Клэр Донелли - Last Licks

You’d think I was driving home with a bottle of nitroglycerine, she thought. Well, it could blow this whole case sky-high. Sunny sighed in relief when she at last pulled up in her driveway. Using just her thumb and forefinger, she picked up the bag and walked inside the house—where she found Mike waiting for her in the hallway.

“What’s going on with Luke?” He waved the note Sunny had left. “Is he okay? That was a pretty rough evening he had.”

“‘Rough’ might be an understatement,” Sunny reported, giving her dad the highlights of her recent conversation with Luke.

“Wow—he told you he’s actually Gardner’s son? And that he was in the room giving him something to drink the night Gardner died?” Mike stared at the bag in her hand. “Is that the stuff? What are you going to do with it?”

“I think it’s more like, ‘What am I going to do, question mark?’” Sunny shook her head. “No, that doesn’t sound right. But here’s my plan. First, I’m going to call Will so we can decide what to do with this blasted bottle. And get my cell phone back from his truck. Second, I’m going online to learn more about monkshood.”

“We used to have some in the backyard, in the shady area by the garage,” Mike said. “Big blue flowers. They were very pretty.” His expression went from reminiscent to grim. “Your mom got rid of them all when she found you messing with them.”

“I know, I remember,” Sunny told him. “That’s why I got so worried when I heard what was in this tonic. Mom gave me a good scolding—said they were dangerous. Now I’ve got to find out exactly how dangerous they are.”

By the time Will arrived fifteen minutes later, Sunny had finished her research and was ready for his questions. “You think Luke killed Gardner with something made from flowers?” Will asked.

“The active ingredient is something called aconite,” she told him. “And yes, it comes from the monkshood. Aconite is used in homeopathic medicine, but it’s dangerous stuff. Too much, and it’s poisonous. From what I’ve been reading, the symptoms are numbness in the face, weakness in the limbs, and vomiting. In the end, your heart stops, and you die.”

“Which pretty much sounds like what happened to Gardner Scatterwell.” Will frowned, opening the bag to look at the bottle inside. “What do you think we should do? Have the contents tested, or go straight to Nesbit?”

“The more I think about it, the more I feel that Luke should turn himself in. After all, what happened was an accident.”

“Was it? An accident committed by a poor musician who just happens to be a rich guy’s son,” Will pointed out.

“In that case, Luke got the order of things all wrong,” Sunny said. “He didn’t reveal himself to Gardner, didn’t get the will changed . . .”

“There are plenty of ways to contest a will. Besides, maybe he did reveal himself to Gardner, who wasn’t happy about it,” Will challenged, going into full cop mode. “Daconto’s suddenly got some pretty strong motives.”

“Aren’t you jumping the gun? We haven’t even tested the stuff in the bottle. We don’t even know what killed Gardner.”

“Thanks to Alfred having him cremated.” Will scowled.

“As for the scenario you’re suggesting, there’s one big problem—again,” Sunny argued. “Would Gardner have accepted a drink from Luke if he’d rejected him? The way Ollie described the whispered conversation he overheard, it sounded cordial, not like someone having poison forced down his throat.”

“You’re cutting this Luke guy a lot of slack because you like him,” Will complained. “Somebody died here, after all.”

“I’m not saying we should keep quiet while Luke makes a quick getaway out of town,” Sunny shot back. Then she added in a small voice, “I did give him Tobe Phillips’s number, though.”

“Oh, great,” Will burst out. “You think Daconto is guilty, but you hook him up with the best criminal lawyer we know?”

“ If the stuff is deadly, then Luke made a mistake, which he’ll have to pay for,” Sunny replied. “That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have good legal advice.”

Will fumed for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “We’ll need a secure place to keep that bottle until we turn it in. I nominate my gun safe. Have you talked to Tobe yet?”

Sunny shook her head.

“Well, we should do that, too, get everything set up. Any other details you want to mention?”

“Just one,” Sunny told him. “My jacket and cell phone are still in your truck.”

*

Sunny got upthe next morning at the crack of dawn, yawning. She’d spent a lot of time on the phone before she could get to bed, talking with Tobe Phillips about his new client, Luke Daconto. The plan was to bring Luke to the Sheriff’s Department that morning.

Sunny woke herself up under the shower, then made toast and coffee. Mike was asleep, and she decided not to wake him. She poured dry food into Shadow’s bowl, figuring that would bring him into the open, but the cat hadn’t shown. Then she spotted him trying to hide behind the kitchen doorjamb, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Oh, come on in,” she told him. “No strangers, no weird smells. Just me, trying to get out of here.” She met him as he advanced with cautious steps, ran her fingers though his fur, and then stood up. “Be a good cat,” she whispered to him as she hurried down the hallway, trying not to clomp and awaken her father, “and don’t drive Dad crazy.”

She got outside just as Will pulled up in his pickup. The ride up north went by without conversation. Will had the news channel on the radio, and they listened for any breaking news bulletins about murders at nursing homes.

They arrived at Bridgewater Hall when most of the residents were still asleep. In fact, in Room 114, Ollie’s roommate lay flat on his back, snoring loudly. Ollie, however, was awake. He gave them a bleary-eyed glower. “I guess this must be something big,” he muttered.

His eyes got progressively wider as Sunny and Will described the events of the previous night. “Luke is a nice kid,” Ollie said when they finished. “Okay, maybe he’s a bit of a goof-up. Look what happened when he tried to open that bag of chips for me.” Unconsciously, his hands made brushing motions on his chest. “But this is the last thing I’d expect to hear about him.” He frowned, figuring angles. “So what’s the next move?”

“In an hour, Luke and his lawyer will be coming here,” Sunny said. “I figure that will give you time to get washed, shaved, and dressed, not to mention arranging a meeting with Dr. Reese.”

Will glanced over at the snoring Mr. Vernon. “And maybe they can get Sleeping Beauty out of the way.”

By the time Luke and Tobe arrived at Room 114, a somewhat surprised Vernon had been woken, then wheeled off to rather early therapy. After Vernon was gone, Luke entered the room hesitantly, followed by his lawyer.

Ollie offered his hand. “This is a hell of a thing, Luke.”

Luke’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t know how it could happen. I’ve made remedies out of that book for years.”

Sunny remembered the salve he’d given her. The skin on the back of her hand was as good as new, with no trace of scratches or scarring.

At last Dr. Reese arrived, with Dr. Gavrik at his heels. “I hope we can make this quick, Mr. Barnstable. I have a lot of meetings this morning.”

“You may have to cancel them,” Ollie replied. He turned to Luke Daconto. “Luke, you have the floor.” Luke stumbled a little as he began, but he managed to get clearly enough through his explanation of what happened the night Gardner Scatterwell had died.