposite side. “I found her like that on the couch in the servant’s quarters.”
Martin pressed a stethoscope to her chest and leaned over the woman. “She’s still breathing.”
The other doctor leaned over the gurney. “Let us take her inside, Martin.”
He nodded and stepped away.
“Joseph poisoned her. I know you don’t believe me, but he laced the brandy you gave to Bess and the licorice root tea he prescribed to me.”
“With what? Unless we know the poison, treating her is like a game of Russian roulette.”
“I don’t know. No clue.” He walked from Martin, pushing his fingers through his hair, screaming internally to Jaden. He would know. Maybe, just once, he’d disseminate information simply – and not in the form of a puzzle – to save a life.
Erich leaned back against the hospital wall and pressed his hand to his side. He was expecting a shot of pain, and was surprised when there was none.
“I need to get inside to Gail. Come in and I’ll have a doctor look at your incision. Make sure you didn’t reinjure yourself.”
Erich nodded and waved Martin ahead, hoping that once he was left alone, Jaden would bring him the information they needed to save Gail. As the hospital doors swung closed, Erich lifted the tails of the flannel shirt he wore.
Where his skin had been once marred by the incision Jaden gave him and Joseph’s repair, it was now smooth. No stitches. No scars.
You are free of Harry’s chains. Jaden’s voice flitted through his mind. His thoughts and words no longer influence you. Other people are your first concern.
“What did he poison her with?” He asked his question out loud. “Help me make this right, Jaden.”
Their live’s courses are not up to me.
Erich spun away from the wall and went into the hospital, walking past a door that led to back to the examine rooms, he found Martin and the other staff members treating Gail. He called Martin’s name and then said, “I want to go back out to your place. See if I can figure out what Joseph used. Maybe I missed something. Can I take the car?”
“Of course,” Martin said, not looking up from their care of Gail.
As Erich turned to go, he was turned back by Martin calling out to him.
“Thank you, Erich.”
***
Bess checked her watch and walked away from the police officers who surrounded the bed of Seaside Daisies. She’d answered all their questions, more than once, but still they searched for answers where she doubted they’d ever be found.
She’d asked Stanley to try and find Erich for her, and he’d radioed the request in. As of yet, he hadn’t shown. Hearing stones being kicked up in the drive, Bess looked over her shoulder to see the Cooper’s older, black car coming up the drive. Expecting Martin, she was shocked when Erich jumped out from behind the wheel. She called his name.
He’d been on a bee-line to the servant’s quarters, but when he heard her call, Erich turned and ran to her.
He opened his arms, and she ran to him, gripping his waist. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered into his chest.
He slid his fingers under her chin, lifting it so he could look down into her eyes. “What for?”
“For turning you away, I shouldn’t have.”
“You were shocked. I don’t blame you.” He looked over her shoulder at the garden. “What’s going on?”
“I thought you knew. Joseph is dead.”
Erich stumbled back out of her arms. His lower lip slipped between his teeth, and he pushed his hands into his pockets. “I’m here to try and find a clue as to what he poisoned Gail with.”
Bess wrapped her arms around herself. “He told me he killed her.”
“No.” Erich pulled her back into his embrace. “She’s very ill, but she’s still alive. Martin came to the hotel looking for Gail and you. We talked and I figured out it must be Joseph…”
Even though she was still confused about him and the part of him that was Harry, she clung to his shoulders and buried her face against his chest, needing the comfort. There had been too much pain, too much death, in the name of love. Erich continued talking, bringing her up-to-date on everything that had happened, but she focused on his arms pulling her tight to his chest.
Erich released one arm, but still clenched her with the other. He twisted his body so he could get a look at the scene behind him. “What in the world was he thinking?”
“That he owed it to Louise to ruin Martin and Gail for the way they behaved during her final days.”
“He was in love with Louise?”
Bess nodded. “He was drinking from a flask while we talked, I could smell the bitter licorice tea he taught me to make for you.”
“Martin says there must be something other than licorice root. Until they know for sure what they’re dealing with, they don’t know how to treat her.”
“I need to go to them. They’re my friends, Erich, and I need to be there for Martin.” Maybe Erich — and Harry — were entitled to their anger and resentment, but she had to honor the way they’d treated her since Harry’s death, and she wasn’t going to let any man decide her actions.
He nodded once. “I was wrong, Bess. I see that now. Gail may have made some mistakes, but she didn’t deserve what Joseph did.”
“Can you take me to them?”
“Of course, but I need to talk to the police first, see if they’ve found anything that might be able to tell Martin what Joseph poisoned her with.” He clutched her hand tight and led her back toward the daisies.
She followed him, but inside she wrestled. She loved Erich, wanted to be with him, but there was still so much laying between them. “When this is all over, we have to talk.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Erich stayed at Bess’s back — close enough for comfort, far enough to give her room to breathe — as they entered the hospital room.
Martin sat at Gail’s bedside, caressing her hand and his eyes locked on her creamy pale face. Bess recognized the pain and the irony. She’d cared for Erich with patient compassion, but cursing the gods. No one deserved this pain of losing their heart’s love twice in a single lifetime. “Is she going to be okay?”
Martin’s body sagged at the sight of Bess. “Thank Heavens Joseph didn’t hurt you too.”
“Erich explained everything,” Bess said and then rounded the bed. Standing behind Martin, she squeezed his shoulders.
He reached up and laid his hand on top of hers. “It looks to be some sort of overdose. They’re trying to figure out just what so they can give her an antidote. Nothing they’ve tried has seemed to make a difference.”
“Stanley brought the flask he was drinking out to the lab, but we have no way of knowing if he used the same mixture to poison himself that he did Gail,” Erich said.
Martin craned his neck sharply, meeting her eye. “He’s dead?”
“Yes,” Bess whispered.
Erich would have expected to see some sort of vindication flash in Martin’s eyes, but his expression didn’t change. Maybe vengeance didn’t thrive in his heart the way Harry had accused. Instead, Martin scratched his forehead. “Licorice root is not a poison. It has healing properties, but it has such a strong distinct odor, so it would cover up any number of poisons. If I’d been paying closer attention, I might have been able to prevent him from hurting her, or you and Erich,” Martin said. His voice sounded heavy.
“You have no reason to feel guilty,” Bess said. “You treated him well. Gave him opportunities. He fell in love with Louise.”
“Is that what he told you?” Martin asked.
Bess could only nod.
“But that doesn’t explain why he drugged me or burned your house down,” Erich said.
“Because everyone — including you — would believe it was Martin, especially since I started wavering on the séance. Joseph felt he owed it to Louise to exact some sort of revenge.”
“Hmph.” Martin’s
gaze fell back to Gail. “Louise didn’t know what revenge was. She would have never wished another person harm and would have hated vengeance in her name.”
Erich reached out and briefly touched Martin’s back. “There are no words I can say that will offer any comfort, but I’m here — same as Bess — if there’s anything you need.”
Bess leaned over and hugged Martin’s neck, while eyeing Erich. This kindheartedness he offered Martin puzzled her. Harry knew compassion, but he held it close, only gave it to those he deemed most worthy. He would have declared that Martin and Gail had brought this house of cards tumbling down upon themselves. Was Erich doing this to impress her? Trying to prove that Harry’s soul was only a portion of the man he was now?
No. Bess couldn’t accept that she drove his actions. Not when it came to something like this. Either he was acting from his heart, or he wasn’t any kind of man at all. Either way, the time had come for them to have that talk. As soon as they left the hospital. “But Erich got her here in time, right? That’s what’s important. She’ll be okay.”
He shrugged and sighed. “We’re treating her in the best way we know. She seems to be stable, but only time will really tell.” He gave Bess an insincere smile. “But there’s no reason for you and Erich to sit here waiting.”
The misery on his face caused Bess to look away. “We’re here for you. For as long as you need us.”
“And I appreciate that, sweetie, I do. But you’ve been through a lot these last couple weeks too, and I’d feel better if you let Erich just take you back to the hotel so you can rest. I’ll send word if anything changes here.”
She patted his arm. “If you’re sure?”
“I am.”
***
Erich reached out to take Bess’s hand as they walked toward the hotel, but withdrew it before he touched her. He pushed it into his pocket and let the words she’d said — we have to talk — play over and over in his head.
Resurrecting Harry Page 27