Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
As we came down the mountain, Ewan’s radio went off. “Boss we think we’ve found the vehicle.”
He clicked his radio. “You think?”
“Heading out to Jack Harper’s farm. Says he found a vehicle matching our victim’s, parked beside one of his fields.”
“I’ll meet you there,” he said. “Don’t touch anything until I get there.”
“Can I come with you?” I asked. “Could be I find a medical reason somewhere in his belongings for what happened to him.”
“Right. And you’re OK with leaving the victims?”
“You’ve upgraded the security so many times, I feel safe leaving them.”
“OK.”
About twenty minutes later, we headed down a dirt road. The police cars were there. It was dark, and the lights were almost blinding. Henry was there with several other officers.
It took a bit walking down a dirt road, but there was an older car parked near some trees. There were several paths leading through one of the fields.
“How far away are we from the bothie?” I asked Ewan.
“A kilometer or so. Definitely walkable down the right path.” The car was a four-door sedan that had seen better days. It was packed to the brim with boxes and paper bags filled with stuff. It was hard to see in the dark, but as soon as I thought it, a spotlight beamed down on the car.
Ewan’s team was on the outside taking samples from the doorhandles.
We’d stopped by and picked up the keys we’d found earlier.
“Everyone mask up,” Ewan ordered. “We found a poison in his system. We don’t know how it was released into the body. We need to handle everything with care.”
He was right, and good on him for thinking of it. I’d already suited up back at my house. I’d learned a great deal about transfer DNA in the ME courses I’d been taking. I was officially certified now, but like Abigail, I was always taking some sort of class to further my knowledge in forensics.
We were both fascinated by the information, and it came in more than handy with our work.
Ewan used the key to open the trunk and then the doors. It was old enough that it didn’t have automatic windows or locks.
“Do you think we have enough evidence bags?” It was like a hoarder’s car, though everything had been stacked like a game of Tetris. And it was clean.
“He’s been on quite the journey,” I said. “But why risk leaving all his stuff where someone could break into it?”
“Not much traffic out this way,” Ewan said.
“The only reason Jack saw it was because one of his lambs was lost,” Henry said. “They’ve been looking all over it for it. People sometimes park out here to—” he glanced at me and then ducked his head.
“It’s some kind of make-out place? It’s a field, not very romantic.”
Ewan laughed. “But well-hidden by the line of trees on each side.”
I glanced at the trunk and then the inside of the car. “I need to go through everything and test it all. I worry about your people accidentally touching or inhaling the poison.”
“I can help with that,” Henry said. “We have several of those strips you ordered. We can swab and test.”
With the contents of the car, that could take days.
“All of it?” Ewan said.
“Yes.” I peeked into the front seat. Then I felt under the floorboard. I don’t know why. It seemed the thing to do. My hand hit a bottle, and I pulled it out. The bottle was empty.
“I don’t remember seeing alcohol on the list,” Ewan said. I hadn’t realized he was still beside me.
“The wife said he didn’t drink anymore. That he’d given it up.” I tapped a gloved hand on the bottle.
“What are you thinking?”
“The way his body had seized up like a stroke. If he hadn’t drunk much in the last few years and then drank a lot … It might have adversely affected him. There’s a syndrome where it can affect the brain.”
“But there wasn’t alcohol in his system,” Ewan said.
“Right, it could have happened a few days ago, and he began to feel worse as time went on. He may have even acted drunk without an ounce of alcohol in him.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” he said.
“I’ve run across it a few times with addicts, mostly. Like I said, it isn’t common, but it does happen when people relapse. Their bodies just can’t cope with the sudden onslaught of what it deems as poison. That mixed with the actual poison could—”
“Kill him,” he said.
“Yes.”
“OK, so we’ve found part of the problem?” he asked.
“Possibly. I’ll need to run a few more tests. But this makes sense. If his body was already under duress, the trace amount of hemlock could have wreaked havoc on him.”
“Any chance you could test all of this at the station? Chain of evidence and all that. We have more storage space, as well.”
True. All of our storage was filled with medical supplies. We tripled up in the fall in preparation for winter when sometimes the roads were unpassable.
“Yes, I can do that.”
“Do you want me to call Abigail?”
“No. Let her have a night off with Tommy. I don’t like the idea of upsetting his routine, and we’ve done that a lot the last few days. Besides, as your deputy pointed out, it’s a matter of swabbing and testing. If you can spare Henry, we can make a go of it tonight.”
“I’ll help, as well,” Ewan said.
“OK. The more hands we have, the better.”
Two hours later, I’d eaten a sandwich from the pub and drank three cups of coffee. We had a long night ahead. Ewan had tried to send most of his team home, but they had all volunteered to stay and help us out.
Turned out little Elsie, the victim’s daughter, had charmed more than one heart. They wanted to find out what happened to her dad.
We divided up the belongings and set up teams. Everyone wore protective gear, and we set it up on long tables against a wall.
Each box was opened carefully. The array of items was enough to fill an antique store.
There were clocks, candle holders, and all sorts of items from centuries past. Some of the items were quite elegant, others were roughly made.
There was a large assortment of old toys, and I wondered if their store might specialize in those.
We carefully tested each item.
I wasn’t super crazy about the creepy dolls. Thankfully, there was only one box of the frilly monstrosities with human-like eyes.
“My sister collects these,” Henry said. “I always felt like they were watching me.”
“I’m not a fan either,” I said. “I never was much of a doll person. I liked science kits and my plastic medical bag my dad bought me when I was four.”
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” Ewan said.
“And you?” I smiled at him.
He grinned. “I was never a child.”
His team guffawed.
“Come on,” I said. “I’m guessing toy soldiers and board games where you took over the world.”
His eyes flashed with surprise. “As I said, you’re becoming quite the detective.”
“What’s this?” Henry said. “It looks like something out of a Halloween display.”
It was a set of old-fashioned apothecary jars in a wooden chest.
“That has to be a few hundred years old,” I said. “Be careful and hand them to me.” The strips we had weren’t for specific poisons. But they would tell us if there was a foreign substance on them.
I tested the outside of the bottles first and found nothing. But inside, all three bottles made the strips turn purple.
“We’ve found something,” I said. “I need to take these to the lab to do further tests.”
“We’re almost done here. I can take you down,” Ewan said.
I nodded. We carefully packed the bottles in plastic evidence bags and then into a clean box.
It was close to midnight, and I was exhausted. We walked to his SUV.
“I know you need answers, but can these tests wait until morning?”
“Of course,” he said. “I had a feeling you’d want Abigail to run them.”
“I do. I can handle most of the machines, but I trust her more. That, and I’m tired. I keep saying this, but I’ll make better decisions after a rest.”
“Tomorrow is fine,” he said.
When we pulled up, someone was by the door. The light was turned on outside, so at least that had been fixed.
“Not again,” I said.
“Don’t worry, it’s Akif. I stationed him here while we were gone. I know you don’t like leaving the victims alone for long.”
“Thanks.”
“I don’t remember an Akif?”
“He’s new, only been on the team for a month or so. He moved here with his family. You met one of his daughters. She’s on the rowing team.”
“Hi Akif,” I said as we neared the door. “Is your daughter Mariel? I saw her with the rowing team, and I did her physical for school as well. Your wife, Aliya, makes amazing jewelry. I was hoping she’d be at the fête. We were so busy with all the girls, I didn’t get a chance to ask.”
He smiled. “You have a good memory, Doctor.”
“And you have a lovely family. I’m sorry you’ve been standing out here all evening.”
“I don’t mind at all, Doctor. It’s my job. Everything, OK, sir?”
“Call me Ewan or Constable,” he said.
“I’ll never get used to that,” Akif said. “It’s been quiet here. I’ve been doing perimeter checks as requested.”
“You can head home, I’ll take over,” Ewan said.
He glanced from me to the Constable. “Yes, Si—Constable. See you tomorrow. Doctor, it’s lovely to meet you in person. Thank you for taking care of our Mariel.” He took off down the hill.
“I like him,” I said.
“We’re lucky to have him. His wife wanted to live in a smaller town. Less crime and all that and a better place to raise their girls. I plan to promote him quickly, as he’s over-qualified for our force.”
“If he’s so good, why did you have him guarding my door?”
“Sense of fairness for the team. We all pitch in wherever needed.”
“Well, I’m home safe. Thank you for letting me help tonight. Abigail and I will start testing first thing tomorrow morning.”
“No.” He held up a hand. “I’m staying on your couch until we find out what’s going on. Either Henry or I will be doing overnights here.”
“I—uh. That’s not necessary, Ewan. The victims will be transferred in a few days to the funeral homes, and we have so much more security than we had in the past.”
“And yet, trouble seems to find you. No arguments. You know you’ll sleep better with one of us downstairs.”
“I’m too tired to argue. So, I’ll just say thanks.”
By the time I put away what needed to be tested and found him an extra blanket and pillow for the couch, I was about to fall on my face.
“I do have a guest room now,” I said.
“Best for me to be out here. Go to bed, Doc. You’re dead on your feet.”
“I think that was an insult, but I don’t have the brain matter to argue.”
Even with him downstairs, I had a hard time falling asleep. And then my dreams were full of people running around in plastic masks shrieking.