He looked like he’d just come off a beach in Australia rather than the office of a morgue in London. Over six feet tall with broad shoulders, the man had tousled sandy-blond hair, blue eyes that twinkled in the light and a smile that was definitely making my panties melt. He even had dimples when he smiled. Dimples!
He saw me and held out a hand. I took it, forcing myself to try and act normal instead of allowing myself to completely fawn over him.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Edmonds. Call me Jake, though.”
Jake. What a perfect name for this perfect man.
“I’m Cassie,” I replied breathlessly, completely failing to keep my voice steady. He shot me a smile and I felt my legs turn to jelly. Get it together, woman! I was suddenly reminded of just how long it had been since I’d had a boyfriend.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cassie,” he replied. “You seem like way too nice a girl to be hanging around Violet,” he continued with a wink, and I giggled into my hands like a schoolgirl.
“If the two of you would like to have sex right now, I can come back later,” Violet said suddenly, and my blood instantly ran cold.
“What?” I practically shrieked at her. I could feel my face flushing with embarrassment. Violet shrugged.
“It is obvious the two of you are attracted to each other. I can leave and come back if you’d like to be alone.”
“Oh my God! No!” I cried out. My voice sounded shrill, even to me. “Why would you even ask that?”
“I thought I was being considerate,” Violet said, looking a bit confused.
“Ok, well, for the record, offering to leave so I can have sex with a stranger I’ve just met is so not considerate.”
I dared a look over at Jake, who was standing there with an amused grin on his face. A gorgeous, adorable amused grin. My face flushed an even deeper shade of red.
“I see you don’t know Violet very well,” he said. “That’s like, number four on the list of embarrassing things she’s said to me. Don’t worry about it, you get used to her eventually.”
“What were the other three?” I asked shrilly, completely incredulous. I was so completely mortified. This made running away from the lady at Chipotle yesterday seem like a walk in the park. The worst part was, Violet was right. I would have stripped for a man like that in a minute, but that didn’t mean she had to spell it out for him. Oh God. Now I’d never have a chance with him.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know. Now, let’s see the body.”
I’d have liked to have seen his body, I thought to myself, but instead I kept my mouth shut and made sure to stand behind Violet while we went over to Elizabeth Dalton’s remains. I still could not believe Violet said that. Seriously!
“I performed the full autopsy yesterday. It will still take time before the official toxicology report is back, but unofficially, as you know, she died of strychnine poisoning.”
“Yes, what we’re more interested in though is if there were any other long-term health problems she might have had.”
“I saw some signs of osteoporosis,” Jake replied.
“That’s code for he accidentally snapped a bone in half,” I joked to Violet. That was an old medical school joke. Jake laughed.
“Well, you’re not wrong. Luckily it was just one of her phalanges, nothing major.”
“We found medication in her medicine cabinet, it seems Elizabeth Dalton got punched in the gut pretty badly by menopause. I think she was also slightly depressed.”
“That explains that then. I figured it was most likely, but had nothing to confirm. Other than that, however, she seemed to be in perfect health. There was nothing that might indicate she was terminally ill.”
“Are you sure?” Violet asked. “No cancers hiding around anywhere? Was the heart muscle slightly thicker than usual?”
“You think it might have been an arrhythmia?” I asked Violet, and I saw Jake look at me, impressed.
“I don’t think it might have been anything, I’m asking Jake if he checked the size of the heart muscle tissue.”
“Believe it or not, Miss Despuis, you’re not the only person who’s good at their job. I checked the size of the heart tissue, which was normal, and I looked at the tissue slides under the microscope. Completely normal.”
“Can I ask something?” I asked, unable to look Jake in the eye. I knew my face still probably looked like a tomato. But could you really blame me? I’d just met the hottest guy ever and the girl next to me had turned it into what was hands down the most awkward moment of my life. Violet was a terrible wingman.
“Sure,” Jake said, sounding a bit surprised, but open to it. Violet looked at me as well, her gaze penetrating, but solid. She wanted to know what I was going to ask about.
“Did you see any signs of endocarditis?”
“No, the heart valves looked completely normal,” Jake replied, and then suddenly a sly smile came onto his face. “Hold on! You brought your own bloody doctor here, you crazy woman,” he told Violet. “You don’t trust me, so you brought Cassie along.”
Violet shrugged. “She’s new to London. I’m showing her around the city.”
“Your sightseeing tour isn’t exactly what most people look for on Trip Advisor.”
“Maybe not, but it is certainly more interesting than standing in line at Buckingham Palace.”
“Anyway, you’re diverting from my point. You’ve literally brought a doctor here to double check my information. Why did you even bother, you normally do it yourself?”
“I am not a trained doctor, she’s likely better at it than I am.”
“I’m a trained doctor, and I am a lot better at this than you are.”
Violet made a sound in her throat that sounded suspiciously like she disagreed with that second part of the sentence. Jake burst out laughing.
“You’re unbelievable. I never thought I’d see you with anyone else. Quite frankly, I didn’t think there’d be a lot of people out there willing to take you on.”
“This is only my second day with her,” I added, which was probably rather unhelpful.
“Well, two days is longer than most people could work with Miss Despuis, so congratulations are in order there Cassie.”
I laughed. “She’s not that bad once you get to know her.”
“No, she’s not, is she?” To her credit, Violet was taking the ribbing we were giving her quite well. She had that small smile on her face that I was fairly sure either meant she was amused, or plotting to murder someone. I was sincerely hoping for the former. Either way, she deserved all the ribbing I could give her after that comment. Oh God, that comment. I was never going to get over it.
“If you are both finished making fun of me, I think we’re finished here. Doctor Edmonds, always a pleasure.”
“You too, Miss Despuis,” he replied, shaking her hand, then mine. I actually dared to meet Jake’s eyes as he shook my hand, and he winked at me. My face instantly went scarlet, and I babbled a terrible goodbye before practically launching myself back to the elevator.
When we were back outside, I immediately launched on Violet.
“What on earth made you say that? That was so embarrassing!”
She simply shrugged. “What? It was obvious the two of you were attracted to each other. I thought I would save you both some time.”
“That wasn’t saving time! That was making the situation infinitely more awkward!”
“Well, I am sorry, next time I promise not to try to be your—how do you say—wingman.”
I couldn’t help myself. I burst out laughing at hearing her say that.
“You are the craziest person I have ever met,” I replied. I was torn between wanting to punch her and wanting to hug her. I was starting to get the feeling that was how most people thought of Violet.
“While I know you are exaggerating, I would imagine that doing the rounds as a resident you have come across people with mental illnesses with far more destructive symptoms than my own. Now, since you have not
yet had breakfast, we will go to a nice place I know not far from here and discuss the findings.”
Ugh. The last thing I wanted to do was to eat breakfast at another everything-free healthy food place. “Oh, I already ate breakfast,” I told Violet, trying to sound casual. I really hoped my lying practice yesterday paid off. She laughed.
“Nice try, but you are still not a good liar. Besides, even if you were, it is obvious you are not telling me the truth.”
“Why’s that?” I asked. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Your hair is slightly wet where your ponytail comes together, which means you showered just before coming out to meet me. And yet, you were still tired enough that you put your shirt on inside out, so you must not have been awake for longer than ten minutes when you got dressed. Not nearly enough time to both shower and have breakfast.”
“Damn it,” I muttered to myself as I noticed she was right about the shirt. Great. At least the dark fabric didn’t make it super obvious, hopefully Doctor Gorgeous down there hadn’t noticed that I apparently wasn’t able to dress myself like an adult.
“So come on. It is all right, this place has options that will suit your apparent desire to die of a cardiac event prematurely,” she continued. I felt a little bit insulted, but also relieved that I wasn’t going to have to eat vegetables for breakfast two days in a row, so I followed. It seemed like Violet knew where everything was in this huge city.
“This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you yet,” I muttered to Violet as we walked off.
Chapter 9
Two minutes later we were sitting at a café that made their coffee with real milk—actually spelled with an “i”—and I sipped a very normal tasting latte contentedly while perusing the menu. Violet was doing the same thing while sitting across from me with a green smoothie. As far as I was concerned, spinach and kale were not foods that belonged in smoothies. I had just settled on the French toast topped with berries and maple syrup when Violet put down her menu with a thud.
“I’m now down to two theories,” Violet said suddenly. “Possibly three.”
“She’s not a drug dealer, and she didn’t just spend all her money because she was dying of cancer?” I asked.
“Exactement,” Violet replied. “It was good that you asked about the endocarditis.”
I knew from medical school that there were two major ways to tell if someone had been addicted to drugs when doing an autopsy. Of course there were the usual outward signs: track marks, and that sort of thing. But not all drugs were shot up, and not all drugs had outward signs of use, especially if the person taking them only did so recreationally, which I imagined Elizabeth Dalton would have, had she partaken. The first was a thickening in the heart walls, as Violet had asked about. The second was checking for endocarditis in the heart valve. Basically, bacteria gets stuck on the heart valve and shows up as red-tan growths in an autopsy. If she’d had them, it would have meant that Elizabeth Dalton had almost certainly used intravenous drugs, though perhaps not often enough for track marks to be obvious.
“So what are the two options left?” I asked.
“Blackmail and embezzlement. They are the most likely, at any rate. I still haven’t ruled out an inheritance from a long-lost relative, but it seems unlikely. I have a man checking probate records for me now.”
“Which one do you think it is?”
“Have you learned nothing yet? It could be either! I do not know, and I do not speculate. But after breakfast, we go back to the offices of Elizabeth Dalton, and we ask if we can look at their financial records.”
The waiter came over and took our orders—I didn’t even know what the Buddha bowl Violet ordered was—and Violet leaned forward.
“So how is the flat search coming along?”
I shrugged. “I’ve upped my budget, and I’ve emailed a few places, but I can’t really find anything. It’s tough, because I know as soon as Biscuit gets discovered in my room I’m going to get kicked out. I just hope I manage to find something before it gets to that point.”
Violet smiled at me. “Well luckily for you, I have found you an apartment.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes. It turns out that one of my neighbors, Mrs. Michaels, who has been a widow for a number of years, is currently searching for a new tenant for the one-bedroom flat below her home, as the previous one has moved in with her boyfriend. If you would like, I can make the introduction.”
“Wow, thank you! That would be great!” I exclaimed. “I have to admit though, I am surprised. You don’t seem to be the type to, well, socialize with your neighbors all that much.”
Violet smiled slyly. “Perhaps not. But a little while back I helped Mrs. Michaels with a spot of trouble she was having with the police. She has been quite partial to me ever since.”
“Ah.” That made a lot more sense. Somehow, I just couldn’t picture Violet Despuis going over to her neighbors’ for afternoon tea and book club every few weeks.
“Parfait. She is ready for you to move in whenever.”
“So when you said you’d make an introduction…” I said, letting the sentence hang, and Violet finished it for me.
“I meant that I had already agreed that you would take the suite. Below market rate, of course. Do not worry, it is perfectly fine. It is a one-bedroom, the kitchen and bathroom were fully renovated a few years ago, and Mrs. Michaels is a very quiet woman who will not bother you much at all. There is even a small garden at the back that you have full access to, as Mrs. Michaels is afraid of spiders and refuses to go near any of the plants on the off chance one might be living there.”
“Oh, Violet, you’re too kind. You didn’t have to do that!” I exclaimed.
“But it is in my best interest as well. I like speaking out my theories to you, and if you are ever going to be coming along with me in the future, I would rather you live down the street than in Essex.”
I smiled to myself. Only Violet could take a favor and turn it into a reason as to how it made things easier for her.
“Either way, thank you. I really appreciate it.”
Violet waved away my thanks just as the waiter reappeared with a heaping plate of pancakes that I noticed Violet actually made a half-effort to not scowl at.
Half an hour later we were fed and sitting in a taxi once more, heading back to Enderby Insurance.
“So what do we do? Go up there and ask if anyone knew Elizabeth Dalton was embezzling?” I asked.
“That is a blunt, and normally a rather ineffective method. No, we are not going to do that. We will ask to see the financial records of the company. After all, Mr. Browning told us he was willing to do anything to help find her murderer. We will see just how much he meant those words.”
When we got to the Enderby Insurance offices, however, the receptionist told us Mr. Browning was unavailable. We were, however, able to speak with his second-in-command if we wanted, and Violet indicated that yes, we did want.
We sat on a long, modern-style couch behind the reception area in a lobby decorated with modern, if inoffensive art—the type of art that would never offend anyone, but screamed expensive all the same. About five minutes later a tall woman in her mid-thirties with short black hair in a pixie cut came out. She was efficient, and all business.
“Are you the two here with the police?” she asked us, and we stood up. Violet held out a hand.
“Violet Despuis.”
“Oh! The Violet Despuis? It’s very nice to meet you,” the woman said. “I’m Jennifer Ashton, the marketing strategies manager here at Enderby. Please, follow me to my office.” We got up and followed her as Jennifer continued talking. “Unfortunately Leo was called away on business, he’s in Paris for a couple of days, but he should be back tomorrow afternoon. It’s such a tragedy about what happened to Elizabeth. She seemed like quite a nice woman. She had great taste in fashion as well. Of course, I didn’t really know her well, only really to say hello and ask if Mr. Browning
was available, but the short time we did chat, I liked her. I can’t believe anyone would want to kill someone like that. What can I help you with?” she asked as she led us into an office which was noticeably smaller than Leonard Browning’s, but otherwise looked identical, designed in that super modern style.
“We were hoping to be able to have a look at the finances of the company,” Violet said. “We suspect there’s a possibility that Elizabeth Dalton was embezzling money, and that perhaps her murderer may have realized it.”
The smile completely fell off Jennifer’s face. “My goodness! You think she was killed on purpose! I thought it was an accident.”
“It most certainly was not,” Violet replied. “I know it is a lot to ask. However, I promise you, my discretion, and that of Miss Coburn’s here, is impeccable. Mr. Browning promised us when we spoke to him the last time that he would do whatever was necessary to help in the investigation into Miss Dalton’s death.”
Jennifer pursed her lips slightly. I could tell she was trying to decide what to do.
“All right, I have to be honest here. I can’t take your word for it that Mr. Browning said it would be all right, and while I want to help you, I also want to keep my job. You’re working with the police, but you don’t have a warrant or anything, so I can’t simply give you access to all of the financial information of the company. What I can do, however, is convene a meeting with the top executives of the company. Then when they’ve decided what to do, I can give you a call. How does that sound?”
The tone of her voice made it evident that there were going to be no other offers.
“That would be fine, thank you,” Violet told her, pulling a business card from her wallet and handing it to Jennifer. “I would please ask that you come to your decision quickly, as there is a murderer out there somewhere in London, and very possibly within the walls of your organization,” she added, her eyes boring into Jennifer’s, whose eyes widened slightly at the mention.
“You don’t think it could be someone who works here,” she said almost breathlessly. “Surely not.”
Poison in Paddington Page 6
