by Ann Simas
Penny smiled down at her. “Dr. Stimack will find the problem and fix you right up.” She double-checked the instruments on the tray, straightening one that wasn’t exactly parallel to the others. “She’ll be in shortly.”
“Thank you.”
Andi spent her time studying some framed certificates on the wall to her left. College diploma, post-graduate diploma, dental training at Georgetown University, licensure from Oregon Board of Dentistry in 2009. Everything looked in order. The wall in front of her housed a large window that looked out over a cluster of trees in various stages of fall color. For a moment, they took her mind off where she was and what she was doing.
On the wall to her right, built-in storage cabinets housed a mirror and a sink in the corner. Further along was a framed print of Quicksilver, a Marvel Comics character Andi recognized instantly. Her brother had been a big fan of The X-Men, Avengers, and Quicksilver, only allowing Andi to read his comic collection when he was there to keep an eye on her.
If anything could convince Andi that Dawna had killed Sherry, paying homage to Quicksilver in her dental office sealed it.
Quicksilver was another name for elemental mercury.
. . .
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Dawna said as she breezed in. “Nice to see you Saturday night. Jack is divine. How did you ever hook up with him?”
“Just luck, I guess.” Wishing she could ignore Dawna’s insinuation that she was not up to Jack’s standards, Andi got a sinking feeling the exam was headed in a direction she didn’t want to go. And why.
“I should be so lucky.” Dawna sat on the rolling stool and dipped her head close to Andi’s ear, as if they were BFFs. “Tell me, is he a good fuck?”
Shocked, Andi was at a loss for an immediate response.
Dawna laughed. “Never mind. I’m guessing you haven’t tangoed with him. He’s not really your type, is he?”
Andi had any number of come-backs in mind by then, but if she wanted to find out Dawna’s secrets, she knew she’d better keep her mouth shut, at least for comebacks.
“So, which tooth is bothering you?”
Andi opened her mouth and indicated a molar on the bottom right.
Dawna picked up an instrument with a sharp hook on the end and said, “Open wide. Raise your right hand if you feel any sensitivity or discomfort while I’m poking around.”
“Okay,” Andi said, stretching her jaws wide, steeling herself for what was to come.
Twenty minutes later, Dawna rattled off a treatment program that included full-mouth x-rays, one and possibly two cavities to be filled, possible crown of sensitive tooth. “Do you get headaches, Andi?”
Andi decided to go for broke in the lie department. “Frequently. As a matter of fact, I have one right now.” Which wasn’t far from the truth.
“Hmm, I have some personal care products that I can recommend to you that might help with that. Want to meet for lunch one day this week and I’ll bring them.”
“Sure,” Andi said. “How about” —slow down, don’t appear too anxious— “tomorrow?” She mentally rolled her eyes at her over-zealous response.
“Hmm. Wednesday would be better for me.”
Andi lifted a shoulder, as if it didn’t much matter to her. “That’s fine. Where shall we meet?”
Dawna named a place that was midway between her office and downtown and set a time for 1:00 p.m. She glanced at her watch. “I need to jet. I have an lunch date with Bob and I don’t want to be late.” She whipped off her white skirt-length, medical-looking over-jacket with the name Dawna emblazoned in red over the breast pocket, giving Andi a look at the outfit below. Poor Bob. If Dawna was out to seduce him, he was in big trouble.
When the whirlwind murderess had vacated the room, Penny removed the paper protector, asked Andi a few more questions, then set up a time for her to return the following week. Andi took the appointment card and slid it into the side pocket of her purse. God willing, this whole thing would be over long before the next seven days passed.
“I’ll walk you back up to the front,” Penny said.
Andi’s mind churned furiously. Within seconds, she had a plan. They had passed Dawna’s office on the way to the exam room, so it was likely they’d pass it on the way back. Halfway down the hall, Andi feigned a swoon and fell against the wall. Not an Academy Award performance, by any means, but with luck, it would do.
“Are you okay?” Penny cried out in alarm.
“My head,” Andi mumbled, grabbing said part of her anatomy. “Feeling dizzy…need to…lie down…is there a place…?”
Penny slid one arm around Andi’s waist, trying to steady her. “Since Dr. Stimack has gone for lunch, I can put you in her office for a little bit. She has a sofa you can lie down on.”
“Thank you,” Andi mumbled again, slurring her words as much as possible.
Once Penny had her situated, including covering her with a throw from the end of the sofa, she said, “Is there anything I can get you?”
“No…just need to close my eyes for a bit…happened before…fifteen-minute nap usually helps.”
“You just take all the time you need,” Penny said. “I’ll close the door so no one bothers you.”
This time Andi didn’t answer, hoping Penny would think she’d already dozed off. As soon as the door clicked shut, she counted to twenty, then threw back the blanket and hustled over to lock the door.
Andi didn’t have the first clue how to search, but it must be a lot like figuring out where to hide something. She was good at hiding clues in her game apps, so if she put that skill to use in this situation, she should be in good shape.
To begin with, she studied the room. The desk seemed too obvious, but she went there first. She pulled on her thin white gloves before touching Maybe that was because it was Dawna’s domain anything.
The two top drawers on the left held office supplies and the one beneath held a pair of heels and a pair of sneakers. Another held papergoods piled on what looked to be old calendars. In the top drawer on the other side, she found a recording device, other miscellany, and a set of keys, which she pulled out and set on the desktop. The final drawer held CDs and instruction manuals for an iPhone, an iPad, an MP3 player, and a few other devices.
Andi grabbed the keys and headed for the locked pharmacist’s cabinet.
With the upper half being primarily glass, Andi could read the labels on a number of prescription meds, including straight fluoride toothpaste, antibiotics, and numbing agents from the amide anesthetic group. There was also a wooden box on the bottom shelf. She unlocked the glass door, then studied the keys. The third one she tried worked in the box lock.
Andi opened it and gasped. Inside the top of the box was taped a piece of paper that read: Azogue, a friend to me, a foe to those who defy me. She presumed Dawna had written it, but made a mental note to look at the business card Dawna had given Jack on Saturday night to see if the handwriting on the back matched.
Lined up inside the box were capsules of elemental mercury. At least that’s what she thought they contained. They looked like both drawings and pictures she’d discovered while doing her research on azogue, which is what the botánicas that sold it called elemental mercury. She pulled out her phone and activated the camera, taking pictures of the box contents and what was stored on the shelves.
Andi closed the box and locked it again. At that point, she realized she’d been holding her breath. Another thing her research had given her was a fine appreciation for the deadly effects of inhaling mercury fumes.
She eased the glass door shut and relocked it, then went to work on the lower drawers, taking more pictures as she went. Dawna kept duplicate containers of many of the personal care products she had given to Sherry in drawer number one. The next drawer contained a variety of pillar candles. All in an unburned state, it was obvious the centers had been drilled with narrow-diameter holes. All the better for Dawna to infuse them with azogue, no doubt.
In the fin
al drawer, Dawna kept a .22 revolver, half a dozen boxes of ammunition, a roll of duct tape, and several boxes of syringes. God only knew what torture she planned to inflict with those.
Andi locked the last drawer and glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes had elapsed. Hurry, hurry, hurry.
Another print of Quicksilver adorned the space beside the pharmacy cabinet. She dug out her phone and pointed it in that direction, with a mental reminder to get a shot of the other Quicksilver in the exam room, too. Her eyes roved the rest of the room.
A two-drawer file cabinet sat next to the end of the sofa. Locked, of course. Andi examined the keys and tried one that looked like it would fit. Again, she got lucky. She fingered through the files in the top drawer, but only one folder looked promising. She withdrew it and scanned the contents. When she found a list of inventoried items from the purchase of the practice, she whipped out her phone and started taking pictures. The two middle drawers revealed nothing earth-shattering. The bottom drawer held old tax returns, but Andi knew she didn’t have a prayer of examining those. She shut the drawer and relocked the cabinet.
What next? A door fed off the south wall of the office. Andi moved over to it quickly and tried the knob. Locked. Of course. She examined the keys and tried one after another with no success. With one remaining, she held out little hope, but surprisingly, it worked.
She fumbled with the light switch just inside, expecting to find a private bathroom or a maybe an outside exit. Instead, she discovered a small storage room, about eight feet square. An altar, draped with a white lace cloth, set the center stage. Ceramic religious figures, decorated gourds, and several odd looking, handmade dolls adorned a trio of shelves on either side of it. Directly above was a painting of the Blessed Mother, cradled inside a wreath of red and white silk roses. The wall behind had been painted sky blue, with clouds scattered about. An image of the sun, its rays a vibrant yellow, capped it.
On top of the altar, two vases filled with white and yellow silk roses flanked the painting above. There were also several crucifixes and a menagerie of religious figurines. A crystal-bead rosary draped from one of the upright crucifixes. Candles in a variety of sizes dotted all the empty spaces. They had obviously been burned, but Andi doubted they were tainted with azogue. Not even Dawna would be stupid enough to close herself into a small space like this with a deadly poison. Still, Andi got the heebie-jeebies. Dawna had to be a little bit crazy to kill. Maybe she believed her nervous system was exempt from harm when breathing the fumes of elemental mercury.
Get the hell out of Dodge, Andi!
“I will, I will,” she muttered to her silent inner warning.
On either side of the altar stood a pedestal. The one on the right held a print framed without glass and labeled CHANGÓ. Obviously Quicksilver, the face had been covered with Vaughn Hemmer’s likeness. The photo had begun to peel back, so Andi pulled it completely away to find yet another man’s face beneath. She quickly took another picture, then pressed Vaughn’s image back into place. A Post-It stuck to the top of the frame read November 5. The other pedestal, set up similarly, held a framed print labeled YEMAYA. The voluptuous woman’s face had been obscured to make way for Dawna’s likeness. If Andi was not mistaken, the drawing was of Crystal, Quicksilver’s wife.
Something tickled at Andi’s brain. Changó. Yemaya. November 5.
Andi pressed the camera button rapidly, almost tripping over the padded kneeler in front of the altar as she turned to examine the remaining three walls. They were bare except for a single certificate near the door. Framed ornately, it looked to have been printed on ordinary white paper on a color laser printer. The Madonna, with sun rays radiating from her body, took up the left half of the document. The text on the right side read DAWNA ROGERS STIMACK, Priestess di Santería.
Andi was confused, but she didn’t have time to sort out her thoughts. A quick glance at her watch told her she’d been snooping far too long, but she still had one task to accomplish before she cleared out of Dawna’s office. She shut off the light, pulled the door closed to Dawna’s religious sanctuary, and locked it. She hustled back to the desk and dug into the drawer that housed papergoods. She extracted the calendars from the bottom and set them on the desk while she replaced the keys where she’d found them. Her final chore was to refold the throw and replace it over the end of the sofa.
With a quick look around to make sure she hadn’t disturbed anything that would give away her search, she debated how best to leave the building with the six calendars. They weren’t large, only about four-by-six inches each. Andi decided she could live without her jacket, even though it was sprinkling outside. She quickly pulled it off and wrapped the calendars inside the fold, hoping it would look natural when she carried it out.
Andi approached the locked door, expecting someone to start pounding on it at any minute. She blew out a breath of relief once she had it unlocked and open. She peered out and found the coast clear in both directions. She decided against chancing being caught taking a picture of the Quicksilver in the exam room and turned toward the right instead.
The only person working in reception had her back to Andi, dealing with a patient on the phone. Andi decided not to say anything on her way out. All the better, she hoped, to leave unnoticed.
That was when she remembered she had to pay for the office visit. Damn!
She waited patiently while the receptionist finished her call, finagling her debit card out of her purse, without messing up her jacket-hiding-calendars setup.
“Oh!” the woman behind the counter said, jumping a little. “You startled me.” She gave Andi a concerned look. “Are you feeling better? Penny said you had a dizzy spell. I was going to come back to check on you as soon as I finished that call.” She rolled her eyes. “Some people just will not let you hang up!”
“I feel much better, thanks. I skipped breakfast and didn’t have any lunch yet. Must have been low blood sugar or something.”
“I have a package of crackers, if you’d like something to nibble on.”
“No, thanks, I’m going to grab something on the way…home. I just wanted to pay before I leave.”
“Oh, sure, I’ve got your bill right here.” She placed the printout on the counter. Even with a ten percent cash discount, Dawna got a hefty fee for a thirty-minute appointment. Andi swallowed her shock and handed over her debit card.
She reminded herself that the expense was a small price to pay for getting the goods on a killer.
CHAPTER 28
At two-thirty, Jack texted her. How’d it go?
Andi replied. So-so. Come 4 dinner @ 6?
Probly not til 7.
OK. C u then.
She put down her phone and immediately picked it up again, hitting the auto dial for Father Riley.
“Hello, Andi. How did your dental appointment go?”
“She gave me a list of work that needs to be done.”
“No surprise there, eh?”
“Yes and no. She’s as smooth a liar as I’ve ever encountered. Not that I’ve met that many.”
“Probably never met a killer before, either.”
“No.”
“So, what’s bothering you? Other than the fact that a murderess had her hands in your mouth.”
“Do you have time to see me after work? I can be there a little after five.”
“Sure, that’s not a problem.”
“Do you have time to do some Internet research before then?”
“Whoa, Andi!” he said, his amusement carrying over the line. “I don’t spend much time on the Web. Maybe you should ask someone who’s more savvy.”
“This relates to Sherry. There’s no one else I can ask.”
“All right. What do you want me to do?”
Andi was grateful he hadn’t inquired why she didn’t want to ask Jack. “Plug two words into your search engine. Santería and orisha.” She spelled out both.
“And those would be…wait! Santería is a religion, isn’t
it?”
“Yes, and orishas are the equivalent to our saints. They call it syncretizing when a saint’s image and name is given to an orisha.”
“Yes, I’ve heard of syncretization. Am I looking for anything in particular?”
“Yes and no.”
“You’re exceptionally vague today,” he noted dryly.
“Just read some of the general information material. Take notes, if you like. I want to run something by you, but I need you to have a little background first.”
“It so happens I have the rest of the afternoon free. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Thanks, Riley.”
. . .
Andi worked hard to reach the goal she’d set for herself to finish the next chapter of Bunny Hop. When she reached it with ten minutes to spare, she thanked the Big Kahuna for letting her be born anal retentive.
She saved a copy to the server, her computer, and a CD, then sent Brent an email, letting him know that Bugs Bunny was on its way to QA for testing. What a relief. If Bugs passed muster, she planned to have a talk with Brent about changing the app name to Wild Hare, which seemed like a more appropriate title for a game that involved a mystery element than did Bunny Hop.
Lacey and Susan popped in to invite her to join them to watch Monday Night Football at a nearby brewhouse. Andi reluctantly declined, but said, “Please ask me again. I love NFL football.” Which was true, but she rarely watched a game. It wasn’t much fun to do alone.
At five, she closed her office door and left the building. She considered leaving her car in the parking lot, but at the last minute, decided to drive over to the rectory. Cars in the lot after hours could generate questions and she wasn’t prepared to expand her lies further than she had to.
If her future continued to involve sleuthing, which apparently involved lying as a necessity, she was going to have to reconsider seeking absolution in the confessional.*
Riley greeted her with a brief hug. “You look beat, young lady.”
“I feel beat,” Andi said, sinking down into one of the leather chairs in his office. “Do you have an email address?”