The Priest Who Ate A Poison Petit Fore

by Kee Patterbee

  “Don’t you know it? Now, if I can get Cue Ball to ask me, you are going to have to fork over the name of that designer. Honey, you are smoking hot. Putting the sexy in getting married.”

  Hannah gave Cate a hug as well, then Buster. Glancing over to Magdalen, she opened herself up for one more. The woman obliged. Magdalen then turned to Vera. “You did this?”

  Vera smiled and cocked her head. “Well. It seems I have this friend who called to tell me another friend was not happy with what she was going to get married in. Since I now have more money than one person should, thanks to that friend, I figured I should do something about that. Besides, I needed to get her a wedding present. So, my friends and I got together, arranged an online meeting with an amazing designer who works at a company I own a part off. Then I paid a team of seamstresses a lot to get it done in short order.”

  The smile on Hannah’s face spoke volumes. Vera’s gesture caught her by surprise, a rare event in her life. Her mind raced back through the events that led to this day. The investigation into Chef Julia Karas’ murder. The meeting of Vera, and the woman’s ultimate inheritance of a multi mega million-dollar empire. Thanks to all those coincidental events, she now stood in a wedding gown that far exceeded her greatest expectations.

  “Where’s Gran and your mom?” Buster inquired. “I kind of thought they would be here.”

  “Mom and Dad are still in the rainforest on a dig. Gran didn’t want to come along. She wants it all to be a surprise.”

  “And she will be,” Cate assured. “As will everyone. How many guests are you up to?”

  “I drew the line at two hundred and fifty. I didn’t want it this big, but well, over the years, it seems I made some acquaintances.”

  Again, Magdalen assumed a stunned face. “There’s maybe fifty from our side.”

  “That’s fine,” Hannah assured. “You and Hymn are the important ones.”

  Magdalen drew up a sudden, pensive look. “Are Susan and Calvin coming?”

  Hannah confirmed. “They are, but they are also going to be looking after the Reverend.”

  “Have you considered a backup plan just in case? Given the Reverend’s condition and all.”

  Magdalen’s question struck Hannah. A backup plan, rolled through her mind. Calvin. Susan. Backup plan. Something about the words toyed with Hannah. Acting as one. Each as a backup. Could it be? A tap on the shoulder brought her back to the moment.

  “Uh-uh,” Cate issued in a stern voice and a wave of a finger. “Not today. Head in the game. Wedding dresses and lunch with us girls. That’s all that needs to be running around that genius of yours right now.” She tapped the center of Hannah’s forehead. “You can twirl it around up there on your way to Happiness tomorrow.”

  “But a backup plan would---”

  “We’ll discuss a real backup plan as soon as we finish here.” Cate turned to Buster. “You sure you’re not coming?”

  Buster shook his blond head. “I’m meeting the other half of this party at Garrity’s for the tuxes. Then we’ll grab a bite somewhere.”

  Hannah frowned but agreed though a question still played in her head. Could the deaths be a backup to hide some larger plan? Every one of the victims tied together through Susan and Calvin’s medical practice. However, linking them to that single thread held a limited number of possibilities. Cate had checked into the financials of each known victim. She mentioned nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing raised a red flag. No victim left anything to the practice. Their final bills were settled. Settled, Hannah pondered. A possibility. She wondered if a victim’s sudden death led to the settlement of bills without looking into their medical history. If the diagnosis did not match the billing for procedures, then by killing those for a different reason would make sense. In a sick kind of way, Hannah further noted to herself. In doing so, only the immediate cause of death would need investigation. This caused another few questions to come to mind. Could the murders just be a front to bilk insurance companies? Could, at the base of all this be simple human greed? The thought sent a shiver up her spine. Although she just met Susan and Calvin, she liked them both. Hannah could not imagine them as killers, especially over money. Then she harkened back to her conversation with Cate and that single name arose again. Conny Miller, she considered. She’s right. I don’t know them.

  “You still with us?” Cate asked.

  Hannah forced a smile to her face as she filed in the back of her mind, considerations for later.

  “Yeah, I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” She then gestured toward her dress and those of her bridesmaids, “At least this is a relief. You two look fabulous.”

  Vera and Cate smiled as Magdalen agreed.

  “Well, in those, I’d marry any one of you, Johnny-on-the-spot,” Buster interjected, taking all three in.

  “Awe, and here I am without one,” Magdalen said, pushing her lip out in a mock pout.

  Buster gulped, Magdalen grinned, and Vera smirked. Hannah locked eyes with Cate and then leaned in to whisper in her ear.

  “You might want to hang onto that dress. You and I may be groom’s maids soon.”

  Both chuckled.

  Chapter Five

  As they drew closer to Happiness, Hymn glanced in the review mirror at his sister. She lay scotched up in the corner of the seat, fast asleep. The sight made him smile. He then turned to look at Hannah. Along the way, he noticed her becoming more and more quiet. At first, he said nothing. He assumed that when she was ready, she would let him know what bothered her. However, after an hour of watching her quirks, he could no longer stand it. “What’s up, Sherlock?” he inquired.

  “I’m contemplating.”

  “I can see that,” Hymn said, reaching over and touching her nose. He moved his finger up and tapped on her forehead. “What exactly is spinning around here, though?”

  The amateur sleuth shifted in her seat, sitting up straight. She reached out and turned down the radio. She looked back at Magdalene and then turned to Hymn. A frown crossed her face before speaking. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

  The seriousness of Hannah’s tone took the former lawman by surprise. He was ready for some discussion on the wedding. Perhaps a talk about the honeymoon. However, the sound of her voice led him to conclude that it could only be about one thing, Whipson’s case. “So what have you come up with?”

  Hannah pressed back against the seat. A look of curious surprise rolled across her face. “Am I that obvious?”

  “To me.” Hymn looked over and grinned. “Then again, I am in love with you and am going to marry you. So…”

  Hannah threw her hands up. “Busted, but it’s more than that. If I’m going to look into this, I’ve got to do it right.”

  “Okay.”

  “That means that maybe I step on some toes.”

  “Well, given the implications, that’s not surprising.”

  “Maybe Magdalen’s. Even yours.” Hannah winced and paused to gauge his reaction. After a moment, he responded.

  “Alright, so you’re giving serious consideration that Calvin or Susan had something to do with this. Maybe both.”

  Again, it was rare that Hannah found herself surprised. This was one of those occasions, and not only did Hymn not argue, he anticipated her. Few people ever mastered this with her. In fact, to date, only Cate ever managed it. This made her both happy and cautious. In their time together, he had grown so close to her that he knew what directions her thinking was going. It led her ever closer to believing in soul mates, but it also held with it implications. There would be little she could get away with around him. Given all, it was a reasonable trade off. “Yeah,” Hannah answered, “I have to consider it. Calvin was rather adamant about it all being coincidence. He didn’t care for the questioning either. A little too much so, don’t you think?”

  Again, Hannah examined Hymn to read his reaction. She watched as the corners of his mouth fell back as he pursed his lips forward. Like Hannah’s tongue roll
and twitching nose, this was his contemplative face. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he lifted the other and scratched at his chin. This was the other of his quirks. Only then did he answer.

  “I suppose. However, to me, he seemed more annoyed than secretive. Even when he was a kid, he hated when people questioned him. What he said, went. He was quiet, you know? When he spoke, it was always from this authoritative place. I’m four years his senior, but it was like he knew everything.” Hymn gave an abortive, half laugh. “To be honest, it’s not surprising that he became a doctor. Kind of fits. ,”

  “So he was controlling?”

  Hymn nodded in agreement. “Was and is and determined. So what does that mean?”

  “Well, all those Jonathan mentioned were terminal, even Pepper.”

  “The receptionist? Who told you that?”

  “He did. He’d been seeing her, giving her that end-of-life Counseling you mentioned. She had a brain tumor.”

  “Huh,” Hymn declared. Again, he produced his quirk.

  “Is it possible that Calvin is somehow involved?”

  “To what end?” Hymn asked.

  “Adrenaline rush. The attention.” Hannah paused. “Maybe something else.”

  Hymn disagreed with a sharp, sudden shake of the head. “Not buying it. Like I said, controlling. Doesn’t fit. If anything, he wanted out of the limelight. He’s a watcher, followed by action, then back to lingering. What he does, it’s for helping.”

  Hannah backed away from the issue. For a later conversation, she noted to herself. Still, she proceeded on, offering another possibility. “All right then. For control. Maybe to speed them along. He can’t stop them from dying, but he can control how much they must endure. He can bypass suffering.”

  A hard frown overtook Hymn as he let out a slow breath. Hannah could tell she hit a nerve. He paused before answering.

  “He has this thing about suffering.” He grimaced. “When Susan and he were just out of med school, we all got together one evening when they were in town. It was to celebrate the publication of the first article he wrote for a medical journal.” He glanced over at Hannah bearing a disturbed expression. “It advocated for self-determined euthanasia as an alternative for those with terminal illnesses.”

  To Hannah, Hymn’s words sounded almost confessional. She now knew that her fiancé would not intentionally hold back information. However, up until this point, he had not considered his friends as suspects in the now ongoing investigation. Now, with that one memory, he was coming face to face with an unpleasant possibility.

  “And Susan? Would she go along with this?”

  It was clear to Hannah that she stunned her husband to be. He blinked several times before answering. “Up until a few minutes ago, I would have told you such an idea was insane, but Mudbug chased Calvin for years. I don’t think there’s anything she wouldn’t do for him. Even cover for him.”

  “Maybe even assist,” Magdalen interjected to the surprise of Hannah and Hymn.

  “Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty,” Hymn teased as Magdalen yawned and stretched.

  Hymn pulled the car off onto the ramp leading from the interstate to Happiness. At the top of the incline, he pulled into a gas station and parked. Doing so, he ran his hand through his hair. Hannah knew that the last statement hit Hymn hard. Now, she felt guilty for tossing her considerations onto the man. Consideration, which proved to be painful for him. The unsettled look on his face bothered her, so she intervened.

  “Look. We’re ahead of ourselves here. We don’t even know if there is a case yet. This could all be in Jonathan’s imagination. Given his condition…” Her words trailed off as she realized where the statement would conclude. Nice, she thought. This is what you call comforting?

  Both Magdalen and Hymn’s face tightened, but it was Hymn who responded first.

  “True, but I understand. If we’re going to look into this for him, it all requires consideration. Everything. Regardless.” He turned to Hannah. “You said maybe something else. What did you mean?”

  Hannah paused, unsure about what to say. Though it was just a flash through her mind the day before, she still needed to offer an even grimmer potential motive. Greed. She gulped hard and pulled her lips in her mouth as she frowned. Seeing this, Hymn stiffened but said nothing. Watching the silent exchange, Magdalen interjected.

  “Alright, this whole ‘I know what you are thinking thing’ is annoying. One of you spit it out and give a girlfriend a clue.”

  “I thought of something yesterday. What if…”

  Hannah paused and gave a cautious look. Both Magdalen and Hymn waited as she shifted in her seat.

  “What if it wasn’t about the thrill or ending suffering? What if it’s about money?”

  Brother and sister locked eyes on one another. Hymn twisted his mouth as Magdalen took in a long, deep breath.

  “Is it possible they could somehow be covering up an insurance scheme? Cate said that all the patients billed through their practice. She didn’t have access to their business records or full access to their personal financials.”

  Hannah studied both Magdalen and Hymn’s faces, which showed a myriad of expressions. Consideration. Concern. Disbelief, she noticed, but it was the last one that Hannah observed bothering her the most. Possibility. Why? She tried to erase her own concerns from her face and cocked her head to one side to take them in. Pressing her fiancé and his sister was not a job she relished. Hannah told herself that she was doing this not just for Whipson, but for them as well. If Susan and Calvin were doing something illicit, they needed to know, and her questions were part of either clearing or revealing them.

  “They both went to medical school. Running a practice can’t be cheap. And even if they are doctors with access to facilities, Whipson’s bills have to be mounting, regardless.”

  Hannah stopped to examine her companion’s reactions. Magdalen started to speak, but no words came forth. Hymn frowned and twisted his jaw back and forth. She could not tell if the question annoyed or overwhelmed him, but she prayed she was not, in some way, pushing him away. From her personal experiences, she knew that looking into friends and family was a tricky proposition at best. At worst, it could be acrimonious. After a moment, Hymn nodded.

  “Alright, like we agreed, everything considered.” He gave a nervous scratch to his chin before continuing. “To be honest, I can’t say. I want to say no, but that’s a gut reaction. We grew up together, but then our lives went separate ways. I do know that they still have student loans, and like you said, owning and operating a medical practice can’t be cheap.”

  “Susan would do anything for her grandfather,” Magdalen managed. “No matter what the expense, she’d do or try pretty much anything to keep him alive.”

  “Or anything Calvin suggested. If this started as one thing and led to another…” Hymn threw his head back against the headrest on his seat. He opened the door, then stuck his head back in to look at Hannah. “I need to clear my head. Would you mind driving?”

  Hannah agreed and opened the door as Hymn walked around the car to get into the passenger’s seat. She slid into the driver’s side, buckled herself in, and started the car.

  “Look, again, I’m just thinking out loud.”

  Hymn acknowledged. “Well, given present possibilities, in my biased opinion that is the most improbable scenario.”

  Magdalen grimaced. “And yet, here we are, considering it.”

  There was a long moment of silence among all of them. Hannah interrupted everyone’s contemplation.

  “Well, first things first, we need those records. We never talked about how we are going to do that,” Hymn said, following Hannah’s action as he clicked the buckle shut. “But just the fact that they are doctors is going to prevent them from helping us get to files.”

  “We’ll figure it out.” She looked over at Hymn and smiled. “Together. That’s the way it’s going to be from now on.”

  Hymn agreed.

  As
Hannah backed out of the parking space, she saw Magdalen staring, mouth open.

  “Are you okay?”

  “He’s letting you drive Baby.”

  Hannah’s eyes widened as she peered over to Hymn with a look of pure astonishment and realization. “You’re letting me drive Baby.”

  “I am.”

  “He is in love with you,” Magdalen offered in a stunned voice.

  “Sometimes, you just have to trust your instincts,” Hymn added in a hesitant tone.

  A big grin erupted on Hannah’s face, as Hymn’s eyes grew wide.

  “And that look is why I question mine,” he offered in a nervous voice.

  The black Mustang peeled out of the lot and onto the asphalt at high speed. “wahoo,” Hannah cried out. Magdalen let out a similar sound of excitement, throwing her hands in the air.

  “Dear God,” cried Hymn as he clutched the straps of his seat belt.

  Chapter Six

  Hannah produced a humph sound from the passenger’s side seat. After being pulled over for speeding, her demeanor was one of frustration and denial. Hymn laughed as he drove toward Happiness.

  “Eleven minutes. That’s got to be some kind of record,” Magdalen said.

  “It was a trap.”

  Hymn shook his head and laughed. “Yes, because going 92 in a 45 equates to entrapment. You’re lucky it was Allan. Most would have hauled you in for reckless driving.”

  “Where do you know him from?”

  “Auburn and the academy.” He looked back over his shoulder at Magdalen. “He’s single, you know.”

  “Trying to set me up, Tubbs?”

  “Just looking after my little sister.”

  Magdalen gave Hannah a wink. “By keeping me away from other interested parties, I assume?”

  Hannah grinned, catching on to her future sister-in-law’s meaning. She, too, had noted Hymn’s response to Magdalen’s flirtatious behavior with Buster. Hymn liked Buster, but the thought of him as a potential mate for his sibling was an altogether different matter. Hymn had seen firsthand Buster’s effect on women. More so, he had seen the man involved with at least two women over the course of a few days during the Karas case. Hannah determined she would have to have a talk with her fiancé about the evolving situation soon. For now, she determined to stay on task. She redirected the conversation to avoid a brother-sister talk on boundaries.