Page 79 of A Rose of Steel
“Well Auntie might have fixed that for her, she announced today in front of all of her seniors that Rhett was FBI.”
“Good,” Pogue said. “Maybe he can take some of the heat off of me. With this murder, I’m up to my ears in real police work. I don’t have time for her imaginary crimes.”
“I don’t think it was imaginary,” I said. “A lot of seniors lost money on that.”
“You’re not snooping around on this now, are you? What have you been doing?”
“Nothing,” I said. He narrowed his eyes. “I haven’t. They told me about it. Plus, Doc Westin had some personal items he left at the old office. I went through them to see if I should take them to his widow and I saw it mentioned.”
“You found something about a Medicare scam?” he asked.
“Yeah. Doc Westin was trying to look into it for them.”
“Where is the box?” he said. “Why didn’t you bring it to me?”
“I’d thought I’d give the stuff to Rhett. You know, like we just discussed that would be the FBI’s jurisdiction.”
Time to get to what I really wanted information on.
“So... How is your murder investigation going?” I asked.
“No offense, Cousin, but that’s none of your business.”
* * *
Pogue’s comment lit a fire under me.
I’m sure I reminded him of Auntie Zanne as I huffed and puffed my way out of there. I couldn’t get to the car fast enough.
I didn’t know what Pogue had, but between Auntie Zanne and me, I was sure I was ahead of him in the investigation game. We’d run a pretty comprehensive probe so far. Us catching the killer shouldn’t be that far off, and I’d be willing bet that he didn’t have the information we did.
And since he had an attitude, he wouldn’t be getting any of my information.
I threw the car into drive, my tires screeching as I swerved into a U-turn. I glanced in my review mirror, in my mind daring him to come out of his office and just try and give me a ticket.
Auntie and I had spoken to all of our suspects—Auntie’s had been Shane Blanchard and Coach Harold “Buddy” Budson. Initially mine were Bonnie Alvarez, Piper Alvarez and Chase Turner. I’d since added Doc Westin and Miriam Colter to my list. And so far, I hadn’t been able to scratch any of them off.
Yes. Yes. Doc Westin died long before Bumper had, but it didn’t mean he hadn’t somehow set the wheels in motion and the murder wasn’t carried out until later. Like lacing some of those inhalers with the deadly poison before giving them to Mrs. Hackett. Doc Westin hadn’t any idea he’d die before his murder plot was played out, if indeed that was what happened.
Auntie’s list was a whole different story. A bribery and gratuity operation, paying Roble football players to attend certain universities, or do endorsements for the popular Mighty Max sports drink once they hit the NFL. In my opinion her suspects, although she hadn’t let go of the idea, probably had nothing to do with the murder. Still, her interrogation of them, if that’s what you want to call it, was what led me to my fifth suspect. Doc Westin. In the end, for me, her suspects ended up having some useful purpose.
In my investigation, I’d discovered that Jorianne hadn’t gotten Bumper to the altar because of a threat with a deadly weapon, it was because she was the girl of his dreams. And I learned that not everyone wanted that union to take place, and some might have even been jealous of it. All motives for murder.
And then there was that best man who came out of nowhere and lied to me about the inhaler for no reason. Chase Turner. It seemed I couldn’t get his full story from anyone.
Finally, I’d located a possible source for what was used as a murder weapon. Actually I had found the “gun and the bullet”, as it were. A stash of inhalers and an empty container marked ricin. I pulled up to a stop sign, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, I thought about our reconnaissance activities.
Yep. Auntie and I had been able to ask a lot of questions, make accusations and watch their reactions. I just needed to start putting the pieces together that I’d gathered.
Although, I still needed to find out what happened to the ricin that was missing from the empty container in Doc Westin’s personal things. I wasn’t sure any had ever been there, but I had to believe that it had possibly been there at one time. It just seemed to me that it would be easier for someone to get the protein already extracted than to get the castor bean and try to do it themselves, especially after Auntie told me how technically difficult it was to purify. And that was maybe what Doc Westin had because it was the only way it would’ve been any use to him as an alternative treatment for cancer.
So far, I figured it could be possible that Doc Westin, before he died, laced the inhalers with ricin. I didn’t know why, sure it was improbable, he was a healer by profession, but it was possible. And now, thanks to Mrs. Westin, I’d learned that Miriam Coulter had access to the things Doc Westin had stashed as well. She was a more likely culprit because she was still alive. I thought about her and that cane—was there anyone else that could have been in those boxes? And if there was no one else... I shook my head.
I needed more information.
The driver of the car behind me laid on his horn. I guessed I’d stayed a little longer than necessary at the stop sign. I held up a hand that could be seen through the back window and waved my apologies. I pulled off, still lost in thought.
And at what point was I going to tell Pogue what I had found out? Being mad at him shouldn’t stop me from divulging the information I had, even if it was sketchy. I knew that. It’s true, he could test the container Doc Westin had marked ricin and find out if any had actually ever been in it. He could also dust it for fingerprints. But I just wasn’t sure and I didn’t want to send Pogue off on a wild goose chase. Right now I was running after my own tail, chasing ghosts and little old ladies. He didn’t want me investigating anyway, and if I came to him with a half-cocked idea, Pogue would be even more upset with me.
