A Taste of Death (Maggie Olenski Series)

by Hughes, Mary Ellen

  "Right. With the cell phone reception here being so iffy, I don’t bother leaving mine on. Oh, well. Maybe we can catch each other later." Maggie turned briskly away. "It's probably just as well. I've got to get some work done." She headed over to her laptop and flipped on the switch. As it hummed and blinked through its booting up process, she began sorting through her papers.

  "I'm just going to fix some tea to take upstairs with me, and then I'll be out of your way," Dyna said. She put a mug of water in the microwave, then started rummaging around the cupboards. "Didn't we buy some Oreos?" she asked.

  "I thought you were stuffed."

  "I am. I just want a little taste of chocolate."

  Maggie smiled. "It's a good thing chocolate isn't an animal protein, isn't it." Dyna had long ago confessed she was a chocoholic, but unashamedly and with obvious relish. Dyna grinned, still rummaging.

  Maggie couldn't resist a little more teasing. "You know there's caffeine in chocolate, don't you?"

  "Don't even say things like that," Dyna said, putting her hands over her ears. "I didn't hear it. La-la-la." She found her cookies and tucked the package under her arm, carrying her tea mug in both hands. As she stepped carefully up the wrought iron stairs she called over her shoulder, "If it's true - and it isn't - the holistic theory is that a very little of the bad stuff brings out the good stuff in you. Or something like that. And if chocolate has caffeine, which it doesn't, it's very little."

  Maggie laughed. Another example of what she called "Dyna logic". She watched Dyna disappear into her room, then turned back to her papers, determined to put all thoughts from her mind but math-related ones. It wasn't easy. Thoughts of Rob intruded. When she managed to push them away, images of Leslie fixing poisonous brews crept in.

  Oleander. Had there been a plant like that at Dan Morgan's? She tried to remember, but not having been looking for it specifically at the time, the appearance of the various plants didn't sink in enough to recall. Did it matter, though, she wondered, if Dan Morgan kept a poisonous plant, not among the supplies of his kitchen of course, but decorating his foyer? Yes, it did, she answered herself. Because everyone who had been at the town meeting had to be suspect for now. Regina had been there, and certainly had a motive for murder. And tomorrow morning she would go to see Regina. What could she find out from her?

  "Stop!" Maggie ordered herself. "Math Puzzles and Games. What you need to find out is how to start Chapter Five. Worry about murder tomorrow." She heard the crinkle of Dyna's Oreo package come from above, and the taste of that chocolate, creme-filled cookie immediately flooded her mind. Maggie sighed. Writing, she thought, would be a lot easier if one's brain had little switches that would turn certain parts off. She looked at her computer screen which blankly waited for her to fill it with words. And a switch, she thought wryly, to turn the part you needed on.

  <><><>

  The next morning, Maggie tried to coax Dyna out of her Oreo-induced lethargy by pulling back her flower-printed comforter and shaking her. She had already called her twice, with little response.

  "Wake up. We have a busy day ahead of us."

  Dyna pulled the comforter back, snuggling into its warmth, but opened up one eye towards the window.

  "It's not even totally light out," she protested. "Regina's probably still out walking somewhere."

  "I think we better see John first thing. Tell him about the oleander."

  Dyna moaned. "John's probably still asleep too."

  "I doubt it. C'mon. By the time you're downstairs, I'll have breakfast ready.

  Dyna groaned a few more half-intelligible things which Maggie decided she didn't want to have repeated, then dragged herself to a sitting position and rubbed at her face. "Never, ever, start watching a re-run of "Terms of Endearment" with a full package of cookies at your side." She swung her feet to the floor and held her stomach. "Just tea and toast for me."

  "Okay. Dress warm. The wind is howling out there." Maggie heard a final groan as she trotted down the stairs.

  Dyna got herself together in a surprisingly short time after all her groaning, and to Maggie's satisfaction they were on their way to the sheriff's office within forty-five minutes. Unfortunately, the lone deputy there informed them within seconds of their arrival that John was out.

  "It's just some kids done some minor vandalizing, though. I would'a gone, but Dottie particularly wanted John. You could probably catch him at her coffee shop, if you want."

  Maggie did want, so they backtracked to Main Street, pulling up behind the sheriff's car parked in front of the coffee shop. John stood with a grey-haired woman beside a cracked window, she talking agitatedly with much arm waving and pointing, he listening patiently, an open notebook in hand . He looked over as Maggie turned off her ignition, flipping his notebook closed. The woman said a few final words, then tramped into the shop, clapping at her chilly arms.

  "'Morning," John said, as Maggie climbed out of her car. The wind had calmed down somewhat, but was still brisk enough to make her glad she wore a hat.

  Dyna swung her door closed and called, "You get started early." It was a statement, but Maggie thought she detected an undertone of complaint, perhaps from lingering thoughts of the warm bed she had been dragged out of because of John's disagreeable work hours.

  "A certain two young criminals," he gestured towards the cracked window, "got started even earlier. Fooling around with icy snow balls, I suspect. Forgot how hard they can be. Dot said they took off like two bats out of hell when it happened"

  "Are they in big trouble?" Dyna asked.

  "Mostly with their parents. I'll have to drive over and tell them about it. Dot, the way she feels right now, would like to have them sent up the river, but she'll likely be satisfied with a replacement window. The kids will be shoveling a lot of snow this winter to pay for it, I'll wager."

  "Before you go," Maggie put in, "can we talk?"

  John looked at her, possibly gauging the seriousness of the talk, and suggested they have a cup of coffee inside.

  The shop had a long counter where two men in plaid coats and wooly, ear-flapped hats sat, the only customers at the moment. They turned a fraction on their stools and nodded to John as he passed. He led Maggie and Dyna to a booth near the back where they all piled in, John calling to Dot for two cups of coffee, "and a cup of...?" he looked at Dyna.

  "Just orange juice for me," Dyna said, wisely, Maggie thought. She could imagine the likely reaction of Dottie and the two ear-flapped patrons to a request for rose hip or hibiscus flower tea.

  Maggie waited until their order came, then told John what she had discovered in Leslie's sun room.

  "Ah, it's there too," was his surprising response.

  "So you knew about it. Was oleander the poison that killed Jack Warwick, then?"

  "What were you doing in Leslie's sunroom?" he asked.

  "Investigating, of course," Dyna said. "We know Elizabeth didn't kill Jack Warwick. You don't really believe she did either, do you?"

  "Investigating?" John repeated, a scowl forming on his normally impassive face.

  Maggie uneasily recalled her earlier assurance to him that she wouldn't play private investigator. But everything had changed since then. She didn't want to go into it all right now, and simply asked, "You said 'it's there too'. Where else is it?"

  "The foyer of Morgan's restaurant, for one."

  "Oh," Dyna said. "Maggie wondered. She almost snitched a piece of his plants, but the mayor and his wife walked in."

  John gave Maggie a look that pushed her to defend her actions. "I don't think I'm interfering with police work, just trying to come up with anything you might not have thought of. Obviously you thought of checking Dan Morgan's foyer."

  "Yes, he has an oleander plant there."

  "So maybe he made the poison that killed Jack," Dyna put in, looking quite satisfied to Maggie. Leslie or Dan, it clearly didn't matter to Dyna which, as long as it wasn't Elizabeth.

  "He could have. Half the town
could have too," John said. "Dan told us, and Vickie confirmed it, that all his foyer plants were trimmed a few days back, and the clippings dumped in one of the cans out back. So much they overflowed it. The cans stand next to a well-used alleyway. Anyone could have come by and helped themselves, if they knew what to look for. Including Elizabeth," he added.

  Dyna's face fell. "But she wouldn't have, you have to know that, John."

  "I can't get into that."

  "Elizabeth may be getting a lawyer," she said. "Paul Dekens said he'd help her get one."

  John merely nodded at this.

  "May I ask," Maggie said, "what was it that sent you to search Elizabeth's place? You haven't searched anyone else's, as far as I know. Why hers?"

  "Elizabeth's lawyer, whoever that is, will be informed that we had the proper search warrant issued for probable cause." John took a long drink from his coffee mug. "Elizabeth had a motive to kill Warwick. You probably heard the gossip." Maggie nodded. "A prosecutor could do a lot with the 'rejected woman seeks revenge' argument. You're right, though. Several others who were at that town meeting had good reasons for wanting Jack Warwick dead. But we didn't get a tip from a certain concerned citizen about happening to stumble upon some rather incriminating evidence in anyone else's kitchen cupboard."

  "A certain concerned citizen! Who? Who are you talking about?"

  John stood up and pulled bills from his pocket to cover the tab. "That, for now, is the business of the authorities, which, it seems I need to remind you, you are not one of."

  John put his hat on and gave Maggie a hard look. "In other words, Miss Olenski, a murder investigation is serious business, not a game. Stop playing Nancy Drew and leave the police work to the police."

  John turned and walked out, leaving Maggie to stare after him. She felt her anger at his words slowly warming her cheeks before the cold outside air, let in by his exit, reached her booth with its chill.

  CHAPTER 11

  "Nancy Drew?" Dyna said, her face a picture of indignation, which Maggie was sure hers mirrored.

  New customers had come in with questions for Dot about her cracked window. These provoked agitated responses, and the noise level in the small shop grew rapidly.

  "Let's talk about it in the car," Maggie said, and she slid out of the booth, followed quickly by Dyna.

  John's car was gone, its parking space now occupied by a tan pick-up. Maggie climbed over the snow bank at the curb and into her Cavalier, Dyna slipping at the same time into the passenger seat.

  "How could he say that to you?" Dyna asked, buckling up with clumsy fingers. Maggie watched the fumbling, unsure if it was caused by the thick gloves Dyna wore, or the agitation John seemed to have stirred up.

  "He's the sheriff. He has every right. It is his job, and he was just telling us that," Maggie answered. She didn't know if her explanation was to calm Dyna or herself. To be accused of playing games had stung. She wasn't playing. Maggie felt she understood the seriousness of the situation as much as anyone. It was only because she was completely convinced of Elizabeth's innocence and the danger she was now in that Maggie had gotten involved. She took a deep breath, realized the air in the car was quite cold, and turned on the ignition.

  "Let's not worry about John, for now. What do you think of that piece of information he gave us," she said.

  "About the concerned citizen tipping them off?"

  "Yes.

  "That was weird. Who could it have been?"

  "I don't know." Maggie rubbed her hands, which, even in their gloves were beginning to feel the cold. She looked at the car's heater, willing it to start blowing warm air.

  "The murderer!" Dyna said, her eyes growing wide. "The murderer could have planted the bottle and the book in Elizabeth's cabinet, then called John anonymously to tell him where to look."

  Maggie thought about that. "Maybe. But John didn't say it was an anonymous tip. He said it was a certain concerned citizen. I don't think John would have acted on an anonymous tip, do you? So he must have the identity of this citizen. Would the murderer take a chance of putting himself in the spotlight like that?"

  "No," Dyna admitted reluctantly, "probably not, if he had to give his name and all. John could think he - or she - had actually put the stuff there."

  "So who did call?" Maggie asked. "Who, as John, said, 'happened to stumble' on this incriminating evidence, and felt guilt-free enough to report it? Who was poking into Elizabeth's cupboards?"

  "We were," Dyna said. "But that was later, you know, after John had already been there, when we were fixing her breakfast."

  "So someone was in Elizabeth's kitchen, very soon after Jack Warwick was poisoned. Maybe doing the same thing we were, cooking up a meal for Elizabeth. She must know who that is."

  "Let's go ask her."

  "Yes, eventually," Maggie said, "but I'd like to go to Regina's right now. Catch her before she hurries out - she always seems so busy - and try to talk to her a bit while I get those dinner tickets from her."

  "So drop me at Elizabeth's. No, drop me at the supermarket. I'll pick up some supplies for her like we were talking about, then I'll have a good long talk with her."

  "Can you carry bags of groceries there?"

  "No problem. I guess you don't have the layout of the town in your head yet, but the market's just a couple blocks away."

  Maggie thought about the route they had taken that first morning to get to the supermarket, most of it coming back now. Dyna was right, the market wasn't too far from Elizabeth's. "Well, that would save some time, if you don't mind." It occurred to Maggie that besides re-stocking Elizabeth's bare kitchen and hopefully learning who had called John, Dyna's natural buoyancy might also help lift the depression that probably still hovered there. "I'll pick you up on my way back."

  "No, no," Dyna flapped her hand, "I'll walk back, through the path. That way we can both take as much time as we need." As Maggie put the car in gear and pulled into the traffic lane, Dyna asked, "What do you think? About what I should pick up for Elizabeth, I mean?"

  "I don't know if she's vegetarian or not, if that's what you're wondering. She needed milk, maybe some fresh fruit, a few frozen dinners." She glanced over at Dyna and said, "Oh, and she might like a nice, big package of Oreos."

  Dyna shook her head firmly. "Uh-uh. After last night I don't even want to look at those things."

  Maggie grinned, and wondered how long chocoholics managed to stay on the wagon. It occurred to her that food cravings were certainly inconvenient, at best, and unhealthy at worst. As she braked for a stop light she reached for one of the sourballs in her console and unwrapped it, thinking how fortunate she had no addictions like that. She popped the candy in her mouth and savored it's sour-sweetness. Mmm, tangy grape.

  <><><>

  Maggie stood at the door of the large, old house. It wasn't what she would have expected for an older, single woman. With a huge, Victorian-style veranda, three full floors, and a spacious yard, the place clearly required a lot of upkeep, and from what Maggie could see so far, had been getting it. She wondered how Regina managed.

  She pressed the doorbell and heard an echoing "bing-bong". It was several seconds before the door was pulled open, and Regina stood before her, her small frame three-quarters wrapped in an immense white apron, impatiently beckoning her in.

  "I'm in the middle of something in the kitchen," she said by way of greeting, and turned on her heel to lead the way, walking Maggie through a dim hallway with rooms on each side. Maggie caught glimpses of heavy draperies and dark, old fashioned furniture. The kitchen, when they reached it, wasn't much cheerier, but did at least welcome her with pleasant aromas.

  "Fixing a couple casseroles to take that Kerr woman," Regina said, as she resumed her place at a cutting board that had a mound of chopped onion on it. Several small zucchinis and an eggplant sat beside the board, and Maggie saw a bowl of beans nearby.

  "Elizabeth?"

  Regina nodded. "Saw her this morning when I was out wal
king. Doesn't look good, probably not eating like she should. Can't blame her, with all that's going on."

  Maggie's first thought was how considerate that was of Regina, but she instinctively refrained from saying so, sure that Regina would look on it as merely the sensible thing to do and anyone who didn't automatically think so was an idiot.

  "Help yourself to some coffee." Regina jerked an elbow in the direction of the coffee pot. "I'll get those tickets for you in a second."

  "Take your time. I'm in no hurry." Maggie picked up a mug that sat beside the pot, glad that she had an opportunity to dally a while. She had been afraid Regina would meet her at the door with tickets in hand, and she wouldn't get two words out of her.

  Regina resumed chopping, doing it as rapidly and efficiently as Maggie thought she must do just about everything in her life. She mixed ingredients and seasonings in a large baking dish, grated cheese over the top, and slid it into her oven, all the while lecturing Maggie on the vitamin and mineral content of each component, and the superiority of this kind of meal over the average American's dinner.

  Maggie watched and listened without comment, taking an occasional sip from her mug of what turned out to be delicious coffee. When Regina wiped her hands and sat down at the large oak table opposite her, Maggie asked, "Was Elizabeth out walking so early too?"

  "Don't know exactly what she was doing. Maybe just getting a breath of air when she knew most townspeople wouldn't be out and about."

  Maggie nodded. "I'm glad she is getting out. Was this the first time you've seen her since the town meeting?" she asked, thinking she might as well narrow her list of possible "concerned citizens".

  Regina looked at her sharply, and grunted along with a quick nod. Maggie thought that was quite likely the truth. If Regina had found the book and bottle of poison, and hadn't planted it there herself, of course, Maggie couldn't picture her simply calling John and waiting for him to do something about it. She would almost certainly drag Elizabeth by the hair to the sheriff's office herself. The question that remained, however, was did Regina plant the evidence herself.