Page 67 of The Situation Ship
“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Sophia urged before Douglas could scold her.
“The victim wrote letters to set up meetings, as his wife often checked his phone and email,” Isaiah continued.
“Sounds like the wife followed him to one of their meet-ups and killed him,” the director, Samantha, mused.
“If she did, how did he return to his bed?” the lead opera singer interjected. “A dead body is heavy.”
Everyone at the table turned to look at her as the last comment raised the alarm. The opera singer shrugged. “What? I watch a lot of crime TV.”
“Sadly, you’re mistaken. The neighbours confirmed that neither left the house the night he died,” Isaiah said, successfully drawing everyone’s attention back to him.
“The wife clearly found out about the affair and killed him,” Douglas scoffed.
“But how?” Isaiah asked.
No one had any ideas.
“How do you seal an envelope?” Isaiah asked Poppy.
Poppy frowned. “Lick it?”
“Precisely. The wife painted the envelope seals with a substance I won’t name. I don’t want to give any spouses at the table any ideas.” This earned him a few laughs, some more nervous than others. Poppy certainly wouldn’t blame Naomi for wanting to poison her husband.
“She poisoned him?” Naomi gasped. “Surely that would have taken—”
“Months,” Isaiah finished for her. “Revenge and patience can be best friends in the right circumstances. She bought the substance from her plastic surgeon, who was practising with an expired license, so we had no way of knowing about him or the drugs he was illegally selling. Since the doses were so small and consumed over a long period, his symptoms would have been minor until it finally stopped his heart.”
“How did you catch her?” Sophia asked, and the table leaned in. Everyone was so desperate for an answer that Poppy would have heard a pin drop.
“When we first went to the house, we took some discarded bin bags from the skip. My partner’s idea –I can’t take credit for his forward thinking. We tested the envelopes the girlfriend had given us and those in the house for the same compounds, and sure enough, we had our murder weapon.”
“Serves him right,” Samantha huffed. “I don’t blame her. Cheated on for years, and she had the patience and brains to develop such a scheme. I wish she hadn’t been caught.”
“It’s my job to investigate. What happens after that is up to the judge and jury,” Isaiah said, as the guests stared at him in admiration.
“Thank you for entertaining us. It’s thrilling to discover how the pieces come together.” Sophia clapped her hands gleefully.
Poppy noticed his forced smile as the table erupted into applause. She hadn’t needed to hear the story to know he was a great investigator. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be sitting beside her now.
The guests started to ask more questions – could he tell them about another case? How long had the woman got? How had he felt about it?
Poppy didn’t want to know the answers. He had protected her, a confessed killer, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he would one day regret putting aside the truth to protect her and grow to resent his feelings for her. With the dessert plates being taken away, she decided it was time to make a break for it.
“Thank you so much for having us, but I’m starting to feel a little seasick. If you wouldn’t mind excusing us,” she announced, placing a hand over her stomach to emphasize her point.
“Thank you,” Isaiah whispered, pulling out her chair. She should have known he would suspect her sudden illness.
“Yes, please go and get some air. We’ve kept you long enough, and thank you for coming,” Sophia said, walking down the table. “I really hope we can talk again soon. Our aunts would want us to look after each other now that they are gone.”
Poppy was surprised when Sophia wrapped her arms around her and squeezed tightly. She froze before returning the gesture to avoid seeming rude.
“Thank you again for having us,” she said, unsure what else to say. “I’m sure we’ll cross paths again,” was the best she could come up with.
“I’ll make sure of it! Now, be off with you,” Sophia said, shooing them out of the dining room.
They said a quick goodbye to the table, but the guests had already moved on to other topics.
“If you didn’tfeign being sick, I was going to. Every minute at that table felt like an hour,” Isaiah asked, pulling her close to his side with a mischievous grin. Poppy had never been so happy to skip dessert.
