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“Poison?” The doctor was shocked.
Tom nodded. “I’m here investigating a murder. She’s a person of interest. I won’t go into my suspicions, but I think there’s probable cause. I can get a warrant if I need it.”
“That won’t be necessary, Agent Jones,” the doctor said. “We all know what goes on in our community. I’ll get an order to the lab right away.”
“And I’ll go talk to the sheriff,” Tom replied.
“Good idea. Jeff’s a fine man.”
Tom smiled. “Yes, he is. And a good investigator. I’ll be back in touch.”
* * *
Sheriff Ralston invited him into a chair on the other side of his desk. “They’re running a drug panel for poison?” he asked when Tom explained what was going on.
Tom nodded. “May Strickland went to see him last night with food and tea,” he explained. “I’d spoken to Billy shortly before. He was smug about May. He said that he knew things about her that could cause her some problems. If he told me, I’m sure he told her as well. And I remembered something else—Alice, who works for the Downings, told me that May had given a cup of ginger tea to Mrs. Downing just before she died.”
“Poison. Well, frankly, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise. May doesn’t hit on all six cylinders, if you know what I mean, and it’s no secret that she wants Downing to marry her. Lots of local people wondered why Mrs. Downing went downhill so fast. Lung cancer can be treated, even brought under control when it’s in the early stages, as hers was.” He grimaced. “If May poisoned Mrs. Downing, it will take ten men guarding the detention center to keep Downing from going over there and strangling the life out of her.”
“Billy said that she’d hoped to get Mr. Downing to a minister just after his wife died. She planned on comforting him, he said, but Downing went to stay with his sister for a month and ruined all her plans.”
“So then Downing’s wife died, rather advantageously for May, and his stepdaughter was apparently looking for ways to get May fired. That was about the time Julie went missing, right?” Ralston asked.
“Just about. But from what I learned from the crime lab, Julie was a hefty young woman and May is smaller and older.” Tom’s eyes narrowed. “It would take a big man to lift someone that size, if she’d been incapacitated before she was abducted. Remember, there was a report by a man who lived near the deserted cabin where she was found that he saw a man carrying a big rug over his shoulder. What if it wasn’t a rug at all?”
Ralston nodded slowly. “And if it was Julie, what if Billy did the dirty work? May spent all his money. He was jobless and without funds. What if May saw a way to marry Downing and set them both up in style, but Julie was in the way?”
“That’s a lot of supposition,” Tom remarked.
“Yes, but it makes sense. Billy was crazy about May. He’d have done anything she asked him to. He didn’t really have much of a conscience and he’d been in trouble with the law before on an assault charge.”
“I need to talk to May. But I want to wait on Billy’s autopsy first. And I need to call Alice at Downing’s house.”
* * *
Alice was whispering. Apparently May was home and spying on her.
“Yes, I can do that. No, I haven’t done anything with it. She’s too lazy to do it herself. Yes, I’ll do that right now. Of course.”
“Alice, who’s that on the phone?” May called from the next room.
“It’s the dry cleaners, about one of Mr. Downing’s suits,” Alice called back. “Do you know anything about a tear in one of his jackets?”
“Yes, he caught it on a nail outside.”
“Okay, I’ll tell them to go ahead and fix it,” Alice called back.
“That’s fine,” May responded in a bored tone.
“A good story, Alice, but is it true? We don’t want May to get suspicious,” Tom said.
“Yes,” Alice whispered, “I spoke to them half an hour ago, but she won’t know. I’ll keep it for you. Sure thing.” She hung up, excited to be part of an investigation.
* * *
They held hands while they walked. Tom had to slow his pace a little for Annalisa, who only came up to his chin.
“Shrimp,” he teased, but affectionately.
