Poisoned (The Alex Harris Mystery Series)

by Elaine Macko

  “I was just admiring your blender,” I said out of breadth. “I’m in need of a new one myself. This seems like a very nice model. Do you use it often?”

  May gave me a peculiar look and said, “No. Not often. Why don’t we go into the living room?” After taking seats across from each other, May added, “My son Larry also mentioned a visit. You’re certainly very busy for a Sunday.”

  “It’s important I get to the bottom of this. You should be anxious for this whole thing to be over and the guilty party to be put behind bars.”

  “I was under the impression that our police force had everything under control.”

  “Well, yes, certainly, but they can’t be everywhere at once,” I said with a wave of my hand and a smile. Why I smiled, I had no idea because John Van der Burg would surely kill me as soon as he found out how I spent my Sunday morning.

  Then to my utter astonishment, May agreed with me.

  “I do agree it’s important to get to the bottom of this. It’s a terrible thing. Kenneth and Lillian are just heartbroken.”

  “Mrs. Brissart is as well.”

  “And well she should be!” May spat out. “She got her own grandson killed.”

  My anger boiled and I had only been in the house a few minutes. Quickly regaining control, I looked straight into May’s face. “How’s that, Mrs. Estenfelder?”

  “It’s common knowledge, young lady, the poison was meant for Roberta.”

  “So you’re saying it would have been better if she had died?”

  May raised a perfectly arched eyebrow—one that consisted more of waxy crayon than hair. “Now don’t go putting words into my mouth. I wish my sister no ill will...”

  “You just want her to sell the land?”

  May paused for a moment and put her hand to her heart. “Well, yes. But I’m not alone in that desire.”

  I nodded several times. “No. No you are not. But you must see with so many people wanting Mrs. Brissart to sell, the logical reasoning would indicate the murderer must be a member of the family.”

  “I see no such thing, Miss Harris. J.T. is not a member of our family. And neither is Kendra.”

  “Why would Kendra want to kill Mrs. Brissart?.”

  May clearly became flustered. “Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps it was dear Bradley they wanted dead, though I’m sure the police tend to think otherwise.”

  No one seemed to know that John had been looking at Mrs. Brissart as a suspect and I was not about to divulge this bit of news.

  “And as I’ve said before, any one at all could have walked into that house. Roberta, with her penchant for leaving things unlocked…” May shook her head in disgust, not bothering to finish her sentence. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Miss Harris, but do you suspect me of killing Bradley?”

  In the last few days I had asked a lot of people a lot of questions and somehow no one had managed to put me on the spot as May just had. It was a good question. Did I think she killed Bradley?

  “Well, to be quite truthful, Mrs. Estenfelder, I don’t know who the killer is.” I wasn’t trying to be diplomatic here; I truly had no idea. “I guess that’s the reason I’ve been asking questions.”

  “Bothering everyone, from what I gather, is more like it. You even managed to question my granddaughter. You can’t honestly suspect her, can you? Doesn’t have the brain God gave a grape, that one.”

  “I think you’re mistaken about Trish.” I know I had been.

  “You mean to say she killed Bradley?” May asked with the hand firmly over her chest again.

  “No. No. Not at all,” I said quickly hoping to forestall a fainting spell. “I just don’t agree with your perception of Trish. I think you underestimate her. I may be able to find her something, a job, through my agency.”

  May relaxed a bit. “Oh. Well that would be nice. The girl spends entirely too much time alone in that house.”

  “Mrs. Estenfelder I’d like to get back to my questions.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you would, and I just wonder if that detective of yours knows what you’re doing.”

  I figured the minute I left the house, May would be calling the police and blabbing. Maybe I should see if I could spend the night with Sam so John couldn’t find me. But as long as I was here and she wasn’t reaching for the phone—yet, I had to ask my questions. After today, I probably wouldn’t have another chance.

  “Did you come directly home on Monday evening?”

  “Yes I did. And don’t bother to ask if I can prove it because I live alone. June and J.T. dropped me off. But I assure you, I did not sneak back to Roberta’s with a vial of poison.”

  I raised my eyebrows, both of them as I didn’t possess the talent of raising just one in a menacing, accusatory way. I probably looked more surprised.

  “And no, I didn’t have one with me to begin with either.”

  “Do you know about the feud between your two sisters over Charles?”

  “How do you know about that?” May asked, her anger rising dangerously high.

  “It came out during my questionings.”

  May stood up and glared down at me. “Well, I demand to know who told you. There are some things that are private, young lady, and have nothing whatsoever to do with Bradley’s death.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “How dare you! Are you accusing June of killing Bradley?”

  “No. I just wonder if she tried to kill Roberta,” I said evenly.

  “This all happened a long time ago. How dare you bring my sister’s hurt out in the open?”

  “Well, it might have happened a long time ago, but with Charles just dying and June finding out he still cared for her all these years, well, it could’ve sparked June to take revenge.”

  May put one hand firmly on her hip and the other pointing to the door. “Get out! And I’m calling that detective of yours right now!” How dare you hurt my family like this. Get out, I said.”

  I left the house quicker than I thought myself capable of, unfortunately with no blender safely tucked in my purse. As I reached the corner I could see in my rearview mirror Detective Maroni pulling into May’s driveway, having come from the other direction. The jig was up, as they say. At least my jig was up. May would blab to him and he would be on his cell phone telling John to be on the lookout for me. An APB or BOLO was probably next.

  I glanced at the clock on my dash and figured I had just about enough time to get to New Haven before the police picked me up. A half hour later, I found a parking meter about nine blocks from my destination, and pumped in enough change to make a serious dent in the national debt before remembering on Sunday I didn’t have to pay. Damn! What were the chances of the administrative offices of Yale being open? As I neared the office, a young man came out and locked the door.

  “I wonder if you could help me?”

  “We’re not open,” he said turning toward me.

  “I’m looking for Kendra Merchant. I understand she works in this office.”

  “Did.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “She did work here. She quit.”

  “She quit? When?” I asked.

  “A couple of days ago. Didn’t give any notice. But then no one would expect her to, not with what happened and all.”

  “Did she say where she was going?”

  “Not to me. You can come back tomorrow and speak with her supervisor.”

  I stood there thinking for a moment. Knowing my own rules on giving out information, I figured it wouldn’t do much good to come back tomorrow so I thanked the young man and left.

  I had just enough time to stop at my office to read through the proposal one more time before going home to cook a nice dinner that I promised John. John, who was probably at this very moment getting a warrant for my arrest.

  I accomplished more in the next forty-five minutes than I had done since the murder. I started to close down my computer when I heard the front door open.

  “Alex? Oh, I’m sorry.
I should have called. I know it’s Sunday. I really didn’t expect anyone to be here, but I didn’t know where else to go. I’ve just been driving around. I can come back tomorrow morning.” Kendra turned and stepped down onto the porch.

  “Kendra, it’s okay. I have to meet a friend for dinner, but I have a few minutes. Come in.” I held the door open and Kendra stepped back into the reception area. “This is really a coincidence. I stopped by the admin offices earlier to see you? I forgot it was Sunday.”

  “I quit.”

  “Yes. I know. A young man told me. Why don’t you come back into my office and we can talk there.”

  Kendra unzipped her short jacket and followed me into the back of Always Prepared.

  “Have a seat. Can I get anything?”

  “No, I’m fine.” Kendra put her head down and when she looked up again tears slowly found their way down her round face and onto the top of her brown suede jacket. “Well, obviously I am not fine. I don’t think I ever will be again. I’m sorry, do you have a tissue?”

  “Of course.” I pulled a box from my bottom drawer and handed it to her. “Kendra, I don’t know what to say.”

  “There’s nothing to say. I’ve heard it all. My parents keep telling me I’m young and I’ll find someone again and I know they mean well, I know that, but I loved Bradley with all my heart. They didn’t want me to go to his funeral yesterday, but I had to.” Bradley’s parents had insisted on a very small service with only immediate family members. Considering how popular he had been and how prominent the family was in the community, it would have been a circus any other way. “We were so well suited to each other. Does that sound odd?”

  “Not at all. I feel the exact same way about someone in my life.”

  “Oh, yes. Detective Van der Burg.” Kendra dabbed at her eyes with a soaked tissue and reached for another. “So I quit my job,” she began again, “and tomorrow afternoon I’m going up to New Hampshire to stay with my dad’s sister. She has a daughter my age and we’ve always gotten along. Which brings me to the reason why I stopped by. I don’t know when, or even if, I’ll be coming back to Indian Cove. But I wanted to know if I might come and talk to you about work if I do decide to return. I don’t want to burn all my bridges behind me.”

  “Of course you can come here. I’d be more than happy to help.” I suspected this wasn’t the real motive for Kendra stopping by; she probably just needed an outsider to talk to.

  Kendra held the soggy tissue in her hands and didn’t look up for quite a while. Finally she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and said, “Why did he have to die like that? We had plans! We were going to be getting married probably next summer. It’s not fair!” She looked at me through her huge, brown, red-rimmed eyes. “I feel...I didn’t get to say good-bye. I know it sounds stupid, but I just feel like I’ve been cheated. I lost my best friend. We had everything in common and we told each other everything. We had so many plans. I was going to get a job teaching as soon as I finished my credential. I wanted to use my acting skills with children in some way. Maybe a children’s theater company. Bradley and I talked about it a lot. We had so many plans; we wanted to have a family…” Her voice was just a whisper now. She got up and walked over to the window staring out into the twilight. A few minutes passed before she spoke again.

  “I wonder who’s going to continue with the family history now? It meant so much to Bradley. I don’t think Roberta’s heart will be into continuing it,” she said still looking at the darkening sky. “He really wasn’t too far into it, but I think he found out some interesting things.”

  “Like what?” I asked as my interest piqued.

  Kendra came back and sat down. “You know, it’s the first time I thought of this. About a week before Bradley was killed, we were talking on the phone and he said he found out something very interesting. He wanted to do a bit more research and then he wanted to tell Roberta and me. He said it was fascinating. He seemed really happy about it. I think he was even going to break down and tell me right then and there, he was pretty hyped up, but then someone knocked on his door and he hung up. I wonder if he ever told Roberta about it? Though I would think she would have told me but with all that’s happened, maybe she just forgot.” Kendra shook her head and a strand of her golden blonde hair attached itself to her tear-stained face. She pushed it away with her long fingers. “I’ve taken enough of your time, Alex. I just wanted to make sure if I do come back, I’ll be able to find something to hold me over while I pursue something in teaching or acting.”

  I walked around my desk and put my arm around the small hunched shoulders of the young woman who had seen too much grief in her time. “Kendra, my sister and I will do everything we can to help when you get back. Not if—when. Your family is here and I know you need to get away and sort things out, but we’ll be here for you when you return.” I picked up my coat and we walked out into the night together. “Good luck, Kendra. Keep in touch.”

  “I will, and thanks.”

  Kendra pulled away from the curb and I wondered if she would ever be able to get on with her life. I also wondered if I was watching a murderer escape.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “John! That’s...perverted!” I laughed while he put the finishing touches on his jack-o-lantern. We stood in my kitchen carving the pumpkins I had bought for the front porch, finally managing to find some time to be together.

  “You cannot put that pumpkin on my front porch. There’ll be young children coming to the door.”

  “Well, then we’ll keep this one to ourselves. How’s yours coming?” I turned my pumpkin to face him. It was the traditional cut: triangular nose and eyes, wide, sinister mouth with lots of teeth. “Not very original are you? Here, pass me that squash. I’ll show you how to make a scary face.”

  “I’ll check the pizza while you create your masterpiece.” I went to the oven and looked in. Almost done. A pesto pizza with lots of goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, basil and garlic happily bubbled in the oven. It smelled heavenly. “It’ll be ready in about ten minutes. Let me take a look at what you did.” John turned the squash upon which he had just drawn a face. “Hey, that’s not bad.”

  “So what have you been up to today?”

  I watched him for a few seconds trying to decide if he was just asking an innocent question or trying to bait me.

  “Sam and Millie came into the office and we worked on the proposal for our meeting tomorrow morning. I think we have a good chance at getting the contract. Then tomorrow night Sam and I are taking my parents to the airport.”

  “Oh, right. The big trip. Are they excited?”

  “A trip to London! I should say they’re excited. Will you be able to make it tomorrow night? We’re all going to stop off for dinner first before going to the airport.”

  “I doubt it. Until this case is solved, I don’t think I’ll be doing much of anything. Sorry.”

  “Anything new with the investigation?” I couldn’t help myself. I just had to ask.

  John went to the sink and washed his hands trying to get pumpkin slime from his fingernails. “This case should be easy. We know who all the suspects are. No matter which one turns out to be the killer, they all wanted the same thing. And I can’t think of a better punishment than eternal confinement with each other.”

  “What about the poison? Any idea who could have gone out to the tool shed and taken something? Any suspicious fingerprints?”

  “So far, nothing in the shed has cyanide and not a jequirity bean in sight. The mud on the welcome mat was just mud. Could have come from anywhere in the yard. Or any other yard in the area for that matter. I don’t know if I’m interrogating suspects for two crimes or one, or if I’m looking for the same person for both poisons. Though Jim thinks we’re looking for two people. The poisons do differ significantly, so he’s probably right.” John wiped his hands on a towel and leaned against the sink. “I did have an interesting chat with June.”

  “Oh?” I asked hoping sh
e hadn’t mentioned my visit.

  John proceeded to go into the details of his talk with Mrs. Brissart’s sister while I listened with rapt interest.

  “I asked her if she was aware of the conditions of the land.”

  “You mean about the two surviving sisters inheriting?” I asked.

  “Yes. She hemmed and hawed, pretending she didn’t know about it. So I explained it all, about the land being owned by her, Mrs. Estenfelder, and Mrs. Brissart, and how they must be in complete agreement for it to be sold. And if one of you should die, the land reverts to the other two. Meaning that if Mrs. Brissart had died from eating one of the cookies, May, along with Mrs. Doliveck, would be the sole owner of that sizable piece of property. Kenneth would have no claims.”

  “What did she say to that?” I asked John,.

  “She said that, yes, she had heard something about that when their father died and his will was read.” John looked at me and rolled his eyes. “I bet she has a copy of the damned thing somewhere in the house. Probably framed and hanging over her bed.

  “What else did she say?”

  “Accused me of making her a prime suspect. To which I agreed. Along with May. Then she proceeded to tell me why May would be a better suspect and I should investigate her.”

  I put up my hand. “Wait. I thought those two were like peas in a pod. Are you saying she tried to cast suspicion on her twin sister?”

  “It certainly sounded like that to me. She told me that May had two sons who would benefit nicely if their mother inherited the rest of the land and was able to sell it to the developer.”