Deadly Legacy (A Carmedy & Garrett Mystery)

by Bruce, Alison

  Thorsen quaffed his brandy with a flourish. This meant some of the contents of the glass arced off and sprayed Kate, but she answered the toast before wiping off her cheek.

  Others followed. Kate answered each toast with a sip of brandy. As soon as her third glass emptied, she switched to straight coffee. During some of the longer speeches, she scanned the crowd.

  Magnus arrived, late as always, and blew her a kiss from the refreshment table. Glynis Proctor had arrived at some point and was pointedly not paying attention to her husband, who was comforting a teary-eyed Jane. She and the Gage party left quietly before Felix was aware she was there. There were other comings and goings. Most involved people Kate didn't know.

  One exit made a bit of a ripple. Nissa Ilko left, but not before slapping Felix across the face. This caused a bit of a wrinkle in the proceedings. With his characteristic aplomb, Vincent Valerio ironed it out with a quip about feelings running high, then he stepped up to make his toast. Kate suspected Piper Callan wasn't just being spiteful when she alleged there was something between Nissa and Felix and would have loved to have been able to follow Nissa out. Instead, she turned and gave Vincent the attention he deserved.

  "We've heard about Joe, the friend. Joe, the family man. Joe, the detective. Joe, the community leader. No doubt more private toasts have been made to Joe, the lover." Laughter. "I raise a toast to Joe Garrett, the best dressed private investigator." More laughter. "The man had style. To Joe!"

  Kate accepted another shot of brandy to answer that toast.

  "And to the Filandros family for this excellent party," Vincent continued. "Carmedy, do you have anything to add?"

  From the front counter, Carmedy called out, "I can't think of a thing that hasn't been said."

  "Don't let that stop you," someone shouted.

  "It hasn't stopped anyone else," called another.

  "While Mr. Carmedy is framing his toast, I have a few words to add," said Leon Eldridge, stepping forward. "If you don't mind, I would prefer toasting with wine, not brandy. I just need to replenish my glass, though I hate to start a new bottle for just a little bit."

  "Here, Leon," called Felix. "I just cracked this bottle. Have a splash."

  As Eldridge approached, Jane Osgoode seemed to decide she needed to be elsewhere. Kate wondered if Felix had told her about their discussion. It would explain Jane's defection. Unlike Felix, she wasn't good at pretending nothing was wrong. Since she passed her glass to Felix, Kate guessed she was going to the washrooms. As a family restaurant, not a pub or tavern, the Helios did not equip its washroom with drink holders.

  Rather than juggle glasses and wine, Felix handed the half bottle to Eldridge, who then passed his glass back so he could have both hands free to unscrew the top and pour. This accomplished, Eldridge put aside the now-empty vessel and took his glass.

  "Thank you, Felix. Most kind."

  He turned to Kate.

  Behind his back, Felix gave her a silent toast with his now full glass.

  "You have been very gracious, Ms. Garrett, in absolving me of blame for your father's death," Eldridge said. "However, I will never forget his terrible accident occurred while he was protecting me. It would be a presumption for me to call Joe Garrett a close friend. He was a respected colleague and I admit, I felt safer when he was alive. We were associates for many years and I will miss him. Rest in peace, Joseph Garrett."

  He raised his glass and waited for those around him to do the same. Then he took a large gulp and choked, sputtering some of the wine. Once again, Kate found herself sprayed.

  Irritation was followed by concern. Eldridge coughed, but indicated with a hand signal he was all right, so she raised her coffee in an answering toast. She had hardly sipped her lukewarm coffee when the answering cheers and clanks died in a collective gasp. A moment later, Jane, who had returned from the ladies' room, screamed and rushed forward. Leon Eldridge took another sip of wine and again choked. Now Kate could see what the commotion was all about. Felix Proctor had collapsed.

  20

  During the seemingly endless round of toasts, Jake sat at the front counter, at the back of the crowd. The quality of some the speeches didn't encourage dedicated concentration. His mind and eyes wandered. At the edge of the crowd, a much more interesting scene was acted out.

  In the course of his varied career, Jake had seen his fair share of office romances. It wasn't a brilliant piece of detective work to deduce Felix Proctor was at the centre of a love triangle that did not include his wife. The cool, collected Nissa Ilko was doing a slow burn as Proctor offered his shoulder for Jane Osgoode to cry on. Not that she was actually crying, Jane Osgoode was too dignified to break into tears. Still, she was genuinely upset, more so than Jake would have expected.

  Jake knew Joe had a bit of thing for Jane. It was unrequited, at least as far as Jake knew. Maybe her affections went deeper than she let on. Or maybe she was just feeling her mortality. Whatever the case, it was obvious Proctor was more worried about Jane's sensibilities than those of his other lover or his wife.

  Glynis Proctor recognized this and either accepted it stoically or didn't care. She arrived, paid her respects and left without exchanging a word with her husband.

  Nissa, despite her reputation for composure, wasn't stoic. Jake missed the delivery. Above the noise, he heard the slap and saw the expression on Ms. Ilko's face as she stormed out. Her eyes were set to kill.

  Valerio made a good save, even if Jake didn't appreciate being dragged into it. There really wasn't anything he could say that would sound like an echo of the previous toasts. Even if he could find the words, he had no desire baring his grief. Although he never much cared for the man, he was grateful to Eldridge for buying him some time and when all hell seemed to break loose, his first thought was he was off the hook.

  Then he heard Proctor had collapsed

  "I'm calling 911" he shouted, reaching over to the restaurant's land line.

  "Everyone back away," Thorsen thundered, "and nobody leave."

  One of the great advantages to being a near-giant was Thorsen could see around the whole room and shout orders to specific officers. Jake watched as the chief picked out two officers each to guard the front and back doors. Three out of the four were Muslim and Jake bet the fourth was a teetotaller. He managed to spot four more sober, or sobered officers and put them on crowd control. No directions were required to summon the few violent crimes detectives who were present. They created a perimeter around the scene.

  "We need two ambulances," Jake told the emergency services dispatcher. "No, I think we have enough police."

  Kessler had taken charge of Proctor while a blond, cheerleader-type woman was assisting Eldridge with the practised calm of a professional.

  Jake added, "We have a doctor and a paramedic on site."

  He stayed on the phone, keeping the 911 operator up to date, until the EMS showed up. Then he hung up and leaned against the wall, taking in the scene.

  Joe's daughter was steadying Jane Osgoode, whose body was waving like a wheat straw in a changeable breeze. Jane seemed to be holding her breath. She wasn't the only one. All around the room, groups of guests clustered in pods. Some stood silent, almost breathless. Others buzzed in low whispers. Above the low hum of speculation was the staccato of medical instructions and stats flowing between the doctor, the medical teams and the emergency physician on call via radio.

  One person, outside the medical team, was active. Thorsen had acquired a digital camera and was taking photos of the scene. Then, after a quiet word to the lead paramedic, he bagged and tagged the bottle and glasses and told Mercy Rudra to accompany the items to the hospital in order to maintain the chain of custody.

  Proctor left at 23:24 hours. Eldridge was transported to hospital in a second ambulance five minutes later. Jane started sobbing and, for a moment, Jake's eyes met Kate's. There was a message there. He was damned if he knew what it was.

  During the medical drama, Thorsen put together a
task force to investigate the crime scene. By the time the ambulances left, the forensic team and two fresh detectives were on-site. A constable Jake didn't recognize was assigned the job of logistics officer. He took names and was responsible for knowing where every person was, whether they were at the restaurant to start with or had arrived with the investigating team. Now that the emergency was over, a lot of people started looking at their watches and muttering about when they'd get to go home.

  Standard practice was to take the contact information and statements, such as they were, from those furthest from the scene and move inwards. Thorsen so ordered, with one wrinkle. He had himself, Valerio, Kate Garrett and Jake interviewed first so they could sit in on the rest of the interviews. This was done in the basement, since the forensic team was busy in the dining room. They used the staffroom, the office and storeroom. Three rooms, three detectives and three observers for as little waiting about as possible.

  Jake got the storeroom, which was almost refrigerator-cold. He and Detective Isaac Wahndim started with the retired cops and interviewed most of the active officers. It wasn't difficult. Most of them hadn't noticed much. They had their own soap operas to attend to without getting involved with the low-key drama going on between members of the business crowd.

  During a brief lull, Jake paced the basement corridor and discovered Valerio was with Singh interviewing David and Emma Kessler in the staffroom. He was well acquainted with Lieutenant Singh. The devout Sikh always seemed to disapprove of him. From the looks of things, he didn't approve of much.

  Better Valerio than me.

  He couldn't check the office. It didn't have a window to peer in. A uniformed officer was waiting outside the door. She gave Jake a hint of a smile.

  "What's up?" Jake asked the constable.

  "Ms. Osgoode wants to go to the hospital. She claims to be an old friend of Leon Eldridge. I'm her escort."

  Jake nodded.

  "I'd keep an eye on her. I'm not sure she's that great a friend anymore."

  "That's what Garrett said."

  Jake did a double take.

  "Detective Kate Garrett," she said.

  "Of course."

  Thorsen let the out-of-town guests leave as soon as possible. Each were scanned and swabbed for DNA when they were interviewed, though they weren't likely to be needed again. The off-duty police were allowed to go as soon as their statements were recorded. Many of them had to go on duty in a few hours. Gradually everyone was processed.

  Finally there were only the investigative team and the Helios staff, who were camped out in the kitchen drinking coffee. Jake wandered in, looking for something safe to drink.

  Thorsen pushed through the swinging doors moments after. "We've got to hang around for a while longer. You don't all have to stay with us. I imagine your kids could use some rest by now. We have everything we need from them. At least for now."

  Peter spread his hands, a tired and bemused gesture. "To be honest, they're too excited to be tired. Unlike me." He stifled a yawn. "My mother needs her sleep and perhaps I can convince her to go home if she is doing it for her grandchildren."

  Jake suppressed a grin. Mrs. Filandros was sitting right there, glaring at her son.

  Thorsen gave a quick nod. "I'll expedite things."

  "And I shall make fresh coffee for you and your team."

  Jake felt the need to interrupt at this point. Peter anticipated him. "And I'll bring down a selection of energy drinks, as well."

  The team set up in the staff room. The only one at the table Jake needed to be introduced to was Sam Ravensburg. He remembered seeing him at the wake earlier, but they had not actually met.

  Thorsen was about to begin when Peter and his eldest son arrived with a tray of coffee carafes, mugs, iced drinks and a batch of freshly made muffins. Jake noticed that Wahndim, who had been so stoic about the cold in the storeroom, had one hand wrapped around a mug of coffee while the other stuffed a warm muffin into his mouth.

  Jake sat back and enjoyed the rush that came with the first sip of his drink. Since his official capacity was tenuous, all he had to do for at least the next hour or so was listen. He thought he had just enough energy to listen, as long as it was done in a chair.

  Across the table, Kate Garrett was savouring the aroma of her coffee.

  She looks like the walking dead, he thought. A very attractive zombie, of course.

  "Okay," Thorsen said, startling Jake out of his thoughts. "We know the toxin was a tranquillizer cocktail and there were traces in the bottle and both glasses poured. Specific composition and quantities will have to wait for lab results."

  "Were there traces of toxin in the third glass?" Valerio asked.

  "Yes. Is that important?"

  "Could be," Valerio said. "Felix Proctor said they had just cracked the bottle. Usually you do that and pour immediately. If they did and both drank, we'd know the toxin was introduced just before pouring for the toast, assuming Jane Osgoode is tox-free."

  "Forensics took urine and blood from Osgoode, as well as a cheek swab," Thorsen reported. "Nothing showed up on the field equipment. I thought I saw Eldridge pour wine into all three glasses. I know Proctor was holding all three ready. Did they drink before?"

  "Osgoode said they hadn't poured a drink yet," said Ravensburg.

  Ah, so Ravensburg was in the office with Kate Garrett. Maybe that's why he's sitting next to her now.

  Kate nodded. "The glasses were empty or close to it when Eldridge poured."

  "Not completely empty," said Valerio. "I remember thinking they should get clean glasses. Even Eldridge's had the dregs of his last drink." He gave them all a sheepish grin. "You see, it pays to be fastidious."

  "There's another problem," Kate said. "Regardless of what was in the bottle and who drank it, it's not what knocked Proctor out, not if it was a narcotic. Taken orally, narcotics take time to hit the nervous system. You don't sip and drop." She gave Valerio a little grin. "You see, it pays to have a doctor in the family."

  Wahndim helped himself to another muffin, then gestured with it. "No one we interviewed had a good view of Eldridge and Proctor, or they didn't pay much attention until things went ka-ka. If someone slipped a mickey to Mr. Proctor, no one remembers seeing it. However, a second drug would explain why Eldridge choked and Proctor passed out."

  Thorsen's eCom trilled and he excused himself from the discussion.

  "Perhaps the toxin affected Mr. Proctor to a greater degree because he drank more alcohol," Singh said, sounding like Felix got what he deserved.

  "Was he on other medications?" asked Valerio. "Gage was killed by a drug interaction that wouldn't have been fatal if not for an existing heart problem. Maybe this is the same sort of thing."

  "We will have to investigate that possibility." Singh made it sound like Valerio was personally responsible for creating more work.

  Valerio didn't seem offended. Maybe Singh couldn't help the way he sounded. Jake looked over at Thorsen. There was a grim expression on his face which had nothing to do with Singh's attitude.

  "Felix Proctor was pronounced dead at zero-hours-twenty-four minutes. Cause of death is respiratory failure. This is now officially a murder case."

  21

  Friday November 23

  It was almost four o'clock when Kate crawled into her own bed for the first time in three days. Magnus came in a few minutes later and tucked her in. By that time, she was almost asleep, only vaguely aware of what he was doing. The events of the last few hours were fading like a mirage as she crossed into the other reality of dreamland.

  Before they left the Helios, the chief had them run through the statements of the witnesses, sorting out the most useful and most suspicious. He then gave Singh and Wahndim the Proctor case and asked Kate if she was up to taking on Eldridge, who, by last report, was telling everyone in Emergency he was the intended victim and Proctor died by mistake. Valerio and Carmedy, Kate discovered, were on the Gage murder.

  The chief then told
them all to go home to bed, excepting Singh and Wahndim, who still had a few hours left on their shift.

  Magnus was waiting for her when she stepped out into the cold night air. Any temptation she might have had to just let herself into her father's flat drifted away. Magnus offered to call them a taxi. After several hours breathing stale air, walking home seemed more attractive. They strolled in companionable silence until they reached the residential area. Then Magnus started an innocuous conversation about when the correct time was to set up the holiday lights.

  Some people already had their houses lit up with sparkling white icicle lights or softly glowing multicoloured strings. One home had sprouted a lawn full of shining red and white candy canes. They agreed lights were okay. Magnus thought candy canes and the like should wait for December while Kate argued that it was all fair game after the city's Festival of the Lights.

  Magnus didn't ask about the investigation. Kate didn't volunteer. They talked about comfortable, mundane matters over hot milk and brandy until Kate was too tired to keep her eyes open. It didn't take long.

  The winter sun's pale light peeked through a crack in Kate's drapes and cast a sliver of sun over her face. She came to the edge of consciousness, turned over and began to drift back to sleep.

  Then she remembered.

  Today was her father's funeral. Grabbing her bedside clock, she checked to see if it was time to panic. No, she was all right. Wrapping herself in her terry cloth bathrobe, she headed for the shower and was intercepted by Magnus bearing a large mug of black coffee.

  "You're a saint!"

  "I know," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek. "I'm guessing this is a black funeral."

  "Oh, yes. Father Augustus is very traditional. Dad wasn't. I'm not even Catholic but I know Father Augustus will prefer traditional funeral garb."