Lethal Remedies

by M. Louisa Locke

  “No time. First of all, Nate, your friend Mitchell and that Dr. Blair could use your advice this morning. The two of them and Tessa Wheeler and Charlie McFadyn were all taken into custody last night. The missing Brenda Halstrum was with them. McFadyn and Tessa Wheeler are accusing Dr. Blair of attempting to do an illegal abortion on this Brenda and also saying that both Mitchell and Dr. Blair should be charged with assault.”

  While Annie tried to assimilate this news, Nate said, “Did this happen at the dispensary?”

  “No, some boy came to the dispensary around nine last night and said a woman was in trouble, maybe a miscarriage. Dr. Blair foolishly agreed to go alone to see her. A couple of minutes later, when he heard what she’d done, your friend Dr. Mitchell set out to follow her. The boy brought Dr. Blair to some derelict building on Ninth Street and abandoned her. Dr. Blair said that McFadyn, Tessa, and the girl were already there when she arrived.”

  “Then what happened?” Annie said.

  “Dr. Blair says McFadyn pulled a knife on her and threatened to harm the girl Brenda if she didn’t get Hilda Putki’s son and bring the baby to him. She says when Dr. Mitchell arrived, he fought with McFadyn to get the knife away from him while she grappled with Tessa.”

  “Are Dr. Blair and Martin Mitchell all right?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Dawson. Thank goodness someone from the dispensary had the presence of mind to alert the local patrolman, Officer Blakely, who arrived on the scene before anyone was seriously hurt. Dr. Blair seems to have sustained a few scratches and Dr. Mitchell a couple of shallow defensive knife wounds on his hands. Since Dr. Mitchell was unarmed, that will do a good deal to support his and Dr. Blair’s claims. Tessa also has a few scratches. It appears that Dr. Blair is a bit of a scrappy fighter, not what I would expect. McFadyn might have a few bruises.”

  Annie said, “You said Dr. Blair and Mitchell were taken into custody.”

  “Yes. Officer Blakely felt he had to bring them all into the station to straighten everything out. McFadyn made a big deal about the doctor’s bag having instruments and some drug to induce an abortion, and Tessa swears up and down that she and McFadyn just happened to come in to see the girl. Says they were attempting to stop the doctor from ending the life of Brenda’s baby when Mitchell jumped them.”

  Annie said, “That’s preposterous! What does the girl Brenda say?”

  Thompson shrugged. “Not saying a word. It’s clear she’s scared to death of McFadyn, so I don’t know if she’ll tell the truth. Maybe she is pregnant, but if so, she’s not very far along.”

  Nate, frowning, said, “You said I should go to the dispensary. Does that mean Mitchell and Dr. Blair weren’t charged?”

  “Not yet, but neither were Tessa or Charlie. However, I can’t guarantee that the district attorney won’t press charges on all of them. The evidence that first McFadyn and then Tessa Wheeler attempted to get the girl Hilda out of the dispensary before her baby was born should help substantiate Dr. Blair’s claim that McFadyn was trying to get her to kidnap the baby. But McFadyn has some strong political backers and…”

  “And, even if there aren’t any charges against Dr. Blair and Mitchell, this isn’t going to be good for the dispensary’s reputation if it gets to the point of an arraignment, much less a trial,” Nate concluded for him.

  “That’s why I thought the sooner they got legal counsel the better.”

  Annie found herself thinking about the board meeting on Wednesday and how Mrs. Branting could use this to further her attacks on the dispensary leadership. And poor Ella Blair, this could ruin her career.

  She said, “There’s got to be something you can do, Sergeant, to get this figured out as quickly and quietly as possible.”

  “I’ve instructed Officer Blakely to locate the boy, Bobby. If he does, and he and this Brenda support Dr. Blair’s version of events, that would help a lot. There’s some additional good news. That information Miss Hennessey got from Hilda about the restaurant with its underage girls and private back rooms was new to the police. Sounds like it was news to Boss Buckley, who doesn’t like his men setting up this sort of establishment on their own.”

  Nate said, “Yes, it’s my understanding that one of the reasons for Buckley’s quick rise to power is the tight control he exercises over his lieutenants.”

  Thompson nodded. “One of my informants also told me that Buckley was already upset about McFadyn making a nuisance of himself at the dispensary. Interferes with Buckley’s attempt to establish himself as a man of class and respectability. Needless to say, he was especially unhappy to hear that all the ruckus was because McFadyn wanted to foist one of his bastards off on his wife.”

  Thompson ducked his head in embarrassment and said, “Excuse me, ma’am, didn’t mean to offend.”

  Annie told him that she took no offense, but then she said, “Why would that upset Buckley? I mean, I can understand if he didn’t like the idea of getting on the wrong side of the wealthy women who support the dispensary. But why would he care about McFadyn’s domestic difficulties with his wife?”

  Thompson laughed. “Turns out that McFadyn’s missus is one of Buckley’s favorite cousins, and she thought she had agreed to adopt some random orphan. I gather she was very upset.”

  Nate nodded. “Ah, so maybe Buckley’s angry enough with McFadyn that he won’t be quite as willing to go out of his way to help him out of a jam. That would be good news. But I’d better head down to the dispensary, see what Mitchell and Dr. Blair can add to the story you’ve told us. Thanks so much for letting us know. Annie, do you want to come with me?”

  Thompson held up his hand. “Before either of you take off, there’s something else you should know. Late last night, when I finally got around to checking my mail, I found the coroner’s report on his analysis of that mess of porridge you gave me. Turns out it contained a lethal dose of aconite. Seems you were right, Mrs. Dawson. Someone was trying to kill Phoebe Truscott.”

  Chapter 53

  Sunday morning, March 12, 1882

  Western Addition, San Francisco

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Nate had left the boardinghouse to catch a cab on Market that would take him to the dispensary, and Annie was sitting in a different cab with Sergeant Thompson on the way to the Truscotts’ house in the Western Addition.

  Annie had convinced the sergeant that she needed to accompany him in order to tell him what she’d just learned in reading Granger’s memoir. He’d sent the officer he’d brought with him to sit up top with the driver so they could have a private conversation. Another officer was already on his way to the Truscotts’ home, having picked up a search warrant from a friendly judge. Poison in the porridge certainly had gotten everyone’s attention.

  Once the cab started moving, Thompson said, “So, Mrs. Dawson, you believe that you found a connection in Granger’s memoir between his murder and the Truscotts. Are you saying you think that the same person who tried to poison Phoebe Truscott killed Dr. Granger?”

  “I think that’s possible. Right before you arrived, I found a reference to one of Granger’s early patients, a woman who died after giving birth to a son. He was so upset by what happened that he never would take another obstetrics case from that point on. The woman’s name was Garnet Truscott.”

  Thompson looked surprised. Then he said, “And you think this dead woman is a relative of Richard Truscott?”

  Annie said, “You’re the one who doesn’t like coincidences. Seems very likely that a woman named Garnet might have a sister named Ruby, which is the given name of the aunt who raised Richard Truscott, after his mother died in childbirth. The aunt who also has used Dr. Skerry as her primary physician for years.”

  “Are you suggesting that almost thirty years later, Richard decided to murder the man he thought was responsible for his mother’s death? I’m certainly willing to see Richard Truscott as the primary suspect in the attempt on his wife’s life. And, to be consistent, I did ask him if he had an alibi fo
r the night of Granger’s death. But that was based on my thought that maybe he blamed the good doctor for his wife’s refusal to leave the dispensary and come home. But to kill him in revenge for something that happened that long ago? Why wait all that time?” Thompson asked.

  “I’ve been thinking about that. Richard might never have known the name of the doctor who was treating his mother or even the exact circumstances of her death. And his aunt might not have known the doctor’s name, either, if she hadn’t been living with her sister’s family when the death occurred. In his memoir, Granger made it sound like he picked up and moved west almost immediately.”

  “Are you are suggesting that somehow they only discovered the connection recently?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps Dr. Granger only recently made the connection himself. Dr. Blair mentioned to me that Richard’s aunt never came to visit Phoebe in the dispensary. In fact, I think that last Monday, when Richard and his aunt came to the dispensary, was the first time Dr. Granger had ever met Ruby Prentise. It’s possible she resembles her sister and he put two and two together. Lydia and Nellie Granger said that in the days before he was killed, something from his past had been bothering him. Maybe he reached out to Richard, maybe even to confess the role he’d played in the death of Richard’s mother.”

  “If so, I guess this makes Richard Truscott a prime suspect in both the poisoning of his wife and Granger’s murder. And he doesn’t have a solid alibi for the night Granger died,” Thompson said.

  Annie was surprised. She said, “You’ve already questioned him? I thought you didn’t have cause before now?”

  “Yes, I interviewed him, his aunt, and the servants yesterday, early afternoon. First, I used the anonymous letters as an excuse to visit Dr. Skerry in the morning.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She wasn’t happy to be questioned about writing the letters, but she got a lot more helpful when she realized that I was primarily interested in her possible involvement in Granger’s murder. She was very quick to assure me that the night he was killed she was hosting a party until well past midnight, with lots of prominent witnesses. Her husband and servants also confirmed that she remained at home for the rest of the night.”

  Annie said, “Did she disavow the letters?”

  “Yes, but she also pointed to Richard Truscott and his aunt as the possible authors. Tried to have me believe that her public disagreements with Granger and the dispensary were of no importance…something that happened all the time between doctors. Instead, she said that it was the Truscotts who were behind everything.”

  Annie said, “I can’t believe she would sell them out so quickly.”

  Thompson nodded. “The woman is quick to save her own skin.”

  “At least she is less likely to continue her attacks against the dispensary now,” Annie said.

  “Yes, and more importantly, when I mentioned that the police were pursuing the question of whether the medicine that she’d prescribed for Phoebe Truscott had been used to poison her, she really got upset. Fell over herself to blame Richard Truscott and his aunt. She said she thought the two of them had become unhinged over their dislike of Granger, that they would be willing to do anything to discredit him and the dispensary.”

  “So she was suggesting that one of them might have poisoned Phoebe, primarily as a way to get back at Granger?”

  “Yes, and at the time, I thought that was a ridiculous idea. But now that you’ve found this connection, I guess it is possible.”

  Annie nodded. “You didn’t have the results of the porridge when you spoke to Skerry, did you?”

  “No, but I brought one of the bottles that Mrs. Truscott’s maid had taken from the house, which, by the way, the good Dr. Blatch verified did hold belladonna. When I showed the bottle to Dr. Skerry, she swore it wasn’t hers. Got up and brought her medical bag to show that all her bottles were dark green, different in size, shape, and color from the clear bottles Joan brought you. And all Skerry’s bottles were labeled with her name, address, and the contents.”

  Annie scoffed. “That doesn’t prove anything. If she was intentionally trying to make Phoebe ill, for her own purposes, she would have been smart enough to use different bottles.”

  “I know. However, now that I think about it, Skerry said that the sort of bottle I was showing her matched the kind found in old homeopathic kits that were sold in the 1850s, and that Ruby Prentise had such a kit.”

  The carriage made the turn onto Van Ness, and Annie said, “So it would have been possible for either Richard or his aunt to have used the medicine in that homeopathic kit on Phoebe. And, yesterday morning, both Richard and his aunt made a concerted effort to get Phoebe to come home with them immediately.”

  Thompson said, “I hope she didn’t agree.”

  “Not then, but I don’t know how long she will hold out. She wants to believe that it was Dr. Skerry who was behind everything and that the goal had been to make her sick, not kill her. With this new information, it looks like the intent was murder, and it is harder to see how Dr. Skerry would have been able to get the aconite into the porridge—at least without the help of someone in the house. Phoebe is going to be so upset.”

  “Yes, I don’t look forward to having that conversation with Mrs. Truscott,” Thompson said.

  “And you said Phoebe’s husband didn’t have a good alibi for the night of Dr. Granger’s death?”

  “No, not really. His story was that he retired to his room after dinner, around seven. Did some work and then went to bed around ten. None of the servants came upstairs after dinner, so there was no one to verify that either Mr. Truscott or his aunt were in the house between seven and the next morning. However, his aunt insists that she had a brief conversation with her nephew through his door around seven-thirty, which is when she passed by on her way to bed. I must say, he looked surprised when she volunteered that information. I wouldn’t be surprised if Miss Prentise would lie to protect her nephew.”

  Annie said, “So you hope you will discover evidence of the poison if you search the house?”

  “Yes, and of course now we can ask some very pointed questions about the Truscotts and Dr. Granger, see if your suspicions are correct. I will be curious to see how the aunt responds when I tell her Dr. Skerry said she and her nephew were behind the letters sent to the newspapers attacking Granger and the dispensary.”

  Annie thought about the conversation she witnessed at the dispensary yesterday and how Ruby Prentise had continued to defend Dr. Skerry. She also pictured how upset the older woman had become when Phoebe stood up to her. She was not a woman who took being challenged lightly.

  She said, “Sergeant, did you know that Richard’s father died unexpectedly about seven years ago? Phoebe Truscott said that Richard inherited a substantial amount of money from his father’s life insurance, as well as shares in his father’s company.”

  Thompson looked sharply at her and said, “What are you suggesting?”

  “I can’t help but wonder how Richard’s father died and if there was anything suspicious about his death.”

  “You think that Richard Truscott may have gotten the idea to kill his wife for her money because he had already killed his father for that purpose? And gotten away with it?”

  “Actually, sergeant, I was wondering why we were assuming that the person with the strongest motive for killing anyone was Richard Truscott…and not his aunt?”

  Chapter 54

  Saturday morning, March 12, 1882

  Truscotts’ House, Western Addition

  * * *

  As the police cab pulled up in front of the Truscott house, Annie saw out of its window that a blue uniformed constable stood on the sidewalk. Annie had reluctantly agreed to stay in the carriage, but before Thompson could descend, the constable came up and reported that the house owner, Mr. Truscott, accompanied by a woman, had arrived a few minutes ago. When the officer questioned their cab driver, he said he picked them up south of Market at
the Pacific Dispensary.

  Annie leaned towards the window and asked the constable if the woman was a white-haired, older woman.

  “If you’re thinking she was the old lady that lives here, I don’t think so. Couldn’t see who the woman was that clearly, but she was a right bit smaller than Mr. Truscott’s aunt.”

  Annie said, “Sergeant Thompson, I’m coming in with you. If Richard returned to the dispensary without his aunt, he might have persuaded Phoebe to come home with him. She could be in there now and in great danger.”

  Thompson nodded grimly and helped her get down from the carriage. They ascended the stairs to the front porch, followed by the two officers.

  After one of the officers pulled the bell and knocked smartly on the door, they waited. Annie thought she heard muffled shouting and looked over anxiously at Thompson, who sent one of the constables around to the back entrance and then rang the bell again.

  Abruptly, a black uniformed servant pulled the door open, looking startled when she recognized Thompson. She said, “I’m sorry, sir, the master isn’t receiving.”

  “He’ll receive me. Tell your master that I’ve a warrant, and I’m coming in whether he likes it or not.”

  Thompson pushed his way past the servant, who put her hand to her mouth and started to cry. He ordered the officer with him to run down to the kitchen and let the other officer in then to ask him to stay there until they had located everyone in the house, not letting anyone leave.

  There were raised voices coming from upstairs, and Annie, who followed Thompson in, pulled the servant aside and said gently, “Is your mistress upstairs?”

  “Oh ma’am, yes, and she’s so angry,” the maid wailed. “She won’t be pleased that I let the police in.”

  “Why is Mrs Truscott angry?” Annie asked sharply.

  “Mrs. Truscott? I haven’t seen her in a week. I thought you meant Miss Prentise.”