"I don't know, but it sure looks bad, doesn't it?"
"How can we find out?"
"Should I call John at his office?"
Maggie thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think the sheriff will be giving out information to anyone." She took up the pacing Dyna had ended, thinking hard. Dyna plopped back down on the sofa, picked up her hat and sat twisting it, her eyes following Maggie as she moved about the room.
"Annette!" Maggie cried. "What about Annette? She'd know all there is to know, don't you think?"
"Yes, Annette! Sure she would. Should I call her?"
"No, let's go see her. Where does she live?"
Dyna scrambled to the end table that held the phone book on its lower shelf. She flipped through pages. "Radke, Raeling... here, Raison. Shoot, what's her husband's name? Why do they make it so hard to find women in phone books? Oh, here it is, Raison, Byron. I remember meeting him once, this total no personality guy, and thinking, Byron? They live at 238 Timber Drive. I can find that."
Maggie had already zipped up her jacket. She held Dyna's out to her. "Let's go."
Maggie jumped into Dyna's car, barely managing to buckle herself up by the time Dyna had the car in gear and had backed out of the driveway. As they drove down Hadley, Maggie's mind continued to grapple with this turn of events. Could the sheriff taking Elizabeth away mean something else? Could there be some interpretation other than the one she and Dyna put on it? She found herself wanting that very much, even though she couldn't come up with anything reasonable.
Half way up Main Maggie suddenly cried out, "Oh!" Pointing, she said, "There she is!" Annette stood on a corner, talking animatedly to a small group, hands gesturing and arms waving. Maggie was sure what the subject was. "I should have known she wouldn't be sitting home alone at a time like this."
Dyna pulled over, and Maggie was out of the car the instant the ignition was turned off.
Annette's round, bright eyes lit up even more as she saw fresh, news-thirsty individuals approach. She waved them over as she continued to expound, clearly relishing the moment, but occasionally injecting at least a modicum of concern for the center of the excitement - Elizabeth. Maggie listened for a few moments, hearing basically what Dyna had already told her, then when Annette paused, jumped in with her question.
"Do you know if they found anything in their search?"
Annette looked triumphant. "Oh yes, yes they did! Of course I wouldn't dream of imposing myself into their investigation." Maggie immediately pictured Annette lurking closely, eyes and ears moving like radar dishes. "But I did happen to overhear one of them say something about a small, suspicious bottle found in a very unlikely place."
Maggie's heart sank. That sounded bad. A bottle of poison? But something was wrong. It had to be wrong. Another woman began shaking her head and moaning about the terrible things going on in this town. Maggie interrupted.
"What sent them there? What made them decide to search Elizabeth's place?"
Annette looked at Maggie, and Maggie was startled to see a certain secretiveness appear in the woman's eyes for just a moment. Was she imagining it? This was a woman who could barely wait to spread the latest news about her neighbors, good or bad. The look vanished as quickly as it appeared, though, and the more familiar Annette answered Maggie's question with a hint of her usual all-knowing smugness. "Why, it must have been because of their affair. Elizabeth and Jack Warwick's. I'm only surprised it took the sheriff this long to get there."
<><><>
Maggie had been tossing and turning in her bed for so long that she finally gave up and threw back the tangled covers. Not wanting to wake Dyna in case she had managed to fall asleep, she found her robe in the dark and tip-toed down the winding staircase, thinking she might have some of Dyna's caffeine-free herbal tea. They had shared a somber dinner earlier, and Maggie tried with little success to work afterward.
Rob had called, and she had been happy to hear his voice and glad of the distraction. She listened to his enthusiastic descriptions of his work at the tennis camp, letting herself be lulled by what sounded like a much simpler life in the Florida sunshine. When he asked about her activities, though, she told him only of her afternoon skiing and the start of her book.
After she hung up she had a twinge of uneasiness. She hadn't been completely open with him. She tried telling herself it was only because she didn't know the whole story yet, and that it was no use telling him things in bits and pieces. But the uneasiness, along with thoughts of Elizabeth, had kept her from sleep.
Turning on just one small light in the kitchen, Maggie heated up a mugful of water in the microwave, catching the timer before it pinged. She let the tea bag steep for a minute or two, then cradled the fragrant concoction between her hands and wandered over to the sliding glass doors. With no clouds covering it, the moon cast enough brightness on the snowy outdoors to give a clear view of the woods across the road, and Maggie gazed at them, her mind busy.
Things looked bad for Elizabeth, and when more information came out they might look worse. John Severin struck Maggie as an intelligent man. She didn't think he would make baseless decisions. He must have had good cause to search the bookstore and Elizabeth's living quarters, something other than gossip, and good reason to take Elizabeth in.
But Elizabeth wasn't a murderer. Maggie felt sure of that. Her thoughts flew back to the Elizabeth she had known so many years ago:
"Betsy, look, there's a hawk circling. I bet he's zeroing in on his prey, like Mrs. Jackson was telling us."
"Oh, I hope he doesn't get it!" Betsy had said.
"He has to eat, silly. That's how he gets his food."
"I'll feed him. I just don't want him to kill some poor little bird."
And the girls had laughed, Maggie along with them, at the image of Betsy trying to pacify a hungry hawk with the camp's hot dogs.
Then there was the rescue of the Daddy Longlegs that Maggie had remembered in the book shop, something Elizabeth apparently was still doing, even with spiders. Most people were revolted by spiders, especially indoors. Elizabeth hovered over them.
And Elizabeth had cared for her ailing mother, even foregoing college to do that, something that clearly was a sacrifice. Could someone this selfless be a murderer?
Elizabeth had been flustered when Maggie brought up Jack Warwick, but that might have been only because of their past relationship - if they truly had an affair - and not necessarily guilt over his murder. Maggie suspected that Elizabeth was one of those people who agonized over things that others could rationalize away, things much less portentous than murder.
As far as the affair that Annette seemed so sure of, Maggie thought, from her impression of Jack Warwick, that if there had been one, he must have been the pursuer, possibly at a vulnerable time surrounding her mother's death. Elizabeth would have been an easy victim, helpless as a mouse to a cobra.
However, Annette had said a suspicious bottle had been found in Elizabeth's living quarters. If it turned out to contain the poison that killed Jack, what did that mean? Had someone planted it to throw suspicion on Elizabeth? Could Maggie live with herself if she didn't try to find out?
"Can't sleep either, huh?"
Maggie jumped and turned to see Dyna at the base of the stairs.
"I didn't hear you come down."
Dyna sniffed at the air. "Trying my lemon-ginger tea?"
"Uh-huh. It's good."
"The chamomile and mint is good for sleeping."
"I gave up on sleeping. I've been thinking."
"Yeah, me too."
Dyna looked at her, waiting. Maggie took a sip from her mug, knowing what Dyna wanted her to say. Could she? Had she made her decision? The visions of Betsy/Elizabeth she had just conjured up still floated through her head. Of course she had.
"I want to help."
"Yes! I knew you would!" Dyna rushed to Maggie and hugged her, almost knocking her over and splashing tea on both of them. She stood back. "What
about your book?"
Maggie puffed out her cheeks and blew out.
"Right now Elizabeth is a lot more important than any book, but maybe I can do both." She looked at Dyna. "With a little help. Can you stay around?"
Dyna frowned. She looked at the floor, hands on hips. "Can I stay around? Let me think. Well..., I don't know. There's that fantastic career waiting for me in the health food store, you know. Hmmm...." She looked up and grinned. "Of course I can, you dodo! I'll do anything I can to help out Liz. Just tell me where to start."
Ah, Maggie thought. Where to start. It's fine to have good intentions. But how to put them into action? Now that's the hard part.
CHAPTER 7
Maggie poured a second cup of coffee as she chewed at her final bite of toast. After her talk with Dyna she had managed to get a couple hours of sleep, which her brain apparently considered plenty since it woke her with furiously busy thoughts. The rest of her body, however, was moving much more slowly. She had made the coffee strong.
She carried her mug over to the phone and punched in Elizabeth's number. Only one number had been listed in the phone book, not in Elizabeth's name but under Book Nook. Maggie assumed it also rang in the living quarters. Wherever the phone was ringing, no one was answering. She hung up in frustration.
"Still no answer?" Dyna's voice came through cascading strands of hair as her head hung down near her knees, her fingertips reaching for the floor. Apparently having suffered fewer effects from lack of sleep, she had enough energy to practice her Soorya Namaskas. Maggie shook her head.
"I can't believe John wouldn't talk to me about it," Dyna complained. "He didn't sound like himself at all." She straightened up and flipped her hair back. Her hair stood out from the static electricity, reminding Maggie of one of those eraser-faced rubber pencils she had as a kid, whose acrylic hair would fly out when she rolled it between her hands.
"He was being Sheriff John, not your friend John," Maggie said. "Sometimes I guess he can't be both. Possibly he's not able to give out information on an open case." She took a sip of coffee. "I wonder, though, what his own feelings on this situation are? Does he really think Elizabeth is guilty?"
"If he does, he won't be my friend any more." Dyna ran her fingers through her hair, calming it only slightly. She now looked, Maggie thought, like an enthusiastic rock-band drummer, minus the tattoos. Maggie's hand went to her own hair. After her restless night she probably didn't look much better.
She got an idea. "Why don't I call Paul Dekens? I wouldn't be surprised if he's managed to get in touch with Elizabeth." Dyna's face lit up in agreement, and Maggie picked up the phone.
A female voice at the ski lodge answered Maggie's call. "Paul's outside right now. Can I have him get back to you?" Maggie hesitated. "Will he be there for the next hour or so?"
"Yes, I'm sure he will. We're having trouble with one of the lifts. He's out there with the crew."
"Great. I mean, that's too bad. But thanks." Maggie hung up and turned back to Dyna. "If we drive over to Big Bear we should be able to talk to Paul face to face."
"Sounds good. Just let me change into something warmer. Oh, and maybe I better do something with my hair."
Maggie didn't answer. She was already half way up the stairs to do the same.
<><><>
Maggie sat at the edge of a metal chair in front of the desk in Paul's office, Dyna on one next to her. She had had to remove a stack of papers from it first, which now lay lopsidedly on the floor beside her. Paul came in, bringing cold air with him, his face red from the wind. He zipped off his jacket and tossed it into the corner of the small room whose cluttered desk nearly filled it. "Carol said you've been waiting to see me?"
He looked at Dyna as he said it, but Maggie answered. "It's about Elizabeth." His face clouded over.
"We're sure she's being framed," Maggie hurried to explain, "and that she needs help. But we can't get hold of her. We hoped you might be able to fill us in on what's happening."
Paul sat down in his chair and leaned back slowly. "You're right. She needs help. But I can't seem to convince her of that."
"You've talked to her then?"
He nodded. "I wanted to get her a lawyer, to pay for him. She refused."
"Has she been charged?"
"Not yet. She feels since she's innocent, there's no chance of being charged and therefore no need of a lawyer."
Maggie nodded. Elizabeth was being naive and trusting and very much like Maggie would have expected. "Do you know what they have on her so far?"
"Elizabeth told me they found a small, clear, unlabeled bottle containing a small amount of liquid at the back of a kitchen cabinet she seldom uses. There was also a paperback book on poisons, with a bookmark at the section on household poisons. She says she never saw either before."
"Does she keep the doors to her apartment locked?"
"The back door, yes, but not the one that opens off the shop. It's at the back of the shop, out of view from the front register."
"So if she were busy with a customer, someone could slip in to her place?"
"Exactly." Paul's face looked grim.
"But John must know that," Dyna put in.
Paul's eyes shifted back to Dyna. "He must, but until someone can say they actually saw that happen, he has only the facts of the bottle and the book to deal with. They must be testing the contents of that bottle right now, and if it contains the same poison that killed Warwick, Elizabeth will be in serious trouble."
"Well," Maggie said, "then our job is to find out who put those things there. Do you know of anyone who would want to do this to Elizabeth?"
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt her like this, but whoever killed Jack Warwick wanted to cover his or her own butt. Probably Elizabeth seemed the most vulnerable."
Maggie nodded. Her own thoughts precisely.
<><><>
Maggie sat behind the wheel of her car, silent and staring forward.
"What are you thinking?" Dyna asked.
Maggie turned towards her. "Lots of things, one of which I don't like very much."
Dyna's eyebrows went up questioningly.
"Paul seems like a good guy, wanting to help Elizabeth. But we both know he had a very good motive for eliminating Jack Warwick himself. If the poison used was a common one, something found in the average household, as the bookmark seems to indicate, then it's likely available to anyone. He also must have been to Elizabeth's apartment a few times, been somewhat familiar with it. It's very possible he could have planted those things in Elizabeth's cabinet to cover himself."
Dyna's face looked pained. "But he loves her. You told me that yourself, and I think you're right. He couldn't do such a thing to someone he loves."
"I hope not. For Elizabeth's sake. She doesn't need any more betrayal. We can only hope he didn't decide he loved Big Bear even more." Maggie took a deep breath. She thought about what to do next. "Well, we really need to talk to Elizabeth. Why don't we drive over to her place, pound on the door and make her let us in?"
"Got the battering ram in the trunk?"
"Of course. But only to be used if necessary."
"Aye-aye, Captain," Dyna responded, saluting briskly as Maggie put the car in gear.
<><><>
It turned out they didn't need a battering ram against the door, just a few light taps of Maggie's knuckle on Elizabeth's window. Finding, as expected, the book shop closed and dark, they had followed a trampled path in the snow around to the back. Maggie peered in and saw Elizabeth sitting with her back to the window in an overstuffed chair, wrapped in an afghan, feet drawn up. She appeared to be staring at a blank television, and her head turned slowly at the sound of Maggie's taps.
Elizabeth pulled herself out of the chair and opened the door.
"May we come in?" Maggie asked. "We need to talk." She took Elizabeth's silence as assent and she and Dyna kicked off their boots, padding in on sock feet as Elizabeth stood aside.
The kitch
en/sitting area felt bleak to Maggie, although with its braided rug and pillow-strewn chairs it should have felt cozy. It must be Elizabeth's mood filling the room, she thought. She looked at the kitchen counters which were clean and bare.
"Have you eaten today?" she asked.
Elizabeth appeared to have to think about it. "No," she finally said, "I guess I haven't. I'm not sure when I ate last."
Dyna pulled open the refrigerator door. "There's some eggs here. How about I scramble you some?"
Elizabeth smiled a little. "You don't have to take care of me. I'm all right."
She looks anything but all right, Maggie thought. "Sit down," she directed. "I'll fix some tea." A small cannister near the sink yielded a bag of the same spicy tea that Elizabeth had served Maggie the day before, and she put a mug of water in the microwave. Dyna cracked eggs into a frying pan and popped some bread in the toaster. Between the two of them they set a hot breakfast before Elizabeth in a short time.
A little color came back to her cheeks as she ate, and Maggie smiled at Dyna's chatter about a lot of nothing which she was sure helped Elizabeth relax some. Elizabeth polished her plate, obviously hungrier than she had realized, and Maggie began washing up as Elizabeth sipped at her tea. Dyna found a box of cookies, and brought it over, pulling one out for herself.
"Have you heard anything from John since yesterday?" Maggie asked from the sink. Elizabeth shook her head.
"Did he give you any idea how things stood as of last night?"
"No, but I'm sure he realizes those things he found in my kitchen weren't mine." She said it with a vagueness that told Maggie she was refusing to face the situation.
"Did he actually say so?" Dyna asked, a look of hope on her face.
"Well, no. But they're not. They're so clearly not."
Maggie put down her dish towel and came over to Elizabeth. She sat down on the hassock near her. "Elizabeth, you know they aren't yours, and you can tell John they aren't yours, but you can't prove it. They were found here in your kitchen. A book on poisons. And a bottle whose liquid may prove to be the poison that killed Jack Warwick. Unless someone else's fingerprints are found on those items, which I very much doubt will happen, you are in a very bad situation. Dyna and I want to help you, and we will do everything we can. But you will have to help yourself too."
A Taste of Death (Maggie Olenski Series) Page 6