Prelude to Poison

by Morgan W. Silver

  Meet me at the pembroke. Its about the murders

  Who had sent me this? Was it a burner phone? Patricia was out on bail, but was it her? Would it be her? I ignored the small errors in punctuation and put down the phone so I could get changed into black trousers and a red blouse. I brought a voice recorder, a pocket knife and some deodorant that could double as pepper spray. Just as I left my flat, I phoned Alistair.

  “Maggie, everything okay?” he said. His voice sounded hollow, like he was in a bathroom or something.

  “I just got a text from a number I don’t recognise. Someone wants me to meet them at the Pembroke. Apparently it’s about the murder.”

  “What? Don’t go, it’s probably a trap. I’ll go.”

  “I’m already on my way.”

  “Maggie,” he warned.

  “What? I’ve come prepared, and I’m calling you, aren’t I? Just hurry up, and meet me there.”

  “Don’t do anyth—” he started, but I hung up on him and started running. On my way I encountered Pandora, and she followed me for a bit, but then lost interest when she spotted a black cat under a car.

  The Pembroke looked dark and deserted. The street was quiet, and the stars were hiding behind a veil of clouds. I glanced back to see if Alistair was coming, but when I looked back at the Pembroke there was a flash of light. I dashed up the steps to the entrance.

  “You should wait for Alistair,” Detective Black said.

  “I know, but—” There was a crash from inside. The front door was ajar. I couldn’t resist and slipped inside. It was quiet. Too quiet. I took a few steps forward and used my torch to provide light. In the reception area was a broken vase and just as I walked towards it, I spotted a hidden room behind a bookcase that had been pulled open. I remembered it from the blueprints.

  My heart started beating faster. What if there was another body?

  “That’s unlikely,” Detective Black said. “But you should go outside and wait for Alistair. Now.”

  I was about to turn around and go back to the entrance when one of the floorboards creaked and a sharp pain spread through my head. I fell to the floor, and everything turned dark.

  WHEN I CAME TO, I WAS leaning against something soft. There was a woody scent that filled my nose. I smiled, because I recognised it.

  “Maggie?” Alistair asked. His voice sounded far away as if it was carried on clouds.

  A dull pain spread throughout my skull, and I frowned.

  “Maggie, are you okay?” Alistair’s soft hand touched my cheek, but it was the pain in my head that brought me back to reality.

  I blinked, staring up at his worried face, even though he tried to smile at me. He had me in his arms while I was lying on the cold and hard floor. It was dark, but there was a light aiming away from us. A torch?

  “What—where—?” I started.

  “It’s okay, take your time.” He still had his hand on my cheek, and he didn’t budge.

  I groaned. “My head hurts.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I really wish you would have waited for me.”

  Waited? “I can’t wait. You have a girlfriend,” I said, closing my eyes again as the pain came in waves.

  “I didn’t mean that. What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “Film and poker,” I muttered, then closed my again. I wasn’t sure how much later it was when I opened them again. Where were we?

  This time Alistair was stroking my hair. “Are you awake?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” I tried to sit up.

  “Be careful.”

  I got up and clutched my head. “Where are we?” My torch was on the ground and shone on the opposite wall. We were surrounded by large bricks, not an opening in sight. My stomach flipped. “Oh, no.”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so,” Alistair said in a more casual tone than I had expected. He helped me sit up with my back against what appeared to be a door, but without a handle. He made sure I could lean against him as well.

  “What happened?”

  “You were lying on the ground, and this bookcase was opened. I really thought—I mean, I thought you were dead,” he said, not looking at me. “So I rushed in and someone closed it behind me. I didn’t reach it in time. I’m sorry.”

  I grabbed his hand. “It’s okay. We’ll get out of here.”

  “I tried to make a phone call, but I don’t have reception. What about your phone?”

  I checked my pockets. “I don’t have it. Weird.”

  “It must have been taken. Did you tell anyone you were coming? Oh, right. You don’t remember.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t apologise. You were attacked. Do you think it was Patricia?” He shook his head. “She’ll be sorry.”

  “I don’t know.” My head still felt foggy, and it hurt to think. “Just give me a minute to get my bearings.”

  “Right. Sorry for all the questions. I just—I don’t want to stay here longer than necessary.”

  Now I could hear the panic in between those words. “It will be okay. We’re not going to die in here.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I just know.” I squeezed his hand. There was a pause. “My head really hurts.”

  “You’re not bleeding, I checked. You might have a concussion, though. We’ll have to go to the hospital after—I mean, if we—”

  “We will get out.”

  “Yes.”

  “I suppose you already tried the door.”

  Alistair sighed. “Yeah, it won’t budge.”

  I shivered. “Figured.”

  He leaned forward and shrugged off his jacket.

  “Won’t you be cold?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” He placed his jacket on top of me.

  “Thanks. You know, I’m sure your message will find a way to get through, and we’ll be rescued.”

  “And even if that’s true, how will they open the door?”

  I swallowed. “Don’t try to use your logic. It will just ruin things. Now, tell me something fun. It can be about anything.”

  His eyes scanned my face. “Fine. I’ll share with you the reason why I was on that roof the day we went to the fair.”

  I looked at him. “Was it because you were going to practise your magic tricks?”

  He smiled. “No. It was because I was going to ask you to be my Valentine.”

  “Really? Me? I didn’t even know you—I mean, girls were always falling over themselves to get to you. Why would you be interested in me?”

  “Are you joking? You’re gorgeous, funny, smart, and you have the most beautiful smile.”

  I chuckled, too hurt to be shy. “Are you telling me we could have been together all those years ago?”

  He shrugged. “No. You would have never left for London. Not that I should have gone. It was a mistake.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t. It made you who you are today.”

  “Exactly. I’m a mess. I haven’t been treating you or Christina right. This is not who I am, I’m just—I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  I said nothing. I could hardly argue with that. Whatever he was going through, he had to figure it out himself. “If you liked me, then why didn’t you ever say or do anything during the fair? Or even after the fair?”

  “Because that day was so perfect that I think I wanted to hold on to that idea of perfection. I was too afraid you would turn me down, I guess.”

  “Yeah, rejection hurts. I guess being hurt is part of being alive.”

  He inhaled. “My mother said you had a boyfriend last year, but that it didn’t end well.”

  I put my head on his shoulder. “Yes. He wanted to get married and have babies and everything, but then he got a job opportunity that meant we had to move away, and I didn’t want to leave. He chose his job over me and shattered my heart. It took some time, but I’m over it now. Still, he said all the right things, and I’m sure felt all the right things, yet he left me. It makes me a bit wary.”

  “T
rust me, he didn’t feel all the right things if he chose his job over you.”

  “I’d like to think so, but sometimes love isn’t enough. I don’t want it to be, but I think in real life that is true. Don’t you?”

  He narrowed his eyes at me as if he was thinking. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s not just love, but also dedication.”

  “Dedication. I like that word. All the guys I’ve met have shown zero dedication. It would be nice to find someone who fights for me.” I closed my eyes again. “What about you? What do you want?”

  He said nothing for a while. “I guess I want someone I can be myself with.”

  “That’s important. Wait, are you saying you don’t feel that way with Christina?”

  “I think I like the version of me that I am with her, but it’s not—I’m not really that guy. Not fully. I guess I just forgot who I was when I was in London. Does that make sense?”

  I touched his cheek. “It does. You’re not weird. I mean, not weirder than any of us.”

  He leaned forward and kissed my nose. “You’re pretty amazing, and you deserve someone who is equally amazing.”

  “Ugh. Deserve is a stupid word when it comes to love. Love is never about what you deserve. There are no rules or conditions when it comes to love. Love just is.”

  “And there is the writer in you.” He chuckled.

  “Yes, I can be pretty deep. The Grand Canyon has nothing on me.”

  Alistair laughed. “I’ll remember that for when I need advice.”

  “Please do, I like giving advice.”

  “Don’t say that, before you know it I’ll be at your door all the time.”

  I smiled. Didn’t he know I actually liked that idea?

  “That’s what friends are for,” I said and resisted the urge to kiss him.

  He put his arm around me, and I snuggled closer to him as it began to get colder. He held me tightly. “Rest for a bit,” he whispered. “I’ll wake you every now and then, in case you have a concussion.”

  “I’ll be very grumpy,” I said.

  “That’s okay. I’ll just have to snuggle you to cheer you up again.”

  It warmed my heart to hear him talk to me like that. Like we were a couple. Why did he feel like he could do that with me and not with Christina? My limbs felt heavy, and I started drifting off again.

  WE WERE JOLTED AWAKE when something behind us turned and groaned. It was the door. Alistair was on his feet faster than I was, and he pulled me up.

  “Is it help or...not?” I asked.

  “It has to be help,” he said. “But just in case, get behind me.”

  I did as he said. The noises stopped for a moment, then started again. It was as if someone was trying to figure out how the door worked. Which meant that it had to be help. I was so relieved that I almost cried.

  The door creaked and then with a sudden noise, it popped open, letting in a gust of fresh air. The light of a torch shone in our eyes.

  “Thank the goddess you’re okay,” Nancy cried out, and at the sound of her voice I moved past Alistair and rushed straight to her. I held out my arms and didn’t stop until I felt the softness of her body and smelt the gentle scent of lavender.

  “Are you okay?” Nick asked. I looked up and now that the torch wasn’t shining in my face I saw that it was him, my aunt Nancy, and Eleanor. I hugged Nick and Eleanor next.

  “Are you okay, son?” Nancy asked and pulled Alistair into a hug. “There, there. You’re safe now.”

  He chuckled and hugged her back. “Thank you. You saved us.”

  “How did you save us?”

  “I was walking back to my flat after the pub,” she said, but in a tone that made me believe it wasn’t just a visit to the pub. Was she seeing someone?

  “Probably,” Detective Black said.

  “And I saw you running towards the hotel. I figured if Mags is running, something must be terribly wrong.”

  Alistair tried to hide a smile.

  “So I followed, and then I saw Alistair go in, so I first thought, you know—” she wiggled her eyebrows, and I was glad it was too dark for anyone to see me blush, “but then I realised that Maggie is way too scared to go into that hotel if it wasn’t important. So I decided to go in, and I swear there was someone here, but I didn’t see or hear anything and your handbag was in front of that bookcase, as well as a broken vase, so I got a bad feeling. I called Alistair, but it went straight to voicemail and then I phoned Eleanor and Nick. Nick showed up with blueprints and we had a few tries to get it to open up. It worked.” She beamed.

  “Nick, you went and got the blueprints. How clever.” I hugged him again.

  “I’m just glad you explained them to me before this happened. I don’t want to think about what would have happened otherwise.”

  “I would have charged through the wall, that’s what would have happened,” Nancy said. “Don’t you worry. Nobody hurts my Maggie.”

  Again I was glad she didn’t know how much Alistair had hurt me when I found out about Christina. But none of that seemed to matter now. Alistair had his path, I had mine. Maybe one day they would cross, or maybe they’d just run parallel to each other.

  “So who did this to you? Patricia again?” Nick asked.

  “You know it’s not Patricia,” Detective Black said.

  “I’m going to kill her myself,” Nancy said and was about to walk off.

  “Actually,” I said before she would go off on a murder rampage, “I think I know who did all of this.” And I hope I’m not wrong. Again.

  Chapter 23

  I had never before been to Susan’s house though I knew she lived on the outskirts of Castlefield. The cottage was small and appeared dilapidated, though that was mostly due to chipped paint and a garden that wasn’t tended to at all. I rang the doorbell twice before the light was turned on, and I heard movement. It was by now four in the morning.

  She opened the door in her pink pyjamas and her eyes widened, but then she composed herself. “Maggie? What are you doing here so late? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

  “Oh, she’s good,” Detective Black said.

  “Quick, you have to come to the Pembroke,” I said, proud that I managed to sound panicked. “Someone tried to kill me and Alistair.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, but Mr Field showed up and rescued us.”

  This time she took a step back. “What? How—I thought he was dead.”

  “Me too. Apparently the police lied because he knows who the real killer is. Alistair said that I should tell you to go to the Pembroke while I wait here.”

  Her eyes darted from left to right as she visibly contemplated her options. Alistair was on the lookout, and so were Nancy, Eleanor, DC Daniels, and Nick. Alistair and DC Daniels had eyes on us right now, whereas the others were either at the nearest bus stop or the train station, just in case. Since Susan was in her pyjamas, she would most likely get dressed, grab some stuff and try to run off.

  But I wasn’t so sure. She could have disappeared a long time ago, but instead she stayed and decided that murder was easier. She obviously had sociopathic tendencies, but there could have also been a part of her that believed she was doing the right thing. That she had been wronged and was simply protecting herself. I wanted to get to that part of her.

  “You know what?” I said. “I’m kind of sick of this whole investigation. I’m not sure Victor deserves all this effort. Or Mrs Field.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. Probably torn between keeping up the charade and vehemently agreeing with me.

  “He was a selfish cheater who used people. I mean look at you, you’re gorgeous, and yet he still couldn’t commit to you. He stayed with that frumpy Patricia and then even dated Mrs Field. I mean, come on. I can’t believe I respected him. He kind of had it coming, don’t you think? I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be insensitive.”

  She bit her lip. “No, no, I understand. He could be very selfish. Sometimes he would—it would be like
I didn’t exist.”

  I shook my head. “Typical man. Doesn’t even know what he wants.”

  “Exactly!” she said in a sudden outburst. “He didn’t know that he wanted me. I kept telling him and telling him.”

  “But then he just started avoiding you because he was scared of his true feelings.”

  She grabbed my wrists. “Yes, that’s right. He loved me. He loved me as much as I loved him, he just didn’t see it.” She brushed her brown hair out of her face and looked up and down the street.

  “Do you need help?” I asked in my most friendly tone. “Because of what you did? You’re in trouble now, aren’t you?”

  She stared at me. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I knew Mrs Field was trying to get close to Patricia, and so I got close to Mrs Field. Even though we were friends, she still made me call her ‘Mrs Field’, can you believe it? The tart. She was desperate to be like Patricia, and to have Victor to herself and be popular. I got into her head, it didn’t take much of an effort at all. She barely hesitated when I told her we could get rid of Patricia. I ordered the mushrooms, and she was supposed to put them in Patricia’s cup when she was playing bridge with that old woman and her friends. Except that she didn’t get the chance to do it, the cow. So I simply walked into their house. They don’t lock the gate to the back of the house and sleep with the windows open. It wasn’t difficult at all.”

  “She’s so stupid. She would have deserved to die,” I said, hoping she couldn’t see me tremble.

  “Yes, she really should have died. There was a sweet tea that she had bought and mentioned in front of Mrs Field. I put it in there, not believing for one second that Victor would drink that stuff. Apparently he did.” Her mouth turned downwards.

  Damn. We better warn Patricia as soon as possible.

  “And Mr Field was blackmailing him, so he had seen it, hadn’t he?”

  “He knew, yes. The greedy bastard. He was using it to blackmail his wife. He wanted her to come back to him, but I knew she didn’t want that, so I got rid of him and the evidence by setting fire to his office with him in it. Crushed some sleeping tablets in the tea kettle in his office. His wife still knew all his habits, and he never changed his routine. He had insomnia, apparently. But when he was dead, she said she never meant for that to happen. What did she think I was going to do? Just destroy the evidence? Am I that stupid?”