Клэр Донелли - Last Licks

Explanation, Sunny thought as she listened to the halting story, or confession?

For a long moment, silence filled the room when Luke concluded, until Tobe Phillips spoke up. “There’s a definite possibility that due to a mistake in preparing the tonic, Mr. Gardner ingested a heavy dose of aconite.”

“Aconite is toxic,” Reese said slowly. “You’re saying that Mr. Daconto precipitated the whole episode?”

Dr. Gavrik was less diplomatic. “This untrained idiot played at making medicine, administered it without approval, and killed my patient!” She stormed over to Luke, who shrank back. “You fool! You stupid, damned fool!”

Then Gavrik turned on Reese. “I have argued and argued about hiring useless people to make the patients feel better instead of devoting our resources to medicine. Now you see what happens—not only are they useless, they can be dangerous—fatal, even.”

She obviously had more to say but bit back her words. Her sharp features tightened, almost clenched, from the effort of keeping them in.

Tobe’s handsome face looked disapprovingly at Dr. Gavrik and Dr. Reese as he spoke up. “We came here this morning as a courtesy.” He gave the word a slight emphasis and then went on. “Mr. Daconto will now go to the sheriff’s office, surrender himself, and make a full statement.”

“Oh, yes,” Gavrik sneered. “He’ll tell everyone how he did wrong, and how he’s very sorry, and they’ll feel sorry, too, and tell him he’s a naughty boy—and do almost nothing!”

She spit the last words out, stepping past Tobe to Luke again. “You practiced medicine without a license, without any training, without any sort of knowledge even, you made a stupid mistake, and now a man is dead. You should be tried for murder.” Luke flinched, but he still faced the woman.

“I didn’t mean him any harm,” he said in a tight voice. “He was my father.”

“What?” Reese said.

“Gardner was my father.” Luke cleared his throat. “When I came here, I was trying to find out who that was, and I did. I’ve got the proof at home. He met my mother years ago in a commune in California. He was on a road trip.” He paused. “Maybe you remember that.”

Reese stared at Luke as if he’d never seen him before. “And you’re his son?”

Luke nodded. “Yes, sir. He kept telling me that his nerves were eating him up ever since the stroke, and I knew my mom had used this tonic to help people. So I gave him a couple of doses. I tried . . .” He hung his head. “And I made a big mistake. I have to take responsibility for that, whatever the law thinks is fair.”

“And just,” Tobe hurriedly put in. Before he could start on the mitigating circumstances, Gavrik cut him off with a disgusted sound.

“Words, words,” she said, fanning with her hand as if to dissipate the hot air. Gavrik glared at Ollie, who up to this point had been taking everything in as a spectator. “I suppose you’re satisfied now, Mr. Troublemaker. From the beginning, I could tell you were going to be a difficult patient, excitable. And your friends”—she expanded her glare to Sunny, Will, and Luke—“would only make things worse.”

Ollie wasn’t about to take that tirade lying down, even if he was in bed. “At least this was an accident,” he snapped back, glaring up at Dr. Gavrik. “Stupid, sad—but done out of love. But we’ve still uncovered information that a lot of other people, more than usual, have passed away in this joint. And they may have died on purpose. I know one thing for sure. I’m going to have a chat with my friend the sheriff and ask him to look into that. He’ll be able to get into your so-called confidential files to dig out the truth. Hell, after what happened with Luke here, Nesbit will probably feel he has to investigate, if only to see how tightly wrapped this place is.” Ollie did something Sunny wouldn’t have thought possible: he shut up the nasty doctor . . . although the glitter in her eyes promised an unpleasant time in store for the next underling she bumped into.

“Radmila, I don’t think there’s anything more we can accomplish here,” Dr. Reese said quietly. It was the first time Sunny had ever heard Dr. Gavrik’s first name. “We have other business.”

Like trying to get a jump on the damage control when this comes out, Sunny’s reporter alter ego chimed in. It wouldn’t be easy. The accident happened in the rehab ward, which had been the source of Bridgewater Hall’s excellent reputation. But Sunny suspected that most of the fallout would come from the residential side of the operation, and she could understand why. Would I want Dad to stay in a place where one of the patients got poisoned by mistake?

And since the residents were actually the facility’s bread and butter, and Reese had said the finances were already on the rocky side, the administrator and the directors might have to decide whether the place would survive at all.

Sunny didn’t envy Dr. Reese his job that day. Although it was early in the morning, the tall man already looked tired as he shepherded Dr. Gavrik out of the room.

“Don’t listen to her,” Ollie told a shaken Luke Daconto. “The only reason her mouth got so mean is because you made her look bad.”

“She’s right, though.” Luke ran a trembling hand over his face. “What was I thinking? Mom at least had years of experience making her mixtures and using them. Me, I just followed the recipes—and I screwed this one up big-time.”

“It really comes down to two questions,” Tobe said. “Were you indifferent as to whether Mr. Scatterwell would live or die when you gave him that tonic?”

Luke stared at him. “No! I wanted him to be okay, to feel better. That’s the whole reason I gave him the tonic in the first place.”

Tobe nodded. “And at the time you gave that mixture to him, did you know it was risky?”

“No,” Luke said after a moment’s thought. “I trust all my mom’s recipes.”

“Then don’t let other people tell you how you should feel about what happened,” Tobe told him. “You’re the only one who knows what went on, why, and how you felt.” Luke nodded, looking a bit better. Sunny couldn’t help noticing, though, that Tobe’s assured expression quickly faded when Luke turned away to talk to Ollie.

“Thanks for being on my side,” he said, shaking Ollie’s hand again. “I don’t know how much more or how much better I can say it, but I’m sorry. I never meant for anything like this to happen. And I know how much you were upset over it, so I really have to apologize to you.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Ollie told him.

Sure, that irreverent voice piped up in Sunny’s head. What have you got to worry about? This kid won your argument for you.

“You need to straighten things out for yourself,” Ollie went on.

“And we’ll start that right now,” Tobe said, “by going to the sheriff.” He turned to Sunny and Will. “I understand one of you has the evidence?”

Will reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the little bottle, still wrapped in its plastic bag. “It’s either been in Sunny’s possession or mine since Luke gave it up.”

Tobe nodded, acknowledging the chain of evidence, as he slipped the bag into the side pocket of his suit. He put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “Time to go.”

“Don’t let Nesbit or the DA push you into something stupid,” Ollie warned as they headed for the door.

“That’s why I’m coming along,” Tobe said over his shoulder, “to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Sunny waited until they were out of earshot before she asked Will, “What are Luke’s chances, really?”

“Not as good as Tobe’s trying to make them.” Will sounded serious as he spoke. “Maine has a law on the books for unintentional murder. That can make things pretty rough for Luke.”