Who's Dead, Doc?

by J. M. Griffin

  “What makes you think he has something to hide?”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “I met him at the rabbit show. He was pleasant, with an engaging way about him. A smooth talker who knows how to sell. Anyway, he offered me the opportunity to apply for a grant from his company. I wasn’t crazy about the idea, but I filled out the paperwork and submitted it to him. He said his grant committee would review the application when they met later that week and he’d be in touch.” I went on to say Brody refused the grant the very next day, without any input from his committee.

  “It struck me as peculiar that he hadn’t presented it to them. But then, I believe things happen for a reason. Maybe it wasn’t meant for me to have grant money. I don’t resent him for it, I just find his behavior odd, and that something wasn’t right about the whole thing.”

  Thoughtful, Jack relented. “Okay. I’ll give him a look, then. Let’s get back to Carina. How was she while you were with her tonight?”

  “Upset, crying, and about to share something with me. We were interrupted by Adelle. She thought I had caused Carina more angst than she already had, and tried to get rid of me. You arrived in time to save us from an argument.”

  Jack’s bushy eyebrows arched as he listened.

  I heard a tiny snort and glanced at Bun. “He shouldn’t be surprised that you would take a stand. I don’t know what his problem is, maybe he’s off his feed.”

  Unlikely as it was, since Jack was a tad fluffy around the middle, Bun’s comment caused me to hold back a laugh. I pretended to cough.

  “Why would Carina hire a man like Seamus to dig through Evelyn’s paperwork? I’d think Bailey would want to get her hands on the document.”

  In agreement, I said, “True, and how would Carina know someone like Seamus? It’s not as if she’d hang out at a bar to chat with him. He’s not in her class of people.”

  His hat in hand, Jack rose. “I should get back to the station. You’ve given me plenty to consider.”

  At the door, he glanced at me. “Stay out of trouble, Juliette.”

  Alone, I looked in on the rabbits and returned to the house.

  Bun, not one to hold back, immediately offered his opinion. “Carver thinks Brody is a prince of princes.”

  “That’s one way to look at it. Jack is a smart cop, he’s thorough, and I trust him. If Brody, Vera, or Adelle need to be researched, Jack will do it.”

  “I don’t understand what Adelle really has to do with Carina. I did see her at the birthday party. I had forgotten about that, there were a large number of guests that day. And, all those kids were screaming, as only girls will.”

  “They were excited. Dig deep, see what you can remember, then let me know.”

  “Okay. I’m sleepy after all this activity. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Sleep well. Thanks for being my backup.”

  “I’ll always protect you.”

  He hopped into his room, sank into his new cushion, and fell asleep. I was making notes on what had taken place when my cell phone pinged. I read the text message and grabbed my coat and car keys.

  Leaving Bun behind, I returned to Carina’s house. Except for the light next to the front door, the house was dark.

  Unwilling to awaken Adrian, I tapped the door with the knocker rather than use the doorbell. Standing in the cold, I waited for Carina to answer the door. When she didn’t answer, I tried the door handle, thinking she might have left the door unlocked. Something was wrong. My concern for Carina and Adrian heightened.

  Unable to gain entrance from the front, I ran around the side of the house using my tiny flashlight to light the way. On the deck, I cupped my hands around my eyes to peer into the kitchen. The night-light was too faint to see much. The beam of my flashlight brightened the room and I saw Carina crumpled on the floor, her eyes closed.

  I dialed 9-1-1 and requested that a rescue and the police respond to Carina’s address. While on the phone, I tried the kitchen sliding door and found it unlocked. Wary, the sight of Carina lying so very still prodded me to enter the house. I crept across the floor and knelt next to her inert body. Relieved to find her pulse, I bent down to put my cheek near her nose, and felt her breath. I leaned back on my heels.

  Flashing lights bounced off the walls and through the windows of the open floorplan of the house. Flipping light switches, I rushed to the front door to greet the rescue crew. As they went toward the kitchen, I saw Jack Carver on the doorstep. His expression ominous, I backed up and swung my arm out in invitation for him to enter.

  “You can’t mind your own business, can you, Juliette?”

  “Now is not the time to lose your temper and lecture me.” Turning my back to him, I marched to the kitchen.

  A team of two men worked on Carina. Two others brought a stretcher into the room and loaded Carina onto it. One rescuer placed an oxygen mask over her nose and turned the cylinder knob to allow the oxygen to flow. Then they rolled her through the house to the ambulance.

  “I’ll look in on Adrian,” I murmured to Sheriff Carver. With a brief nod, he followed the men outside.

  I walked from bedroom to bedroom on the second floor. I found Adrian asleep in the bedroom three doors down from the top of the stairs. Totally relaxed, the little girl appeared angelic. I tiptoed away.

  Jack waited at the bottom of the staircase. “Is the child all right?”

  “She is. I thought for sure she would awaken.”

  “Does she have someone to look after her?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know any of Carina’s friends other than Adelle. I’ll call her to see if she can care for Adrian until Carina is back on her feet. When I realized she was breathing, I had already called for all of you, and let her be. You made good time getting here.”

  “I didn’t see signs of an assault. I’ll go by the hospital to get an update on her condition.”

  I dialed Adelle’s number. Worried over Carina’s situation, Adelle agreed to take Adrian to her home while Carina was checked over and said she would arrive shortly. I gave a thumbs-up to the sheriff, who then left, and I awaited Adelle’s arrival.

  Alone, I took the opportunity to rifle through Carina’s personal papers. In the midst of it, Adelle knocked on the front door, which sent me into a panic. She had arrived sooner than I had anticipated, leaving me without enough time to find anything that could help Jack. I jammed papers back into the desk drawers, quickly fumbled through Carina’s Kate Spade handbag for the house keys, and pocketed them.

  I hurried to greet Adelle with a soft hello and prepared to leave.

  A concerned look on her face, Adelle said, “I’ll wait until Adrian is up and get her ready to go to my house. My own kids will be happy to see her, and I’ll keep her at my house until Carina is sorted out. Keep me posted, won’t you?”

  “I will. Thanks for helping, I know Carina will be relieved to know Adrian will be okay.”

  The door closed behind me. I heard the lock click into place. Thankful Adrian would be looked after, I was certain the child would be fine. I drove from the house to the hospital and found Jack in the reception area.

  “How’s Carina?”

  “The doctor is still with her.”

  I darted a glance at his half-empty coffee cup.

  “Would you like some?” Carver asked with a half grin. “You look like you’re about to take mine.”

  “Yeah, I could use it about now.” I checked my watch, it was nearly two o’clock in the morning. A long day stretched ahead of me if I had no sleep, which I knew was a probability.

  We walked the high-sheen-polished hallway to the coffee shop. Both of us pensive, I helped myself to a jug-style carafe of strong brew, paid for it, and sat at a nearby table with Jack.

  “What brought you to Carina’s house?”

  I pulled the text message up on my phone and held it out for him to read.

  “You were sure this came from Carina, then?”

  “It’s her number at the top.” I poin
ted to it.

  “Anybody could have used her phone to get in touch with you.”

  Tired, I said, “Not everyone thinks the way you do, Jack. I don’t suspect every person I come across to be a perpetrator of some deadly crime. I figured Adrian was asleep in bed, and Carina must have been alone as well. I assumed she wanted to pick up where we left off.”

  “Reasonable enough, I guess.”

  “When I arrived, the house was dark. It was creepy.” Goose bumps popped up on my skin at the recollection. “I went into her backyard to enter from the deck. I was nervous about going inside. Then I saw Carina lying unconscious on the kitchen floor.”

  “So, you broke in?”

  Indignant, I snapped, “I did not. The slider was unlocked.”

  He grimaced and said, “You should have called us then and there. It might have been dangerous to enter the house. You should know better.”

  “Must you lecture me? It’s over. Let’s move on.”

  “Fine,” he groused.

  We returned to the waiting area and sat in silence.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  At odds once again, there was no doubt an argument brewed between us. If Dr. Sommers hadn’t walked into the room just then, we’d have had words. Ones that shouldn’t be said aloud and couldn’t be taken back once they were spoken. In light of Sheriff Carver’s aggressive grumpiness, I found myself on the defense a lot lately.

  Dr. Sommers greeted us. “Sheriff, Miss.”

  We rose and shook his hand. I held my breath for fear he had bad, very bad, or downright horrible news for us.

  “I’ve finished examining Mrs. Richland. Her blood test results show she’s become anemic, dangerously so. When she regained consciousness, we discussed what has been happening in her life lately. She’s under extreme pressure, some self-inflicted, some not.” He stared directly at Jack when he spoke of her health. He then looked my way. “I’m glad you are here, Mrs. Richland asked for and would like to see you.” He flicked a glance at Jack and then added, “Alone.”

  Uncomfortable in the atmosphere that had now become worse than before, I said, “Uh, okay.”

  Dr. Sommers motioned as he spoke. “She’s in the second room down that corridor, on your left. Don’t stay long. We’ll keep her for a day or so for observation and to work up a treatment regimen.”

  “I won’t take much of her time.” I trotted off and didn’t look back until I’d reached Carina’s room.

  Sommers and Jack were in the midst of what appeared to be a heated exchange. Bun’s words came back to me. Maybe Jack was off his feed.

  When I walked in and sat next to Carina, she opened her eyes and said, “Thank you for sending the rescue. I must have scared you half to death.”

  “You did until I realized you were still breathing. Then I called in the cavalry.”

  She smiled bit, and then sobered. “Where is Adrian? Does she know I’m here?”

  “She’s with Adelle and will stay with her family until you’re well enough to return home. Honestly, only children can sleep through such things.” I went on to explain Adelle’s plan and said I’d update the woman, so she could let Adrian know what was happening.

  “What’s going on with this anemia situation?”

  “I was quite run-down after Paul’s death. I had no appetite, was sleepless, and inundated by all that goes with the grief process and the legalities that need to be dealt with. I’m in the same state of health now. I must tell you about Evelyn, but you have to promise to keep it to yourself.”

  “If you’re in danger, I can’t promise not to tell Jack Carver. Otherwise, I won’t say a word.”

  “Evelyn began blackmailing me after Paul died. As a couple, Paul and I had a certain social standing in the community, and even now, I still have that. Mainly, I think it’s because of Paul and the programs I continue to participate in for the community. She knew our secret and Paul paid her to shut her up. When he was gone, it became my problem to deal with.”

  “Evelyn was cruel.”

  “And unfeeling. For a long time, she had no money and decided she would earn an income conceiving and carrying babies for those who couldn’t. Anyway, we lived elsewhere then and never told anyone that I hadn’t delivered Adrian. She’d blackmailed Paul all that time and it became worse when she moved to Windermere. Somehow she figured out that nobody knew of her part in our having a child. Paul and I were private about our lives, and for Adrian’s sake, we didn’t want the world to know how she’d been conceived.”

  “I see. Was that what you argued about at the party?”

  “She threatened to take me to court for custody of Adrian if I didn’t continue to pay her as Paul had always done. I became angry and said she’d get nothing more from me. I knew she’d call my bluff by spreading rumors about her, Paul, and worst of all, Adrian. My only hope was to let her think I was serious. I had planned to call my attorney to make sure I had nothing to worry over. Then we found her body in the woods. I did not kill her, Juliette, I didn’t.”

  “I know you would never do such a thing. Besides, you didn’t have a moment to yourself all day, let alone enough time to kill Evelyn.” I reached over, gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and said I couldn’t stay much longer.

  “You’ve been a great help. When you came over, I wanted to tell you all that, but Adelle came in and things went downhill. Then Sheriff Carver showed up and made things worse.”

  Before I could ask her what Adelle’s involvement was in all of this, a light tap sounded on the door and Dr. Sommers entered the room.

  “Mrs. Richland should rest now. You can visit again once she’s feeling better.” I nodded as he turned to Carina. He said a room was ready and that an orderly would take her to the second floor for the night.

  “I’ll be back. Get some rest, Carina, and listen to what Dr. Sommers recommends for treatment.”

  She nodded. I made my exit with Dr. Sommers on my heels.

  “Miss Bridge, if you wouldn’t mind waiting a moment. Mrs. Richland can recover from this, but she should have counseling as well. I know she was a model at one time, that Paul Richland was her husband, and he died in an accident. I was the doctor on duty when he was brought to the emergency room. A woman showed up, claimed she was Mrs. Richland, and was given access to him. Not long afterward, the second, and real, Mrs. Richland arrived. It made for a messy situation, since I had just explained to the fake Mrs. Richland all that had happened to the man.”

  “Why tell me all this?”

  “Because you seem to genuinely care about her.”

  “She’s had a difficult time these last few years, and the fake Mrs. Richland didn’t make it any easier.” I kept Carina’s confession to myself and said if she needed anything at all, he could call me. I dug a business card out of my inner pocket, wrote my cell phone number on it, and held it out to him.

  “Thank you.”

  “You said she’ll be here for a day or so?”

  “She’ll stay with us until I think she’s ready to leave.”

  I nodded and went home.

  * * *

  Dawn had crept up to the horizon as exhaustion crawled over me. Bleary-eyed, I greeted Jessica when she popped through the door, bright-eyed and wide awake.

  Surprised at my appearance, she asked, “What happened to you?”

  “I’ve had an all-nighter.” I told Jess what had taken place and slumped farther into the soft-cushioned living room chair. Bun sat in the doorway, his ears tipped forward, yammering about food.

  “Make breakfast, will you? I have to feed Bun.”

  “Okay.”

  I took Bun’s food from his cupboard and added fresh veggies to it. I refilled his water bin and whispered that we’d talk later.

  “Are you talking to Bun or me?”

  “To Bun. I always talk when I feed him.” I looked down, Bun looked up, and I winked. His whiskers jittered.

  “If you want to rest, I’ll take care of the rabbits.”

  “I
’ll do it, but if you want to give me a hand, that would be helpful. I’ll nap after the chores are finished.”

  Jess handed me a steaming cup of coffee and said, “If you say so. What do you want to eat?”

  “Toast.”

  “No protein there. How about an egg to go with it?”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  Unwilling to argue with her or anyone about anything, I remained in the chair, set my coffee cup on the side table, and relaxed.

  * * *

  “Wake up, wake up!”

  I forced my lids open and glanced down. Agitated, Bun trailed back and forth in front of me.

  “What?”

  “You’ve been asleep for quite a while. The sheriff is in the barn with Jessica. And we have a birthday party to get to.”

  “You’re right, thanks for waking me. I’ll go see what Carver wants this time. We almost had an argument at the emergency room while awaiting Carina’s diagnosis. She’ll be fine, though she scared the bejeepers out of me. Jack was on the verge of a tantrum and if this case isn’t solved soon, I might lose my mind, let alone my temper.”

  “Like I said, he’s off his feed. Remember when Petra was unwell? She was off her feed and cranky as all get-out.”

  “I didn’t know she was cranky, but she wasn’t hungry in the least.”

  “I tend to forget you don’t speak rabbit. Not everyone has the power to communicate with humans like I do.”

  “Mm, good point.” I freshened up, changed my clothes, and walked out to the barn. Jason, Jack Carver, and Jessica were there. Jason put away the supply order he had accepted from Jim Brody’s company. He handed me the invoice and asked, “You okay?”

  “I sure am. Thanks for handling this for me.”

  His face brightened with a look of satisfaction, and he wandered away, a bag of feed on his shoulder.

  Jessica went to greet her next patient. Jack and I were alone. He looked tired, causing me to wonder if he’d had any sleep after leaving the hospital.

  “Tired?”

  “I slept for an hour or so after we parted ways last night. I came by to tell you Mrs. Richland is doing well. I also wanted to apologize for being surly these past few weeks. The powers that be have been breathing down my neck and want this murder investigation solved immediately. It’s clear that they’ve forgotten how difficult finding a killer can be. They’ve probably been watching reruns of Law & Order on TV.” He rolled his eyes.