by Ann Simas
Andi wished she could be as sure. “It’s a chocolate date cake with walnuts, from a recipe my mom’s been making for over forty years. She got it from one of her aunts.”
Father Riley moved the pan back and forth under his nose several times, sniffing appreciatively. “You may give your mother a big kiss for me, Andi. This just smells divine.”
Jack moved in for a whiff. “Hard to make,” he asked, “or could a complete cooking idiot could put it together?”
“Any idiot could do it,” Andi said, suppressing a grin.
“Hey, I think I’m offended,” Jack said with mock outrage.
“You are the one who mentioned the term idiot first,” she reminded him.
He laughed. “So I did.”
“Andi, would you mind filling the water pitcher? Jack, if you would be so kind as to put ice cubes in the glasses? Then we can eat.” Father Riley piled freshly baked bread into a basket and put it on the table, then lifted the serving crock out of the cooker and placed it on a hot pad in the center for easy access.
He waited until Andi and Jack had taken a seat before he took his, then bowed his head and offered a prayer for the delicious food and good friends to share it with.
By unspoken agreement, they didn’t discuss Sherry’s case while they ate.
“I just gained ten pounds,” Andi complained goodnaturedly after finishing her second slice of cake.
“That means I gained twenty,” Jack said, “because I had thirds on stew and you only had seconds.”
“Children, please, I had three pieces of that cake, and I have not gained an ounce, so neither of you have to worry about gaining a pound.”
“Okay,” Andi agreed, “but if I do gain a pound, does that mean you have to report yourself in the confessional for stretching the truth?”
Father Riley laughed. Jack joined in as soon as he realized the priest was not offended by Andi’s sense of humor.
“We should do this more often,” Father Riley said.
“We should,” Andi agreed, looking at Jack.
“Hey, if you think I would say no to that, think again. To be fair, though, we should rotate so Father Riley doesn’t have to host every time.”
And just that quickly they decided to meet once a month, then amended it to every other week almost immediately. Andi volunteered to be up next and it was decided that the person who hosted last would bring dessert.
“That’s a workable plan,” Jack agreed. He looked down at the chocolate date cake, using his fork tines to pick up stray crumbs. “Do we get to request the dessert we want?
Andi laughed. “I guarantee, when it’s my turn, I’ll bring something you’ll enjoy just as much.”
Jack looked doubtful as he cut himself another half-piece, but he said, “I’ll hold you to that.”
Once the table was cleared and the three of them made short work of washing and drying the dishes, Father Riley asked, “So what had you so fired up this morning, Andi, that you could hardly wait to get out of church?
Back at the table, Andi almost choked on her coffee. Really? She was that transparent?
The two men joined her. She pulled a sheaf of papers from her purse, which was hanging over the back of her chair. For over an hour, they discussed mercury poisoning. Andi read to them about the different ways a person could ingest mercury and what symptoms would occur. She told them about azogue. “Some ethnic rituals utilize it for seeking well-being in their lives.”
“Sounds like some kind of voodoo BS,” Jack said. “Sorry, Father.”
Father Riley shot him a grin.
“Not surprisingly,” Andi said. “Sherry’s dad thought the same thing.”
“You discussed this with her father?” Jack demanded, scowling at her.
“No.” She sighed. “Let me back up a minute. The Spences told me Sherry’s dentist had given her a bunch of stuff to combat the dental and other pain she was having. She claimed it was metaphysical, an aromatherapy that had worked for her.”
Jack rolled his eyes.
“Hey, don’t kill the messenger. I’m just giving you some background. Eddie called it ‘voodoo mumbo-jumbo,’ and you had the same reaction to Dawna’s solution to Sherry’s pain problems.”
“And this is Dawna, the dentist?”
Andi nodded. “Dawna Stimack. She was Dawna Rogers when we went to school with her and she was a bitch, even back then.” With a shocked gasp, she made eye contact with the priest. “I’m sorry, Riley. I should’ve thought before….”
Father Riley laughed. “No need to apologize to me, Andi, or you either, Jack. I’ve heard a lot worse and said a lot worse, if I’m completely honest. As long as I don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, I still swear occasionally myself.” He shrugged. “Should be a good enough rule for you, too.”
Andi nodded, her face flushed. Don’t cuss in front of a priest!
Jack’s gaze went back to Andi. “Why do I think there’s more to this than all the printouts you brought with you?”
“I called to talk to Vaughn this morning. I had a thought about Sherry and her dentist.”
Jack flexed his jaw with impatience. “Tell me you did not discuss Sherry’s dental issues with her husband.”
“I did not discuss Sherry’s dental issues with her husband.”
Jack cocked his head and used his hand in an forward-motion manner, encouraging her to go on.
“Vaughn wasn’t home when I called, but Dotty Tobias, who I knew growing up and who lived next door to the Spences, and is now the Hemmer’s nanny, was there and she was going through Sherry’s things, boxing everything up.”
Jack studied her for a moment, his expression giving away nothing, then, “Ah, hell, Andi, what have you gone and done now?”
“All right, kids, let’s play nice here,” Father Riley said, his tone mildly rebuking. “Jack, it’s obvious you don’t want Andi’s help investigating, but I can also see Andi’s point. If she hadn’t smelled the smoke and heard the voices, we wouldn’t even be sitting in my kitchen having this discussion. She has, as they say, some skin in the game.”
Jack scowled. “That doesn’t mean I have to like her interfering—”
“I wasn’t interfering!” Andi snapped. “Dotty needed help, I offered my assistance.”
Jack slapped his hand down against the wooden table top. “Tell me you did not walk out of that house with anything.”
“I did not walk out of that house with anything,” Andi parroted obediently.
“That smart mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days,” he prophesized, his eyes locked on her lips.
Andi couldn’t help herself. As soon as his gaze met hers, she winked at him.
He smirked back.
“However….” She took a deep breath, wishing she’d considered ahead of time how best to break it to Jack what she’d done. The quickie flirt might have softened him up, but the worst was yet to come.
Jack slouched back in the chair, his eyes closed, a grim expression on his handsome face. So much for softening.
“Everything I read to you about the azogue and the elemental mercury? Everything I told you about what Sally said Dawna gave to Sherry for relieving her pain? The candles? The personal care products? They were all there in Sherry’s bathroom. I took pictures of everything where it was, then I packed it up in two boxes with a written inventory included in each, and labeled the outside.”
Jack’s eyes flew open. “That’s just great, Andi,” he said sarcastically. “You boxed up possible evidence and God knows where it’ll end up now.”
“Give me a little credit for having some brains, Jack!” Andi shot back, more than slightly miffed. “Dotty stored both boxes in her closet.”
“And exactly how did you explain the need to keep them separate?” he demanded.
“I didn’t. I told her I couldn’t say why they were important.” She looked at Father Riley. “I got the strangest feeling that she knew exactly why, though.”
> The priest leaned forward, planting his elbows on the table. “By all accounts, she’d known Sherry her entire life. I gather she, like everyone else, did not have a high regard for Dawna Stimack. Perhaps she intuited that you’re on to something.”
Andi didn’t know if he was right or wrong, but it didn’t matter. She trusted Dotty and apparently Dotty trusted her, so the boxes were safe. Her focus back on Jack, she said, “I didn’t think you were ready to hypothesize to Vaughn just yet that his wife was probably murdered by her dentist.”
Jack jammed the fingers of one hand through his hair in frustration. “Jesus, Andi, we’re not even close to that yet!”
Andi chewed on her bottom lip, pondering her next words. “The thing is, Jack, I think if you were to talk to Vaughn, tell him your suspicions, you might actually be further ahead.”
“How so, Judy Bolton?”
If only his question had been friendly instead of snide. “He’s suffering terribly. I think he’s harboring feelings of guilt because Sherry was so sick and he never realized just how ill she was. Put yourself in his shoes, Jack. What if the woman you loved was slowly being poisoned and you thought she just had a flu bug or fibromyalgia or something and then she ended up dead? How would you feel?”
Jack pushed back his chair so roughly, it grated across the floor. He stood and began to pace from one end of the kitchen to the other. “Does Vaughn know you put those two boxes aside?”
“No.” She hesitated again. “I read that mercury poisoning can also be detected in hair, so I put her hairbrush in one of the boxes. I know that the ME has already determined mercury poisoning, but I think origination can be pinpointed in hair growth.”
“Hair,” was all Jack said.
Andi’s insides began to hum in that bad way that only happens when something awful has just happened. She’d known Jack would be angry with her. She just hadn’t anticipated how furious he’d be. She glanced at Father Riley. “Should I start going to confession again?”
She could tell from the twinkle in his eyes that the priest was not taking her transgression as seriously as did the homicide detective. “Probably not yet,” he said, his serious tone laced with amusement.
Jack crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet apart in a pose that reminded her of Mr. Clean. Of course, Jack had hair, and lots of it, and Mr. Clean was bald as an onion. And not nearly as good looking.
“You probably smudged every damned fingerprint.”
Ignoring his testiness, Andi said, “I did not!” She pulled the thin, cotton museum gloves out of her pocket.
“Always prepared, aren’t you? Just like a good little Girl Scout.”
“I bought these when I moved. It makes it easier to clean windows and glass in picture frames. No fingerprint marks or smudges.”
Father Riley made a noise that sounded like a strangled chuckle. Jack made a noise that sounded like a frustrated growl.
“Aren’t you just the budding forensic scientist?” Jack demanded. “Go over everything again and don’t take any side trips.”
Andi took a deep breath. “The elemental mercury could have been injected into any of the candles or products I boxed up. When the candles burned, the hot wax would cause the mercury to give off poisonous vapors. The gels would have been absorbed through the skin, which is not quite as effective, but over time, still harmful. The fluoride would have partially been swallowed and also absorbed. And then there’s the amalgam for the fillings, which most likely contain mercury. Chewing would have released the mercury into her system.”
“And I’m supposed to do what with this information?” He stared down at the floor, as if it would give him some answers.
“Get the boxes from Vaughn, get a search warrant to search Dawna’s dental practice. Take everything to your forensics lab.”
Jack’s head whipped up and he impaled her with stormy eyes. “You should take a criminal justice class, learn proper procedure before you go out collecting your next evidence haul.” He put up a hand to forestall her comment when he saw her mouth pop open. “Please don’t! I was being facetious. First things first, I have to take all this to my LT. If I don’t get laughed right out of the building, then I might be able to proceed.”
He glowered at her. “Make yourself available tomorrow. The LT will want to interview you about your evidence collection procedures.”
“What time? I do have to go to work, you know.”
“I have a job, too, but certain people get in the way of letting me accomplish what I’m paid to do.”
Andi sucked in her lips, appropriately chastised. “Sorry,” she said. “I honestly thought I was helping.”
Jack ran his hand through his hair again. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Yes, you did, but I understand why you’re frustrated. Vaughn and Dotty can corroborate that these things were in the bedroom and bathroom of the Hemmer home, if that helps any.”
Jack sank back down into his chair. “It will, when and if we ever have a conversation with them.”
“What do you mean, ‘if’?” Father Riley asked. He folded his hands in front of him, almost in prayer fashion.
“I mean, this is a tall tale to begin with. If you recall, we all determined it was best to leave Andi out of it, and now I have to explain her involvement in gathering evidence.” His gaze shot back to the culprit, who was obviously the bane of his existence. “Got any suggestions on how to proceed from here, Judy Bolton?”
CHAPTER 19
Andi didn’t sleep well. In fact, she thought about calling in sick, but considering all the hot water she was in already, that seemed like a bad alternative to simply facing the music.
Instead of playing hooky, she climbed out of bed at five a.m., unrested, with sandpaper eyes, and more than a little trepidation. She showered and washed her hair, got dressed, dried her hair, changed clothes to something she felt more befitting a police interrogation, applied her makeup, changed her clothes once more, then walked out the door before every article of clothing she owned ended up piled on her bed.
She arrived at work at five minutes after six, two hours earlier than normal. She anticipated being in the hot seat for two hours and she wanted to make sure she put in an eight-hour day on the job. As soon as Brett came in, she planned to give him her cockamamie story about why she had to be out of the office for two hours sometime during the day. Her sleepless night had left her plenty of time to concoct the lie. God, she probably was going to Hell for all the truths she’d been stretching lately. Maybe Father Riley could set her on the path of atonement.
Andi soon discovered she liked working in the quiet building, especially since she got about four hours worth of work accomplished in two. By eight-fifteen, she marched down to Brett’s office, only to discover a note on his door that he wouldn’t be in, due to a sick kid at home.
Stymied, Andi headed for the office Lacey and Ted shared. “Hey,” she said in greeting.
“Hey,” Ted returned.
“’Morning,” Lacey said. “What’s up?”
“Brett’s not in today and I’m going to have to take off a couple of hours for a personal matter. Who am I supposed to let know?”
“Long as you check out on the board downstairs in reception, you don’t have to let anyone know,” Ted said.
“Wow,” Andi said, shocked.
Lacey nodded. “Yeah, right? Orion’s Belt is the company to work for.”
“Wow,” Andi said again. “Okay, thanks.” Well, that solved the problem of lying at least.
An hour later, Jack called to say the LT wanted to see her at one. “Do you want me to come by and pick you up, so you don’t have to worry about finding a parking space?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll just walk over.”
“Are you sure? It’s supposed to rain?”
For the first time since she’d entered the building, Andi looked out the window. Her office faced north, and with the two-story cinderblock wall bl
ocking much of her outside view, she rarely got a glimpse of the weather unless she had her cheek pressed to the glass. She scooted over and did just that. Darn. Gunmetal-gray clouds. She belatedly remembered she’d worn heels, too. Not good for walking at all. “I can drive over.”
“I’ll pick you up,” Jack said firmly. “I’ll be there at noon. We can have lunch somewhere along the way.”
He disconnected before she could agree. Or disagree.
Andi thought about calling him back to ask who had put him in charge of her decision-making, but what was the point? She wanted to see him, even though he might still be pissed at her. And besides, maybe he had some pearls of wisdom to impart about how she should answer his LT’s questions about her involvement.
. . .
Andi gasped. “You want me to what?”
“I want you to tell my LT exactly what you told me the first time we met. I photocopied the calendar you gave to Phil. I’ll give the LT one copy and the other will go in the murder book.”
Andi stared at him. “So, your LT is not going to laugh me out of the police station?”
Jack stared back. “Probably not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
He shrugged. “I just am.”
“Is this one of your gut-instinct things?”
He gave her one of his looks.
Andi gave him a fake smile in return. She finished her Togo’s sandwich, then crumpled the wrapping before she wiped her hands on a napkin. “This was a good idea. I love their pastrami.”
“Yeah, me, too. You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be, I guess.”
“Relax. The LT doesn’t bite.”
“I hope not.”
Ten minutes later, Jack escorted Andi to a medium-sized office that held a desk, a desk chair, two file cabinets, and three chairs lined up in front of the desk. Behind the desk sat a woman of indeterminate age, though if Andi had to guess, she’d land on about forty-five. Her face was unlined and her violet eyes sparkled with intelligence even as they assessed Andi in a sweeping appraisal. Her hair was prematurely silver and worn to the chin in a bob. Diamond studs twinkled from her ear lobes and she wore a stylish black suit with a lavender blouse under the jacket. Well put together, she was one of the most attractive women Andi had ever seen, but beneath the feminine exterior, she was certain there lurked a woman who could be hard as nails.