Cyanide with Christie

by Katherine Bolger Hyde

  He thought back over the day. He’d been here for all the main meals – all except tea – and he hadn’t seen Emily eat or drink anything the others hadn’t taken as well. The Ambien was his best bet.

  He used the intercom to warn Katie of the coming invasion of personnel. After what seemed a lifetime but was really about ten minutes, everyone arrived – Sam Griffiths first, ambulance hot on her tail, and Pete and Heather bringing up the rear. Emily’s little sitting room was crowded to bursting point.

  Luke told them the little he knew. Sam examined Emily, then said, ‘No sign of corrosive. Best bet gastric lavage. Do that in the ambulance. Get her out of here.’

  Luke gave some quick instructions to Pete and Heather, then followed the gurney down the stairs. He wasn’t about to let Emily out of his sight until he knew she would live. If she didn’t, nothing else would matter.

  Luke spent the night at the hospital, alternately pacing the waiting room and collapsing exhausted in a lumpy vinyl chair, while a team of doctors and nurses worked frantically to save Emily’s life. He wasn’t a churchgoing man, but through the small hours he prayed from the depths of his soul that Emily would live.

  Let her live, God, and I swear I don’t care if she never marries me. I don’t care how many brainy fortune hunters she gets a crush on. I don’t care where she wants to live or what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Just – let – her – live.

  By four a.m., his nerves were taut as a violin string; he swore one more minute of waiting would make them snap. Then Sam stumbled into the waiting area and slumped down beside him.

  ‘She’s safe,’ Sam grunted. ‘Keep her a couple days, but she’ll do.’

  Luke started to his feet. ‘Can I see her?’

  Sam raised one eyebrow at him. ‘She’s asleep. Sedated. Go hold her hand if you want.’

  He was halfway out the door before she finished talking. At Emily’s bedside, he collapsed into a chair and reached for her hand, then raised his eyes to her face. It was pale, almost as white as the pillowcase beneath her head; her auburn hair flamed out between them like the dividing line between life and death. A line she had come so perilously close to crossing.

  He stroked her cheek, relieved to find it warm as normal beneath his hand. ‘You gave me quite a scare there, girl,’ he said softly. ‘Please don’t ever do that again.’

  Her lashes fluttered as if in response. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. ‘I’m gonna find out who did this to you and how. We’ll get the bugger this time, Em. He’ll have gotten careless the second time around – they always do. We’ll get him, and you’ll be home and safe for Twelfth Night, just like you planned.’

  Reluctantly he left her and went back out to Sam, who was still slumped in the waiting room chair. ‘Any idea what caused this?’ he asked her.

  She jolted awake. ‘Huh? Oh, what she took? Hard to say at this point. Have to get stuff analyzed. Million things cause vomiting. Other symptoms more distinctive – tearing, drooling, partial paralysis. First guess, some kind of andromedotoxin.’

  ‘What’s that in layman’s language?’

  ‘Biological poison, found in plants like rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurel. Not hard to extract if you know what you’re doing. Small dose, though. More and we wouldn’t have been able to save her.’

  ‘Couldn’t be botulism? That causes paralysis, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah, but botulism, you get dry mouth. She was drooling.’

  ‘So we’re definitely talking deliberate poisoning – not accidental food poisoning.’

  ‘I’d say so, based on symptoms.’ Sam gave a tremendous yawn. ‘Gotta get some sleep. Talk to the lab tomorrow.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘More like later today.’ She pushed to her feet and staggered off.

  Luke paced a circle around the waiting room. His impulse was to get the Ambien to the lab immediately, make them start working on it that very minute. But the reality was that no one would be there for hours. He might as well get some sleep himself.

  It wasn’t worth driving home at this point. He went back to Emily’s room, checked she was still sleeping peacefully, and made himself as comfortable as possible in her bedside chair. He set his phone alarm for seven-thirty. He’d be at the lab the minute they opened the doors.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Emily was still sleeping when Luke’s alarm went off. He made a few calls – to the main office to request a deputy to guard Emily’s door, and to Pete at Windy Corner to make sure nobody entered or left the property without authorization.

  He made himself presentable while waiting for the deputy to arrive. In a few minutes he opened the door to a boy who looked about sixteen but was dressed in a deputy’s uniform. Luke groaned inwardly, then reminded himself that while the young ones lacked experience, they were usually zealous and eager to please.

  ‘Deputy Mario Gonzalez reporting for duty, sir.’ The young man stood at attention, and Luke half-expected him to salute.

  Luke stuck out his hand. ‘Lieutenant Luke Richards. They tell you what this is about?’

  ‘Not much. All they said was guard duty.’

  ‘Right. This lady here’ – he gestured toward Emily in the bed – ‘is Emily Cavanaugh. She’s been deliberately poisoned. I don’t know for sure who did it or how, but there’s a good chance the perp will try again. So I need you to make sure nobody gets in here who isn’t authorized medical staff or specifically approved by me. Make sure you check their ID – the perp could dress up as an orderly or something. And no outside food or drink from anybody. Got that?’

  The young deputy’s eyes went wide. ‘Yessir.’ He looked both intelligent and excited to be entrusted with such responsibility.

  Somewhat reassured, Luke took off for the lab. Sam had already sent samples of Emily’s blood and the contents of her stomach. He dropped off the Ambien and told Caitlyn to look for a match. ‘Doc thought maybe a—’ He consulted the card where he’d scribbled down what Sam told him she suspected. ‘Andromedotoxin. So look for that first. Fast as you can, please.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ Caitlyn said. ‘Not much else going on right now anyway.’

  ‘Oh, and if the Ambien turns up clean, any chance you’ll be able to tell how the poison was administered?’

  ‘Not likely. I mean, we can tell intravenous versus ingested, but if it was in her food, it’d be hard to tell which food. But we’ll give it a shot.’

  Luke flashed her his best smile, which occasionally still worked even on young girls. ‘Thanks. I owe you one.’

  He returned to the hospital to find Deputy Gonzalez still standing at attention outside Emily’s door. Luke bit back a smile. ‘Anything to report, Deputy?’

  ‘Nothing, sir. One visit from the day nurse. I checked his ID.’

  ‘Good man. You can go take a leak, get coffee or whatever. I’ll be here for a little while.’ Gonzalez turned to go, and Luke added, ‘Oh, and when you get back, it’s OK to sit down.’ He pointed to the folding chair he’d placed next to the door before he left.

  Emily was awake but groggy. ‘Hey there, beautiful,’ he greeted her, sitting by the bed and taking her hand. ‘You gave us quite a scare last night.’

  ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘Don’t know what happened. Never been sick like that before.’

  ‘You’ve never been poisoned before. Lab’s working on what the poison was. We’ve got to figure out how it got into you.’

  She gave a tiny nod.

  ‘Did you take some of that Ambien last night?’

  Another nod. ‘Just one.’

  ‘Is that when you started feeling bad?’

  ‘I guess so.’ Her speech was slow and a little slurred. ‘I was pretty tired before that, though. That’s why I went up so early.’

  ‘OK. Now listen, Em, this is important. Did anybody else know you had that Ambien? Was the bottle ever where somebody else could get to it?’

  ‘Oscar knew. I gave him some. Last night.’

  Luke’s pulse ra
ced. ‘Did you see him take it?’

  ‘No. He took the pill back to his room.’

  ‘Was the bottle out of your sight at that point? Even for a second?’

  ‘I handed him the bottle … then I poured a glass of water. I had my back to him while I poured the water. Why?’

  So Lansing could have removed his own pill, then poured something over the rest of them. Probably wouldn’t take more than a few drops, and if it absorbed quickly, Emily might have been too tired to notice. ‘And you took your own pill out of the bottle after that?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her eyelids drooped.

  Luke was grateful she was too out of it to realize the implications of his line of questioning. She wouldn’t thank him for suspecting Lansing of being in any way involved.

  He had more questions for her, but she was almost asleep. He’d come back later. He kissed her gently and slipped out.

  Gonzalez was sitting in the folding chair, sipping a steaming cup of coffee. He moved to stand, but Luke waved him back down. ‘Here’s my number,’ he said, handing the deputy a business card. ‘Call me if you have any questions, and let me know when she’s fully awake, OK?’

  Gonzalez took the card as if it were made of glass. ‘Yessir.’ He looked up at Luke as if unsure whether to speak further.

  ‘Something on your mind, son?’

  ‘It’s just – well, it’s none of my business, really. I only wondered if – she’s a personal friend of yours.’ He nodded toward Emily.

  ‘She’s my fiancée,’ Luke answered. Emily might not acknowledge that relationship, but he was determined to make it real. ‘Guard her with your life.’

  Luke stopped by his office to change into his uniform and pick up his gear, then headed back to Windy Corner. He didn’t dare wait till he had lab results to begin his investigation.

  Breakfast was over. He found Katie washing up in the kitchen and gave her an update. She raised her gloved and dripping hands to heaven.

  ‘Oh, thank God. I’ve been so worried about her. Do you have any idea what caused it?’ She went pale. ‘It wasn’t anything I cooked, was it?’

  ‘It sure as heck wasn’t run-of-the-mill food poisoning. It was deliberate. We don’t know yet exactly what or how. So it could have been in her food, but somebody would have had to put it there. Anybody else been into the fridge or pantry lately?’

  ‘Not that I know of. But I’m in and out of here all day. And the last few days have been so chaotic. Somebody could easily have slipped in when I was upstairs or something.’

  ‘Ever see any sign of anything being tampered with? Not quite the way you left it? Even a lid out of place.’

  Katie frowned, slowly shaking her head. ‘Not that I recall. But honestly, I’ve been run off my feet lately – there could be an elephant in the pantry, and I might not notice unless he polished off the peanut butter.’

  Lizzie whimpered from her play-space under the table. Katie sighed heavily and bent to pick her up.

  ‘It’s OK, sweet cheeks,’ she cooed, ruffling Lizzie’s hair. ‘Even Lizzie’s worried about Mrs C. Kids are very sensitive to atmosphere.’ She rubbed her nose against Lizzie’s, then looked back at Luke. ‘You know, I think I did notice something – not wrong exactly, but a little off. It’s nagging at the back of my mind, but I can’t put my finger on it.’

  ‘Right. I’ll be here for a while, talking to the others. Let me know if it comes to you.’

  The others. That was a euphemism for Dustin and Oscar Lansing. Lansing first, since he definitely had access to the Ambien. Luke headed upstairs.

  Marguerite was coming out of her room and caught him on the landing. ‘Emily – is she all right? May I go and see her?’

  ‘She’ll be all right, but no visitors for now. Not till I have a better idea what happened. I’ve got a guard on her door.’

  ‘Mon dieu! Then it was poison?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘And you think the poisoner may try again?’

  ‘Don’t see why not. This is the second attempt – the cyanide in the amaretto must have been meant for Emily. If the poisoner didn’t stop after one failure, no reason to think they’ll stop after two.’

  Marguerite raised her hands in bafflement. ‘But who would want to kill Emily?’

  ‘I have a glimmer of an idea about that, but I can’t discuss it. Meanwhile, probably best to keep to yourself as much as possible.’

  ‘Oui, je comprends. I will not get in your way. Find this fiend, Luke. Find him quickly. Emily must be kept safe.’ She slipped back into her room, and he heard the bolt slide shut.

  Luke turned to Lansing’s door and raised his hand to knock, then paused. He could hear voices, or a voice – probably Lansing talking on his cell phone. Luke strained but couldn’t catch the words. After a few seconds of silence, he knocked.

  Lansing opened the door almost immediately, looking pale and pinched. He raised a hand to smooth back his tousled hair, and the hand was trembling. ‘Lieutenant! Any news about Emily?’

  ‘She’s going to be all right.’

  Luke observed his reaction narrowly. Lansing’s face relaxed, and he staggered to the desk chair and fell into it. ‘Oh, thank God. Thank God. I was so worried about her.’

  ‘You up to answering a few questions?’

  ‘Questions?’ His face took on that pinched look again.

  ‘Looks like you were probably the last person with her before she got sick. Just need to go over what happened.’

  Lansing swallowed visibly. ‘Right. What do you want to know?’

  ‘Emily said you knew she had a prescription for Ambien. That right?’

  ‘Yes, I overheard her asking you to pick it up for her. I haven’t been sleeping well either, so I asked her if I could borrow some.’ His mouth curled slightly. ‘Well, have some. I wasn’t planning to give it back.’

  ‘That was day before yesterday. Did you take any that night?’

  ‘No, that night I forgot about it. By the time I remembered – because I couldn’t get to sleep – Emily had gone to bed, and I didn’t want to disturb her.’

  ‘But last night you remembered.’

  ‘Yes, I was so exhausted I couldn’t forget. I followed her when she went up, and she gave me a pill.’

  ‘She gave you a pill? Or did she hand you the bottle and let you take your own?’

  His eyes widened. ‘Oh, I guess she handed me the bottle.’

  ‘So what did you do then?’

  ‘I shook out a pill, put the lid back on the bottle and gave it back to her. Then I went to my room, where I had a water glass, to take the pill.’

  ‘You didn’t by any chance add anything to the bottle while you had it in your hand?’

  Lansing looked genuinely confused. ‘Add anything? Why would I do that?’

  Luke ignored the question. ‘Did you actually swallow your pill?’

  ‘Yes, as soon as I got back here.’

  ‘And you haven’t been sick at all?’

  ‘No. I got a good night’s sleep and felt much better until I heard about Emily this morning. I even slept through all the excitement last night.’

  Luke pouched his lips and rubbed the back of his neck. This line of questioning wasn’t panning out the way he’d expected. Of course, he had only Lansing’s word, and the man could be lying, but his physical reactions seemed genuine.

  Lansing sat up straight in his chair. ‘Are you thinking Emily had a bad reaction to the Ambien? She’d taken it before, hadn’t she?’

  ‘Yeah. Wasn’t that. Not the right symptoms.’

  What little color had returned to Lansing’s face drained out again. ‘Do you mean – you think she was poisoned?’

  Luke nailed him with his eyes. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘Me?’ Lansing’s lip trembled. He turned toward the desk and moved some papers around, but his hands shook like aspen leaves in an autumn breeze. He shoved them under his arms. ‘How should I know? You’re the detective.’

  ‘Yo
u don’t know of any reason anyone would want to harm Emily?’

  ‘Of course not. I’ve only known her a week. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to harm her, but if there were someone, how would I know?’

  His protestations were less convincing than his previous body language had been. Lansing might not be guilty himself, but he knew – or suspected – something. Luke would bet his badge on that.

  Luke trudged back down the stairs. The Ambien was looking like a less probable medium for the poison than he’d thought. That left the field wide open for anything Emily had consumed the day before. And Dustin, who occupied the room right next to the kitchen, would have had the easiest opportunity to doctor something she ate.

  Luke knocked on Dustin’s door and got a slurred ‘Whaddya want?’ in response. Good grief, the man couldn’t be drunk already – it was barely ten o’clock in the morning.

  ‘Sheriff here. Need to talk to you.’ No response. ‘Now.’

  He heard shuffling, then the door opened a crack. Luke pushed it far enough to see into the room, which was littered with clothing and empty bottles and reeked of whiskey. Dustin was slumped on the bed. ‘Not here. In the library.’

  ‘Oh, all right, Mr Lawman. If you insist.’ He pushed himself up with a visible effort and dragged his feet into the next room, where he immediately flopped in a chair.

  Luke took a detour into the dining room and poured a large cup of coffee from the thermos there, leaving it black. He carried the cup into the library and shoved it in front of Dustin. ‘Drink. I need you coherent.’

  Dustin waved his hand. ‘I’m not drunk. Just sick of all this crap. World-weary.’ He gave a derisive snort. ‘The world-weary anti-hero, that’s me.’

  Luke’s hand with the coffee did not move. ‘I don’t care if you’re drunk or not. You need coffee. Drink it.’

  With a theatrical sigh, Dustin took the cup from Luke’s hand and downed half of it in one long gulp. Luke supposed it had been sitting long enough it was no longer really hot.

  He sat opposite Dustin and leaned toward him. ‘You neglected to tell me something. Something that could be pretty important, as it turns out. You knew Emily before.’