Saving Face (Mount Faith Series: Book 1)

by Brenda Barrett

  "Yikes!" Micah Bancroft shouted, "don't kill me!"

  Natasha released his finger, and spun around, fully looking at him. "What are you doing here?"

  "I followed my youngest staff member home." He indicated to a young lady who was hurrying up the steps to the dormitory's front desk while he rubbed his hand.

  "That's nice of you," Natasha said.

  Micah shrugged, "I called you three times. I was wondering if your name was still Natasha."

  Natasha smiled. "Just taking in some night air. My thoughts were far away from here."

  Micah nodded. "Don't take in too much though, and be careful around here. I heard that D.M. Carter was almost killed by an injection. But then again, judging from your quick moves, you are a force to be reckoned with yourself."

  Natasha raised her brows. "When did you hear about D.M. Carter?"

  "This evening at the lounge. Some of my lab friends said that they had to rush to save his life."

  Natasha groaned and closed her eyes.So much for this remaining quiet.

  Micah frowned at her.

  "It's nothing." Natasha smiled. "You be careful too."

  Micah grinned. "My skin is too tough for a needle."

  She smirked and walked briskly to the steps of the dorm, turning to wave to Micah who had not moved from the spot where she had left him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Why do people hate Mondays?" Harry asked as Natasha yawned. They were heading up further into the hills to a rural district called Green Vale—there the Carlisles owned a sprawling five-acre farm.

  "Because Mondays mean work and boring routine."

  Harry laughed. "Not for us. Do you know why I love my job?"

  "Why?" Natasha yawned again and closed her eyes.

  "There is never a dull day," Harry chuckled, "and every day is different."

  Natasha closed her eyes. "I hardly slept last night. Two nights in a row."

  "Case keeping you awake?" Harry asked.

  "Not really, there is Taj too."

  Harry shook his head. "I have never seen you so soft and female like…over a shrink of all persons. What, are you sleeping with him now?"

  "Nope," Natasha said, "I am doing this the old fashioned way. First we get to know each other, then we get married...you know that kind of way."

  Harry nodded. "That's the way I did it."

  He turned into the gateway of a house with an impressive garden.

  "You can tell that she is a botanist," Natasha whispered gazing at the profusion of plants that led up to the driveway of the house. "My gosh, look at that. I have never seen that flower in pink before. What's it called again?"

  "Don't know," Harry said, "but it really looks nice."

  "That's a blue tree Harry," Natasha said pointing at a shrub height tree with blue leaves.

  Harry stopped the car. "Where does she get these things from?"

  "It's like the garden of Eden," Natasha said then gasped. "That's a Red Delicious Apple tree—it's loaded. I had no idea they could grow in Jamaica."

  "They can." Miranda stood on the verandah. She was in a flowing burgundy caftan eating a fruit. "If you know what to do."

  "Welcome to Natasha, whom I have met before, and to Harry." She nodded at them. "This way please."

  They walked up to the steps of her verandah, which had tubs of potted plants that looked strange to Natasha. She stepped into the house and was shocked to realize that she was stepping into a courtyard area, there were even more miniature trees and plants.

  Miranda led them into a living room area that opened to the courtyard.

  "This place is gorgeous," Natasha said.

  Miranda laughed. "I know. I bet you didn't notice the house's architecture or what style my furniture were."

  Natasha looked around. "You are right."

  "That's because nature is more beautiful than anything man can conceive."

  "Have a seat please." Miranda sat in a couch before them. She was eating a yellow fruit with a black and white center.

  "I was just having my first fruit of the day," she said, "it's the yellow dragon fruit. Would you like to try it?"

  Her oval shaped face was wreathed in smiles.

  Natasha searched her mind for all the information she knew about Miranda. She was forty-eight years old, a botanist, born in England, did university in Jamaica. Married Edward Carlisle as soon as they graduated college. They had been married for twenty years before his death. No children. She still had traces of the British accent.

  "No, thank you," Harry said looking at the fruit doubtfully.

  Miranda looked at Natasha. "Do you want to live dangerously?"

  "Why not?" Natasha said bracingly. "I have heard about it, I thought it was only found in Asian countries."

  Miranda laughed. "Most Jamaicans are clueless about cacti fruits. These were growing wild in my garden when I first got here. I drove all over the country and found them just sitting around in the wild with no one to pick them but the birds."

  She went to the kitchen and came back with a plate. The fruit was cut in half.

  "Just dig in." She said handing it to Natasha with a spoon.

  Natasha dug in.

  "What does it taste like?" Harry asked curiously.

  Natasha slowly savored the taste." Like kiwi mixed, with pear, mixed with melon?"

  Harry frowned. "Okay I will take a piece."

  Miranda smiled and went for a saucer with another. She handed it to Harry.

  "Did you know that the flower of this fruit opens only at night, for one night only. It has to be pollinated exactly at that time or it will not bear fruit."

  She looked at the two of them brightly, "There are so many plants around this country that are fruit bearing but because we have no knowledge of them we pass them by."

  Natasha finished off her fruit and cleared her throat. "This was good."

  "And filled with Vitamin C, minerals, and lots of antioxidants," Miranda added.

  "So... er..." Harry said wiping his lips. "You are very experienced with chemicals and there makeup."

  Miranda smiled serenely. "I am a botanist and good at what I do detective. There are seventeen key nutrients that help plants to grow. For instance, nitrogen aids in the growing of limbs and green foliage and potassium is what the plant needs to bear fruit. Phosphorous is another major nutrient that is..."

  "I don't mean to cut you Mrs. Carlisle," Harry said butting in before she listed all seventeen nutrients, "but..."

  "Please call me Miranda," Miranda said smoothly.

  "Miranda," Harry said uncomfortably, "are you aware of how your husband died?"

  Miranda shrugged. "Yes. Somebody poisoned him with potassium chloride."

  Natasha glanced at Harry shocked. So she knew.

  "Did Superintendent Greyson tell you this?" Natasha asked slowly.

  "Oh pish posh," Miranda said, "of course he did. You know, Paul Greyson was my college sweetheart before I met Edward."

  Natasha and Harry looked at each other.

  "He was inconsolable at the funeral," Miranda arranged her legs, crossing one over the other. "He is determined to get the so-called killer and bring them to justice. I had no idea, until Greyson called, that you were the undercover agents that were sent to investigate this crime." She cackled. "If you ask me, I think it was a merciful death. You see, the victim doesn't suffer long when the two components enter the blood stream. In high doses it's like a wonderful explosion of the heart muscles."

  Natasha and Harry looked at each other again with alarmed.

  "Miranda," Natasha asked quietly. "Did you kill Edward Carlisle?"

  "Oh dear, no," Miranda said quickly. "If I wanted to kill dearest Edward I would have done so a long time ago when he first started to cheat on me. Has your investigation turned up anything yet about his little extra marital affairs?"

  "Well, we have found some correspondence," Natasha said. "We had wondered if you knew about them."

  "Of course. I kne
w he was cheating," said Miranda, "a wife always knows. She may ignore the clues but there is always a little instinctual feeling that something is not right. I got that feeling the second year into our marriage. He struggled so hard to be a better person…the poor sod. I think his constant lying to himself gave him the blood pressure problem. Not the stresses of the school or anything else, just trying to live a double life stressed him out. I guess he was the worse choice after all. I should have married your boss, Greyson. He didn't turn out too badly."

  "Er...did you know that Carlisle had relationships with both men and women?"

  Miranda's fluttering hands faltered at that. She was silent for a few minutes and Natasha could see a raw rage creep across her face before she cleverly hid it behind a bland smile.

  "Not until recently." She cleared her throat. "But that's all water under the bridge now, isn't it? The sparkle of light that she had in her eyes was dampened, almost gone.

  She gave them perfunctory answers to their other questions and looked super relieved when they got up to leave.

  "Well, thank you for the fruit, Miranda," Natasha said simply.

  Miranda nodded. "I am sorry I couldn't help more in your investigations. I wish you both all the best."

  Natasha was now sure that Miranda Carlisle wasn't unaffected, as she first appeared to be. Hearing that her husband cheated on her with men gave her a special kind of pain, even rage. Was it enough to drive her to kill him?

  Harry was slowly driving down the driveway. He looked at Natasha and said simply, "she did it."

  Natasha nodded wearily. "Let’s say that assumption is true. How are we going to prove it?"

  Harry shook his head. "It's going to be next to impossible. It's like the perfect crime. If she had known about his affairs for a while, why kill him now?"

  "Maybe she just snapped," Natasha said, shaking her head. "It happens. I've heard of stories where after years of abuse women just get up one morning, usually when there spouse is on his best behavior, and kill him. Just like that. No warning."

  "But how do you explain D.M. Carter?" Natasha asked suddenly remembering that the chairman of the board was attacked in a similar manner to Carlisle.

  Harry shook his head. "Maybe it was a decoy to throw us off her scent."

  Natasha frowned. "I doubt it, but we'll see. For a case that is supposedly top secret the Supe really told quite a few persons about his suspicions, didn't he? Even going as far as to tell one of our chief suspects everything!"

  "I guess it couldn't be helped," Harry said calmly.

  "But he knows," Natasha said hotly, "that the spouse is usually the first suspect. Why did he blab his mouth and tell her and then give us the task to go and find his killer. I tell you, Superintendent Greyson must be off his rocker."

  Harry nodded solemnly. "I am beginning to believe he is. If he weren't the Supe, I would tell him a piece of my mind."

  Natasha laughed suddenly. "We say this about him on every case. He is really not a very good detective. He should leave his pathetic detective work to persons who are trained for it."

  Harry grimaced. "And he is getting worse. Now how to prove that Miranda Carlisle murdered her husband. She doesn't seem like someone who would give a confession. She seemed delighted about the whole thing…like she was mocking us somehow. She also doesn't seem like she would survive prison without her precious plants."

  "Maybe she feels justified," Natasha said winding down the car window. "Did you see how she told us what happens after an overdose of potassium. She was actually salivating."

  "As bad as the man was as a husband I think he deserved a divorce, not death. Miranda Carlisle must have known why she stayed with him all these years. She didn't just find out about his infidelity. I don't know what is happening to people these days."

  Natasha raised her eyebrows. "You overlooked one point though Harry. She was okay with him cheating on her with women. That was acceptable, but that look of rage says she was downright furious about his relationships with men. That must have been the last straw."

  Harry glanced at her contemplatively and then repeated. "I would bet my last gas money that she did it."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Taj got a call mid morning from Bancroft while he was at the Psychiatry Center. The building was being painted—he went into several rooms, nodding silently. The men had worked fast, and worked to specifications. The place was going to be more than adequate for him and his team.

  "Where are you?" Bancroft asked, he sounded hoarse and croaky.

  "In the Psychiatry center," Taj replied, he was busy looking through what would be his office if he did not get the presidency. "I missed you this morning at the gym."

  "I woke up really stuffy," Bancroft said, "and off key. I am not even going to go into the office this morning. I am taking the week off."

  "You are?" Taj asked alarmed. Bancroft didn't sound like himself at all. "Are you feeling disoriented?"

  "Don't get doctorly with me," Bancroft said a shade of his arrogance coming back. "I am already taking orders from one…don't need any other medical type asking about my health."

  Taj chuckled. "So the mighty beast has fallen?"

  "Seems so," Bancroft said weakly. "One cold, and the giant is slain. So I want you…David…to run my office for me for the week."

  "Me?" Taj squeaked. "Why me?"

  "Because," Bancroft paused to sneeze. "You are in the running for the job aren't you? Best time to learn."

  "But this is sudden and unexpected."

  "You want the job? Go see what it feels like." Bancroft, sneezed again. "Oh and tell my secretary, Deanna, to cancel the meeting I had for this afternoon with the Deans of the colleges and reschedule for next week. I am going to bed." He finished weakly.

  Taj looked at his cell phone when Bancroft hung up and wondered if he was in a different reality. Wasn't he supposed to be the enemy here. Why was Bancroft giving him a chance to be president, so to speak? The thought made him feel queasy.

  He walked out of the Psychiatry Center giving it one last longing look before he drove to the president's building. He walked slowly up the steps and wondered if the beast statues were laughing at him. The ominous scowl of the bear suddenly seemed to have a laughing leer.

  "Talk about baptism by fire," Deanna scurried beside him, a bunch of papers in her hand. "You have a ten o'clock luncheon with the Minister of Education," she said speaking rapidly. "The topic for discussion is the extension of the student loan system for private universities, other universities will be there. Dr. Bancroft had a list of things he wanted to address. The school is hosting the meeting so it can't be canceled now. It will be held in the board room on the ground floor."

  They reached the top door. "If you will follow me please," she said heading to her office. "After the luncheon, there is a private meeting with Vice President Witter and a multimillion dollar investor who is desirous of making a sizable contribution to the school. He is a past student and he wants to give back.

  "Oh, and Sir," she handed Taj a booklet, "you are the keynote speaker for the JTA dinner awards ceremony in Kingston. Dr. Bancroft usually has a speech prepared but this time he completely forgot. I had confirmed his presence so they have no alternate speaker. Dr. Bancroft assured me, a few minutes ago, that you will do just as well."

  Taj shuddered.Speeches, dinners, meetings. The madness had started.

  He looked at Deanna aghast. "Surely Dr. Bancroft had a back up plan if something like this happens."

  Deanna shook her head. "Usually the vice president would fill in but he's swamped himself, he's pretty new to the job."

  "Oh," Taj said, "Witter was the one who took Bancroft's place."

  "That's right Sir." Deanna looked at him expectantly. "I am here to give you administrative assistance whenever you need it."

  Taj grunted.

  "How am I to reach Kingston, Deanna?"

  "You leave at three. The driver will call to alert me. I'll alert you. Dr. Bancro
ft usually stays at the Hilton and rest off a bit then he goes to his appointments. I have already booked your room."

  Taj grabbed his neck back. "Okay first things first, please reassign my classes and cancel all my appointments."

  Deanna nodded. "Already done sir. I wrote out a circular as soon as Dr. Bancroft told me to and alerted the school that you were interim president for the week."

  Taj turned away from Deanna and headed to Bancroft's imposing office. He suddenly felt a sickness coming on. Not influenza but fear.

  Natasha twirled her short hair strands and looked up in the sky. She was lying in the little grassland park area near her dorm. It was four o'clock in the evening and already the air was biting cold. Harry was sitting at her feet with a laptop in his lap frowning at the screen. It was four days since their interview with Miranda Carlisle and four days since the time that they had returned on campus and found that Taj was the interim president.

  She had hardly heard from him. He had been thrust from one meeting to another and had barely gotten the time to say hello.

  It was crazy how frantic and unhappy he sounded.

  "Where are we so far?" Natasha asked Harry. "Shouldn't we consolidate our findings and move from there."

  Harry looked up at her absently. "I think we are missing something."

  Natasha turned on her belly and glanced at her laptop. "Here is what we have. Ryan Bancroft, Anne Carter, Miranda Carlisle," she tapped her hand at the edge of the laptop. "Not in that particular order but hell I don't know. They all have motive."

  Harry nodded. "Add Kellove."

  "Why?" Natasha asked. "What's the motive?"

  "After looking at these mails, I don't know. It seems as if they had a hot and heavy relationship for a whole year. Maybe he or she should be interviewed."

  "I wonder who is Kellove?" Natasha asked.

  "That's the next move," Harry said, "and we haven't really interviewed Bancroft yet."

  "Let's go do it now," Natasha said. "He's sick, probably vulnerable. Maybe he'll give away some clues."

  They packed up the blanket and the laptops in the car and headed to Mount Faith Drive. Bancroft lived at the very first house on the drive. His house was perched on an incline with pine trees winding around a wide driveway. The gate was opened and they drove in.