by Nan Sampson
“Your friend Artie died of heart failure.” He paused, letting that bomb drop.
Ellie could hardly believe it. “Are you sure? Heart failure? Did they do a tox screen? Maybe he was poisoned.”
“No poison. They looked, especially after the daughter turned up dead.” Charlie’s voice sounded serious for a change. “Helluva deal, father and child.” She could see him in her mind’s eye, shaking his head, dark curly hair flopping. But no, he’d cut his hair - and she realized with some surprise that she thought that was kind of a bummer. “No, it was a natural heart attack. Probably brought on by extreme stress – being trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, bathed in syrup and covered in feathers probably had something to do with it. Apparently he was ripe for it anyway, three major arteries were clogged, his heart was enlarged… basically he was a heart attack waiting to happen.”
“But… but he had a knife sticking out of his chest.”
“Post-mortem injury.”
“Post… Charlie, that doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone stab him after he was already dead?”
“Hey, you actually used my first name.” The grin was back. “Look, I’m just telling you what the report said. You’d have to ask Sheriff Taylor there if you’re looking for motive.”
Taylor? “Oh for pity’s sake, McCallum—”
“And we’re back to McCallum again.” He paused. “Listen, stabbings are usually personal. To do it after the guy is already dead suggests a lot of anger. You should be talking to Sheriff Taylor about this.”
Ellie ignored his comment. “Chief Gruetzmacher isn’t likely to tell me squat, McCallum. He halfway thinks I was the one who killed Artie and Louisa.”
“Such a nice segue. Louisa Cullen. She was poisoned. Deadly Nightshade berries. Or at least that’s what they think was the source of the actual poisonous substance, which was scopolamine.”
She climbed into her car, started it up, and began to maneuver down the long drive to the road that would take her into town.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m not… but the crime lab in Madison is.”
“Gods and goddesses. None of this makes any sense.” She thought for a moment about Louisa’s erratic behavior that night. “What about her alcohol level?”
“1.12. Drunk, but not blotto for a woman her size. ME figures the poison was administered maybe eight to ten hours before death.”
“So well before the memorial service. Did they say how they thought it might have been administered?”
“Probably in something she ate. Looks like she’d had some pie before she died. M.E. found remnants of what he thinks were blueberries in the stomach contents, along with berries of the poisonous variety.”
Pie. Her first thought was of Patti Mough. But she had no reason to kill either Artie or Louisa. Besides which, she just couldn’t believe Patti was capable of such a thing.
“Ellie?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Just thinking.”
“Look, I’ve got some time coming, why don’t I come up there? You found the first body, Ellie, and the second was in your own living room. For all you know, you could be next.”
She barked a laugh. “I don’t need a babysitter, McCallum.”
“I’d argue with you if I thought it would do any good. Look, just be careful, okay? Call in some kind of witchy spirit guide or something. Kate would kill me if anything happened to you.”
“You’re not responsible for my well-being and Kate knows that.”
“You must have driven your father mad, Glenda Goodwitch.”
That rankled. He knew squat about her father. “Look, I’ve gotta go. Thanks for the information, although it’s really none of your business.”
There was a long silence and she thought for a moment that he’d hung up on her. “You’re welcome, Gooden.” He was grinning again and it was infuriating. “Watch your back. And call Kate tonight, okay? She misses you.”
Before she could respond, he ended the call. She rolled her eyes and, stepped hard on the gas pedal and sped into town.
Chapter 39
Main Street was deserted, the shops closed when she got pulled into the alley behind her shop. She parked the car in her spot and scanned the darkened alley cautiously before exiting the vehicle. She’d have to pay to get a light fixture installed considering the early morning hours she’d be keeping. She pulled out her keys and had no sooner entered the back door of her shop than her cell phone rang again.
“Hi, Ellie, I hope I’m not interrupting something.”
“Patti! No, I’m just here at the shop, taking care of a few things. There’s a lot to do yet and I’ve only got one more day.”
“Of course. Listen, Bill stopped by a few minutes ago and told me you’d gone back to the Inn, and I thought I might catch you before you… well, before you…” The woman wound down, unable or unwilling to finish her thought.
“Is there something I can do for you, Patti?”
“No, no, dear. Not really. It’s just that there was something that occurred to me about Lu. Something I thought might be important. You know she and—”
A sharp knock on the glass pane of the front door made Ellie look up sharply. “Patti, there’s someone at the door, can you just hang on for a moment?”
Todd Hertz stood on the sidewalk outside, hands cupped around his eyes, peering in. When he saw her look his way, he gestured at the door with a questioning look.
Ellie would normally have found a way to get off the call, but she didn’t want the woman to hang up – she felt certain Patti had something important to say. Crossing to the door, she undid the bolts and stepped back as she opened it to let Todd in. Putting her hand over the phone, she mouthed a hello then held her finger up, much as Chloe had done to her earlier.
Todd closed the door behind him and nodded at her.
“I’m sorry, Patti. What were you saying? What about Lu?”
Patti stuttered to a halt. “Oh, dear. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called. You’ve got so much to do, you don’t need me bothering you.”
“No, no, it’s no bother. It’s just Todd—”
“Todd? Todd Hertz?” There was something odd in her voice. Then she said, “Look, I’ll let you go. But maybe you could just stop by when you get a little time. Drop in for some coffee. Maybe later tonight or tomorrow when you come to pick up those apple pies I made for you.” The woman was rushing through her sentences now, sounding both upset and relieved at the same time. “I’ll talk to you then, okay?”
“Wait, Patti…”
But Patti was gone.
Unfortunately, Todd was not. His face was long, his shoulders slumped. Before she could say or do anything to discourage him from staying, he’d collapsed in one of her red lacquered ice cream chairs and put his face in his hands.
As she stood there, wishing he and whatever issues he was having would magically disappear out the door, she once again wondered if running a local coffee shop was really such a great idea. The last few days had her questioning just how much of a people person she really was.
When it became clear he wasn’t going to budge, she moved behind the counter and turned on the espresso machine. “How about a test cup from the new machine? I figure you for a latte, maybe a shot of vanilla, whole milk.”
Todd scrubbed his face then looked up with a wan smile. “Wow, how did you know? And yeah, that would be great.” Then, “Thanks. Listen I’m sorry to barge in here like this. But I saw your lights on and I just… I just couldn’t go home.” He gazed around him, taking in the shop. She was pleased to see him smile.
“This place looks nothing like the old diner,” he continued. “I really like what you’ve done.”
She nodded, looking around herself. She really had done well. Granted some of the best ideas had come from Kate. At the end of the process, it all had come together better than she’d hoped. Dare she say, as well as she had imagined, all those long months ago when this hair-brained scheme had first hatc
hed in her brain?
“It’s almost there. When I first got to town, I didn’t think we’d ever be ready in time for the grand opening on Saturday. But now… I hate to jinx it, but I think it’s going to be okay.” Having ground the beans, she measured the grounds into the machine then set it up to go, while pouring whole milk, fresh from the Mough farm, into the aluminum carafe for steaming.
Todd smiled. “I’d say more than okay. Love the cow clock. Has Patti Mough seen it? You might have to fight her for that.”
“Oh… I didn’t even think of that.” She pulled the lever on the machine. “You’re right, she’s got all that cow paraphernalia in her kitchen.” The wand hissed in the milk.
Todd laughed, and some of the darkness left his eyes. “I wouldn’t be surprised to find cows on her bed sheets.” He stood as she finished off the latte and took the cup she placed on the counter. “That was Patti just now, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. It sounded like I interrupted something important.”
Ellie made herself a plain espresso, savoring the velvety bite of the first sip. “No, I’m sure it was nothing important. But you know Patti – takes her forever to get round to saying what she wants to say. She never did spit it out.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll call back with it.”
“I’m supposed to pick up a couple of apple pies over there tomorrow, so I’m sure she’ll tell me whatever then.”
She came around the counter and sat down at the table with him. She really didn’t want to, but he was one of the few people her age in town that seemed normal and approachable. She rested her cup on the table and looked across at him. “So. What really brings you here?”
He looked down, examining the cup as though it held the secrets of the universe. “I guess I don’t really know. Since Lu’s… since Lu’s death—” He sucked in a breath. “There. I said it. I haven’t said those words before. I kept thinking if I didn’t say it out loud, then maybe it wouldn’t be true.” He gave a rueful smile. “Anyway. Since Lu’s death, I’ve been wandering around in a daze. I don’t quite know what to do with myself. And Mother…” He met her gaze. “Well, if you haven’t noticed, Mother can be a little…”
“Intense?”
He barked a laugh and ran long fingers through his shaggy hair. “That’s one word. I think I was heading toward judgmental. Or maybe self-righteous. If I have to listen one more time to her sermon on how Lu brought all this on herself, I don’t know that I can be responsible for what happens next.”
Ellie put a tentative hand on Todd’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Todd. About everything. I understand that you and Lu were good friends.”
He quirked his eyebrows. “Is that what Bella told you?”
“Something like that. She wasn’t terribly specific and it isn’t my place to pry.” Guilt stabbed at her for such a blatant lie. Clearly Lu hadn’t told him about the day Ellie followed them. Goddess help her if he ever found out.
He took a sip of his coffee, and she saw that his hands shook. “Friends, yes. And then some. We were an item, years ago. Since she’d come back to town, we were on the way to rekindling that. Or I thought we were. With Lu, it was sometimes hard to tell where she was headed.”
“A bit mercurial, I understand.”
He pressed his lips together and Ellie couldn’t tell if he was biting back a laugh or a sob. With a shake of his head, a small smile emerged. “You have a gift for understatement, Ellie. Mercurial. Flakey. Or as Bella might say, a bit of a flibbertigibbet. But that’s only because she still hadn’t found her direction, her passion. She just needed time and space to do it, and that was something that no one ever gave her. It didn’t help that she was a magnet for trouble. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, always digging into things she shouldn’t have. It was hard to watch.”
“Sounds like you really cared for her.”
“I did.” He looked down into his cup again, and she let the quiet grow, not uncomfortably, between them.
Finally, he sighed. “It’s late. I’m sure you have things to do and Mother will start to wonder where I’ve gotten to - I’m supposed to deliver some stuff from the church fundraiser for her tonight.” He stood, holding the cup, scanning around.
Ellie stood also, took the cup from him. “You’re always welcome here, Todd. Can I get you a refill for the road?”
“No. I’ll never sleep as it is.” Down his gaze went, this time to his shoes. “Thanks for the coffee and the ear.”
“Anytime, Todd. And I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but even though the pain never goes away, it does get easier to bear in time. It really does.”
He took a shuddered indrawn breath before squaring his shoulders. “You’ve lost someone you loved?”
She had to swallow hard at the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. “Yes,” came her rough answer. “A story for another time, though. Just trust me when I say that I understand.”
He nodded and for a moment she felt absolutely pinned by his intense gaze. She’d never really noticed his eyes before. They looked just like Artie’s eyes. Same color. And just as piercing, as though they were reading your sins. And then something else flickered behind those odd blue-gray eyes. Something that sent a chill through her and made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.
A smile touched his lips, and her odd sense of dread only increased. Then he turned abruptly toward the door. “Goodnight, Ellie. And thanks again. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
With a ringing of the bell, and a wave of his hand over his shoulder, he was gone into the night.
Chapter 40
A little more than an hour later, she locked up the shop and headed back to the Inn. She’d never really noticed how dark nights could be out in the country, especially when clouds further darkened the sky. It had begun to rain shortly before she’d left the shop, gentle at first then turning into a downpour in minutes. Her windshield wipers were going full speed, but she still had trouble seeing the road in front of her. Now that she was past the main strip, there were few street lights to light the way. She peered past her headlights, trying to make out where the road would turn and twist on the way back to the Inn, hoping she didn’t inadvertently miss the drive.
Thunder rumbled and lightning strobed, turning the unfamiliar landscape eerie and vaguely threatening.
She knew there was a sign for the Inn at the turn, but couldn’t remember if there had been a light shining on it. Surely it did? How else would late comers ever find their way back at night? She was driving slowly, but it almost wasn’t slow enough. Out of nowhere, a handful of cows appeared in the road, as if by magic. She swerved, trying to avoid them, felt the wheels skid on the pavement.
She tried to keep the steering wheel steady, kept her foot on the gas and for a moment she thought she was in control.
Until bright lights from behind her blinded her. She felt a thud and the steering wheel jerked in her hands. What she thought might be a truck pulled up alongside her and rammed into the side of her car, sending her careening off the road and into a ditch. She felt a jolt that jangled all the way up her arms from fingertips to her shoulders and slammed forward and to the side, banging her head against the side window. She had a brief moment to think, “Oh, shit” before the lights went out.
Chapter 41
Throbbing pain, red and blue lights and the sound of mooing. It was either a horrible dream or… she cracked open her eyes, saw someone leaning over her. “Ma’am? Can you hear me?”
There was an electronic squelch and someone muttered something she couldn’t understand.
“It’s Ms. Gooden, Chief. Car’s in a ditch on County Road H, just before the turn to the Inn. Looks like she swerved to avoid some stray cows from the dairy and ran off the road.”
Another squelch, more incomprehensible words. “Right. Got it.”
Ellie put a hand to her head, which was throbbing like a son of a bitch. “God damn cows.” She reached for the door handle, found that she was pressed up against t
he passenger side door.
“Here now,” the officer cautioned. “Don’t do that. You shouldn’t move until we can get you out of there.”
She took a moment, still feeling addled, trying to figure out how it was that she was lying down on her side in her car. “Right arm hurts.” She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but she must have because the officer responded.
“Might be broken. You just hold still. The ambulance is on its way.”
She shook her head which only made the throbbing worse. “Don’t need that. Just get me out of here.”
She opened her eyes fully, and at first saw nothing but black. Turning her head to the left – which made her neck hurt, she saw that the driver’s door to the car was open, and that it was up in the air. So the car must be on its side. Klein was crouched in the opening, shining his Maglite inside.
“I can hear them coming now. You just sit tight for another few minutes and Rescue will have you out in a jiffy.”
Damn. This was all she needed. A wrecked car and possibly a broken arm. The fates were against her at every turn. If she ever got out of this damn wreck, she was going home. Back to Chicago. People didn’t run into cows in the middle of the road in Chicago. Morons in pick-up trucks didn’t run people off the road in Chicago. Well, okay, maybe people in BMWs or Mercedes. But not pick-up trucks.
“A pick-up truck, ma’am? Did you say someone in a pick-up truck ran you off the road?”
Damn it, she was thinking out loud again. “No, Officer…” She couldn’t remember his name
“Klein, ma’am. Sam Klein. Now, about this truck. Can you tell me anything about it? Make? Color? Did you see the driver?”
“All I saw was some idiot come up fast behind me and then… I don’t know.” It was all unclear. The truck, the cows. “I was trying to avoid the damn cows.”
She could see Klein shaking his head. He didn’t say it out loud, but she could hear his thoughts clearly. Idiot city folk, he was thinking. “Here comes the rescue squad, ma’am. You just relax now and they’ll have you out in a jiffy.”