"Hey, are you okay?" Vance called me not more than five minutes later.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Did you talk to Diane?"
"I'm on my way to meet her now. I told her not to say anything to the sheriff until I could get there. What happened exactly?"
"There isn't much to tell. When Mr. Haggerty hadn't checked out, Eleanor asked me to stop by his room and get a move on things. When he didn't answer the door, Eleanor slipped inside and found him on the floor. I got inside as soon as I could and did a quick check of his vitals before calling it in."
"Did anything jump out at you that might help the case?"
I twisted my lips while I thought. "Just the coffee cup. Mr. Haggerty still had it in his hand. I pointed that out to Amber to try and help pinpoint the time of death, but she took it the wrong way." I was having some major guilt about that.
"No signs of a struggle?"
I mentally visualized the room. “I don't think so. Nothing was broken. The lamps and remotes were in place. The bed was even made, and now that I think about it, his luggage was packed. There weren't any dirty clothes on the floor other than some towels in the bathroom."
"Okay, so maybe our Mr. Haggerty died of natural causes."
"That's what I'm hoping. The room did smell off at first. It was hard to pick it up over the scent of pumpkin spice. Amber has a new deputy with her, Deputy Lopez. She's a shifter and picked up on it too. Dr. Humphrey's examining the body now, and I wonder what he thinks." Dr. Humphrey was a werewolf shifter and our town's medical examiner.
"It sounds like Amber is jumping the gun as usual," Vance remarked. I could hear his blinker clicking in the background.
"Aunt Thelma and I tried to tell her the same thing, but she blew us off. Tell Diane I'm really sorry. I wish I had kept my mouth shut about the coffee cup. I don't know what I was thinking."
"You were thinking that it would help to establish the time of death and nothing else. Don't worry. I’ll tell the sheriff that he needs to determine the cause of death before he goes around questioning suspects."
"Okay, call me when you're done, and we can meet up."
"Sounds good. Love you."
"Love you too."
I hung up with Vance and attempted to have some semblance of normalcy around the inn. But, of course, news of a guest's death quickly circulated.
"Is it true someone died?" Jane came down and asked me without preamble.
"Yes, unfortunately."
"How?" Jane clutched her shawl close at her neck and peered cautiously down the hall toward Mr. Haggerty's room. "Are we safe here?" I could see the wheels inside Jane's head turning. She was already questioning their move to Silverlake.
"Oh, very much so." I tried to be as reassuring as possible. "I'm sure it was natural causes. It must have been his time."
We heard the door shut at the end of the hall, and then Dr. Humphrey's voice filled the small space. "Right there's your murder weapon. It was hard to smell the poison underneath all that pumpkin spice, but sure enough, it's there. Your deputy has a right fine sniffer on her." He turned in time to see Deputy Lopez smile. Amber didn't return the expression.
"Murder weapon?" Jane looked at me with horror.
"If you will excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back." I walked swiftly around the corner to catch Dr. Humphrey in the parking lot. The county staff was getting ready to remove Mr. Haggerty. I turned my attention from the gurney to the doctor.
"Dr. Humphrey?" I said, trying to stop him.
He turned and waited for me to catch up. Thankfully, Amber and Deputy Lopez kept walking.
"Can you make sure your guys take Mr. Haggerty out the side door here? I don't want to upset the guests more than they already are."
"Sure thing, Ms. Nightingale." Dr. Humphrey turned his attention toward the two workers with the gurney. "Harvey, Michelle, use the side exit, please," Dr. Humphrey instructed.
Dr. Humphrey turned to leave, but I stopped him with my words. "It was the coffee, then?"
Dr. Humphrey frowned. "I shouldn’t have said that in the hallway."
"But you know you can trust me. Amber already thinks Diane's the killer, and you and I both know that's not true. If you were her friend, what would you do?"
"I'd hire her a good lawyer."
"Vance is already on his way to meet her. And then?"
Dr. Humphrey looked off into the distance.
"I'd be looking into Mr. Haggerty's background and see who would want him dead. Mind you, that's not professional advice. As a doctor, I should be telling you to avoid all dangerous situations and not put yourself in harm's way."
"Right, I know that. Don't worry. I'm not investigating this on my own." I wasn't sure if that made the doctor feel better or not. Instead, I changed the subject. "Do you know what poison was used?"
Dr. Humphrey nodded. "I have some ideas, but none that I'm ready to share."
Share with me was what he meant. I was almost positive the doctor knew what poison was used.
Again, the doctor turned to leave.
"It was the black licorice scent I smelled, wasn't it?" I replied to his back.
Dr. Humphrey looked over his shoulder. "I guess those feline instincts are stronger in you than I thought.”
I never thought of myself as a true shifter. My gift to transform into a cat was a witch trait passed down from my mother's side. It required my amulet and a spell. My firstborn would inherit the gift as well. But Dr. Humphrey was right. I did have catlike instincts that extended past my love for naps and basking in the sun. Hopefully, it also meant I had nine lives, although I might be on life three or four by now.