Bring Your Own Poison

by Jimmie Ruth Evans

  She looked up at Bill. “I know a few of the men on this list. Is it a list of who was at the bachelor party?”

  “Yes,” Bill said. “Tell me who on that list you know.”

  Wanda Nell glanced down at the paper. “I know both Dr. Crowell and his son. In fact, I just saw the older Dr. Crowell this morning with my daughter.”

  She scanned the names again. “Dixon Vance, the policeman. He’s dating a friend of mine, but I don’t really know him all that well.”

  “Was there anybody at the party whose name isn’t on the list?” When Wanda Nell looked at him, Bill had an enigmatic expression on his face.

  She went through the names on the list again. Most of them were men she didn’t know, but the number of names seemed about right.

  “I don’t think so,” she said finally, and Bill leaned back and his chair, regarding her in silence for a long moment.

  When he spoke again, Bill had an edge to his voice that made Wanda Nell wary. “What about Gerald Blakeley?”

  “He was in my son T.J.’s class in school. I knew him to speak to, I guess, but before Saturday night I don’t think I’d seen him in several years.”

  “Your son,” Bill said. “I found out something interesting about him.”

  Wanda Nell didn’t like the tone of his words. “And what would that be?”

  “That he’s that fairy lawyer’s boyfriend,” Bill said. He was sneering openly now. “God, Wanda Nell, how can you stand letting your son be involved with that guy?”

  “Just who the hell do you think you are?” Wanda Nell asked. Her temper hit white hot, but she was determined to keep herself under control. “My son is a good man, and so is Tuck. Yes, they’re both gay, and yes, they’re a couple. What the hell business is it of yours?”

  “It’s against the law in this state,” Bill said, “what they do to each other. I ought to arrest them both and put them in jail. Keep them away from decent people.”

  Wanda Nell was trembling, and she felt like throwing up. She couldn’t believe what Bill had just said to her. He looked dead serious when he said it, and Wanda Nell was afraid of what he might do.

  “Are you doing this to get back at me because I slapped you the other night?”

  Bill laughed, surprising her. “I forgot all about that. But now that you mention it…” He leaned forward across his desk again.

  Wanda Nell tensed. He was up to something, but what?

  “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone put anything in the victim’s glass?” he asked, once again surprising her. “Say, for example, you didn’t see Gerald Blakeley do it? It sure would make things a lot easier if we had an eyewitness in this case.” He watched her, his head cocked to one side, his face devoid of expression.

  Fifteen

  Wanda Nell couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Bill Warren was trying to blackmail her into saying she had seen Gerald Blakeley put the poison into his brother’s glass. If she would do that, then he wouldn’t go after her son and his partner.

  “You are about the lowest thing I have come across in all my life,” Wanda Nell said. “I can’t believe you sitting there, threatening me like that.” She felt like the top of her head was going to come off, she was so angry.

  “I don’t recall threatening you,” Bill said. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I just asked you whether or not you saw Gerald Blakeley put something into the victim’s glass.”

  “And if I go along with you and say I did see him do it, you’ll leave my son and Tuck alone, is that it?” Wanda Nell had to struggle to keep her tone even, her words intelligible.

  Again, Bill shrugged. “I don’t recall saying that either. You certainly do have a vivid imagination, Wanda Nell. I can’t help it if you misconstrue what I’m saying to you.”

  “Like hell you can’t,” Wanda Nell said, getting to her feet. She leaned forward over his desk and pointed a finger right in his face. “You listen to me, Bill Warren, you’re not going to threaten me or anybody in my family, do you hear me? If you do anything to harm my son or Tuck, I will come after you so fast you won’t know what hit you.”

  “So now you’re threatening me?” Bill said. To Wanda Nell’s satisfaction, he appeared to be losing his cool. “I’m an officer of the law, and you’d better watch what you say. You just might find yourself in jail.”

  “You try that, buster, and I’ll raise such a stink you’ll be lucky to have a job, any kind of job. You think you can treat me like this because you think I’m a nobody, and you think you can get away with it. You’d be surprised at who I know in this town and just how they’d react if I told them what you’re trying to do.”

  Bill laughed. “I’m real scared, Wanda Nell.”

  She stared him straight in the eye until he stopped laughing. “You’d better listen to me, Bill. You start something, and I’ll finish it. You will not threaten me and my family and get away with it. And I will not lie for you. I didn’t see anybody put anything in that man’s drink, and I’m not going to say I did, no matter what you threaten to do to me.” She paused, watching him closely. Despite his earlier statements, he seemed to be wilting under the force of her words. “I don’t know what it is you’re up to, but I’ll be damned if you treat me like this.”

  She turned and headed for the door, not wanting to see his face another minute. She half expected him to speak to her, but he didn’t say a word. She grabbed the door handle, twisted it, and pulled the door open. She thought about slamming it back against the wall, but she didn’t. The sooner she got out of this place, the better.

  The secretary didn’t say a word, and Wanda Nell gave her only a cursory glance as she stalked past. Out in the hall, she made her way rapidly to the elevator. By the time she reached it, her chest was heaving, and she was trying not to break down.

  She was so angry right now she was afraid she might have a stroke any minute. She couldn’t believe what he was threatening her with. He had to be stark raving mad to try something like that.

  The elevator doors opened, and Wanda Nell stepped inside, only half aware of what she was doing. The only other occupant, an elderly man, asked her, “What floor, miss?” He looked like he wanted to say something else to her, but evidently he changed his mind.

  “One,” Wanda Nell said, trying hard to get herself under control.

  The button for the first floor was already lit. The old man nodded and stepped back into the other corner of the elevator. During the brief trip down two floors he kept an eye on her. The moment the doors opened, he hopped out, not waiting for Wanda Nell to exit first.

  That made Wanda Nell calm down a bit. Here she was, scaring old men in elevators. Her face must look a sight. She stepped out of the elevator and walked to the exit.

  On the steps outside, the sun shining in her face, Wanda Nell paused for a few deep, steadying breaths. She was still very angry, but at least she had gained some control over herself.

  Shading her eyes against the sun, Wanda Nell strode down the steps and across the street on the north side of the courthouse. The sheriff’s department had its headquarters here, along with the county jail. With any luck, Elmer Lee would be in his office. She was going to give him an earful if he was.

  She pushed open the door and stepped inside, giving her eyes a moment to adjust to the change in light. She walked up to the desk. The officer on duty behind it looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember his name. He certainly remembered her, though, she could tell by the look on his face as he rose from behind his desk.

  “Morning, Miz Culpepper,” he said. “What can I do for you?” He continued to eye her warily.

  “Is the sheriff in?” she said. “I really need to talk to him. It’s real important.”

  “Let me check,” the deputy said. He turned his back to her and picked up the phone. He spoke in a low voice, and Wanda Nell couldn’t catch what he said.

  After a moment he put down the phone and turned back to her. “The sheriff can see you.”

>   He opened the door for her and led her back to Elmer Lee’s office, despite her protests that she knew the way. He left her with a quick nod at the open office door.

  “Come in, Wanda Nell,” Elmer Lee said. He stood up and motioned for her to take a seat in a chair across from his desk. “What can I do for you?”

  Wanda Nell sat down and waited until Elmer Lee had taken his seat. “I was just over at Bill Warren’s office.” She hesitated.

  “Did he have some more questions for you?” Elmer Lee asked.

  “Sort of,” Wanda Nell said. “Look, I guess there’s no other way to tell you this but to come out and say it.” She paused for a breath. “He threatened me. He wants me to say that I saw Gerald Blakeley put something in his brother’s glass.”

  Elmer Lee stared at her like she was a creature from another planet. “I’ve heard some good ones from you, Wanda Nell, but this takes the cake. Why on God’s green earth would Bill Warren threaten you? And how? How did he threaten you?” He shook his head. “It just don’t make sense.”

  “Well, if you’ll stop talking long enough for me to get a word in edgewise,” Wanda Nell said, trying not to snap at him and not succeeding too well, “I’ll tell you. Now just sit there and be quiet a minute.”

  He gave her a hard look, but he did as she asked. He kept his mouth shut while she told him what had happened to her in the state cop’s office. To her satisfaction, she could see the erosion of his disbelief as she talked.

  When she finished, Elmer Lee sat there a moment in silence. When he spoke, his tone was flat. “And you’re sure you didn’t misinterpret anything he said?”

  “Come on, Elmer Lee, I’m not stupid, and neither are you,” Wanda Nell said, “though sometimes I do wonder. First he tells me he could arrest Tuck and T.J. and put them in jail. Then he asks me, flat out, was I sure I didn’t see Gerald Blakeley put something in that glass. How would you interpret that?” She sat back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest, and glared at him.

  Elmer Lee scratched his head. “You got me, Wanda Nell. I can’t see any way around it.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?” Wanda Nell asked.

  “I’m gonna have to think about that,” Elmer Lee said. “I can’t just go over there and accuse him, because the only proof we have is what you’ve told me. He would just say you were lying for some reason.”

  Wanda Nell sighed. “That’s what I was afraid you were going to say.” She uncrossed her arms and rested them on the arms of her chair.

  “Sorry, but that’s the way it is.” Elmer Lee’s gaze softened for a moment. “Look, I know you don’t lie about things like this, but I’m going to have to handle this real careful like. You understand?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Wanda Nell said. “But it makes me so angry.” She leaned forward. “Can he really do that? Arrest Tuck and T.J., I mean.”

  Elmer Lee focused on something on the top of his desk. “He’d have to catch them in the act, so to speak. It’s still a crime here in Mississippi.”

  “How could he do that unless he just waltzed right into their house one night?”

  “There was a case like that in Houston a few years ago,” Elmer Lee said, raising his eyes to look at her. “Went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, I think.” He shrugged. “If he wanted to do it, he’d find a way, believe you me.”

  “We’ve got to stop him,” Wanda Nell said. “He just can’t ruin people’s lives like that.”

  “No, he can’t,” Elmer Lee said, “and I promise you, I’ll do my best to see that he doesn’t do anything to harm your son, Wanda Nell.”

  “Thank you,” Wanda Nell said. “I appreciate that.”

  Elmer Lee stared off into space. “You know, what I don’t get is why he’s so bound and determined to pin this on Gerald Blakeley. What does he get out of it, other than wrapping up the case pretty quickly?”

  “Beats me,” Wanda Nell said, “but there must be some reason. Especially if Gerald didn’t do it. What do you think? Is Gerald the killer?”

  “I don’t know,” Elmer Lee said. “He could have done it. Hell, anybody in the room that night could have done it. The only fingerprints we found on that glass tube were Gerald’s, and that don’t make it look too good for him.”

  “But how would he have got hold of cyanide?” Wanda Nell asked.

  Elmer Lee’s eyes narrowed. “Who said anything about cyanide? There hasn’t been any official report from the medical examiner’s office yet.”

  “It was just a guess somebody made,” Wanda Nell said, realizing she should have kept her mouth shut.

  “You’re meddling again, Wanda Nell,” Elmer Lee said. “You need to back off and leave this one alone. You can trust me, even if you can’t trust Bill Warren. Can you do that for me, just this once?”

  Wanda Nell leaned forward, putting both her hands, palms down, on Elmer Lee’s desk. “I’m sorry. I know I can trust you on this, but you’ve got to understand. This is my family I’m talking about. I can’t just sit back and let that bastard walk all over us.”

  Elmer Lee didn’t say anything. His eyes focused on the ring on her left hand. The diamonds shone in the light.

  “That’s a mighty fancy ring you got there,” he said.

  Wanda Nell leaned back in her chair. She looked down at the ring. “It’s an engagement ring. Jack asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

  When he spoke, his tone was grudging. “I guess congratulations are in order. When are you getting married?”

  “We haven’t set a date yet,” Wanda Nell said, ignoring the oddness of his reaction. “I’ll let you know when we do, though.” T.J. had told her, more than once, that Elmer Lee had feelings for her, but Wanda Nell wasn’t really sure. She had come to have respect for Elmer Lee, even though he drove her nuts sometimes. She could never feel about him, though, the way she felt about Jack.

  Elmer Lee seemed to have forgotten—for the moment, at least—his insistence that she keep herself out of the investigation. He wouldn’t forget for long, she knew.

  “Do you think I should tell T.J. and Tuck about this?” she asked.

  Elmer Lee nodded. “Yeah, I think you should. They need to know what Warren’s up to so they can watch out for him.”

  “They told me they’d talked to you about some of the nasty things somebody’s been doing to them.”

  “Yeah, they have,” Elmer Lee said. “I’m not sure who’s doing it, but I’ve put the word out, here in this department at least, that it had better not be any of my men.”

  “If you do find out who’s behind it, I hope you can put a stop to it,” Wanda Nell said.

  “I will. You can count on that,” Elmer Lee said. “You better get going. I’ve got some things to look into.” He stood up.

  “Thank you,” Wanda Nell said. She held out a hand for him to shake. He was obviously surprised by the gesture, but he accepted her hand and shook it briefly.

  She left his office and walked back down the hall. The officer who had let her in opened the door for her, and she walked across the lobby and out into the bright sunshine again.

  She stood for a moment, dreading what she was about to do. She wished she could keep all this from T.J. and Tuck, but she knew Elmer Lee was right. They had to know so they could protect themselves.

  She made her way across the street to the building where Tuck had his office. She glanced at her watch and was surprised to see that it was nearly eleven-thirty. Better get a move on, she told herself. She still wanted to drop by and talk to Mrs. Culpepper, and she needed to get home to check on Juliet before she had to go to work at the restaurant.

  A couple minutes later, Wanda Nell opened the door to Tuck’s office and stepped inside. There was no one in the outer office except Tuck’s new secretary who looked up when Wanda Nell came in.

  “Hey there, Miz Culpepper,” the young woman said with a broad smile. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Ginger,” she said, smiling back. Gi
nger New-some was a briskly efficient, perpetually sunny woman, and Tuck and T.J. thought a lot of her. Whenever Wanda Nell talked to her, Ginger was friendly but professional. “How are you?”

  “Great, just great,” Ginger said. It was the same response she gave whenever Wanda Nell asked. “Do you need to see T.J.?”

  “Actually I need to see both him and Tuck, if they’re here,” Wanda Nell said.

  “They are,” Ginger said. “Let me just tell them you’re here. I think they were about to go out for lunch.” She picked up her phone and punched in a few numbers. “Miz Culpepper is here to see you and T.J., Mr. Tucker.” She listened for a moment before replacing the phone on its cradle.

  “Go right on in,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Wanda Nell replied.

  T.J. met her at the door to the inner office. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

  “What’s going on, Mama?” he asked as he escorted her into Tuck’s office.

  “Hey, Wanda Nell,” Tuck said, getting up from behind his desk and coming to give her a quick hug. “What are you doing here? I was going to call you, as a matter of fact.”

  “I’ve got something to tell you about,” Wanda Nell said, sitting down in the chair T.J. pulled out for her. “You both better be sitting down.”

  Tuck resumed his seat behind his desk while T.J. pulled another chair up beside Wanda Nell’s.

  “What’s wrong?” Tuck asked. “What can we do to help?”

  “I was in Bill Warren’s office a little while ago,” she said. Tuck and T.J. exchanged a swift glance, and Wanda Nell saw it. “He called the house, saying he wanted to talk to me. So I went to see him after I took Juliet to the doctor.”

  “How is she?” T.J. asked. “Is it a sinus infection like you thought?”

  “Yes,” Wanda Nell said. “We saw old Dr. Crowell, and he gave her a shot and some pills to take. And don’t let me forget, there’s something I need to tell you about Dr. Crowell.”

  “Okay,” Tuck said. “So what about this talk with Bill Warren?”