Miranda James - Classified as Murder

I was taken aback by the lawyer’s words, but I couldn’t argue with him. There was some kind of spark between Sean and Alexandra, but whether it was complete antipathy or a more positive emotion I couldn’t tell. “I’m right behind you.”

We crossed the hall, and Pendergrast opened the door and motioned for me to precede him.

Upon sight of her parent, Alexandra stood and put aside the papers she had been reading. “How did it go?”

“About as well as I expected.” Pendergrast spoke with an undertone of humor, and his daughter flashed a quick smile in response.

I looked about for Sean, Diesel, and Dante. There was no sign of my son and his dog. Diesel walked from around the back of the sofa and mewed as he approached me. He rubbed against my leg, and I scratched his head.

“Where is Sean?” I asked. “Gone to walk the dog?”

With a pained smile, Alexandra nodded. “Yes, he left about twenty minutes ago. I presume he’ll return shortly.”

“No doubt,” I said. I had something I had been wanting to discuss with Pendergrast and Alexandra, and now was as good a time as any. “Q.C., did Deputy Berry talk to you about Edgar Allan Poe and a copy of Tamerlane ?”

Pendergrast frowned and shook his head. “No, she hasn’t spoken to me about it. Is it part of James’s collection?”

Kanesha would not thank me for breaking the news before she had a chance to, but it was too late to have any regrets.

“Possibly,” I said. I explained about the two letters found under Mr. Delacorte’s hand and the conclusions Kanesha and I had drawn from them.

“James hadn’t said anything to me about the possibility of his buying it,” Pendergrast said. He glanced at his daughter, and she shook her head. He turned back to me. “He usually did talk to me before he made a major purchase, but not always.”

“If he did buy it, it’s entirely possible it was stolen,” I said. “I’m sure he told you he suspected someone was stealing from the collection.”

“Yes, he did,” Alexandra said. “It will be up to you to determine what, if anything, has been taken.”

“Mrs. Morris mentioned that the house was searched,” I said. “Do you happen to know if they turned up anything significant?”

“Not yet,” Pendergrast said. “That’s one of the topics I plan to discuss with Deputy Berry. If they found anything pertinent to the rare book collection, I assure you I’ll share the information with you.”

“Thank you. I’d appreciate that,” I said. I decided to venture another question. “Have they made any official decision yet as to whether Mr. Delacorte was murdered? Or did he die of natural causes?”

Pendergrast’s bark of laughter startled me. “Oh, it’s murder all right. I knew that as soon as I heard a description of his corpse.”

“What do you mean? I have to say, it did look to me like he’d been poisoned.” I shuddered at the mental image of Mr. Delacorte’s dead body, which seemed imprinted in my brain.

“James was deathly allergic to peanuts,” Pendergrast said, his tone now grim. “The swollen tongue, the red splotches—signs of an allergic reaction. James was actually easy to kill. All someone had to do was slip him food with peanuts in it and keep him from administering the antidote once he realized what was happening.” He paused. “And that’s exactly what a member of the family did.”

TWENTY-ONE

Hearing that made me sick to my stomach. I had done my best not to think about the implications of poisoning, but confronted with the news of Mr. Delacorte’s allergy, I couldn’t help but feel ill.

To think that a member of his family had, with cold, deliberate malice aforethought, watched him eat food with peanuts in it and then stood there and let him die from it—well, the whole thing was horrifying.

Alexandra approached me with an expression of concern. I let her help me to the sofa. She bent over me, watching me anxiously. Diesel mewed, sensing my distress, and hopped up beside me.

“Can I get you something?” she said.

“What have you done to my father?” Sean’s furious tone startled both Alexandra and me.

I looked up to see him looming over both of us, his face distorted by a fierce scowl.

“Dad, are you okay? What’s going on here?” Sean appeared ready to do battle. Dante hopped about around his feet, whimpering.

Diesel growled. I put my arm around him to calm him. “I’m okay; nothing’s really wrong. It was simply a reaction to something Q.C. said.”

“What did he say?” Sean glared at Alexandra as she moved away from me to stand by her father.

Pendergrast smiled. “Relax, young man. We were talking about James’s death. I stated that he was allergic to peanuts and that a member of the family killed him by feeding them to him.”

Sean frowned down at me. “And that made you turn white as a sheet? I don’t get it.”

I was getting exasperated by the questions and the attention. “I was unsettled by the thought of how cold-blooded that is, to feed a man something knowing that it will kill him. And probably to stand there and watch him die.”

“I see what you mean,” Sean said, his irritation replaced by distaste. “Somebody sure hated him, to kill him like that.”

“Unfortunately for him, James brought out the worst in the rest of the family. Money will do it every time.” Pendergrast consulted his watch. “You must excuse me. Deputy Berry should be along any minute now. Alexandra, if you’ll accompany me.”

“Yes, sir.” Alexandra gathered her jacket and briefcase, but before she followed her parent out of the room she addressed me. “Mr. Harris, if there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.” Her glance swept over Sean, and her nose wrinkled as if she smelled something unsavory.

As she turned to leave, Sean spoke. “I apologize, Miss Pendergrast. I was concerned about my father, and I misread the situation.” His tone sounded grudging to me, but at least he was making an effort.

Alexandra faced Sean. “Apology accepted, Mr. Harris. I really am not the enemy, you know.” With that she exited the room.

Sean frowned at her back, but when he saw that I was observing him, he assumed a bland expression.

“So I guess we’re supposed to cool our heels in here until we receive further orders?” He sat down in a chair near the sofa, and Dante hopped into his lap.

“We’re waiting to find out when we’ll be allowed back in the library,” I said. “Q.C. said he would ask Kanesha about it right away.”

“If we can’t get back in there today, you are planning to go home, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I said. “There would be no point in staying here.”

Sean nodded. He pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and started fiddling with it. I took it as a sign that conversation was not welcome right now.

At the moment I didn’t feel like forcing Sean to talk to me. I was thirsty, and Diesel probably was, too. I stood and announced that I was going to the kitchen in search of something to drink.

Sean nodded but didn’t look up from his phone. Dante opened one eye and quickly closed it again.

“Come on, Dante, why don’t you go with us?” I said. “Want some water?”

Dante perked up his head, and Sean handed me the leash. “Thanks for taking him. He probably could use some water. It was a bit warm outside.”

I accepted the leash without comment, and he went right back to his phone.

“Come on, boys,” I said, and the two animals preceded me to the door.

In the hall I turned left toward the kitchen. I hoped the cook wouldn’t kick up too much of a fuss at my bringing the animals into her domain.