Jalapeno Pizza Murder

by Patti Benning

  She shook her head. “I don’t remember much other than feeling dizzy after you got home.”

  “Well, you told me it smelled like almonds. That probably saved your life, because I told the doctor what you said, and he recognized the symptoms.”

  “And a lucky thing, too.” Ellie looked up at the new voice and saw an older man wearing a white lab coat standing in the doorway to the hospital room. He smiled at her and walked over to shake her hand. “I’m Doctor McGrady. I’m glad your husband gave us that information, or else we might not have known what to treat you for. Cyanide poisoning isn’t exactly something we’re used to seeing here in Benton Harbor. We didn’t have the standard antidote in stock, but we did have a chelating agent that’s sometimes used in cases like these. It’s not ideal because it can cause low blood pressure and an abnormal heartbeat, and in some patients, an allergic reaction, but you seem to be handling it well. Everything looks normal.”

  Russell squeezed her hand. “Thank you,” he said. “You saved her life.”

  Ellie gripped his hand back, still feeling out of sorts. She was grateful to the doctor, but it was a lot to take in.

  “How are you feeling?” the doctor asked. “Any tremors? Any issue speaking?”

  “I have a headache, but it’s not that bad, and I feel okay other than that,” she said. “Why? Is there a danger of permanent damage?”

  He nodded. “It’s possible, but it’s more common in cases that are more severe than yours, or ones that go untreated. Many victims suffer brain damage after severe cases.”

  She shuddered. “I still don’t understand; how did it happen? Why would Bea have cyanide? And I don’t think I even touched more than a drop. Would that really be enough to do this to me?”

  The doctor nodded. “Depending on how concentrated the cyanide was, yes, especially if you ingested any.”

  She remembered the drop she had swiped up with her thumb right before plucking the hair out of her mouth, and felt the blood rush out of her face. It was a stupid mistake, one that had almost cost her her life.

  “I called Liam,” Russell told her. “He’s investigating now, but I think we just found Bea’s real cause of death. That reminds me, where did you put the contact case? Liam needs to pick it up and get it to a lab for testing.”

  “It’s in the toiletry bag in the cardboard box in Bea’s room,” she told him. Her eyes widened as it all clicked. “Oh. Bea didn’t really just slip and fall, did she? Someone poisoned her.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ellie stayed at the hospital for another two days before being released. She was grateful when her employees, after learning what had happened, pulled together and made sure that all of the shifts at the pizzeria would be covered for the rest of the week while she recuperated. Coming to terms with everything would be hard enough without worrying about Papa Pacelli’s too.

  Russell doted on her when they got home, making sure that she had anything she could possibly want within easy reach. At first it was nice, and Ellie was grateful for the chance to relax, but after he asked her if she was okay for the tenth time in an hour, her patience began to fray.

  “I’m fine,” she said at last, exasperated. “I know you’re worried, but I’m out of danger.”

  “No, you’re not,” he said softly. “You’re still in danger, and you won’t be safe until whoever did this is behind bars.”

  “Russell, they weren’t trying to kill me.”

  “I know, but whoever did this wanted Bea’s death to look like an accident. Otherwise, why would they go to all of the trouble to obtain cyanide and plant it in her contact solution? A bullet would have been a much more certain way to kill her, but it also would have been a lot more obvious. And the killer has to be someone we know, so they’re going to find out sooner or later that you and I discovered the poison.”

  Ellie’s breath caught. The past few days had been a whirlwind of examinations, restless sleep, and bad hospital food. She hadn’t had much time to sit back and really think, but now that Russell had mentioned it, it was obvious. Whoever had killed Bea had been in their house during the dinner party. It was the only thing that made sense. It would have been easy for any of the guests to excuse themselves to use the guest bathroom and plant the poison. Neither she nor Russell would have paid any attention to it, and the party had lasted long enough that everyone must have used the bathroom at least once.

  She could take Shannon and James off of the suddenly short list of suspects immediately. She didn’t think even Russell would suspect one of them. And of course, she and Russell couldn’t be suspects either. That left Georgie, Daphne, and Paul.

  “Do you have any leads?” she asked, her gaze snapping to his eyes. Three suspects. It couldn’t be too difficult to find out which one it was.

  “No.” He made a frustrated sound. “I’m still not on the case. I’m just trying to focus on taking care of you for now.”

  Ellie smiled at him, and was about to reassure him that she was all right when her phone rang. It was Shannon. She answered it, glad to hear her sister-in-law’s voice and reassure the other woman that, yes, she was perfectly fine. Glancing at her husband’s anxious face, she knew that he wasn’t going to let himself rest for a moment for the rest of the day unless he knew she was well taken care of. She knew that there was a large part of him that wanted nothing more than to work on the case, but he was holding back for her. With a burst of inspiration, she invited her friend over.

  Shannon was quick to accept the invitation, and it wasn’t long before Russell was ensconced in the office, after giving Shannon strict instructions to go get him if Ellie started feeling poorly. The two women set Adrian’s playpen up in the living room, then Ellie went into the kitchen to fill his sippy cup with juice. Handing it to her nephew, she smiled down at him. She had never had children, but she was enjoying aunthood quite a bit. Watching her nephew grow was like no other experience she had ever had.

  “I’m glad to see you back home and healthy,” Shannon said as they settled down on the couch. “We were so worried about you.”

  “It was really all sort of a blur for me,” Ellie admitted. “I got lucky. It was a low dose, and Russell took me in right away. If it had been a higher dose or if it had taken longer to get treatment, I might not have been so lucky. Even if I hadn’t died, I could have had permanent damage. I can’t even imagine how Russell felt during all of it.”

  “He was a wreck,” Shannon said. “James was almost as worried about him as he was about you. You didn’t tell us much in the hospital. What exactly happened?”

  Ellie told her sister-in-law everything Russell had told her about the cyanide and Bea’s death. She saw her friend’s eyes grow wider and wider as she spoke.

  “You really think it was someone at the dinner party?”

  “I do,” Ellie said. “Russell does too. It’s the only thing that makes sense. And Bea didn’t exactly have the best relationship with her friends. Or at least, with Daphne. I don’t know about Georgie.”

  “What do you mean?” Shannon asked.

  “Do you remember that weird moment when Paul stood up to go help Bea bring the food in, and Daphne practically dragged him back down into his seat? Well, Daphne stopped by the pizzeria the other day and we talked for a while. She told me that Paul and Bea have history together, and she thinks Paul still carried a flame for her.”

  “Oh my goodness.” Shannon raised a hand to her lips. “Does Russell know? If something happened between her husband and her best friend, that might give Daphne a motive for murder.”

  “It was years ago, before Daphne and Paul even started dating,” Ellie said. “It doesn’t explain why Daphne would choose to kill Bea now. I don’t think I’ve told him yet. Everything happened so fast.”

  “Maybe something else happened, something we don’t know about.” Shannon’s eyes flashed. “I know James and Russell practically worship Bea, and don’t get me wrong, she’s fun and has never been anything but nice to me,
but from what Georgie told me — Bea stayed with us the last time she visited, and had her friends over a couple of times — she’s thrown both her and Daphne under the bus more than once. Did you know Georgie was on track to get a scholarship to go to college, and Bea stole it out from under her? She’s always sworn she didn’t do it, but Georgie insists she was sabotaged.”

  “I think I remember her mentioning something about that during the dinner party.” Ellie frowned. “So, both women might have a reason to want her out of the picture, even though it doesn’t sound like either incident was recent.”

  “We shouldn’t forget about Paul,” Shannon said. “It sounds like the two of them have a lot of history too. I don’t envy whoever’s working on this case. It’s a mess, isn’t it?”

  The pizzeria owner nodded. “It really is. I just wish Russell could work on it. It’s going to drive him crazy not being able to investigate, but at the same time I understand why he can’t. He’s way too close to it.”

  From further in the house, they heard the office door open, and Shannon gave Ellie a wry grin. “His ears must have been burning,” she said as they heard Russell’s footsteps clomping closer. Ellie smiled, but the expression dropped from her face when she saw her husband’s frown.

  “I’ve got to head out,” he said. “Are you two going to be okay here?”

  “We’ll be fine,” Ellie said, exchanging a glance with her sister-in-law. “What’s going on?”

  He sighed. “Nothing major. I’m not working out of the sheriff’s department for the rest of the week, but I’m technically on call. We got a domestic disturbance report, and both Liam and Bethany are already out on calls, so I’ve got to deal with it.”

  “I hope it’s nothing too bad,” she said.

  “It doesn’t sound like it, but it won’t hurt to drop by and check. The call was actually about Daphne and Paul, so maybe I’ll be able to fish around about Bea while I’m there.”

  Ellie’s eyes widened. She jumped up off the couch as Russell turned to go. “Wait! I need to tell you something about Daphne.”

  He turned back toward her. “What is it?”

  She made a frustrated sound, realizing that the domestic disturbance complaint could be more serious than Russell thought. If one of them had killed Bea, then who was to say they wouldn’t kill their partner.

  “I’ll ride with you,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  “Ellie, you shouldn’t—”

  “Let her go, Russ,” Shannon interrupted. Ellie turned to see her friend’s eyes wide and serious. She gave her a grateful look. “We were just talking about it. Trust me, you’ll want to know.”

  Russell sighed. “Fine, but you’re not getting out of the car, and if you so much as look pale, we’re turning right around. I don’t want to put you in danger, Ellie. You were just in the hospital, for goodness sakes.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She brushed past him and hurried toward the front door to get her shoes and coat. “Feel free to stay, Shannon!” she called out over her shoulder. “And help yourself to anything you can find in the fridge. Sorry for running out on you.”

  She heard her sister-in-law chuckle, but if she gave a response other than that, Ellie missed it, because by then, she was already out the door, with Russell on her heels.

  Chapter Twelve

  So, let me get this straight, Daphne’s husband was with Bea before he and Daphne started dating, and Daphne still resents Bea for that, and her husband might still carry a torch for Bea. And the other friend, Georgie, blames Bea for the fact that she lost out on a college scholarship.” Russell shook his head. “I’ve spent the past few days trying to dig up whatever dirt I could on these people, and I didn’t get a fraction of what you got.”

  “Don’t underestimate the power of gossip,” Ellie said, only half joking. She gripped the edges of her seat as Russell took a turn too quickly. Ever since she had told Russell about her conversation with Daphne at the pizzeria, he had urged his truck to go faster and faster.

  She breathed a sigh of relief when the truck finally slowed, and Russell turned into a driveway. She was already reaching for her seatbelt before he shut the engine off. Before she could open the door, he put a hand on her wrist to stop her.

  “You promised to stay in the car,” he said.

  “I didn’t promise, you just told me I would,” she pointed out. “I want to go in.”

  “Even if it wasn’t dangerous, you wouldn’t be able to go in. This is an official police visit, and you’re my wife. It would be inappropriate.”

  Ellie frowned, but she knew she didn’t have an argument for that. He was right. This was police business, and Russell letting his wife tag alone wouldn’t look very professional. With a sigh, she took her hand off the door handle and rolled down her window. She could hear the sound of shouting, but couldn’t make out the words. They were still going at it.

  “I’ll wait in the car, but I’m going to keep my ears and eyes peeled. I know it’s your job, but I’m worried about you. If one of them is the killer, this could be really dangerous, Russell.”

  “I’ll be careful.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss. “I always am. You’re the one I worry about. I’ll try to make this as quick as possible.”

  Ellie watched him get out of the truck and walk toward the front door with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Before he even reached the door, it was jerked open and Ellie saw Daphne stride out with Paul close behind. The other woman stumbled to a halt when she saw Russell in the driveway. Ellie held her breath, straining to hear what was said.

  “What are you doing here?” Daphne said. Even from this distance, Ellie could tell she sounded annoyed.

  “I’m answering a call about a domestic disturbance,” Russell said. “Is everything all right?”

  “No.” Daphne crossed her arms, shooting a glare at her husband that made Ellie shiver. “I’ve recently discovered that I’m married to a philandering murderer.”

  There was a beat of silence. Ellie saw Paul take half a step back, his eyes growing wide. She couldn’t see Russell’s expression, and wished she could tell what her husband was thinking. At last, the sheriff shifted. Ellie recognized the stance; he was ready to grab his gun quickly if he needed to.

  “Maybe we should go inside and talk about this,” he said.

  “No.” Daphne crossed her arms. “I’m going to Georgie’s house. I need to make sure she’s okay. Take my husband to prison if you want, but I didn’t do anything wrong, and you have no reason to detain me.”

  She walked past Russell toward the other car in the driveway, stopping a second time when she glanced through the windshield of the sheriff’s truck and saw Ellie. Her eyebrows rose, and she took half a step closer to the truck. Then, behind her, Russell cleared his throat.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but you can’t leave until I’m sure everything’s all right, and those are some pretty serious accusations you made against your husband. I can’t let you leave until I’m sure I understand what’s going on.”

  Daphne rounded on him. “My best friend is probably dead in her own home, and my husband is the one who killed her. Don’t you dare try to make me go in and sit down on my couch next to that… that thing that I’ve been married to half my life!”

  Ellie was shocked, and she could see the feeling mirrored on Russell’s face. This had escalated far more quickly than she could have imagined. What was supposed to be a simple disturbance call had turned into something Russell hadn’t come prepared to deal with.

  She did something she wasn’t supposed to do. She got out of the car.

  “Daphne, why do you think Georgie’s in trouble?” she asked, ignoring the furious look she was getting from her husband.

  The other woman turned to her, her face etched with relief that someone was listening to her. “She hasn’t been answering my calls! We usually talk every day. It’s been a couple of days, and at first, I thought she was just upset about Bea, but then I stopped by her house to ch
eck on her and she didn’t answer the door, even though her car was in the driveway. And recently, her phone has been going straight to voicemail when I call, which mean’s it’s off, and she never turns her phone off, so it must not be charged. And… and when I stopped by the pizzeria earlier today to ask you if you could have Russell swing by and check on her, they told me you were in the hospital with cyanide poisoning, and it all made sense! Paul must have gotten it from his lab, and he must have killed her to cover up the fact that he’s been secretly seeing her whenever he flies to New York for business. I saw his credit card receipts. He never stays in a hotel when he goes. So where do you think he’s sleeping? I bet he even has his own toothbrush at her apartment.”

  Daphne broke down into hysterical sobs, and none of them spoke for a moment. It was a lot to take in, and Ellie was still picking through everything the other woman had said when her husband spoke.