“No, Greg didn’t tell me the details. I appreciate his concern but I don’t think I can help with regard to Gloria’s mental competence for the reasons I’ve already given you. But I may be able to help in another way.”
“In what way is that?”
“To find out if the mystery woman is who she claims to be.”
I shook my head to try to clear a pathway into it.
“How would you propose to assist with that?”
“Possibly by a DNA comparison.”
“I’ve been down that route. There are no known living blood relatives and the only thing we were able to use was some of Gloria’s hair. Unfortunately the test was inconclusive.”
“I was thinking of Gloria’s blood.”
“Her blood?” I said, faintly wondering when he’d had his last drink. “Where would we get a sample of Gloria’s blood?”
“From the hospital where she was treated when she had surgery on her leg.”
“Why would they have her blood?”
“Well I can’t be sure, I’ll have to check. Gloria had a very rare blood type, AB negative. As a result, her surgery was delayed to enable them to collect blood of that type so that they’d have it ready in case of emergency. After she was operated on the hospital decided as a precaution to collect blood from her so that if she were to need surgery again in the future they would be sure to have stock.”
If my mouth was as wide open as it felt, I must have looked like an imbecile.
Chapter Twenty Six
Blood
I’d read and heard about bated breath thousands of times. Now as Doctor Mowbray made the call to the local hospital I realized that I was actually experiencing it. Was it possible that it could be this simple? Why hadn’t I thought of approaching the hospital in the first place?
“I’ll have one of those cigarettes now’” I mouthed silently to Mowbray, as he waited for confirmation or otherwise from the hospital.
He put his hand over the receiver and nodded.
I lit the cigarette, inhaled a lungful of smoke and blew out a long whitish plume. After a moment or two Mowbray put the phone back in its cradle.
“It’s going to take a little while before they can check the blood bank, maybe half an hour or longer, Why don’t you have a stroll and I’ll call you on your cellphone when I have some news?”
I went outside, finished my cigarette, found a coffee shop and treated myself to a donut. Gloria had only passed away a few months ago so the prospects seemed promising. Even without Gloria the hospital would keep the blood in case someone else of the same blood type needed it. On the other hand it was more than two years since Gloria donated her blood so perhaps someone else with the same blood group had needed a transfusion. As usual it was useless to speculate, but going through the various possibilities helped to fill up some time. I bought another coffee and looked at my wristwatch. The hands didn’t seem to have moved. It wasn’t true what they said about time always passing at the same rate. I thought about phoning Greg to tell him about the new development but then why should I put him through it. Better to wait until I knew for sure one way or another.
I walked back to the Chevy, climbed in and switched on the radio. It was a classical music channel and Mozart’s clarinet concerto was drifting out of the speakers. I closed my eyes and waited. My phone rang almost immediately; it was Mowbray.
“We have lift off,” he said triumphantly.
I hurried back to his consulting room. The hospital still had Gloria’s blood.
“Can you ask if it’s possible to send a sample to Complete Forensics in Cambridge? Express it, for the attention of Jill Bloom. I’ll cover whatever it costs. Please tell them it’s really urgent.”
I telephoned Jill to give her the news. She said she would liaise with the hospital to arrange for delivery of the sample. As soon as she received it she would get to work.
“I’ve already prepared the profile of your mystery girl. I’ll have Mrs. Philips’ profile done as quickly as possible, but it will take a few days. I’ll make it a priority. Five days is possible, if I put everything else on the back-burner, so if I get the sample today I may have the profile ready by Thursday if I work over the weekend. The things I do for you, Kane,” she said.” I pictured her shaking her head.
Thursday seemed like a million years away, but it was a less time than a government lab would take. Seven to ten days was the norm, and then only if it was urgent, sometimes months if it wasn’t. I drove over to Greg’s house to give him the news.
We sat on the patio. This time I settled for a scotch and ice, and Greg was having one too.
“So within a few days we shall know for certain. It’ll be quite a relief,” he said.
“Chance is a strange thing, isn’t it?” I said. “It never occurred to me to enquire at the hospital.”
“Well I’m probably at fault there,” Greg said. “Now I do vaguely remember about the blood, but I had completely forgotten about it. I suppose I had other things to worry about. I can only apologize; it certainly would have saved a lot of time.”
I thought about this. If the blood had been discovered straight away there would have been no need to test Gloria’s hair, and I would never have come to know about the poisoning, but I kept these thoughts to myself. Greg still had that bombshell to come. While I was musing about this Greg was mirroring my thoughts, although in a different way.
“It’s funny how things work out isn’t it? If you hadn’t gone to see Gilbert to enquire about Gloria’s mental competence I don’t suppose the blood would ever have come to light.”
Sooner or later Greg would have to be told about the arsenic, but I’d yet to see Josette; and anyway it seemed an unnecessary and inappropriate intrusion in the tranquil setting and peaceful surroundings of Greg’s patio. I’d just been able to deliver some good news at last, and I didn’t want to spoil the moment. Anyway, Susan was still the prime suspect and the DNA result would reveal the truth, one way or another.
Greg persuaded me to stay for a late lunch.
“I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but it’s not much fun cooking for myself. I can rustle up some pasta if you’d care to stay; you’d be doing me a favor. I spend far too much time on my own as it is.”
I stayed to lunch. We ate angel hair pasta with sautéed mussels and garlic bread. Afterwards we sat on the deck, letting the food go down and helping it with another scotch.
I was home shortly after five. I checked my mailbox, but only out of habit. Nobody had my home address except Lucy and she was hardly likely to mail me a letter. Not many people wrote letters anymore, they just typed emails or sent electronic messages. It all seemed rather impersonal. In fact the only letters I’d received since moving in were for the former occupants; mostly demands for payment of one kind or another, and even they’d dried up now.
I went into the kitchen and took a cold beer out of the refrigerator, cracked it open and took it out to the porch with me. I called Lucy. The computer guy would have the printouts ready by Wednesday morning, but if I wanted them delivered to my house then it would probably be nearer lunchtime. I briefly told her about the blood. She said she’d call in later and she was as good as her word.
“So it was more luck than judgment then,” she said before she was half way through the door.
“I wouldn’t say that. You know how thorough I am. Don’t forget I found out about the arsenic which was more than Mowbray did.”
“I thought that was more by luck than judgment too.”
When you were a small child did you enjoy bursting the other kids’ balloons?” I said.
“Only if they were smug.”
“Anyway Greg blames himself about the blood. He knew about it all the time, but it had slipped his mind.”
“Well, he’s only human after all,” she said. The sarcasm of the unspoken words ‘unlike you’ hung heavily in the air.
I gave her one of my long-suffering looks. Only one of them though. I was kee
ping others in reserve in case I needed them later.
“Is the computer stuff still relevant, now that we’ve got the DNA?” Lucy said. There was that ‘we’ again.
“Of course. Whoever Susan is there’s still the possibility of undue influence. It seems to me that will be of particular importance if Susan really is the missing daughter.”
“I can’t see how the DNA is going to help identify the murderer.”
“No, I’ve been thinking about that myself. Either way Susan is the chief suspect, but I’d like to nail it down before I break the news to Greg. The answer’s probably somewhere in all the information I’m gathering.”
“Aren’t you going to interview the other nurses?”
“No, I’m not. I’ve got enough suspects already.”
“Are you eating dinner tonight?”
“No, as a matter of fact I’m not; Greg cooked me a rather splendid meal. He’s quite a gourmet on the quiet. He even wore one of those blue and white aprons while he was preparing the meal. We had a glass of port too.”
“What did he cook?”
“Angel hair pasta and mussels drizzled in virgin olive oil, and some very garlicky garlic bread.”
“And I bet you washed it down with plenty of booze too.”
“That’s always a safe bet,” I said.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Josette
The appointment with Josette had been arranged without a hitch. I arrived at Greg’s house at nine thirty on Monday morning.
“I don’t suppose I shall be too long with her,” I told Greg. “Can you tell me how long Susan would stay, on average, when she came to visit Gloria?”
“Perhaps a couple of hours; I didn’t really monitor her comings and goings. I would let her in, perhaps around six to seven, but she usually wouldn’t disturb me when she left. Is it important?”
“Probably not, I was just checking on something Susan herself told me about the duration of her visits.”
Josette was a thirty something brunette, her hair cut in page-boy style. She was about five three and was dressed completely in black; black slacks and an open neck black polyester shirt. She wore no jewelry that was visible. She looked boyish. I noticed when we shook hands that she had a tattoo of a butterfly on the inner wrist of her right arm. She didn’t make eye contact when we met and avoided looking at my face directly when she spoke. I gave her one of my Probate Consultant cards.
So as not to disturb Greg he had suggested that we talk on the patio. Greg had already made some coffee but Josette declined any refreshment. She kept looking at her wristwatch. It was the type of watch more usually worn by a man, with a black leather strap to match her outfit.
“Do you have another engagement Ms. Griffiths?”
“Nothing special. You can call me Josette if you like.”
“Well, as you know Josette I’m looking into the affairs of the late Mrs. Philips with regard to her estate.”
“I know, Su…they told me already.”
“I want you to understand that it’s purely a routine matter and I won’t keep you for long. You can rest assured that there’s no suggestion that you did anything but an excellent task looking after Mrs. Philips during her final months.”
“Well that’s my job. I mean as a private nurse; not that I’ve ever had a similar patient to take care of before; or since for that matter.”
“I understand that you would prepare her evening meal and get her ready for the night?”
“I started at four. At about six I’d prepare her dinner. Well actually Mr. Philips prepared it and I would just heat it up if it needed heating. The last few weeks she was mainly on liquids. They were fortified drinks which contained all the necessary nourishment. There were electrolyte drinks as well to keep her hydrated. Then about seven I’d wash her as best as I could, help her brush her teeth, that sort of thing. She’d sleep mainly.”
“So there wasn’t a lot for you to do for the latter part of your shift.”
“I’d make sure she was comfortable. She had a special mattress which kind of pulsed or vibrated. It was to stop her getting bed sores. But I’d also physically move her from time to time – for the same reason.”
“And you started this job in late last year I think?”
“That’s right. She wasn’t bed-ridden when I first started, so she’d sit over by the window until after her meal. She was fond of birds. We used to feed them by putting scraps out on the sill. She was a nice lady, but because of her condition we didn’t really have much conversation.”
“Did anyone else help with the preparation of Gloria’s meals? I understand that Mr. Philips employed a housekeeper named Gwen during Mrs. Philips’ illness.”
“I don’t know about that. I wasn’t introduced to anyone. Anyway, Mr. Philips always made it clear to me that I was in charge of Gloria’s care and no-one else interfered with that.”
“I understand her daughter, Susan, would frequently visit her during the evenings?”
Although she must have been expecting to hear Susan’s name, and even though she had avoided looking at me directly so far, she lowered her eyes.
“Sometimes she came.”
“You probably know that I’ve seen Susan a couple of times myself. I understand the two of you are quite…close.”
The pause was deliberate, and for the first time since we’d been introduced she looked directly at me. Her eyes had a steely no entry sign in them.
“Who told you that?”
“I just said, I’ve been out to Concord to visit Susan a couple of times.”
She lowered her eyes again, but said nothing.
“You know she’s been left a large sum of money by Mrs. Philips; in her will.”
“I don’t see what that’s got to do with me.”
“How long have you known Susan?”
“I met her here, when she came to visit Mrs. Philips.”
“And how long before you became special friends?”
“I don’t see that’s any of your business. Look I’m not being rude. I prefer to keep my private life to myself.”
“Of course, I don’t mean to embarrass you. I’m only here to help sort out the estate. So perhaps you can tell me when Susan first learned about her bequest?”
“She already knew when I first met her, I think.”
“During her visits did Susan speak to you about the will much, about her bequest?”
Josette looked at me directly again. She didn’t say anything for a while. It was as if she was trying to gauge how much I already knew. I tried to look inscrutable.
“Only in general terms.”
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“She knew she would be well looked after. She said she wouldn’t need to work again. She used to ask me how long I thought Mrs. Philips would survive. I’m a nurse but I don’t know the answer to things like that.”
“Has she ever told you how much she stands to inherit?”
“Roughly, yes. She only found out after Mrs. Philips died. She showed me a copy of the will.”
“But she knew she’d been included in the will even before Mrs. Philips passed away?”
“I think so…I don’t know. She told me that Mrs. Philips had promised to look after her. She meant financially. Why didn’t you ask her these questions? None of it’s got anything to do with me.”
“When Susan visited, you would sometimes leave her alone with Mrs. Philips – while you popped outside for a cigarette?”
“Is any of this going to get back to the agency?”
“Not from me. Everything you tell me is in strict confidence, unless it directly affects the subject of the enquiry which is limited to matters concerning Mrs. Philips’ estate. I am working for the executors, but I shall only reveal anything to my clients which directly involves the subject of the enquiry.”
“But you told me what Susan said, about our…relationship.”
“Well Susan never told me it was a secret. If she�
�d asked me not to tell you I wouldn’t have.”
“Sometimes I did that, in the beginning. I stopped because Susan didn’t like it?”
“The smoking, or being left alone with her mother?”
Josette treated me to a half smile.
“The smoking. Look I’m sorry but you’re sure you won’t tell the agency about me and Susan will you? I’m not ashamed of the way I am, but if the agency knew I’d got involved with one of the patient’s family while I was on duty I’d probably lose my job.”
I put my hand on my heart. “I promise you that nothing we talk about will ever get back to the agency.”
She still looked a little uncomfortable, but less guarded.
“Maybe you won’t need to work for the agency for much longer. Susan stands to inherit a lot of money.”
“That’s up to her. I’m not interested in the money. And Susan’s entitled to it. I really don’t understand where all these questions are going.”
“Well I haven’t got many more. Did Susan tell you about her adoption, and the fact that she only made contact with her real mother last year?”
“Of course I know all about her, but I’m not discussing anything else without her permission. It’s private, family stuff.”
“You’ve been very helpful. As I promised, I won’t reveal any of this conversation to the agency. I won’t even tell Susan about this meeting if you don’t want me to, so you needn’t worry.”
“Thanks; I’d rather you didn’t.”
FORGET ME NOT (Mark Kane Mysteries Book One) Page 17