The Deadliest Institution Collection

by Holly Copella

  “But why wouldn’t Billy and Sam have claimed they were together? He’d have an alibi,” Sidney remarked simply. “Why the whole charade?”

  “I’m sure Sam suspected someone would have seen him driving through town. It’d be concluded he wasn’t at Mrs. Randall’s before the murder,” Harlan replied. “Mrs. Randall was probably upset, so she called Sam to tell her what she should do. The best solution was to pretend she wasn’t home during the murder. Possibly set up just moments after the killing, Mrs. Randall called Mrs. Cooper to establish that they wouldn’t be home. Leaving the house may have been too risky, and Mrs. Randall was possibly too upset to drive anyway.”

  Sidney groaned lowly. “So how do we prove it if there’s no proof?”

  Harlan sighed deeply. “Let’s just hope Trisha knows something useful.”

  Sidney stopped before the bridge and grabbed Harlan’s arm. “Oh, my God, Trisha! He’s in that hospital. If she saw something, he could kill her too!”

  Harlan stopped Sidney before she could run across the bridge. She spun to face him with a concerned look on her face. His expression was calm.

  “Trisha’s perfectly safe,” Harlan said gently. “I took some precautions in case the cab driver was involved.”

  Sidney stared at him with some concern and confusion. “What precautions? I want to see Trisha for myself.”

  §

  Sidney hurried along the hospital corridor with Harlan two steps behind her. He attempted to keep her calm, but she didn’t want to listen. She was almost certain Billy had left the hospital once Sheriff Drukard had called, so there was no chance of running into him, but she wasn’t sure he hadn’t already put some devious plan into effect to eliminate a potential witness. Sidney rounded the corner and entered Trisha’s private room. She stopped just inside the room, allowing Harlan to run into her from behind from her sudden stop. She stared with surprise at Lyle, who had his feet propped on the foot of the bed. His head rested on his knuckles as he slept peacefully in the bedside chair. He stirred to Sidney’s presence. Lyle lowered his feet to the floor and stretched slightly.

  “Morning,” Lyle announced with a weary smile.

  Sidney stared at Lyle, her mouth hanging open. He was the last person she expected to see at Trisha’s bedside.

  “Everything okay?” Harlan asked as he pushed Sidney into the room and closed the door behind them.

  Lyle stood and stretched with some discomfort. “Nothing happening here,” he replied. “She’s still not aware enough to eat on her own.” He tapped the bag that hung from the pole. “The nurse said she’s doing much better.”

  Sidney was still baffled.

  Harlan placed an arm around Sidney’s shoulder. “Lyle’s been occupying the room next to mine at the motel,” Harlan explained the situation. “He flew out when he heard Trisha had disappeared, wanting to help.”

  Lyle smiled lightly and placed one hand in his pocket. “I knew you’d get in over your head. Someone has to keep you out of trouble,” he replied simply. “I’m going for some coffee and the morning paper.”

  “There’s something important we need to discuss, Lyle,” Harlan announced and nodded toward the door. “I’ll tell you about it on the way to the cafeteria.”

  “It was you,” Sidney announced firmly and pointed her finger at Lyle.

  He cocked his head to one side. “More than likely. I get blamed for everything.”

  Sidney spun to face Harlan. “He was the person you met by the bridge.”

  Lyle laughed and extended his hand to Harlan. “You owe me five dollars. I told you she followed you.”

  Harlan frowned. “I’ll treat when we get downstairs.” He then looked back at Sidney and attempted to smooth things over. “We thought, considering Trisha’s disappearance, it was best to keep Lyle’s presence a secret.”

  “Even from me?” she demanded to know.

  Harlan shrugged and appeared uncomfortable. “I thought it might make you uneasy.”

  “Why would it make me uneasy?” Sidney asked in a demanding tone.

  Lyle looked at Harlan and inhaled deeply. “You haven’t told her?”

  Harlan shook his head.

  “Told me what?” Sidney demanded to know.

  Lyle looked at her and smiled charmingly. “I used to be a professional cat burglar a few years back.” He looked at Harlan. “I was asked to come out of retirement to search several homes to find Trisha.”

  Sidney’s eyes widened with surprise as she looked at Harlan. “I can’t believe you asked him to do that,” she gasped. Sidney shook her head, and a tiny grin crossed her face. “You sneaky, little bastard.”

  Lyle chuckled lowly.

  Harlan raised his brows. “You aren’t angry?”

  “No,” she said with a soft laugh. “I just wanted Trisha found. I didn’t care how it was done.”

  “I’m surprised to hear you say that,” Harlan remarked then shook his head and smirked. “Though I’m glad you weren’t offended.” He then turned back to Lyle. “After Mary Allister comes to the hospital tonight, stop by my room. There’s someplace I need you to search thoroughly.”

  Lyle tilted his head and appeared intrigued. “Have you found something?”

  “Nothing to warrant an arrest. We need proof from the house,” Harlan said softly.

  “Will anyone be home?” Lyle asked simply.

  “I’ll get him out of the house for a couple of hours. We’ll work out the details tonight around six,” Harlan stated simply. “I don’t really want to discuss anything more here.”

  Sidney knew what Harlan had in mind. He was going to send Lyle into Billy’s house to look for evidence of either murder. She watched the men leave the hospital room before sitting at Trisha’s bedside. She placed her hand over Trisha’s and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “Hey, Trisha,” she said softly.

  Trisha’s eyes opened slightly then shut. “Sidney,” she whispered and attempted a tiny smile.

  “How are you feeling?” Sidney asked while containing her joy that Trisha acknowledged her.

  “Tired,” she replied softly.

  Sidney attempted to rouse her again, but she wouldn’t wake. The older, stout nurse entered the room ten minutes later with a blood pressure cuff. She grinned at Sidney and stood on the opposite side of the bed.

  “Trisha,” the nurse said loudly, causing Sidney to jump with surprise to the outburst.

  Trisha’s eyes opened and rolled toward the nurse. “What?” she moaned loudly. Her eyes again shut.

  “I don’t allow my patients to sleep,” the nurse said loudly as she placed the cuff around Trisha’s upper arm. “If you want to sleep, you’ll have to get your butt out of that bed and go home.”

  Trisha’s head rolled toward Sidney as her eyes opened. “Make her shut up.”

  Sidney laughed softly and shook her head. “You’ll have to tell her yourself.”

  “So who was the good-looking man with you all night?” the nurse asked loudly as she pumped the rubber ball attached to the blood pressure cuff.

  Trisha’s eyes opened again then shut. “What good-looking man?”

  The nurse listened through her stethoscope then released pressure on the cuff. “I suppose you’ll have to stay awake a little longer,” she announced. “There was a handsome man at your bedside all night, and I’m sure it wasn’t your father.”

  “He’s dead,” Trisha muttered softly.

  “I’m sorry,” the nurse replied gently then managed a smile. “If you stay awake another twenty minutes, I’ll try to sneak you some ice cream.”

  Trisha drifted back out without responding.

  “Do you want some ice cream, Trisha?”

  Trisha jerked, and her head flopped to the side the nurse stood on. “No,” she groaned in response.

  The nurse left the room.

  Trisha’s eyes closed as she groaned. “My God, she’s annoying.” She opened her eyes and looked at Sidney for a brief moment. “I had the most
wonderful dream,” she said in a weak voice. “I dreamt about Lyle.”

  “It wasn’t a dream, Trisha,” Sidney announced louder than necessary, hoping to keep her awake. “Lyle’s here. He’s been keeping an eye on you.”

  Trisha’s eyes opened, and her head rolled. “Here? I must look like hell,” she muttered.

  “You’ve looked better,” Sidney replied. “He’s coming back in a couple of minutes. He and Harlan went for coffee. If you can stay awake long enough, you can talk to him yourself.”

  Trisha clutched the sheets. “Help me up,” she said gently without opening her eyes.

  Sidney found the remote to the bed and raised the head. Trisha groaned loudly as her head rolled from side to side.

  “I’m so tired. Can’t stay awake,” she groaned. “Where’s my hairbrush?”

  Sidney found Trisha’s brush on her bedside table and ran it through her hair.

  Her eyes once more opened. “Do I look better?” She then looked down at herself, touched the hospital gown, and groaned. “What the hell am I wearing?”

  “A hospital gown.”

  “No,” she moaned softly and pulled on the covers.

  Sidney helped pull them up to her chest and tucked them under her arms. “Better?”

  “Much,” Trisha replied and struggled to keep her eyes open. She lifted her hand to her forehead. “I feel like shit. What happened?”

  “What do you last remember?” Sidney asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.

  “It’s so fuzzy,” Trisha said softly and fought her closing eyes. “I was in the library archives. There was a noise.” Her eyes rolled shut then popped open. “I went upstairs. There was a pain in my head.”

  “Is that all you remember? You don’t remember any of what happened in the cellar?” Sidney asked with surprise.

  “I can’t think,” she said softly and allowed her head to roll to the opposite side, although her eyes remained open for a change. “Where’s Lyle?”

  Sidney was happy Trisha was finally interested in something other than the murder case. “I’ll have the nurse page him. I’ll just be outside the door,” she announced and hurried across the room.

  Sidney caught the nurse just outside the door and explained Trisha’s request. The nurse smiled and laughed softly. Sidney returned to Trisha’s bedside and found her friend holding her head in her hand as she groaned softly.

  “Must wake up,” she muttered.

  Harlan and Lyle ran into the room five minutes after they heard the page.

  “What happened?” Harlan asked with some concern.

  Sidney grinned while Trisha struggled to keep her eyes open. “She wanted to say hello to Lyle.”

  Lyle approached Trisha and sat on the edge of the bed facing her. “Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked gently and offered a charming smile.

  Trisha smiled warmly despite her barely opened eyes. “I’ve been better,” she replied softly. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came looking for you,” he announced simply. “I was told you’d vanished.”

  Trisha’s eyes focused on Lyle and remained open. “You came out here just for me?”

  He nodded and placed his hand on hers. “I hoped to impress you with something heroic, but I was on the other side of town chasing shadows.”

  Trisha offered a tiny laugh. “I’m impressed anyway.”

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Sidney folded her arms across her chest and glared at Harlan while she stood in his motel room. She was tired of being told what she could and couldn’t do.

  “Why not?” she demanded to know in an angered tone. “I think it’s an excellent suggestion.”

  Lyle remained sitting on the bed against the headboard with his feet stretched out before him. He too looked at Harlan, demanding an answer.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to her,” Lyle remarked simply, attempting to make her case.

  Harlan pointed a finger at Lyle. “You just stay out of this,” he snapped. “She’s not going to keep Billy busy while you search his house.”

  “He doesn’t suspect we know anything,” Sidney launched back. “I’m your best shot at this. He likes me.”

  “He also liked Emily Fisher,” Harlan retorted. “It may have been his jealousy that got her killed. He also thinks we’re sleeping together, so that won’t go over well.”

  Lyle was about to speak.

  “Don’t even think it,” Harlan snapped hotly while glaring at his friend.

  Lyle placed his hands in the air. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “It’s really quite simple,” Sidney remarked while groaning. “He’s supposed to be grieving the loss of his beloved grandmother. I call to express my sympathies and invite him to dinner at my parents’ house. I’m not alone with him, and he’s guaranteed to be away from home a couple of hours. If something does happen, I dial Lyle’s cellular phone, and he gets out of the house.”

  Harlan tilted his head and raised skeptical brows. “And what if he suspects something while in your parents’ house? He might kill all of you.”

  “My father has an arsenal of weapons in the house, and he’s not afraid to use them. Billy’s not going to try anything,” she explained simply. “What could you possibly come up with that would be safer than what I’ve suggested?”

  “She has a point,” Lyle stated.

  Harlan glared at Lyle.

  “It's my ass on the line,” Lyle announced with an innocent look. “If he did kill his own grandmother, he’s not going to hesitate shooting an intruder.”

  Harlan rolled his eyes and groaned. “I don’t like this plan at all.”

  §

  Sidney’s mother eyed her daughter while she set the table for their invited guest. Herb casually sat at the kitchen table and loaded his semi-automatic. When he cocked it, her mother jumped and nearly dropped one of the china dishes. She placed the plate on the table with trembling hands. Sidney turned toward her mother and drew a deep breath.

  “Mom, relax a little,” Sidney said reassuringly. “Maybe you should go to Mrs. Cooper’s and comfort her. It’ll seem perfectly natural.”

  Her mother shook her head with wide eyes, horrified at the thought. “I’m not leaving my family alone with a killer,” she announced firmly.

  “We don’t know he did it,” Herb announced sternly. “There’s nothing to support it. If you can’t put on a good front, then you’ll have to leave for a while.”

  “I’ll be fine,” her mother remarked with a crackle in her voice. “I just don’t know why we had to invite him over here.”

  “It’s the only way, Pauline,” her father said gently. “If there’s evidence to be found, someone has to find it. Can’t count on that lazy, worthless sheriff.”

  Sidney watched her father place the semi-automatic in a clip and attach it to his belt on the back of his pants. She knew her father would be extremely cautious and keep his eye on things.

  “Where’s Harlan?” her father asked as he adjusted the gun in the holster behind him.

  “Climbing the walls in Trisha’s house,” Sidney replied while groaning. “From there, he’ll see when Billy comes this way and when he returns home.”

  The phone rang causing all three to jump. Sidney hurried to the phone and answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “He’s on his way. He’ll be there any minute,” Harlan informed her. “Be careful, okay?”

  “Stop worrying,” Sidney remarked then hung up the phone without care.

  The doorbell rang two minutes later. Her mother gasped and dropped a glass. It shattered against the tile floor. Sidney and Herb looked at her with their mouths opened. Sidney released a nervous breath and hurried from the kitchen. Her father followed her into the living room, leaving his wife to clean the broken glass. Sidney opened the door and allowed Billy to enter.

  “I’m really sorry about your grandmother, Billy,” Sidney said gently and looked down to hold back her anger and fear, which she masked as
sorrow. She hadn’t realized how differently she’d feel now that they were face-to-face.

  Herb extended his hand to Billy and gave a sad nod. “Sorry about your grandmother.”

  Billy forced a tiny smile and shook his hand. “I’m glad you invited me over,” he replied gently. “I would have just sat home feeling sorry for myself.”

  Herb invited him into the house. Sidney’s mother entered the living room before they were seated. She appeared unusually tense. Sidney held her breath and watched her mother. Pauline had tears in her eyes, and her hands trembled. Her mother approached Billy, threw her arms around him, and hugged him. Both Sidney and her father nearly fell to the floor.

  “I’m so sorry, Billy,” Pauline whispered softly. “She was a fine woman.” Her mother pulled away, wiped her eyes, and forced a tiny smile. “I don’t think I’ll be able to join you for dinner. Excuse me,” she said and rushed from the room.

  Sidney watched her mother hurry up the stairs to her bedroom. She looked back at her father and Billy. “I, uh, suppose I should check on dinner.”

  She didn’t want to leave her father alone with Billy, but she wasn’t sure what condition her mother had left the kitchen or how far along dinner had been.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  They had a pleasant dinner with little conversation to avoid any unpleasantness. Both Sidney and her father lingered over their meal, although not very hungry. Billy didn’t appear hungry either. He talked of his grandmother’s heart condition, which seemed natural and yet almost rehearsed. When he mentioned the sedatives and admitted they may have made her weak, Sidney was filled with terror. His story was nearly convincing enough for her to believe he had nothing to do with her death.

  “Have you spoken with Mrs. Cooper?” her father asked while picking at his slab of roast beef. “How’s she taking it?”

  Billy sighed gently. “She’s very upset, naturally,” he said sadly. “They’ve been friends for many years. I think her daughter was going to stay with her until after the funeral.”