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I left Mary, but I wasn’t on my way to confront Ruth.
I was looking for Aidan.
I had a plan. Sort of.
But I needed Aidan if I had any hope of being successful.
First and foremost, I needed a master key. I knew that several of the aides had keys in their possession around mealtimes so they could easily escort guests to the dining room. Locked doors made it more difficult—and more time-consuming—for them to get everyone there in a timely manner, so Anne had decided to keep a few keys available at the front desk for health care attendants to use.
We were getting close to lunch time, which meant Aidan might very well have a key on him. If he did, that meant I could get into Ruth’s apartment. Which led me to the second part of my plan.
I knew that Ruth’s apartment was filled with a variety of plants, and I’d made an attempt to see if I could match the leaves found on Arthur’s plate with any of the plants in her home. Considering I didn’t know the first thing about houseplants, I had obviously failed miserably.
But Aidan would know what to look for.
And I had a sneaking suspicion that we would find the plant that had poisoned Arthur.
After my conversation with Mary, and the fight I’d overheard the night before, I was now convinced that Ruth just might be the person responsible for Arthur’s death.
She had a motive—a strong one, judging from what I’d seen and heard. She had a history of threatening behavior, if my interaction with Dexter was any indication. She’d been present when Arthur died. All that was missing was the physical evidence linking her to the actual crime itself.
If Aidan could find the plant in Ruth’s apartment, I was pretty sure that would seal the deal.
I scanned the halls, looking for Aidan. Mohammed, another aide, walked by pushing a resident in a wheelchair. He smiled and the frail woman he was pushing offered a feeble wave. I couldn’t quite place her name.
I saw a flash of white down the hallway as someone disappeared into a room. Aidan. It had to be.
I hurried toward him.
And ran right into Denise, who was stepping out of the employee bathroom.
She looked at me with raised eyebrows. “You’re in an awful big hurry,” she said. Then in a low voice she added, “You ready to call the police?”
“Not quite,” I told her.
“You don’t have much time left,” she chided. “And you already know who did it!”
I just shook my head. “I’m almost ready. Just looking at a couple things.”
Denise’s eyes lasered into me. “I’d stick around and give you the third degree but I gotta get back to the dining room. We’re serving soon.” She gave me a pointed look. “You ever gonna eat there again?”
“What? Of course.” The heat rushed into my cheeks. “I’ve just been busy,”
She harrumphed. “Busy avoiding the dining room because you’re worried about getting poisoned.”
“That’s not true!” But I knew how feeble my protest sounded.
She set her hands on her hips. “Tomorrow, Sunny. Then we call.”
I nodded.
She strode toward the dining room, but not without glancing over her shoulder a couple of times, fixing me with a disapproving glare.
I waited until she disappeared into the dining room and then sprinted down the hallway, hoping the person I had seen was indeed Aidan.
I breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped out of a resident’s apartment. I’d found him. But then I stopped. He didn’t seem to be accompanying anyone to the dining room.
He greeted me with a smile.
“Is everything okay?” I nodded toward the door he was closing.
“Oh, yeah. Miriam said she had a big breakfast so she isn’t going to lunch.”
“So where are you headed now? Do you have any more residents to check in on?”
Aidan pocketed the keys he was holding. “She was my last one.”
I was sure my face lit up at the news. “Really?”
He cocked his head, looking a little puzzled by my reaction. “Uh, really.”
“Okay, that’s good news. I needed to hear that.” I clapped my hands together. “Look, I sort of need a favor.”
“A favor?”
I nodded. “You have the master key, right?” My eyes zeroed in on his pocket.
He patted his pants pocket. “Yes. Why?”
“I need you to let me into Ruth’s room.”
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
“We need to get into Ruth’s room. You and me.”
“Me?” He was staring at me like I’d sprouted a second head. “Um, I don’t exactly know what’s going on but I can’t just break into residents’ apartments...”
I nodded. “I know. And trust me, I wouldn’t ask under normal circumstances. But what’s going on isn’t normal.”
His eyes rounded. “Is she okay? Ruth?”
“She’s fine,” I said. “I mean, as far as I know.” I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face. “What I’m about to tell you is going to sound crazy. But I need your help. And I need it quick.”
His expression hadn’t changed and I was tempted to look in a mirror to make sure no new appendage had sprung up on my body.
I lowered my voice to a whisper, even though we were the only two people standing in the hallway. “Remember the leaves I gave you last week?”
He gave a slight nod.
‘”And remember how I said I found them on vacation?”
Another nod.
“Well, I didn’t. They were found here.”
“They were?” His eyebrows lifted. “Let me guess. In Ruth’s room?”
“No. On Arthur Grigg’s dinner plate.”
He covered his hand with his mouth, stifling the expletive he muttered.
“I don’t know anything for sure,” I said quickly, “but I’ve been trying to figure out if it was some kind of accident. Or suicide.” I paused. “Or murder.”
Aidan’s hands were on his hips and he was blowing out quick breaths. A sheen of sweat coated his forehead. “Holy crap, Sunny. Why didn’t you tell me all of this before? And better question: why haven’t you gone to the police?”
“It’s a long story.” He frowned and I added, “I’ll tell you it, I promise. But right now I just really need to get into Ruth’s apartment.”
“Can’t you ask Anne?”
I looked at him in horror. “Are you serious?”
He apparently thought better of his suggestion because he nodded and said, “Yeah, that probably isn’t the best idea.”
I glanced behind me. “Please, Aidan. It’ll take five minutes, tops.”
His hands drifted to his pockets and he stood there for a minute, his hands shoved deep, looking at me uncertainly. But then I heard the jingle of keys as he pulled them free.
“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “But you better explain everything the minute we get there.”