Prodigal Son: A Novel

by Danielle Steel

  He and Bill looked somber as they left the chief’s office. Jack had asked Bill if there was anyone at the house, and Bill said that Pru Walker was probably there. Jack had made no further comment. And Bill and Peter got into the truck feeling shaken.

  “Now what do we do?” Bill said grimly as Peter started the truck.

  “I’ll sit with your mother, and you disappear, unless you want to see her too. It might be smart for your father not to know you’re here for the moment. I don’t want to make him nervous now and cause him to make any fast moves.” Bill agreed. He said he’d go to a friend’s house, who would keep quiet about it. Peter dropped him off and was at the hospital five minutes later. The scene there was peaceful. Maggie was asleep and a nurse was with her. She said Michael hadn’t been there yet that morning and had called in to say he was visiting a few patients, and Maggie was about the same. No better. No worse, which was at least something. He settled quietly into a chair, his mind reeling from everything that had happened.

  An hour later a lab tech came in and took a sample of blood from Maggie. She barely stirred, and then Peter saw him take a few hairs from her head, so he knew Jack Nelson had requested the test, and fortunately Michael wasn’t there to see it.

  When Michael did walk in an hour later, Maggie was awake and talking to Peter. She looked groggy, and a nurse had added something to her IV. Peter wondered if it was something to counteract the poison they now knew was in her system, but he didn’t ask.

  Michael appeared to be in good spirits, and Maggie was happy to see him. And he thanked Peter for keeping Maggie company. It was excruciating trying to appear normal. All Peter could think of was Jack Nelson and what he was doing to prove their story true. He wondered how soon Jack would search the house and what he would find there. Peter’s mind was whirling, as Michael sat down next to him and Maggie went back to sleep.

  “You don’t have to stay, you know,” Michael said gently, as he looked at his twin. “You look beat.”

  “I’m okay.” Peter smiled at him. It was going to be a long twenty-four hours waiting for verification of the first lab’s report and the police to search the house, if anything even turned up there. Peter couldn’t imagine it. Michael was too smart for that. And Peter now knew that Bill’s worst fears were true. Michael had been killing Maggie, little by little, and all Peter could do now was pray that he’d be stopped, and Maggie would survive. For now, nothing was sure, as Peter continued his vigil. Until Jack Nelson verified his story, Peter was the only protection Maggie had. He hoped it wasn’t too late. For the rest of the day, Peter never moved.

  Chapter 14

  Jack Nelson didn’t know whether to scream or cry when Peter and Bill left his office. He didn’t believe their story for a minute. They were obviously trying to frame Michael, and they both had had their issues with him, Peter over money and their parents’ will, and Bill over some sort of father-son rivalry that had caused him to leave. And why would anyone want to kill Maggie? It made no sense. Jack had no intention of accusing Michael of trying to kill his wife, but he couldn’t deny the toxicology report. He had work to do. Jack Nelson was above all a dedicated, conscientious cop, no matter how ludicrous the accusation seemed.

  He called the hospital administrator at St. Mary’s, as he had told Peter he would. He faxed him the report so they could act on it immediately if they needed to medically, and he suggested that they watch Maggie closely. If someone was trying to poison her, then Jack wanted a nurse in the room at all times. He was sure it wasn’t Michael, and he didn’t trust Peter or Bill. They were both under suspicion right now, as far as Jack was concerned. Why would they make an accusation like that against Michael? Maybe Peter had poisoned her himself. But why?

  The hospital administrator agreed to say nothing to Michael. Jack didn’t tell him that Michael had been accused of poisoning her, only that someone had been and that it was to remain confidential. Jack said that he didn’t want to upset Michael further until they had more information, since Maggie was so ill. The administrator said he understood, and they would begin treatment immediately to try to administer activated charcoal and flush the poison from her system without alerting anyone that they had. There was nothing else they could do to counteract the poison anyway. There was no known antidote for it, which made Maggie’s situation even worse.

  Jack’s next phone call was to obtain the search warrant on Maggie and Michael’s house. He called a judge he knew well at the district court in Belchertown, since the courthouse in Ware had been closed for some time. And when the judge heard who it was for, he whistled through his teeth.

  “Mike McDowell? That’s insane, Jack. I went to school with him. My mother thinks he’s a saint. Someone must be out to get him.”

  “I think so too,” Jack said, sounding unhappy. “But I’ve got a toxicology report from a reputable lab in Boston that tells me she’s been poisoned. We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. I’m sure we won’t find anything at the house.”

  “Has he got a motive?” the judge asked cautiously.

  “According to their son, the money Maggie got for the lumber mill she inherited from her father.”

  “Mike’s not after money. That’s never been his style,” the judge said, sounding certain. And Jack was just as sure.

  “I know that too,” Jack agreed. “Let’s get this over with, so we can figure out who really did it, if she’s truly being poisoned.”

  “What about the kids?” the judge asked, seeming pensive. It was an ugly story and he didn’t like the sound of it at all. But stranger things had happened. Crimes were committed every day.

  “Their son hasn’t been home for over a year, till now. He lives in London. He came back last night because his mother is so sick. He claims his father has been poisoning her for years. But the boy has had no access, he hasn’t seen her. Their daughter is sixteen and a really sweet kid, and devoted to her mother.”

  “All right, I’ll give you the warrant,” the judge said with a sigh. “Send one of your guys over to pick it up. I’ll have it for you in half an hour.”

  “Thanks, Tom,” Jack said informally. They were good friends and worked together often.

  “Let me know what you find,” the judge said, sounding worried. He liked Michael too.

  “You know I will,” Jack reassured him.

  Two hours later, Jack rang the doorbell at the McDowell home, and Pru Walker answered. She was vacuuming, and she looked startled when she saw the chief of police and the three police officers with him. Jack explained to her that he had a search warrant, and then he asked her not to discuss it with anyone, even Michael. He said he didn’t want to upset him at this difficult time.

  “But why would you want to search the house?” Pru asked, looking frightened. She couldn’t think of a single reason.

  “Just a crackpot claim we have to check out. We have to do something to earn our keep,” he said with a smile, as she let them in, and the three officers dispersed around the house, while Jack waited for them in the kitchen. He was grateful that Lisa was at school, so she didn’t have to see this, and he didn’t have to explain it to her.

  The officers quietly began a systematic search of the house. After searching Maggie’s bedroom and bathroom, they came downstairs with large transparent bags filled with prescription pill bottles that were Maggie’s, prescribed by Michael. They looked as though they had ransacked a pharmacy. The medicines they took as evidence filled the trunk of one of their cars. They searched both children’s rooms and found no evidence of chemicals or poison, and then continued the search on the main floor. They found nothing alarming or unusual under the kitchen sink or in the pantry, as Pru Walker watched them, and Jack Nelson silently admitted to himself that he was relieved. This had to be some kind of terrible mistake or Michael had been framed. And then the officers went out to the garden shed behind the house. Jack was supervising the search himself to make sure that everything was done properly. He didn’t want any accusations
later of an improper search. His officers were wearing rubber gloves as they gathered evidence, and so was he, so as not to disturb any fingerprints.

  The officers brought several bottles and cans out of the garden shed, carefully marked, in plastic bags. There were two bottles of a clear odorless liquid with no labels on them. Jack Nelson clenched his teeth when he saw one of his officers put them in a plastic bag. Privately, he was praying that they wouldn’t prove to be the paraquat that had been found in Maggie’s system. He didn’t want it to be as simple as that. He wanted some other explanation for the accusations against Michael, and he hoped they hadn’t found the evidence that morning. Or if they had, that it didn’t have Michael’s fingerprints on it.

  The search took them two hours, and he thanked Pru for her cooperation, and then they left in two police cars, as Pru stood staring at them as they drove away. She had seen the enormous plastic bags filled with pill bottles, enough to supply an entire hospital, and the bottles and cans they had taken from the garden shed. She had no idea what they were doing or looking for. Jack had said nothing while he waited in the kitchen, quietly observing her.

  And once back in the office, Jack signed a slip of paper to send everything from the garden to the crime lab, particularly the two unmarked bottles containing the transparent liquid. He called the lab himself and told them that he wanted the results of the tests immediately, and then he dispatched one of his officers to the lab. All he could do was hope that everything they had turned up was harmless and would lead to nothing. The last thing Jack Nelson wanted was to discover that Peter’s accusations were true.

  The scene at the hospital continued to be alarming. Maggie’s condition seemed to have worsened, and she had a fever throughout the day. Nurses constantly came and went, and Michael checked her frequently. He told Peter, with a grief-stricken look, that her breathing was getting more labored, and Peter wondered if he should call Bill. He was hoping that charcoal and the flushing of her system would be able to counter the effects of the paraquat, but he couldn’t know for sure. Bill had shown him on the Internet that it was the only neutralizing agent. Michael was out of the room when they administered the charcoal and Maggie seemed to be getting a large amount of fluids, mostly by IV, and Michael commented on it. They told him it was to bring her fever down, and he nodded. Michael looked devastated as the two brothers sat side by side all day.

  Peter tried not to react as he looked at him. He realized now that Michael had fooled him yet again. He was just as evil as Peter had believed him to be when they were young, and as Bill said. The last few months had all been an act to convince Peter that he was the saint that everyone believed him to be. But the demon lurked within. And all the while, he was poisoning his wife. It was truly beyond comprehension or belief.

  “How’s she doing?” Peter whispered late in the afternoon, and Michael shook his head.

  “Not so well today.” Peter was just praying that he hadn’t found a way to give her another dose of the paraquat. It was going to be touch and go trying to save her as it was, with an almost lethal quantity of poison in her system. Peter wanted everything to happen more quickly and to get Michael away from her, but all he could do was wait. Peter felt the minutes dragging by interminably as Maggie slept. He wondered how long this had gone on, maybe years, if Bill was right. As Peter sat next to his brother, he had to do everything he could to restrain himself. He wanted to grab him and slam him up against the wall. Instead, he had to appear normal, as they walked down the hall to stretch their legs. It felt like the longest day of Peter’s life. He called Bill from the men’s room and told him nothing had changed. They had to wait for the reports the next day. Peter had told Michael that he wouldn’t leave him alone that night, and Michael thanked him with a grateful look. And through it all, Maggie slept. Peter never left the room unless Michael did. And he watched him like a hawk.

  * * *

  Jack Nelson got the first report at six A.M. It confirmed the one that Peter had given him the day before. Maggie had been given the weed killer paraquat in potentially lethal quantities. It was identical to the report Peter had offered, which was accurate and confirmed.

  Jack got the second call at noon. The substance in the two unmarked bottles from their garden shed was paraquat. It had been purchased out of the country, probably in Canada, since it met none of the U.S. norms. There were fingerprints on both bottles, the same prints that were present all over Michael and Maggie’s room. Hers were on her hairbrush and her laptop computer. They had gotten his from his electric razor and a number of things on his desk. The fingerprints on the two bottles of paraquat were identified as his. They were the only fingerprints on the bottles. They were Michael’s and no one else’s.

  Jack felt sick when he hung up the phone after the last report. Michael was his friend. He would have staked his life on him. He had wanted the accusations against him to be wrong. And maybe he had been framed, or it was some terrible misunderstanding, or accidental event. But the evidence was too strong. Maggie had been poisoned, and her husband’s fingerprints were all over the bottles of the lethal substance that had been used to do it.

  Jack picked up his hat and walked out of his office. He quietly asked his deputy to come with him, and have two patrolmen follow them in a separate car.

  “Where are we going, Chief?” The deputy had never seen him look like that before. Jack Nelson felt heartbroken and betrayed.

  “The hospital,” he said grimly. He assumed Michael would be there. He just hoped it wasn’t too late for Maggie and that she could be saved. He knew they’d been working on reversing the effect of the poison since yesterday.

  The four men walked into the hospital and got into the elevator together. Jack knew the number of Maggie’s room, and he took the deputy with him when he walked in and left the two officers in the hall. Michael looked pleased the moment he saw Jack enter the room. He got up from the corner where he’d been sitting with Peter and went straight toward his friend in uniform. He assumed he’d come to offer his concern and support. Jack instantly looked pained, and Peter stiffened as he watched the scene unfold.

  “Thanks so much for coming,” Michael said with a warm smile, trying to put Jack at ease. He could see that he was uncomfortable in the sickroom. Maggie was asleep with a nurse standing at her bedside. Michael didn’t know it, but Jack was the reason the nurse was there. Maggie hadn’t stirred in several hours, and her breathing was still labored.

  And before Michael could say another word, Peter saw Jack stand up to his full height, and when he spoke it was in a stern tone, with eyes full of regret. He’d never been in a situation like this before, and he hated what he had to do.

  “Michael McDowell,” the chief said in a choked voice, “I’m placing you under arrest for suspicion of the poisoning and attempted murder of your wife. You have the right to remain silent …” He went on as he read him his Miranda rights, and Michael looked at him and laughed.

  “Is this a joke?” he asked, looking vastly amused. He didn’t even look mildly disturbed. Not nervous, worried, or shocked. He was innocence itself.

  “No, it’s not,” the chief of police said to him, still standing in Maggie’s room. She hadn’t moved. “You can come with me quietly, or we can take you out in handcuffs,” he said, touching the pair dangling from his belt. He hadn’t used them in years. “It’s up to you.”

  “This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I’m Maggie’s doctor, and her husband. I’m not poisoning her.”

  “That’s not what the toxicology reports say,” Jack said quietly, wishing it wasn’t true. His tone with Michael was an official one, but his voice was thick with emotion.

  “Who ordered those reports?” Michael asked grandly.

  “I did,” he said, and then Michael turned and looked at his brother with narrowed eyes.

  “You did this, didn’t you?” he accused him. He could see that Peter wasn’t surprised. He looked unhappy but relieved. “You’re in
love with her, aren’t you?” Michael hissed at him. “How could you do this to me?”

  “How could you do it to her?” Peter said sadly, as Michael literally snarled at him, and Jack reached out and touched his arm.

  “Let’s go, Michael.” With that, the deputy stepped forward and put handcuffs on him, and Michael looked at him in outrage.

  “You can’t do this to me,” Michael snapped at him.

  “You’re under arrest,” the deputy said, looking embarrassed, and led Michael out of the room.

  The chief stopped to speak to Peter for a minute before he left.

  “I hope she makes it,” the chief said quietly. He had spoken to the head of the hospital again before they came over, and he didn’t sound hopeful, but he said they were doing all they could. They had been frantically researching treatments to counter the effects of the poison Michael had used on her. There were none. All they could do now was continue to flush it out of her system and hope the damage to her vital organs was not too great.

  As the chief of police walked out, a medical team walked into the room. They gently moved Maggie and began working on her, while Peter went to call Bill and tell him his father had been arrested and now they would have Lisa to deal with. She knew nothing of what had gone on. Peter was anxious to tell her before she heard it somewhere else. He knew it would be on the news soon. And locally, the story would be huge.