Valerie Wolzien - Death In Duplicate

“How wonderful!” Susan said sincerely. “I… could I ask you a few questions about P.I.C.C.?”

“Ask away. Stupid not to check out the place as thoroughly as possible,” he replied.

“Yes, dear, ask us anything,” his wife urged.

“I’ve only been there once, but it looks like a very nice place.”

“It is and the staff is quite caring and remarkably competent. You have to be very careful about that. Some of these places will hire just anybody. P.I.C.C. is still family owned, you know.”

“But I heard… that is, there were stories in the newspapers near us. I live in Hancock. Well, I heard that some of the residents were… died under suspicious circumstances a few years ago.”

“Oh, dear,” the woman said, her pleasant expression changing into a frown. “That was so sad. Three of the residents did die.”

“Three of the residents were murdered,” her husband interrupted. “Gotta call a spade a spade when it’s something as serious as murder. The police never found the culprit although some of us had our own ideas.”

“I understood that it could have been someone on the staff,” Susan said, getting right to what interested her.

“The staff members have the most access to the residents, of course. But I believe-and I think others who know the facility as well as my wife and I do would agree-that there are any number of people who could have killed those poor unfortunates.”

“Really?” Susan didn’t know if this was good news or bad news. On the one hand, it meant that Shannon was on a very long list of suspects rather than a short one. On the other hand, it probably made discovering the identity of the killer much less likely.

“Oh yes. You see, like all good nursing homes, P.I.C.C. encourages family members and friends to visit the residents as often as possible.”

“And they just let you walk right in. There isn’t a lot of standing around in the lobby waiting for them to get the resident ready for your visit,” his wife added.

“You mean things are up to snuff all the time,” Susan said.

The older woman nodded so vigorously that locks of gray hair slipped from her neat bun. “That’s one of the things you want to look for when you’re considering placement for a relative. Some of these places-well, they don’t stand up to their promises on close inspection.”

“But in reference to the murders”-her husband returned them to their initial subject-“visits are allowed at any time, day and night. I believe that almost anyone could have gotten into P.I.C.C. claiming to be a friend of a resident and then killed those people.”

“So allowing unlimited visitations might not be a good idea,” Susan mused.

“Well, you can’t have it both ways, my dear. Either you give people the freedom to do bad things or you keep the residents from what little contact with the outside world is possible for them.”

“I suppose. But this is an island. Wouldn’t that limit the number of people who come here?”

“Not really. The ferry service is regular so people can come and go from the mainland six times a day. And there are year-round island residents as well as seasonal renters. No, I don’t think the location of the nursing home limits the number of suspects in any way… But here we are. We had better get back in our cars and prepare to leave the ferry. Perhaps we’ll see you at P.I.C.C., my dear.”

“Yes. I have to see something else on the island first, but maybe we will run into each other,” Susan said, heading for her Cherokee. She didn’t want anyone at P.I.C.C. to know she was interested in the unsolved murders just yet so she thought that she would try to arrive at the home after these people. And, now that the subject of life outside of the nursing home had come up, she decided to explore the rest of the island. Driving off the ferry, she turned down the road in the opposite direction of her former destination. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she was fairly sure that, on an island, she would ultimately end up where she began.

The road outlined the coast and Susan drove slowly, admiring the view and the enormous cottage style homes so popular a century ago when large staffs were common and heating costs minimal. Small wooden signs indicated the locations of public fishing docks and beaches, but she didn’t turn off until an arrow pointed the way to Perry Town. Following directions, she found herself at the intersection of two streets devoted to various shops, a small grocery store, a large liquor store, a real estate agency, and the local branch of an international bank. She pulled her car over to the side of the road, parked, got out, and looked around.

She stopped in front of a tiny shop. ISLAND BOOKS AND GIFTS-SUSTENANCE FOR THE MIND AND THE EYE was printed on the display window and from the open doorway came the scent of fresh brewed coffee. A brass bell tinkled as Susan pushed the door open wider and walked inside.

A short, heavyset woman with curly blond hair greeted her enthusiastically. “Welcome. Welcome. I’m Mandy Duncan. I own this store and you’re my first customer of the day! How can I help you? Thrillers? Mysteries? Romance novels? Nonfiction? Biography? I’m small, but I carry them all as well as gifts.”

But Susan had spied a large poster for The Wizard of Oz hanging over a shelf of children’s books and she was drawn in that direction. “The Big Snow… that was one of my favorites when I was little.” She plucked the book from the shelf.

“An early Caldecott award winner. Wonderful book. I believe I have a few other volumes by the Haders as well.” Mandy Duncan knelt down beside the shelf and rummaged through the stacks, passing volume after volume to her customer.

“I’ll take them all,” Susan said. “And…”

“And?”

“I thought I smelled coffee.”

“I have a coffee bar up by the cash register. Can I get you a cup while you look?”

“That really would be wonderful.” Susan stood up, her arms full.

“I hope it’s to your liking. I began offering snacks a few weeks ago and I’m never quite sure if I use too many beans or too few.”

“Just as long as it’s hot,” Susan said, sitting down on a stool and placing the books on the counter. “Have you owned the store long?”

“Almost a decade, but things have changed for bookstore owners in recent years. I used to be the only outlet for books on the island. And I still am if you don’t count Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. Unfortunately they can have books delivered to their customers before I’ve even gotten them into my ordering system. The gifts and snacks are my attempt to keep my head above water and the store making a profit.”

“It must be difficult to run any business on an island,” Susan commiserated.

“Depends on the business. This is mainly a summer resort community and so the real estate office does quite well with rental properties; the bank and the grocery store deal with necessities and do just fine, too. But I’m afraid there are simply too many people in the world who don’t consider books a necessity.”

“Well, I’m not one of them,” Susan assured her, eyeing a shelf of new biographies. “But I’m not really on the island to buy books. I came here because my mother is getting old and I’m looking for a nursing home.”

“ Perry Island Care Center. An excellent facility.”

“Really?” Susan asked. The response had been abrupt and she thought a certain coldness had crept into their conversation. She decided to jump right in. “I’ve heard wonderful things about it, but there were those murders…” She left her thought unfinished.

The store owner nodded sadly. “Yes. One of my best friends and my best customer was killed. I mean she was my best customer…”