Guilt by Association

by Gilbert, Morris

  “Maybe I’d better go take a look.” Karen tossed silverware into a drawer, and threw over her shoulder, “I’ll finish the dishes after I have a look at Rachel and Vince.”

  Dani finished peeling the potatoes and moved over to see what Betty was planning. “Oh, Betty, not spaghetti again!” she moaned.

  “Well, if you think you can do better, sit down here and help.” Dani pulled up a chair, and soon the two were engrossed in planning the meals. Once Betty gave Dani a quick glance and asked, “What Lonnie said about my not being from the South—that was crazy, wasn’t it?”

  “Oh, he was just showing off.”

  “Well, he’d better be careful.” Betty sniffed. “With all these lists and things going around, I’m afraid to say anything!”

  Dani and the older woman were just finishing when Karen came to finish the dishes. “How were they?” Dani asked.

  “Why, Rachel was out like a light,” she answered. “Betty, what did you say she was doing?”

  Betty looked flustered. In an offended voice, she said loudly, “I said she was thrashing around and crying—and that’s what she was doing!”

  Karen and Dani exchanged quick glances, and Karen said, “Why, I don’t doubt it—”

  “You do so!” Betty cried out, and her face twisted up in what looked like the beginnings of a crying jag. Her hands trembled as she pulled a worn, well-used handkerchief out of her pocket and put it to her face. “You might as well come right out and call me a liar! Just like that Lonnie!”

  Then she did burst out crying, and both Dani and Karen went to her side, mystified. Over and over Karen assured her that she had meant nothing by her remark, and Dani made equal assurances that Lonnie’s remark was innocent enough.

  When Betty’s shoulders finally stopped shaking, she turned a tearstained face up to them. “I don’t know what’s the matter with me!” she exclaimed. “I’ve never acted like this in my whole life.”

  “Well, you’ve never had the pressures you’ve got now, Betty.” Dani put her arm around the woman’s thin shoulders. “You’ve done so much for all of us! You’ve worked like a slave, cooking and taking care of us—and I haven’t even taken time to tell you how much I appreciate it—or how much I love you.”

  At the words I love you, Betty started to cry again. Finally, Karen nodded slightly over her head toward Dani. “Come along, dear. Let me give you something to make you rest. Dani and I will take care of supper, and—”

  “Candi! What’s wrong?”

  At Bix’s shout, all three women whirled to see Candi staggering across the room, her eyes wildly rolling in her head. Betty leaped to her feet, but Karen led the way, running toward Candi.

  “What is it?” Karen called out. She reached Candi’s side just as the woman fell in a helpless sprawl facedown on the floor. Karen pulled her over, and Dani saw that Candi was dead white and that her lungs were heaving. “She can’t breathe, Karen!” Dani cried.

  The others stood over them, and Karen shouted, “Get my bag, someone. Help me get her off the floor!” In a flurry of activity Betty raced off to get Karen’s bag and Savage scooped the unconscious woman off the floor and placed her on two tables that Sid had shoved together.

  “What is it, Karen?” Karl asked anxiously. “Is it a stroke?”

  “She’s been poisoned!” Bix shouted. “Just like Alex!”

  Staring down at Candi, Dani saw the helpless twitching in her limbs and her gaping mouth, trying, or so it seemed, to take in air. She was wearing only a bathrobe and a pair of slippers. Her raspy breathing scraped against Dani’s nerves, and Dani’s hands tightened into fists as she watched her friend’s struggles.

  Karen said in a tight voice. “Her breathing—something’s wrong with her breathing!” She looked up, strain showing on her face, and said, “It must be poison! But it’s not the same as Alex.”

  “Can’t we get her to throw up?” Dani asked.

  “No, she’d drown if we tried to get anything down her throat.” The helpless look about Karen frightened the others. “I don’t know what it is—”

  Karen suddenly broke off and pulled back the collar of Candi’s robe. “Look!” She cried out. “She’s had some sort of injection! See these two marks!”

  Lonnie said hoarsely, “That’s a snakebite! I’ve seen lots of ’em!”

  “Impossible!” Karl snapped. “There’s no snake in this place!”

  “I’ll look in the bathroom!” Bix cried at once. “That murderer may have sneaked one in and put it in there.”

  He disappeared, but no one saw him go; all watched Candi’s struggle to live. Her breathing became more shallow with each breath, and Sid asked in a frightened voice, “Can’t we give her some kind of artificial respiration, Doc? We gotta do something!”

  “That wouldn’t help,” Karen shook her head and spoke in a voice that wasn’t quite steady, “If it’s what I think it is, there’s no hope.”

  “Karen—What?” Dani whispered.

  “I believe she’s been injected with a poison that works like the venom of some snakes—it may even be snake venom.”

  “I been bit by a rattler and a cottonmouth!” Lonnie said. “And it didn’t do nothing like this to me!”

  Karen moved Candi’s head, trying to make the breathing easier, but it did not help. She kept her eyes fixed on the pale face as she answered, “No, the venom of those snakes are a hemotoxin. It attacks the blood, and that takes time. But some snakes have a venom that attacks the nervous system—neurotoxin. It’s—very quick! The green mamba is one. The natives of South America call it the Two-stepper—because if one of them bites you, you only have two steps to get help—or you die.”

  Fear such as she had not even known existed overcame Dani. Her limbs trembled, and she had a terrifying impulse to yank her hair, throw herself on the floor, curl into a fetal position, and scream and scream—!

  Nothing had prepared her for this, and it took every shred of strength she could muster to remain where she was when every nerve cried for her to flee from this horrible sight. She took a wild look around, and saw that others were as hard hit as she was; then she closed her eyes and fought the nausea that crept into her throat.

  “Dani! Look, she sees you!”

  Dani opened her eyes.

  Candi’s eyes seemed to plead for something, and her back arched as she fought for breath. “She’s trying to tell you something,” Karen whispered.

  Dani leaned her head down until Candi’s lips almost brushed her ear. After a terrible struggle, the lips moved, and Dani heard the faint whisper. She kept her place, listening with all her might, and slowly straightened up.

  Candi slowly raised one hand, pointed in a strange gesture—and for a moment her strained features relaxed. A gentle smile touched her lips, and the pain was gone.

  Then the arm fell back, and the labored breathing stopped so abruptly that it seemed like a blow.

  Karen felt for a pulse, then shook her head. “She’s gone.”

  Karl asked quietly, “What did she say, Dani? Could you make anything of it?”

  Dani still held Candi’s hand; now she put it on her cheek, and her hot, quick tears ran over the still palm. “Yes, I heard her,” she whispered. Her voice was not steady, but a bright victory filled her eyes as she told them: “She said, ‘Dani . . . I see Him—I see Jesus!’” Then Dani kissed the pale hand, put in on the still breast, and turned blindly away.

  14

  Bix’s Plan

  * * *

  Candi’s still form lay under a tan blanket on the couch beside the wall. Karen, Dani, and Betty had taken her into the women’s quarters, where they had fixed her hair and dressed her. Ben and Lonnie had carried her back, placing her gently down. Then all of them had gathered into a small knot around the serving table. It was as if they wanted to get as far away from that eloquent shape as possible.

  Betty slumped down on a chair, her face twisted into a mask. “We’re all going to die!” she moaned.

/>   Ben looked at her, his face grim, and he shook his head. “All but one of us, I guess, if we don’t do something.”

  Karen looked up from where she was kneeling beside the still form. “Do what?” she demanded. “We couldn’t stop him from killing Candi.”

  “What do you mean him? It could have been any of you women!” Lonnie snapped.

  Betty jerked her head up and opened her mouth, but Dani interrupted quickly, “We don’t have time for arguments!” Preparing Candi’s body had sapped her strength and drawn her nerves as tense as a piano wire, but she straightened her back and her voice was firm as she stated, “Ben is right. We’ve got to do two things. First, we’ve got to try to figure out who the killer is. Second, until we do that, we’ve got to police one another.”

  “I think Dani is right.” Karl nodded. His eyes went around the circle, and he shook his shoulders. “We have to suspect everyone.”

  Dani asked, “Karen, assuming that you’re right about the cause of death, do you have any idea at all how fast the poison would have acted?”

  “I’m no expert,” Karen shrugged. “But from what little I remember, the venom of some vipers can paralyze in as little as two or three minutes.”

  Dani’s expression changed, and she shook her head. “That means that the murderer must have—” Suddenly she broke off, and her lips twisted into a grimace. “That bathroom door!” she exclaimed. “Candi would have locked the men’s door!”

  “Why, that means that none of us men could have done it!” Lonnie exclaimed.

  “No, it doesn’t!” Bix said abruptly. They all turned to stare at him, and he nodded emphatically. “When I ran back to see if there was a snake in there, I noticed that the men’s door was unlocked.”

  Dani considered him skeptically, asking, “You noticed a little thing like that, Bix? With a woman dead and with the possibility that there was a venomous snake in there?”

  Something slipped in Bix’s expression. As his eyes darted from face to face, seeing the doubt in every eye, he exclaimed, “I’m not lying—You’re all against me!”

  Dani met Ben’s eyes and saw him give a shake, indicating his lack of belief. “Come now, Bix,” Dani urged. “We’re not accusing you, but we only have your word that the door was unlocked. And I’ve heard you say that you’re afraid of snakes. Yet you ran to that bathroom with no fear at all.”

  “Sounds like you were pretty sure there wouldn’t be no snake there,” Sid said triumphantly. “Nobody in his right mind would go charging into a spot like that, unless he knew there wasn’t nothin’ to be afraid of.”

  Bix’s face paled, but Dani shook her head, then looked at Karen. “It could have been you, Karen,” she said evenly. “Obviously there’s no snake. That’s just a sick game Stone’s dreamed up—or his paid killer. That wound on Candi’s neck has to be the result of hypodermic shots, and you went into the room to see about Rachel.”

  “And I’m the expert with the needle?” Karen answered. Her face was pale and her lips tight, but she looked straight at Dani. “Anyone can give a shot, Dani—even you. As a matter of fact, it would be easier for you than for anyone.”

  “Why do you say that?” Dani asked.

  “Because Candi trusted you more than she did anyone else! We all know that. She’d be completely off her guard with you.”

  Dani blinked, but then nodded. “All right—was it me? It couldn’t have been, because I never left the kitchen. You and Betty know that.”

  Karen shrugged. “Betty may know it, but I don’t. We were all milling around. I left once to go to the refrigerator, and Bix came over wanting some ice. We sat down and drank some tea. How long did we talk, Bix?”

  “Why, it must have been at least five minutes, I guess,” Bix said, giving Dani an uncertain glance.

  “And I wasn’t watching you the whole time, either!” Betty said. “Like Karen says, it was so busy and noisy. I remember looking around once for you, and I didn’t see you.”

  “Then any one of the three of us could have left long enough to kill her,” Dani said evenly. “What about Rachel?”

  Karen shook her head. “She’s very susceptible to the drugs. I don’t think she would have been able to walk, much less overpower Candi.”

  “She woke up when we were getting Candi ready,” Dani suggested.

  “But you saw how groggy she was.” Karen shrugged. “Even now I don’t think she understands that Candi’s been killed. She’s been like that for two days. You all have seen her, but it’s possible. If she’s the killer, she’d have been acting like that just to throw us off.”

  “Would a woman be strong enough to hold someone down and give those shots, Karen?” Ben asked.

  “Maybe. It could have been very quick, if the killer caught her off guard.”

  “But it would have taken at least a minute or two, wouldn’t it?” he persisted. “She was almost dead when she got out to us. I think he must have held her until she passed out—then he could come back unnoticed. Maybe he even intended for us to find her in the bathroom, but she got the strength to get up and stagger out here.”

  Karen shook her head slowly. “It sounds as if I’m trying to throw this off on a man, but it seems unlikely that the killer could have given those shots without Candi putting up a struggle. As soon as she saw the needle, she’d know what it meant.” She looked around the circle, adding, “Whoever did it must have grabbed her, given her the shots, and held her—probably with a hand over her mouth—until she lost consciousness.”

  “That’ d take a right strong woman,” Lonnie said. He looked over toward the door and shook his head. “If I was the killer, I wouldn’t have took the chance of going right through the women’s side. Rachel was there, and anybody could have seen a guy goin’ in there!”

  “He didn’t have to go through the women’s quarters,” Ben said. When every eye turned to him, he said, “I checked the bathroom right after Bix did. Not for snakes. I wanted to check the door.” He shrugged and looked at Dani. “The door was unlocked,” he said.

  “But Bix could have unlocked it!” Karl insisted.

  “Maybe so—maybe not,” Ben said. “So could Betty or Karen.”

  “How many of the men could have slipped into the bathroom from the men’s side—and how did the door get unlocked?” Dani asked quickly.

  “Don’t know about the door,” Ben said. “If it was one of you three women, it’d make sense to unlock it and throw suspicion on the men. About the other—” He paused and thought hard, his gaze shifting from one man to the other. Finally he said, “I was pretty busy, going up and down that pile of tables. Karl, I remember telling you that Bix was all the help I needed. You went over to the desk, didn’t you?”

  “Why, yes,” Karl nodded. “I was there until Betty came out.”

  “No, you wasn’t!” Sid turned to look at the tall German, and his small eyes were filled with suspicion. “I come out once from where I was chippin’ away on that dumb concrete, and Bix was talkin’ to Karen at the table. Savage was up on them tables, but you wasn’t at the desk. I thought you’d maybe gone to check on Vince.”

  “Why, that’s right!” Karl said quickly, and a flush tinged his cheeks. “I—I did leave for just a moment.”

  “To go where?” Karen demanded.

  “Just to my bed to get a notebook. I’d been reading it earlier, and left it there.” The silence, in addition to the steady gaze of Savage and the others, irritated him. “Well, don’t stare at me! You could have gone into that bathroom yourself, Sid!” he said loudly. “I saw you go in the men’s section.”

  “Is that right, Sid?” Dani asked.

  “Sure it’s right—and that bathroom door was locked!” he said defiantly. “I tried it.”

  “Why’d you do that?” Dani demanded. “You weren’t going to take a shower.”

  “I dunno—” Sid’s voice trailed off, and he muttered, “I just did, that’s all.”

  His defense was so weak that Bix shook his head
, saying, “It could have been you, Sid—and it could have been Ben or me, for that matter. I wasn’t keeping track of you, and I don’t think you were keeping track of me.”

  No one said anything, and Dani commented carefully, “It goes back to the fact that no one can prove he or she is innocent—even Vince and Rachel. So I say in this case, we’d better reverse the law.”

  “Reverse the law?” Karl asked, a puzzled frown on his face. “What does that mean?”

  “It means,” Dani said in a hard-edged tone, “we’re all guilty—until we’re proven innocent.”

  Ben Savage uttered a terse laugh. “Only way to do that,” he nodded, “is to get knocked off yourself!”

  “Vince’s pneumonia has gotten worse.”

  Karen returned to join Dani, Bix, and Ben, who were sitting around a table, drinking coffee. Strain etched her face, and she slumped in a chair wearily, saying no more. The night had finally dragged itself out, though there was no sense of morning; only by their watches were any of them aware of the passage of time.

  Dani rose. She set a cup of coffee down in front of Karen, asking quietly, “Is he going to make it, Karen?”

  The tall, blond woman took a sip of the bitter brew, looked down inside the cup, then shook her head. “In a hospital, I’d say yes. But in this place. . . .” Doubt pulled her mouth down into a bitter scowl, and she added, “You can cross Vince off your list of suspects. He couldn’t whip a sick kitten!” To the others’ surprise, tears rose unexpectedly in her eyes, and she dropped her head.

  Ben reached out impulsively, putting his hand over hers. “It’s tough, Karen. You’ve got the worst of it.”

  Dani blinked, thinking how unlike Ben it was to make such a gesture. When Karen lifted her head and smiled at him, Dani sat back and studied them, saying nothing; but there was a calculating expression on her face.

  Suddenly Bix said, “There it is!” They all got to their feet at once, and the sound of the winch drew the others to the spot. Bix and Ben shoved the tables together, and Ben mounted swiftly, loosening a section of canvas he had fastened only on one edge. This allowed the box to come down through the canopy, and Dani turned at once to face the camera’s gleaming red eye.