“Well, I know Doc backed out, which means your golf course is short of money.”
“Who told you that?”
I hesitated. “I heard you talking at Doc’s retirement party. Mike and Bud Fisher said they couldn’t cover the loss when Doc pulled out and it sounded like you couldn’t either.”
His nostrils flared angrily. “So you invited Rickie to your shop to find out if I was broke?”
I felt my face redden. “She needs a friend and I thought I could be one.”
He snorted derisively. “You’re a lousy liar, Gailynn MacDonald. You should get your oldest brother to give you lessons.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shook his head. “I’m not going to answer your questions any more than I’m going to tell you how much money I have in the bank. But I’ll warn you, young lady. If you’re so all fire determined to stick your nose in other people’s business, you better be prepared for the consequences.”
I squared my shoulders so he wouldn’t think he could intimidate me. “I’m not afraid of the truth.”
“But you should be afraid of the people who are,” he said, and then disappeared up the tree covered hill.
Be afraid of the people who are afraid of the truth. Who could that be? Less than forty-eight hours ago, I thought Hum Harbour was a supportive, happy community where no one harbored secrets. Boy, was I wrong.
17
Geoff didn’t have any appointments that morning so he left me alone in the clinic while he visited his sister and ran a few errands.
I got back to checking Doc’s files. I worked my way through B and C, looking for anything like a Bill of Sale for Doc’s Hum Harbour Practice or a copy of the contract he signed for Hum Harbour Holes. Need I say my search proved fruitless? Why I ever thought I’d find something useful among his stacks of files I’ll never know.
Frustrated, I stepped into Geoff’s office, hoping I’d find what I wanted there. But in the few weeks Geoff had been at the clinic he’d already redecorated the office. The walls were a warm taupe, there were plants on the windowsill and framed photos on the wall. Boxes of Doc’s old books were stacked in the corner, ready for shipping to Geoff’s African mission. He’d told me medical books, even outdated ones, were precious to mobile clinics with no reference libraries.
In their place Doc’s built-in shelves contained Geoff’s books arranged in alphabetical order by subject. Some shelves, like immunology, were almost bare while others, like infectious diseases or oncology, were so crowded the books ran onto the shelf below.
I munched my bagel lunch while I perused them curiously. The diagnostic pictures in Infectious Diseases of East Africa had me slamming the book back on the shelf and quickly looking for something less graphic. I chose Poisonous Plants of the Sub Sahara. It was soft covered with lovely color plates of plants in all their phases from seed to flower to leaf. I settled into Geoff’s swivel chair and flipped through the volume, reading snippets here and there.
Maybe in the back of my mind was Geoff’s theory Doc had been poisoned. I found Cinchona trees, which Geoff had mentioned. Apparently quinine came from Cinchona bark and a few years ago when it looked like Peru might run out of the trees, some bright entrepreneur decided to start Cinchona orchards all over the world. After all, malaria was on the rise and people needed quinine to treat malaria. I’d say the woman Geoff mentioned who died so painfully might have questioned the initiative, had she known.
Two plants on Geoff’s windowsill were among ones listed in his book. I read through their write-ups very carefully. It would never do if some little kid decided to help himself to a leaf or flower. It was while I read about these two lovely little green plants that I remembered Lori’s cautioning words.
Did Geoff have an ulterior motive for returning to Hum Harbour when he did?
It was like hearing Lori’s voice in my head. Maybe Geoff decided it wasn’t enough to remove Doc from Sasha’s circle of medical care. Maybe he agreed with Sam; Doc should pay for destroying Sasha’s last chance to have a baby. Geoff knew enough to make Doc’s death appear natural. If Doc’s boat hadn’t washed up on our rocks no one would have been the wiser.
But the Medical Convention did wash back into Hum Harbour.
Next move: Geoff volunteers to help the coroner. And when Doc’s internal bleeding comes to light, what better way to throw off suspicion? Suggest the weapon himself.
I threw the rest of my bagel in the garbage.
That’s when Geoff walked in. He looked me in the face and then eyed the open book before me. “Find anything interesting?”
I closed the book firmly and stood. “Just looking for a little light lunch time reading.”
Geoff took it from my hand. “If you’re curious about poisons I have a couple of books that are more comprehensive. In fact, I’ve been going through them myself, trying to see what fits Doc’s symptoms. If I can narrow it to a few likely possibilities, it might make Andrew’s job easier. Who knows how long the provincial lab will take to analyze the samples we sent.”
Either Geoff was such an accomplished liar he could run with any story without blinking an eye or he was what he seemed. Innocent. How could I discover which?
“Have you had any luck?” I asked. Maybe I could trick him into letting something slip.
“Too much luck, actually. Half the poisons listed cause internal bleeding. The trick will be discerning the ones most easily available here in Hum Harbour. I’m ruling out the more exotic poisons right off the bat.”
“Now-a-days you can order anything over the Internet. I know Mimi orders some of her herbs that way. Why not exotic poisons?”
He shook his head. “Too time consuming. Whoever did this had the poison on hand. I think Doc’s murder was a crime of opportunity, not something planned months in advance.”
“There are poisons everywhere in Hum Harbour, car antifreeze, even those plants on your windowsill. According to the book I was reading, they’re poisonous, too.”
“Toxic would be more accurate. If you ate both entire plants down to the roots you’d suffer severe intestinal cramps but not much else.”
“Did you smuggle them home in your suitcase?” I pretended to smile.
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Sam and Sasha gave them to me as a clinic warming gift. She found them in a catalogue of tropical plants and thought I’d like them. I didn’t have the heart to tell her they were toxic.”
I baited him. “Didn’t that make you wonder?”
“It’s no big deal, Gailynn. Really. Those two plants are no more dangerous than Christmas Poinsettias or Easter lilies.”
I tugged my ponytail. “Mimi told me she orders medicinal plants through McKenna’s. Apparently, Sasha adds Mimi’s order to their regular import orders. What if she ordered Doc’s poison that way?”
“What are you trying to prove? That Sasha did murder Doc? I thought you were her friend.”
“I am. That’s why I’m worried. I know she’s not herself, and so does Andrew.” I dropped my voice. “We have to be ready to defend her against whatever he finds.”
Geoff stuck the Sub Sahara Poisons book onto the shelf. I watched, wondering if he’d confess to poisoning Doc to save his sister. He didn’t.
“I don’t like where your thoughts are headed.”
“If Sasha inadvertently helped the murderer by bringing some exotic poison into the country, that person could just as easily leave Sasha holding the bag.”
He spun on his heels, confronting me. “How many people are you prepared to falsely accuse?”
“I’m not accusing anyone.”
“Sure you are. So far you’ve tried implicating me and your cousin Mimi.”
I opened my mouth to deny his accusation then changed my mind. “Are you involved?”
Geoff’s face twisted in disgust. “No! How could you think that? Are you so furious with me for buying Doc’s practice? I know I ruined your dream of running the clinic with Lori, but do you
hate me enough to think I’m capable of murder?”
I hung my head.
“I thought we were becoming friends. I thought you were starting to trust me.”
“I was. I am.” I threw up my hands. “I don’t know.” I felt like my words were poisonous, too. I was so ashamed I wanted to weep. “Why can’t this just all go away? Why can’t everything go back to the way it was?”
“Evil doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t slink off just because we want it to. It has to be confronted. Eradicated.”
I blinked back tears. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“Then let me help.”
“Because your sister needs you?”
“And because I need to, for me.” He stuffed his fists into his pockets and studied his feet as though trying to decide what to say next.
“When I was in Somalia I turned my back on evil. I was afraid so I ran home because I thought I’d be safe here. Maybe I am safe, but I can’t live with being a coward. Let me fight this with you, Gailynn. Please.”
I put my hand out to touch him, to reassure him, and found myself wrapping my arms around him instead.
That’s how we were standing when Andrew and Lori walked in. Lori had on the smile she always wore when Andrew was near—the one I called adoring but my brother called beguiling—while Andrew looked, well, just plain startled.
Geoff and I jumped apart but not fast enough. I watched Lori’s expression change from delight to undisguised shock, to stunning anger. I think she might have struck me had Andrew not grabbed her arm and hauled her back.
“Play nice, now,” he said.
Lori clamped her arms tight against her sides. Her body was so rigid her glorious honey gold hair shivered with every furious tap of her toe.
I didn’t know what to do. I was sure hugging Geoff must seem the ultimate betrayal to Lori, yet I couldn’t explain my actions without betraying Geoff’s confidence, in turn. And I wouldn’t. I loved Lori very much, but I wasn’t a fool. I knew how harsh her temper could be and at that moment, I chose to accept it rather than deflect it onto Geoff.
So all I said was, “It’s not what you think.”
“Then what was it?”
I couldn’t think fast enough to lie so I admitted the truth. “I have no idea.” This seemed to calm her and her toe stilled.
Andrew grinned. “I dunno, looks like a pretty clear case of sexual harassment in the work place to me.”
I said, “It was nothing like that,” and Geoff said, “Don’t go there,” at exactly the same time, which amused Andrew more.
“Do I need to be protecting my little sister’s honor?”
“Don’t go there,” I said while Geoff, again at the same time, said, “It was nothing like that.”
I decided to change the subject. “Why are you two here?”
“To see you,” said Lori.
“To talk to Geoff,” said Andrew. It was their turn to talk over each other.
Geoff held his hands up in a time-out T.
“Have you heard anything back from the provincial lab?” I asked Andrew. After all, Geoff and I had been discussing poisons before we were so rudely interrupted. Maybe Andrew had news.
“Sorry, can’t discuss an ongoing investigation.”
“That translates as no,” Geoff said, “which means my books are still our best bet.”
“Best bet for what?” asked Lori.
“We’re trying to figure out what kind of poison Doc was given.”
“Poison? I can’t believe any one in Hum Harbour would poison Doc.” She sounded disparaging.
I looked to Andrew. “Yeah, maybe you should be looking for a stranger instead of harassing the innocent people of Hum Harbour.”
He glared at me and said to Geoff, “You’re looking for our murder weapon among all those books? Good luck.”
“Have you found any possibilities?” asked Lori.
“Gailynn wants to focus on the exotic, like Ayahuasca from the Amazon. I’m thinking of something more local, like rat poison.”
Andrew rolled his eyes at me. “How could anyone get Amazon poisons in Hum Harbour? You’ve got to be reasonable here, Gai.”
“People import all sorts of things. Why not poison?”
“She has this bee in her bonnet,” said Geoff. “Sasha does all the ordering for McKenna’s, and Gailynn thinks someone could convince her to unwittingly order a poisonous plant and then be blamed for it. She’s the perfect scapegoat.”
Andrew pondered that. “You’re saying someone at McKenna’s wanted Doc dead?”
“She ordered stuff for everyone, even Mimi.”
He shuddered. “You mean Sasha’s responsible for that horrible tea Mimi keeps trying to feed me?”
“Are you saying Mimi’s involved?” Lori asked me.
“Of course not. I’m simply pointing out how easy it would be for the murderer to do that.”
Lori looked unimpressed with my logic. “Any medicine could hurt you if taken incorrectly Maybe Doc did it to himself, got careless mixing his meds with alcohol.”
I chewed my cheek. “You’re suggesting Doc accidentally poisoned himself? I think he was too experienced a drinker for that.”
She spread her hands. “OK, then someone else. I’m not saying Mimi, but say someone who had access to her stock, what if they took something she would prescribe for its curative effects and gave it to Doc for another reason, never intending to kill him.”
Geoff nodded. “Foxglove, for example. It would have a moderate effect a healthy person’s heart, but for someone already taking digoxin it could be fatal.”
“Does foxglove cause internal bleeding?” I asked. It was hard to imagine my favorite flower in my mother’s gardens could be deadly.
Lori sniffed impatiently. “He was just giving you an example.”
“Once the stuff’s out of Mimi’s hands is there any way to track it?” asked Andrew.
I pictured Mimi’s bulging Rolodex. “She’s very careful with her inventory. She keeps records of everything she has and who she gives what to.”
“You’d have to go through Mimi’s records and visit every person she’s sold herbs to,” said Geoff.
Andrew shook his head. “I don’t see that as viable.”
Lori’s brows furrowed.
“What is it?” Andrew might not be head-over-heals for Lori, but he was sure attune to her moods. And when she spoke, he took it seriously.
Lori said, “You know, there’s no guarantee Mimi’s herbals are used the way she prescribes or for the length of time she mandates.” She looked to Geoff. “How may times have you dealt with patients who quit taking their antibiotics after three or four days because ‘they got better and didn’t need them anymore’?”
“True.”
“Who’s to say the people Mimi gives her tea to don’t just stick it in the back of a cupboard and forget about it? I’m saying tea but I’m thinking of medicinals like mandrake and turmeric. And I know Mimi gave Mom betel nut when she went through chemo. There’s probably some left in our medicine cabinet. How many other people in town are like us?”
“Now you’re suggesting I get a search warrant and confiscate every half used bottle of medication in Hum Harbour?”
“Only the stuff that causes internal bleeding,” I said.
“Oh that’s helpful, Gai. Real helpful.” Andrew was sticking to his guns and keeping his part of the police investigation quiet. Although he humored us with talk of poison, he gave no indication which way he leaned officially.
He and Lori were right, too, when they said finding a potential poisoner in Hum Harbour would be impossible if we tried to trace an unidentified poison. Without the provincial lab’s report, we were pretty well out of luck.
That took me back to motive and opportunity.
I came to a decision. Sort of. I decided to accept Geoff’s innocence. I saw nothing to indicate he was even remotely involved in Doc’s death, and I wanted to trust him, plain and simpl
e. For Lori’s sake, I would keep my eye on him, but I didn’t anticipate finding anything to confirm her suspicions. Besides, keeping an eye on Geoff Grant sounded quite appealing, when I thought about it.
Sasha had both motive and opportunity, but I deleted her from consideration, too. And Sam, much as my brother infuriated me, I refused to think of him as a potential murderer. If I kept up like this, I would soon delete everyone in town.
Lori’s dad had a motive, if you considered losing a quarter million dollars a motive. I knew nothing about means or opportunity for him, but I didn’t think he could commit cold-blooded murder. Not Bud Fisher.
Mimi’s knowledge and access to potential poisons gave her means but she had no motive or opportunity. Scratch my cousin from the list. Her husband, Mike, however, had access to her means which, when combined with his motive, gave him two strikes. No denying, Mike was a possible suspect.
Then there was Ross Murray. I kept coming back to him. Though he hadn’t admitted the loss of his Hum Harbour Holes investment would be disastrous for him, he’d been openly intimidating when we talked this morning. He’d warned me to be afraid of the people who are afraid of the truth. I inferred that to mean him. Did Ross have a secret worth killing for?
Lori, Andrew and Geoff were deep in animated conversation. Murder seemed little more than an intellectual challenge for them. For me, it was an emotional test; one I seemed to be failing. I hated that someone I knew might be involved. I couldn’t eliminate everyone in Hum Harbour just because I loved them, which meant eventually I’d be hurt. It was simply a matter of time.
With great reluctance, I made another decision. I would check out Mike and Ross. Their involvement seemed the most problematic.
18
I excused myself from the think tank in Geoff’s office and walked out without anyone noticing. I would start with Vi Murray. She was the perfect source because she knew everything there was to know about Ross.
Vi once worked as Ross’s secretary at Murray Enterprises—the grand name Ross gave the family sawmill. Since their divorce, Vi had opened her own business. She did secretarial jobs around town, including working part time as Third Church’s office administrator.
Murder in Hum Harbour Page 10
