Twenty-Five
Mom gasped. “I’ll catch the next flight east.”
“You’d better hurry. I don’t have much longer.”
“No! It will take me at least a day to get to Wagtail Mountain. Holly?” said Mom. “Could you step out and find the doctor? I’d like to speak with him.”
I walked outside the room and switched the phone off speaker. “I’ll look for him and call you back.”
“No, honey, wait! I don’t need the doctor. Is Birdie really dying?”
“I don’t know. I think she’s looking better.”
“So she’s not just being Birdie? Pulling a fast one to get me to leave my family and fly to her?”
At that moment, I felt sorry for Aunt Birdie. She was a pill. In a way, she deserved my mother’s reluctance to believe her. I had been highly irritated by her on many occasions since my move back to Wagtail. She was cursed with the demeanor of a haughty schoolteacher who could make a person feel deeply ashamed over a minor transgression. But I had seen her good sides, too. They didn’t often show, but I knew for certain that if our roles were switched, and I was in that hospital bed, Aunt Birdie would be by my side.
“Holly, tell her I’m coming. I’m not, but just tell her that.”
“I’m not going to lie to her.”
“Then tell her I’m packing. And keep me posted. If the doctor thinks she’s dying, then I’ll come.”
I promised my mom I would text her with updates, and then I went in search of Dr. Engelknecht. I found him comparing results.
He smiled at me. “Definitely aconite again. The difference between Seth and our two ladies is that it was injected in his back, near his heart. Unless that had happened in an emergency room, he had virtually no chance of survival. However, in the cases of Birdie and Dovie, it appears they ingested the aconite, a much more common means of getting it into your system. Each year a few people mistake wolfsbane for something else and put it in a salad or make a tea from it. In fact, in some cultures, it’s used medicinally. Not something I would recommend given the high level of toxicity.”
“That’s why Dovie lost feeling in her mouth?”
“A piece or pieces of it probably touched areas on her mouth when she ingested it. In Birdie’s case, it was likely wrapped up in other food, or she might have swallowed it whole with a liquid chaser.”
I swallowed hard. “Will they survive?”
“I think so. Aconite poisoning is treatable if you get prompt medical attention. In this case, they were helped by Seth’s death. If we hadn’t had aconite in mind already, it could have taken longer to figure out what ailed them.”
“Thank you, Dr. Engelknecht. Is it safe to leave them alone and get some sleep?”
“The nurses will look after them. I’m heading home shortly, too.”
I looked in on Dovie and Aunt Birdie again one more time before I left. They were both asleep. Oma always said sleep heals. I hoped she was correct.
It was four thirty in the morning when I slid into bed.
At six o’clock, I woke to furious rapping on my door. Groaning, I rolled out of bed, threw on a robe, and walked to the door like a Neanderthal. I swung it open to find a small crowd.
Holmes’s mom and dad, Grace and Doyle Richardson, walked into my apartment, followed by Oma and Gingersnap.
“I’ve never been in your apartment before, Holly,” exclaimed Grace. “What a gorgeous view of the lake!”
I struggled to get my precaffeine brain in gear.
“Oh, honey! Doesn’t your grandmother pay you enough to buy decent nighties?”
I looked down at my bathrobe, which hung open and showed my T-shirt. “Everyone sleeps in T-shirts. Excuse me.”
I hurried back to my room to put on decent clothes and at least run a brush through my hair. Wearing a periwinkle shirt and a white skort, I returned to my living room, where Mr. Huckle was pouring coffee for everyone. He had set a tray of breakfast breads on my coffee table, along with napkins. Twinkletoes had settled on a high shelf and observed everyone with feline suspicion. I felt a little wary of this intrusion myself.
Trixie had jumped up into the chair where Oma sat, pleased as punch that we had company.
“Please do join us, Mr. Huckle,” said Oma, as if we were having a party.
He handed me a mug of coffee. “I suspect you need this.”
Grace smiled at me. “This is such a cute place. It’s a pity the apartment won’t be big enough when the baby comes.”
Oma gasped. “You’re pregnant?” I could see the wounded look on her face because I hadn’t told her first.
“No!” I said, aghast.
They all spoke at once. Clutching my coffee, I stood in the middle of the room and said, “I am not engaged. I am not married. I am most certainly not pregnant! Now please forgive me, but I had one and a half hours of sleep last night. Why are you here?”
“You have to find out who poisoned Dovie and your aunt Birdie,” said Grace.
“We’ve come to ask for your help,” said Holmes’s father. “They took Rose to prison this morning.”
“What?” It came out louder than I intended.
“Not to prison, actually, but to the police station to be questioned. They might arrest her and take her into custody!” Grace explained. “Your old boyfriend, Ben, was a lawyer. Any chance he would come to Wagtail?”
“No, no, no.” Oma waggled her finger. “We are not that desperate. Not the Ben!”
“Where’s Holmes?” I asked. If he was at home asleep, I was going to be pretty miffed.
“He and Judge Barlow went with Rose. She’s beside herself with fear. You know she didn’t hurt anyone.”
“I still don’t understand why Barlow went with them,” grumbled Doyle.
“Honey, that’s all in the past. Bobbie has been dead for years. We have to let those old grudges be bygones.” Grace clutched her husband’s hand. “Especially now.”
“My father is flipping in his grave to imagine that my mother is in the same vehicle as Judge Barlow.”
“Doyle, calm down. He’s doing us a favor, though, for the life of me, I can’t imagine why.” Grace shook her head.
“As I recall, the judge thought highly of you, Doyle,” said Oma.
“That’s true. He wanted you as a son-in-law,” Grace pointed out.
“He wasn’t so pleased with me when Bobbie died. I tell you, I don’t like him interfering in our lives. He doesn’t have Mom’s best interests at heart.”
“Holmes is with them,” I said softly. “And the judge knows how the system works.”
“That’s why we’re here, dear. We all know that Rose wouldn’t harm anyone. You’re so good at figuring these things out, Holly. Won’t you please help us?”
“Grace, you didn’t have to come here and ask me. Rose is like a grandmother to me. I’m very concerned about this situation.”
“It is true that neither Rose nor I have been very fond of Birdie and her ridiculous pretenses.” Oma stroked Trixie as she spoke. “But this is annoyance, not hatred, and does not lead to attempted murder. And we have nothing against Dovie.”
“That’s right, Liesel.” Doyle spoke firmly. “Rose has no reason to harm those women.”
It was going to come out eventually. I hated to be the one who gave up Rose’s little secret, but who would have ever expected something like this to happen? I took a deep breath and braced myself. “The judge and Rose have been seeing each other.”
“What?” Doyle popped out of his seat like someone had lit it on fire.
“Honey, sit down. I think Holly might be confused.” Grace smiled at me.
Oma tsked. “I also believe you are mistaken. Rose would have told me if that were the case.”
“Now what would make you think that, Holly?” asked Grace.
“Rose asked me to come over to the judge’s house because they thought someone was spying on them. Actually, listening to their conversations.”
Mr. Huckle rose to refill coffee cups. “Why, that’s appalling!”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Doyle protested.
“Did you find the perpetrator?” asked Oma.
I explained about the letters to the three women.
“Can it be that a fourth woman is trying to get rid of them all?” asked Oma.
“That’s a distinct possibility. And it’s worth pointing out that Seth died from the same poison, and in Rose’s backyard.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that Birdie is chasing the judge,” said Grace. “She’s been looking for a man as long as I have known her. One has to pity her, really.”
Mr. Huckle nodded. “And poor Dovie is like family to the Barlows. Perhaps she mistakenly latched on to the judge in a romantic way. Imagined being his wife now that Theona is gone.”
“But why didn’t Rose tell us about this?” asked Oma.
“Because she knew you would all object.”
“Ach! Nonsense!” Oma sounded miffed. “Although Theona has only been gone for six months. It’s far too early to chase her husband.” She held up her forefinger. “One year minimum. Even that is too soon.”
I smiled at her. “You see?”
Doyle’s complexion was worryingly red. “Mom has lost her mind. What’s she doing chasing a man anyway? Why can’t she just be happy by herself? And to choose Grant? What could she possibly have been thinking? The one man in all of Wagtail who threatened her own husband!”
Grace was the only one who appeared sad. “We let her down. Rose felt she couldn’t tell us. What other secrets does she have? I’m horrified that she couldn’t come to her own family and be honest with us.”
“Well then,” said Mr. Huckle, “we must find the fourth woman.”
“It’s probably someone in our age group,” said Oma. “Likely someone we know. I think we can exclude married women, which would narrow the field considerably. Come to my office. We can make a list quite quickly from the Wagtail resident roster. Mr. Huckle, would you please bring breakfast to my office for the Richardsons and me? Holly, keep us posted on what you find out.”
The Richardsons were nice people, but I heaved a sigh of relief when they left. I was far too alert to go back to bed, so I hopped in the shower and dressed in a sleeveless blouse and a skort that passed as a proper skirt. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and flipped it through the elastic holder to dress it up a little bit. Earrings and a necklace completed what I hoped was a competent look. My only concession to total casualness was sneakers. I had a bad feeling it might be the kind of day when I would be on the run.
I was outside, waiting for Trixie to do her morning business, when Aunt Birdie called me.
“I want to go home,” she whined. “Can you please come spring me from this torment?”
“I’m delighted that you’re feeling better.”
“Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.”
“Has the doctor released you?”
“Engelknecht? I haven’t even seen him this morning,” she complained.
“Call me when he comes in. I don’t think they’ll release you without his permission.”
“Come pick me up this minute, or I’ll change my will and leave everything to your half siblings.”
I laughed. She was feeling much better! “Call me when the doctor comes in. Goodbye, Aunt Birdie!” I clicked off before she could make more threats. I only hoped that Dovie was feeling as well as Birdie.
Dave caught up to us on the sidewalk as we were headed to the dining area. “I thought I would be busy with petty thefts this weekend. Not attempted murder by residents of Wagtail. Is Mercury in retrograde?”
“Not that I’ve heard. Have you been in touch with Dr. Engelknecht this morning?”
“Not a peep. We have, however, searched Rose’s house.”
“Did you find anything?”
“I think I’d like to order breakfast first if you don’t mind,” he said.
That didn’t sound promising. The tables were almost empty. I guessed people were sleeping late.
Shelley brought us coffee and tea right away. “Is it true that Rose has been arrested and Dovie and Birdie are in the hospital?”
Dave quickly informed her that Rose hadn’t been arrested yet. I didn’t like the way he put an emphasis on yet. I filled her in on Dovie and Aunt Birdie.
“No offense, Holly, but if your crazy aunt Birdie was being accused of poisoning someone, I would believe it. But Rose? No way.”
“No offense taken. I happen to agree with you.”
Dave bristled a little. “I have to go by the facts, ladies. I can’t allow my personal feelings about a person to influence my perspective.”
“You.” Shelley shook her forefinger at Dave. “You need to use your heart and brain. You are sniffing on the wrong trail. I can assure you of that. However, it won’t stop me from bringing you breakfast. Cook’s whipping up some breakfast biscuits with ham, southwestern omelets, and berry-and-nut oatmeal.”
Trixie yapped at Shelley. “I promise, no cereal for you. How about a turkey omelet?”
They say dogs understand about five hundred words, and I was beginning to suspect that Trixie had quite a vocabulary when it came to food. She wiggled her hind end.
“Twinkletoes has had a lot of fish lately. Maybe turkey for her, too?”
Dave and I opted for the southwestern omelet.
When Shelley left, Dave chewed on his upper lip like he was nervous. “Please don’t jump on me.” He pulled a plastic bag out of one of his cargo pockets.
It contained a syringe. I looked at it closely. It was empty but had contained something recently. Little globs of moisture clung to the interior walls.
“Do you think this is what killed Seth?”
“I do. We found it early this morning in Rose’s backyard.”