Page 80 of A Rose of Steel
It was possible that Doc Westin never did actually get any ricin out of one of the caster bean plants Auntie’s herbalists grew, and that little plastic container had always been empty. Why get Pogue involved in that?
And if that were true, I’d have to look for another source.
Yep. For now, I’d keep quiet to Pogue about it until I had something more concrete. And for right now, I thought, it probably would be best to follow the Doc Westin lead—even if it meant a little old lady had to go to jail. I guess you just shouldn’t mess with people’s Medicare.
So where to start?
Doc Westin either had ricin or was trying to get it. Auntie Zanne had told me that. And I had to assume Auntie wasn’t the one who had gotten ricin extracted because she told me she’d suggested Doc Westin not try to use it. That meant, if he did get it, he’d gone to another herbalist.
Auntie had given me four names. I only remembered two. Mark and Leonard Wilson.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The twins lived in a small cape cod down the road from our house. It was painted white with canary blue shutters, planter boxes underneath the mullioned windows were filled with an assortment of colorful flowers. There was a white picket fence and little stone gnomes and animals in the yard.
It had been too late to visit the sisters after I’d left Pogue’s office. I knew the sisters got up and went to bed with the chickens. I couldn’t let my Auntie Zanne know what I was up to. She’d be upset that I was questioning her friends about something she hadn’t shared with them.
It was so hard to get out of the house, Auntie Zanne kept an eye out for me like a hawk. When I was working on the new ME facility, I had a reason to leave in the mornings and she never questioned me. But now with it all finished she had my days planned and couldn’t understand why I didn’t have time for whatever she wanted me to do.
“Where are you going?” she said. She walked out of one of the chapels while I was going out the front door. I just knew she’d be in the kitchen, where she was every morning this early. Oh, but not today.
“Out for a walk,” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie. I did plan on walking the quarter of a mile to the Wilson house.
“I’ve got things for you to help me with,” she said. “Homecoming is in a couple of days and with all the stuff that’s been going on since last Saturday’s almost—wedding—”
“I can help you when I get back,” I said, not letting her even start on her list of my to-dos.
She turned and looked at me, narrowing her eyes. “What are you up to, Romaine?” she said.
“I’m not up to anything,” I said.
“Oh yeah you are.” She circled around me looking at me up and down. “Did Alex call?”
“No.”
“Is he meeting you outside?”
“No.” She stood and stared at me. “Why do you think I’m up to something?” I asked.
“Because you never agree to help me that quickly. I usually have to threaten you.”
“You never have to threaten me,” I said.
“I’m watching you,” she said, and made her fingers in a V, pointing at her eyes then back at me.
“Oh geesh!” I said. “I’ll be back.”
I walked out the house and started to go the opposite way of Mark and Leonard’s house just to throw Auntie Zanne off. Then I thought,how ridiculous.As old as I am, I’m hiding out from my auntie.
There was no sidewalk along our county thoroughfare, Grand River Road, so I walked out into the street and headed toward the Wilson’s place. I walked up to the door and knocked. No answer. I didn’t think they’d be gone this early so I walked around to the back of the house.
Their backyard was as large as Auntie’s even though their house was one tenth the size. Flowers were everywhere, leaving only a narrow stone walkway to get to their greenhouse.
“Morning,” I called out as I approached.
I saw one of them wave me in. They were all smiles as I stepped inside. “Good morning,” I said again.
“Good morning, Romaine,” they said together.
