Lethal Remedies

by M. Louisa Locke

  Sergeant Thompson ate the last scrap of his sandwich, wiped his gray mustache, and said, “That certainly hit the spot. Tell Mrs. O’Rourke how much I appreciate her thoughtfulness. Got the call this morning before I’d had a chance to sit down to breakfast.”

  Nate watched as Annie took Thompson’s plate and put it on the desk behind her. She said, “Beatrice thought that might be the case. Do you want some more coffee?”

  “That would be right kind. I’m afraid it’ll be hours before I can finish writing up reports, and I doubt very much I will get home at all tonight.”

  Nate shifted impatiently. This had been a long day, his client hadn’t done well during cross-examination in court today, and he needed to put in some serious time looking at case law tonight before he went back in before the judge tomorrow morning. So he wanted Thompson to get on with it.

  Thompson gave him a sharp glance, and after taking a long sip of his coffee, he said, “I expect you want to know why I’m here. Truth is, I’m not so sure, except that as I looked at the crime scene, I remembered that this Dr. Granger had come up in my conversation with you on Monday, Nate. I believe you said that he’d been the doctor who brought that young pregnant girl into the dispensary…and had some part in the other little problem you brought me…about someone trying to poison one of the dispensary patients. Seemed like an odd coincidence that three days later this same doctor suddenly turned up dead…and I don’t put much faith in coincidences.”

  Nate didn’t think too much of coincidences, either, but he was also aware that his primary responsibility, helping Annie protect the reputation of the dispensary, and Thompson’s job, catching a killer, were not necessarily compatible.

  Annie spoke up and said, “Sergeant Thompson, why don’t you tell us what you know so far about what happened to Dr. Granger, and then we might be better able to help you?”

  Nate leaned back, pretending he had all the time in the world, because he knew his wife had hit on the safest strategy. Get Thompson to unburden himself first, then they could better judge what they should or should not say.

  Thompson looked at Annie, then at Nate, and then shrugged. “Normally, I wouldn’t talk freely about a case, not at this point. But Dr. Harry Granger was a well-known and respected citizen in this city, and Chief Jackson made it clear to me he expects me to find out who killed him and bring this person to justice as quickly as possible. While there’s no reason to think either of you are involved, it does seem to me you might have some knowledge that, at the very least, could help me ignore some leads that are probably going to be dead ends.”

  “Thank you for being so honest, sergeant,” Annie said. “He was killed in his office. That’s all we know. Who discovered him?”

  “His oldest daughter, Lydia. She’s a spinster who keeps house for him. She says he’d told her he wouldn’t be home for dinner until nine-thirty last night because he had a patient scheduled for eight. When he still hadn’t arrived home at ten, she sent the servants, a cook and a parlor maid, to bed. She said she didn’t worry at the time, because he often didn’t arrive home when he said he would. Would get caught up in writing up notes from the day’s patients or researching in his medical texts if one of those patients had presented him with a puzzle. However, she said he would normally be home by midnight, and if he’d been called to tend some patient because of an emergency and knew he would be much later, he always called her on the telephone.”

  “Telephone! You’re saying he’s got one of those in his house?” Annie said, clearly surprised.

  “Yes, and in his office,” Thompson said.

  Nate said, “I believe one of the main lines goes right up Geary, out to the Western Addition. If his office is on Dupont, and his home is on Geary, it wouldn’t cost too much to get both places hooked up to that line.”

  Nate had been working on his uncle to agree to hook up the law offices.

  “So, when he didn’t come home at midnight, did she call him?” Annie asked.

  “Yes, but got no answer. Again, she wasn’t too surprised, thought he’d just forgotten to call her. Made it sound like recently he’d been getting a bit absent-minded. I believe the man was in his late seventies. So she went on to bed. When she woke up this morning, around five-thirty, and discovered he wasn’t home yet, she began to be concerned. Said this had never happened before. She got dressed and took a cab down to his office. I think she was worried he’d taken ill, and his nurse wasn’t due to come to the office until eight-thirty.”

  “Oh dear, how distressing for her,” Annie exclaimed.

  Nate said, “How’d he die?”

  “We don’t know the exact cause of death yet. The city physician on call, Dr. Blatch, has the autopsy scheduled for tomorrow morning. Granger had been hit several times in the back of the head, caving in his skull. Blatch said that the death could have been caused directly by the blows or he might have had a stroke or a heart attack as a response to these injuries.”

  Nate wondered what kind of strength it would take to kill a man this way. “So no chance that the injuries were caused by Granger falling and hitting his head, maybe in a faint? You’re sure it was murder?”

  “Absolutely sure. The weapon, a heavy bronze statue of some Greek guy named Hippocrates, lay beside him, covered in blood. The daughter said the statue usually sits on her father’s desk. From where he lay on the office floor, looks like he was standing by the washstand when someone came up to him from behind and hit him. Dr. Blatch says there are signs of multiple blows, which might have been administered after the doctor was on the ground. Interestingly, Granger had his stethoscope around his neck, you know the thing doctors use to listen to your heart and lungs?”

  Annie said, “Didn’t his daughter say he had a late patient?”

  Thompson said, “Yes, supposed to arrive at seven-thirty. His nurse confirmed this, although she said she had already left for the day so she didn’t see the patient arrive. The nurse said she didn’t even know if the patient was male or female, although she assumed the patient was male because the doctor normally didn’t schedule female patients, particularly new ones, for a time when a nurse wasn’t going to be present.”

  Nate said, “So what do you think happened? This unknown patient arrives, the doctor turns his back, maybe to wash his hands before he examines him, and the man grabs up this statue and hits the doctor over the head. Granger lays there until the morning, when his daughter discovers him.”

  Thompson said, “That’s what it sounds like…if the nurse can be believed.”

  Nate said, “Why would she lie?”

  “I don’t know, but here’s another one of those coincidences I don’t like. The nurse is a Miss Astrello, who happens to work at the Pacific Dispensary. I might add, Mrs. Dawson, she’d already been informed of Granger’s death before I tracked her down at the dispensary this morning, thanks to the telegram you sent Dr. Blair.”

  “Oh, good heavens, Sergeant Thompson, it never occurred to me that you wanted me to keep the information a secret. I felt I needed to tell Dr. Blair, before she heard about it from some stranger, like one of her patients. Besides, you can’t possibly think that anyone who works for the dispensary would wish Dr. Granger harm, not after all he’s done for them? As for Miss Astrello, I happen to know she’s one of the first women to graduate from the dispensary’s nurses’ training program, so there’s nothing nefarious about him hiring her.”

  Nate wanted to warn Annie not to sound so partisan about the clinic and its staff since it would undercut her effectiveness with Thompson. A trap many of his witnesses fell into when they were on the stand.

  Thompson said, “Now, Mrs. Dawson, no reason to get riled up. A man in my position has to doubt everyone, at least at first. But that’s why I’m here. To see if you all know anything that would suggest I not believe this Miss Astrello.”

  Annie looked over at Nate and then smiled at Thompson and said, “I apologize. Of course you have to check everything. And to be honest, b
eyond a quick introduction, my only knowledge about Nurse Astrello comes from Dr. Blair’s comments about what a good nurse she is. Have you learned anything different that would make you doubt her?”

  Nate saw Thompson relax. As usual, Annie had perceived her mistake and corrected it.

  Thompson said, “No, I didn’t. The doctor’s date book confirmed that he had an appointment for seven-thirty, although all he had written down was ‘patient.’ Miss Astrello told me she left his office at six, along with the last regularly scheduled patient, and met her fiancé at the corner of Dupont and Market to board the horse car. We’ve already checked with the patient and the horsecar driver. Both confirm Miss Astrello’s version of events. The horse car driver says this couple boards his car at the same time every evening, so he’s sure he would have noticed if they’d not done so.”

  Nate thought of the number of times he’d heard a witness say they were sure they would have noticed if someone didn’t do what they usually did, and then it turned out not to be true, so he doubted the horsecar driver’s testimony had convinced Thompson. But with no obvious motive, it was probably enough for the sergeant to let Nurse Astrello go as a viable suspect, for now. He could see that Thompson was trying to clear the weeds, so to speak.

  Wishing to help him along, Nate said to Annie, “Is there anyone, among the staff, that you suspect might have had any problems with Dr. Granger?”

  Annie frowned then said, “Among the medical staff, no. But one thing that concerns me is what happened last evening. It appears that someone in the dispensary let a woman in who tried to get Hilda Putki to leave with her. Someone who appeared to be working for Charlie McFadyn. That suggests there is someone on the staff who isn’t all that reliable. Did you hear about this, Sergeant Thompson?”

  Thompson nodded. “Yes, Dr. Blair told me. I think your concern is warranted. Evidently, one of the servants, a Brenda Halstrom, disappeared sometime early this morning, taking all her things with her. She’d only been working there two months, in the laundry. Another maid, Megs, said this Brenda had taken an uncommon interest in Hilda.”

  “Then she could be the one who told McFadyn that Hilda was a patient in the dispensary,” Annie said. “Then told him that the doors were now locked even in the day time, with the staff told to be on the lookout for him.”

  “That’s what Dr. Blair suggested, and I have no reason to doubt her. We’re trying to track the girl down now. I would also like to interview the girl Hilda. However, Dr. Blair persuaded me to wait because her health is too precarious right now. I hope if we find this Brenda, we won’t need to disturb the girl until she and the baby are stronger.”

  Nate intervened and said, “But what does all this have to do with Granger’s death?”

  Annie said, “Nate, remember, it was Dr. Granger who brought Hilda to the dispensary. If this Brenda Halstrom knew that, she could’ve told McFadyn. We already know he has a violent temper. What if the failure of his scheme yesterday to get that woman to drag Hilda out of the dispensary sent him off in a rage to confront Dr. Granger?”

  Nate said, “But what about the patient who was to come see Dr. Granger at seven-thirty? Since this appointment was made the day before, this doesn’t fit the idea of McFadyn storming over to the doctor’s office in a temper a day later.”

  Thompson said, “Yes, I think we should assume this scheduled patient wasn’t McFadyn. On the other hand, as far as we know, this patient could be completely innocent. After his appointment, the patient leaves the doctor at the washstand, cleaning his hands, stethoscope still around his neck. Then McFadyn could have come in and, after an argument, he could have bashed the poor doctor over the head with the statue.”

  Nate shook his head. “I don’t mean to disparage this theory. In fact, it’s really quite attractive. Makes both the dispensary and Dr. Granger the heroes in the story. However, short of a witness who would place McFadyn at the doctor’s office, how do you prove this is what happened?”

  Thompson said, “That’s the problem. While it wouldn’t be that hard to get a jury to believe that a man like McFadyn could kill a man in cold blood, it is also going to be hard to find a witness who would be willing to testify against one of Boss Buckley’s men. In fact, it’s more likely that several men will come forward and swear that McFadyn was with them playing poker in some back room at the time of the murder. Doesn’t mean we won’t be following that trail. Meanwhile, I have to consider other possibilities, like Granger’s son.”

  “His son!” Annie exclaimed. “Why him?”

  Thompson said, “Ever meet him?”

  “No, although I know that, like his father, he’s a consulting physician for the dispensary. In fact, I believe he’s the one who Dr. Blair had asked to attend to Hilda Putki since Granger’s son is the obstetrician. Wouldn’t he have been at the dispensary last night during her confinement?”

  “He did get there eventually, but not until around 9:30, three hours after he’d been summoned, which puzzled Dr. Blair enough for her to mention it to me. When I pressed her, she also admitted that there were occasional differences between father and son. For example, the son felt his father shouldn’t encourage the dispensary doctors to do operations such as the one performed on Mrs. Truscott.”

  Nate said, “But would this be a motive for the son to kill the father?”

  Thompson said, “I don’t know. All I do know is that Dr. Blair was clearly uncomfortable with that line of questioning. Just as she was uncomfortable when I asked if there was anybody else who might have a problem with Dr. Granger, like Richard Truscott.”

  Nate saw Annie’s shoulders slump. He knew that this was not the direction that she wanted Thompson to look, because it had the most potential to damage the dispensary’s reputation.

  But his wife sat up straighter and said, “I suppose if someone, like Richard Truscott or Dr. Skerry, was trying to poison Phoebe Truscott, you do need to consider whether or not the death of Dr. Granger isn’t connected in some fashion to that poisoning.”

  Chapter 41

  Wednesday, late evening, March 8, 1882

  Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children

  * * *

  Ella stood in the second floor hallway and looked at her watch. Eleven. Martin Mitchell would be here soon. She had been awakened an hour ago by Kate Dewar, who had the night shift in the nursery wards. The children were all asleep; it was Jocko who Kate had been worried about. She’d heard him softly moaning and wanted to know if she could give him a small dose of laudanum. The poor boy’s pain got so severe sometimes that he couldn’t sleep. But he really hated to ask for any medication, fearing that he would become dependent on it again.

  Ella came down and had a quiet conversation with the boy as she rubbed arnica on his hips and down his leg. She’d found that sometimes all he needed was a distraction from the pain to get on top of it, then he could sleep. But she also gave instructions to Kate to give him the smallest dose of laudanum possible if, after another half-hour, he still wasn’t asleep. Jocko had wanted to know details about Sergeant Thompson’s visit this morning. Sean had made a special trip to the dispensary tonight to let him know about the Bulletin’s mention of Dr. Granger’s death. Ella wasn’t surprised that Jocko was concerned that there might be some connection between Dr. Granger’s death and the failed attempt yesterday to get Hilda away from the dispensary. But she didn’t want to encourage this train of thought. Mostly, Ella didn’t want to think about Dr. Granger’s death at all; it was just too painful.

  So, she’d gotten Jocko off this topic as quickly as she could by asking him to tell her more about the story he had been reading to Billy a couple of weeks ago, and when she saw his eyes begin to droop, she’d had him lie down, pulled the covers over him, and turned down the oil lamp by his bed. Now she could go upstairs and try to go back to sleep, or she could go downstairs and wait to let Dr. Mitchell in.

  Had he even heard about Dr. Granger’s death? If not, somehow it seemed irresponsible not t
o tell him. What if Jocko’s speculation that McFadyn had a role in killing Dr. Granger was correct? What if McFadyn blamed Dr. Granger for bringing Hilda to the dispensary and killed the doctor in revenge? Couldn’t Dr. Mitchell be in danger as well, since he’d been the one to thwart McFadyn directly, had pulled a gun on him? He needed to be warned. Although she was sure he would just make fun of her for worrying.

  Even so, it was her duty to tell him, and so she went downstairs to where Megs sat dozing in a chair in the reception room and asked her to go to the kitchen to fetch the plate Cook had left warming for him. Ella went and poked up the fire in the reception room, plumped up the pillow on the cot, and then ineffectively tried to pin her hair up, looking at the mirror over the mantel.

  She’d dressed hastily when Nurse Dewar knocked on her attic door an hour earlier, but she’d not taken the time to put her hair back up. This made her feel somehow undressed, but with only the two pins she’d used to pull the hair off her face when she first arose, the rest, which went down to her waist, simply wouldn’t stay up. Shrugging, she went to stand in the window that overlooked the street, watching for Mitchell’s arrival. Within moments, she saw him pass under the gas lamp on the corner, recognizing him by his height, the way his derby sat on the back of his head, and the flash of his ginger mustache.

  She didn’t know how he stayed upright. She knew he’d been at his part-time job at Toland Hall this morning, then spent the afternoon working at his uncle’s pharmacy, and then he went right to his job as an orderly. She heard from the nurses that he only slept fitfully at night, getting up almost every couple of hours to check the front and back doors. He would then go right from the dispensary to his job at Toland Hall and work until noon, at which point he’d get a ride home to his boardinghouse with Caro Sutton, whose classes ended when his job ended.