by Jaden Skye
“When a young person passes,” the pastor went on, “we are always looking at the tragedy of unlived life, unfulfilled hopes. It is especially important not to lose our faith in God at a time like this, though. Especially when the loss has been due to evil in our midst.”
The sound of sobbing in the church started softly.
“Although as yet the true cause of this darkness hasn’t been uncovered, believe me, it will rise to the surface!” The pastor’s voice rose. “Evil cannot stay hidden forever, it must rise up.”
Todd’s brother Craig spun around then and looked at Olivia. Stunned by his glance, Olivia shivered terribly. Her father grabbed her hand and lunged forward in his seat as Craig quickly turned back around.
“Before those who knew and loved Todd come up to speak of him, let us pray together,” the pastor went on.
After the offering of prayers and singing of several hymns, the atmosphere in the church softened.
“Now I call on Todd’s father, George, to come up to honor his son,” the pastor announced before he went to sit on a small red chair nearby.
Todd’s father jumped up and walked unsteadily to the stage. Olivia wondered if he’d been drinking or if it was just the shock of his son’s loss that caused his imbalance.
“You all know me and I know you all,” Todd’s father started, when he took his place up front. “We all knew Todd and loved him. He was a rising star from the day he was born. He was smart, he was kind, he was fun, he was loyal.” His father shot a quick glance over at Olivia. “Todd was very loyal to the people he loved. He would never do anything to hurt them. The fact that someone decided to hurt him now will not be accepted! God does not accept it and neither will we!”
A strange buzz of acquiescence sounded throughout the church.
“We’ll find the killer and string them up.” Todd’s father’s voice got louder.
The pastor stood up and rushed over to him. “It’s normal to be so upset,” he said to both George and those in the audience. “But we must also ask for forgiveness and mercy for all.”
“No one gave my son mercy, though, did they?” George blustered on.
Olivia began trembling, horrified by the display. What was his father truly saying?
“This is a time for remembering the good in Todd’s life,” the pastor said, trying to calm him. “Let’s call up someone else now.”
“Call whoever you want.” His father’s voice grew dimmer.
“Let me call Deanne, Todd’s beloved sister,” the pastor went on.
Deanne, who was sitting in the front row, then got up and walked onto the stage as Todd’s father backed off. Olivia had seen her before briefly, but was struck now by how much she looked like her brother. It was almost like seeing Todd again.
Dressed in a black sleeveless dress, Deanne seemed bereft. “We all remember Todd,” she started in a melodious tone. “We remember his beauty, his charm, his incredible love of life. It’s impossible to believe that it’s all been snuffed out now.”
Olivia felt people rustling in their seats behind her.
“Todd was my best friend, my confidant, the very best brother anyone could want,” Deanne went on as in the front row, Todd’s mother started crying. “I guided him as best I could my whole life long,” Deanne added, her voice trembling. “I pray that he will now become an angel and guide us to discover who hated him so much in their heart. It can’t be anyone we’ve known!”
Again, the gasps in the audience became louder.
“This could turn into a lynch mob at any second,” Olivia’s father whispered to her. “You don’t have to get up there and talk if you don’t want to.”
Olivia felt she had to talk, though. If nothing else, she had to defend herself against secret accusations the people here might have against her.
After Deanne sat down, the pastor nodded at Olivia. “I’d like to call Todd’s fiancée up now.”
There was a rumble in the room then, along with a low sound. Olivia stood and as she walked to the stage, she felt all eyes riveted upon her. Once up there, she looked out at the sea of faces and to her surprise saw Wayne and Lorna sitting there, as well. As she stood there entirely exposed, Olivia prayed that Todd would be with her in some way to help.
“I know that none of you know me,” Olivia started. “It must be hard thinking of me as Todd’s fiancée and I’m sorry about that. Todd and I hadn’t been ready to share our relationship with anyone up to now. We were about to shortly.” Olivia saw a woman in the audience smiling, though others looked at her grimly. “Even though Todd and I had only been together for a relatively short while, he meant the world to me,” Olivia continued. “I’d never met anyone like him. He was everything any woman could dream of and I’m deeply grateful for the time we had.”
Olivia heard more rumbling in the room and looked down at Todd’s family. Deanne was watching her closely, but the others were all looking down at the floor, as if refusing to even meet her eyes. There was no reason to try to win them over, Olivia realized. She was here for Todd, to thank him, say farewell, send him off with love.
“I want to thank you, Todd, for the love we shared together and the strength I received from you,” Olivia went on. “You will never die to me, never. I’ll keep you in my heart forever and remember you as long as I live.”
Olivia heard more crying in the audience. It was enough; the crowd was restless and she had said her good-byes. She turned stoically then, stepped off the stage and returned to sit beside her father.
The pastor got up and invited a few others to speak about Todd. His brother Craig went up and warned that whoever did this would rot in hell. He returned to his seat with both fists clenched.
Todd’s brother Lance went up briefly and spoke of their wonderful childhood together and how he would remember it always. A childhood friend of Todd’s shared a few memories and a colleague at work spoke about what a wonderful work mate Todd had been. Thankfully, after that the service wound down with a few more words from the pastor.
Everyone stood then and row by row filed out into the hot, humid day. Most gathered together under the leafy trees in front of the church in small groups, comforting one another. Olivia and her father stood there alone.
“Let’s get out of here now,” her father said, agitated. “I’ve never been in a group quite like this.”
Olivia wasn’t ready to leave yet though. “Let’s just say good-bye to Todd’s family first,” she suggested.
“Not necessary,” her father objected.
Olivia wanted to say good-bye properly, though, and walked over to Todd’s family. The moment she arrived, they all took a few steps back.
“I just wanted to say good-bye,” said Olivia, quietly.
“Say good-bye when you never said hello? We don’t need to hear anything from you, young lady.” Todd’s father leered at her. “I don’t even know why you came to the memorial. You’re only making it worse.”
“I beg your pardon?” Olivia’s father stepped up quickly behind her.
“Don’t beg me for anything!” Todd’s father shot at him. “We don’t need you here, not any of you, including your lousy daughter.”
“How dare you talk about my daughter that way? Especially when she’s suffering.” Olivia’s father’s voice thundered loudly at him.
“Suffering? I’ll show you suffering,” George shot back. “Just take a look at my wife and you’ll see suffering. How do we know that your daughter even knew Todd?”
“What the hell are you implying?” Blake yelled, now at his limit.
“Please, Dad.” Olivia wanted him to back away.
But George was totally beside himself. “We don’t know anything about your daughter, do we? For all we know Todd picked her up and she was just a one-night stand.”
At that Blake closed in and grabbed George’s collar. “Rotten scum,” Blake growled at him.
“Grab me all you like.” George was getting off on this. “You think we believe for a
second that your daughter is my son’s fiancée? For all we know she engineered everything that happened.”
The veins stood out on Olivia’s father’s neck. “You’re sick and twisted,” he said to George.
“Better watch what you say, fella.” George’s head bobbed back and forth as a crowd began to gather around them, including Wayne and Lorna. “No one here trusts anything about your daughter!” George continued. “We’re all on the lookout!”
Olivia’s father looked as if he were about to take a punch at George. “Go to hell,” he uttered. “And who knows anything about your son, really?”
“Plenty of people here,” George said, fuming.
Wayne jumped in suddenly to separate the two fathers. “No need for this now,” he ordered. “Back off, both of you, emotions are running too high.”
“You’re saying I have no reason to be upset?” George was blubbering.
“I’m saying to back off, both of you! This isn’t the time for this,” Wayne commanded as he suddenly threw Olivia a long, disturbed glance.
*
“We’re leaving Key West immediately,” Olivia’s father said as soon as they returned to the hotel. “There’s not a single reason we should stay here.”
But fortunately, before Olivia could even answer, the phone rang. She ran to pick it up instantly and to her surprise it was Wayne.
“Just calling to see how you and your father are doing,” Wayne said as soon as she answered the phone. “That was a rough time you both had at the memorial.”
“Very,” said Olivia.
“I’m sorry about it,” Wayne replied, “and so is Lorna. In fact, your father’s lawyer called us about it. Would you and your father like to meet with us now and talk?”
Olivia thought it was a good idea to meet and straighten things out. She had no idea if her father was up to it, though.
“It’s Wayne, the detective.” Olivia put her hand over the mouthpiece as she spoke to her father. “Your lawyer contacted him.”
“Good,” her father grumbled. “I told him what happened at the memorial. He didn’t like it, either.”
“Wayne’s wondering if you and I would like to meet now with him and his partner, Lorna?”
“That’s a fine idea,” her father quickly agreed. “It’s a smart thing to do before we wrap things up and get out of town.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Half an hour later Wayne and Lorna were waiting downstairs in the lobby as Olivia and her father went down to meet them.
“Thanks for joining us.” Wayne stepped forward and shook Blake’s hand as soon as he saw them. “We appreciate it.”
“I’m glad you asked,” answered Blake cordially.
Lorna and Olivia nodded at each other briefly as well.
“Why don’t we go to the Mexican restaurant at the end of the street?” Wayne continued. “I’ve actually reserved a table. It’s a good place to sit and talk.”
“And the food happens to be delicious,” Lorna chimed in. “It will take your mind off the memorial.”
“I appreciate that,” said Olivia, relieved that Lorna realized what a hard time they’d had.
They all walked quickly out of the hotel and down the street to a charming restaurant with a sloped red tile roof and an outdoor garden and café. A few live musicians sat in the corner under a huge banana plant strumming their guitars, and children played in the side alley.
When they walked in, a table in the back garden was waiting for them with a pitcher of sangria on it. Olivia wondered exactly why Wayne and Lorna wanted to talk to her. Were they just here to comfort her and her father? Was there something else on their minds?
“You both had a rough time at the memorial,” Lorna commented, looking at both Olivia and Blake.
“It was especially difficult for Olivia, needless to say,” her father replied. “Todd’s family was outrageous. I hate to say this, but frankly I’m relieved this marriage never took place.”
Olivia closed her eyes in pain. “My father doesn’t mean any ill,” she said quickly then.
“Of course I don’t mean any ill by it,” Blake quickly said. “I never met Todd, but a family like his could make your life and relationship a living hell.”
Wayne looked at Olivia for a long moment then. “I understand what your father is saying,” he responded, “and I thought your speech was moving and gracious.”
“Thank you,” said Olivia, relieved.
“I’m sorry the family couldn’t have responded better,” Wayne went on.
“It was too soon,” Lorna replied matter-of-factly.
“And the timing of our meeting now couldn’t be better,” Blake went on. “I’ve mentioned to Olivia that now that the memorial is over, we’d like to answer any further questions you may have and then book a flight home.”
Wayne noticeably blanched.
“I understand that there’s no legal reason for you to detain us at this point,” Blake continued.
“Legally, of course, Olivia is free to go,” Wayne agreed. “However, it is helpful having her down here during the peak of the investigation.”
“Of course it is. I understand,” said Olivia, surprising them all. “And I want to help all I can.”
The waiter came and they ordered. As soon as he left Blake continued. “We understand you have a person of interest in custody, Tomas, the one who spent some time in jail recently in cases connected to food poisonings at the hotel. Now that it’s been determined that Todd also died of poisoning, I can see how Tomas would be a natural suspect.”
“Not necessarily.” Wayne took exception. “There are many points of divergence. Food poisoning and arsenic are different.”
“Of course that’s true,” Blake replied. “My guess is that someone who started off with food poisoning might well escalate and actually kill. What do you think, Lorna?” her father asked.
“Yes, killers who poison do escalate. In fact, one of the questions I’m exploring is whether killers who poison are basically serial killers in disguise.”
“That’s quite an assumption.” Blake was startled. “But very relevant for this case.”
Piqued by Blake’s interest, Lorna continued heatedly. “Before careful testing was available, victims of arsenic were usually pronounced dead by natural causes. That’s all over now. For example, Mary Ann Cotton, one of the most prolific female serial killers in British history, was believed to have poisoned at least twenty people with arsenic. Her downfall came when her stepson, Charles, fell ill and died. After an initial autopsy turned up nothing, the boy’s doctor did additional tests on his stomach and intestines, and found high levels of arsenic. That was it for Mary.”
“Awful,” Olivia murmured.
“And Harold Shipman was a respected UK doctor who was quietly killing his patients at a rate of about one per month,” Lorna continued. “He is believed to have killed over two hundred in total.”
“It’s enough, it’s enough, Lorna,” Wayne said, trying to stop her.
But Olivia was also fascinated. She wanted to hear more. “So all of this makes it look bad for Tomas, doesn’t it?” Olivia commented. “Maybe he got a thrill out of killing and needed more of it?”
“Many serial killers kill for the thrill it gives them,” Lorna added for good measure, thoroughly engaged in the topic.
“So, if Tomas did escalate then you have the killer!” Blake exclaimed.
“Not necessarily.” Wayne was adamant. “We also have to look more deeply at the personality of killers who poison to see if Tomas is a fit. It’s too easy to lock an innocent man up and throw away the key. If you only knew how often that happened.” Wayne’s voice became more intense. “I won’t permit that.”
“Of course not,” Blake quickly agreed. “Good for you, Wayne.”
“I completely agree,” Olivia chimed in.
Pleased by their comments, Wayne surged forward. “Poisoners are the coldest of killers. They plan ahead, plot out both their poison and de
livery methods in advance. Most of them think that careful planning will allow them to get away with it. Tomas is not a careful planner. He’s a more go with the flow kind of guy. Also, these killers entice their victims to consume the poison, and then stay to watch the poison do its work.”
“Deranged, sadistic psychopaths,” Olivia murmured. Olivia had studied psychology and philosophy in college and enjoyed both. She’d even thought of going further into them, but her love for writing and design won out. Her job as a publicist for a book publishing company now seemed the perfect fit. She met all kinds of fascinating authors and created events for them. It was up to her to introduce both the authors and their work to the world. The work was glamorous and exciting and she also learned a lot. It had definitely been a perfect fit for her, until now, that is.
“In our case, however, the conditions were different,” Lorna went on now, briefly glancing at Olivia. “There was no one there watching the effects of the arsenic on Todd.”
“No, there wasn’t,” said Olivia. “In fact, there was no one there with him, just me. The horrible pain seemed to hit him all at once. There were no symptoms before of anything! I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of his groaning.”
“Exactly what happens when someone receives a lethal dose all at once, not a slow build-up,” Wayne concurred. “Is there anything else you remember about that night? It’s good to go over it many times. Too easy to forget little details that make all the difference.”
Of course that was true, but Olivia wondered now why Wayne and Lorna really wanted to meet with her. Were they just waiting for her to remember some small detail, or cast doubt upon herself? She suddenly felt she had to be careful about what she said.
“The night before Todd took ill was beautiful and wonderful,” Olivia repeated, as the waiter placed their food on the table.
“Was there anyone Todd saw or said hello to?” Wayne quickly repeated.
Olivia paused and thought about it carefully. Once again, the only thing that had struck her was that beautiful auburn-haired woman sitting at the table in the restaurant. She’d stared at them as they came in, couldn’t take her eyes off them. But that couldn’t amount to anything. Todd was incredibly charismatic and handsome. Lots of people were taken by him.
