Page 100 of A Rose of Steel
“In the box?” she said and squinted. “Did you go through them? I packed them up for Mrs. Westin’s eyes, not anyone else’s.”
“Just answer the question, Miriam,” Auntie Zanne said. “We don’t have time for your monkey business.”
“No. Didn’t touch anything else. Got the inhalers and gave them to Mrs. Hackett.”
“And I passed them out,” Mrs. Hackett said, she nodded toward Boone. “He was the first person I gave one to. Before they even left for their trip.”
“Oh,” I said, the realization hitting me that maybe Bumper never had a real asthma attack. That he might have been reacting to ricin the entire time. “Is that when you first gave Bumper the poison? When you were in Lake Charles?”
“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Boone said.
“Wait,” Pogue said. “Let’s just back up for a minute here. You were talking about the inhaler at the wedding. That’s the one that we know for sure had poison on it, right?”
“Right,” I said.
“So where is that one?” Pogue asked.
“Chase gave it to Alex,” I said. “Alex gave it to the paramedics who put it with Bumper’s things, and then Boone got it when he was at the hospital.”
“He wanted to dispose of the evidence,” Auntie Zanne said.
“That’s a convoluted passing around of a murder weapon,” Pogue said. “Might be a problem with chain of custody.”
“But it’s what happened,” I said.
“Is that what you did?” Mrs. Hackett asked, realization hitting her, she sniffed back her tears. “When we were at the hospital? You came back with his jacket and bowtie. Did you get the inhaler while you were back there, too?”
That sent Boone into a tailspin. He turned around in circles and grabbed his head. His face had turned beet red and he eyes were filled with tears. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” he boomed, spit spewing as he yelled. “I didn’t do anything!”
“What kind of poison was it?” Piper asked.
“Ricin,” I said, having to speak over Boone’s wailing. Then as I spoke, along with Boone’s cries came another shriek. At first I thought it was Miriam Colter, attempts to keep her down perhaps unsuccessful, and she’d let out a war cry. But it was Delphine Griffith.
“Boone Alouette!” she screeched. “Did you take that from my house? Ricin!” She stood up and shook her fist at him. “I shared what it was with you and then you stole from me? I knew I had some missing. I knew I had more in my cabinet.”
“How would you know some was missing?” Boone said. “As much as you had up there. Anyone could have gotten some of it.”
She grabbed the air like she was holding on to his collar and gave it a push. “You used it to kill somebody? My own flesh and blood using God’s bounty for evil!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he barked at her. “Don’t say something like that. Don’t say that now!”
“Is this what you do with the knowledge I give you?” She shook her head back and forth with such vigor I thought she’d given herself something akin to shaken baby syndrome. “You are no kin of mine!” she cried.
That seemed to bother him. “I’m not saying anything,” Boone said. He wiped his face with the back of his hand, sniffed back his tears, then crossed his arms. “I know that I am supposed to have a lawyer.”
“Fine, you want a lawyer. They can come down to the jail to talk to you. I’ve heard enough,” Pogue said pulling handcuffs out of his back pocket. “Turn around, Boone. I’m placing you under arrest for the murder of Michael Hackett.”
Epilogue
Auntie insisted that the Roble Homecoming Award Dinner proceedsansBoone. Bumper still deserved it so everyone needed to close their slack jaws, still open at the surprise of Boone being the murderer and put on a smile. It was time to start.
In the days that followed, Pogue wouldn’t take my phone calls, and he seemed to be out of the office every time I called. I didn’t mean to hurt my cousin. I didn’t know how far he’d gotten in his investigation, and even after he started speaking to me again, he wouldn’t tell me.
I decided that I loved investigating, even if it made my cousin angry with me. It made me feel useful and needed. And, I discovered, it gave me a chance to spend time with Auntie. I knew that was what she wanted.
Boone ended up taking a plea. As far as the Medicare scheme, he didn’t speak about it. Miriam Counter had taken care of it by getting her brother-in-law, who was a retired federal judge, to make some calls on her behalf and whatever they came up with seemed to factor into Boone’s decision.
But mostly it was Delores Hackett.
