Chapter 6
Chapter Six
As we headed out, Ewan received a call. He sounded frustrated. When he hung up, he paused on the sidewalk.
“The trip to the victim’s workplace will have to wait. I need to take care of something first.”
“Is everything OK?”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “A land dispute between two hot-headed neighbors who do not have an ounce of sense between them.”
“Oh?”
“Aye. They are brothers and are always fighting over something.”
I smiled. “Family.”
He shook his head. “These two seemed to have become sworn enemies. We get a call a week about something. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one who can deal with them.”
“You go ahead,” I said. “There is something I want to check on the tests we ran. Come and get me when you’re ready to go to the victim’s office.”
“No, I’ll drop you off. That way you don’t have to wait for one of the shuttles.”
In the summer, shuttles ran between the seaside and the town center every half hour or so. It cut down on traffic.
A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of my office.
“You’ll come get me before you head to his workplace?”
“Aye. I’ll text when I’m on the way.”
“OK, thanks for the ride.”
Inside, Abigail was at her desk.
“I was about to call you. We have a possible fracture in room one. A roller blading accident.”
“Is it a kid?” Children doing crazy dangerous things were some of our most repetitive clients at the practice. Funny, it was the same when I worked in emergency in Seattle. Kids always seemed to think they were invincible.
She hid a laugh behind her hand.
I was confused. She seldom laughed and especially not when a medical case was involved.
“Not exactly.” She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. Then she handed me the tablet we used to update our patient info and to make diagnoses.
My eyes went wide. I shook my head. “I can’t believe it.”
I headed into room one. Sure enough, there sat Lulu. She was the owner of the shop where I bought most of my clothes these days, and she was my friend Angie’s aunt. I adored her.
Lulu had her own sense of style and it worked for her. Today she was dressed in hot pants, which probably hadn’t seen the light of day since they were popular in the 1970s.
“When I mentioned you should get some exercise at your last appointment, I meant walking,” I said, as I shut the door.
“You didn’t specify, and walking is boring,” Lulu said. She also wore her trademark blue eyeshadow. Her shop on the main seaside boardwalk had vintage and modern clothing and other gifts. It was one of my favorite places to shop.
“I didn’t think I needed to specify,” I said. “Pool aerobics might have been a better choice.”
“All that is boring. Besides, I was doing just fine. The town needs to fix the sidewalks and make them more level.” She huffed. “I’ll be speaking to the mayor about that. He’ll be lucky if I don’t sue.”
She wouldn’t sue, but I felt sorry for Ewan the next time she saw him.
I turned so she didn’t see me smile.
“And do not start with that woman of a certain age business, lass. I’m not that old.”
“Even I would not dare to pick up a pair of skates,” I said.
“We’ll luv, you aren’t me. And I used to do it all the time when I was younger. I’m good at it. And it’s easier on the joints than walking.”
“Not if you break said joints,” I grumbled.
“I’m certain it’s just a sprain.”
I gently probed her wrist with my fingers.
She winced.
The deep contusions were already forming, and it was swollen.
“I’m going to have Abigail take some X-rays. Even a hairline fracture can cause a great deal of pain if it doesn’t heal properly.”
She sighed.
I pushed the button on the tablet for Abigail to come in, and she came through the door a few seconds later.
“I want full posterior, anterior, and lateral views,” I said. “And let’s get these skates off her. I have some slippers she can borrow to get home.”
I pointed my pen at her. “No matter what the tests say, no more roller blading. Before you decide what you want to try next, come by and check with me first.”
“Well, I wanted to do one of those stripper pole classes, but there are none in the area.”
A strangled sound came from Abigail, who had knelt to take off the skates.
I had to turn away again to hide my laughter. I cleared my throat. “Well, maybe we can go over the activities available at the senior center. They have a wide selection.”
“Old people stuff,” she mumbled.
Abigail helped her off the table and took her back to the lab where we kept our machines.
By the time we’d put a cast on the fracture I’d suspected, Lulu’s normally tan skin had gone a bit pale.
“Abigail is going to make sure you get something to eat, and then will take you home. No lifting anything—not even a glass of water—with that hand. If you want it to heal the right way, you better listen.”
The older woman rolled her eyes. “Fine, Doc. But I don’t need any help. Been taking care of myself since before you were born.”
She was extremely independent, which was why we would be following up daily with her.
“Just the same, Abigail will make certain you eat and get home safely. Doctor’s orders. And you need to call Angie and tell her what happened.”
She rolled her eyes, and for the third time in twenty minutes, I had to hide my laughter.
A half hour later I received a text from Ewan that he would be tied up for some time. While I could have gone over the evidence we’d already collected, I was curious to find out more about the deceased.
I clicked onto the file share program that Henry had set up for me at the police station. They didn’t have much in the file that I didn’t already know, but there was a business address. Even though it was Saturday, I wondered if someone might be at the office.
I doubted it, since work–life balance was much better here in Scotland than it was in the States.
With the exception of myself, who was open for emergencies twenty-four/seven, few people worked weekends, unless they were part of the tourist trade.
Many of the people who lived here worked four-day weeks.
I had to admit it was a much healthier lifestyle and even corporations had learned the value of giving people time off to reset and rest. I didn’t think that would ever happen in the States, where we were much more driven by the idea that success meant hard work. Whoever worked the most was the winner.
But that was incredibly unhealthy.
I was curious about the accountant’s work life. Even though I’d promised to wait for Ewan, I decided to take a chance and drive up the mountain. Maybe I’d be lucky and someone would be there.
Worst case, if the office was closed, I could go by the bread maker’s and pick up some sourdough. And maybe pick up some new novels from the bookstore.
When I arrived at the stone building a block down from the police station, I realized it was several offices in one space. The front door was open.
Inside, I found a board that listed the accounting offices located on the second floor.
When I arrived, the door to the office was open.
“Hello.” I said tentatively. There were bustling sounds inside.
What if it’s the killer?
I pulled the mace I carried out of my bag.
A smart person would have called the police. But I knew Ewan and his team were busy.
I cleared my throat. “Hello?” My voice squeaked.
Heavy footsteps headed toward me. I held up the mace and steadied myself ready for an attack.
“Doc?” Henry asked as he came around the corner. “What are you doing here?”
The tightness in my chest released, and I blew out a breath.
“I came to see if I could get a better sense of the victim’s work life. Maybe I could glean who would want the man dead.”
“So you’ve decided it was murder?” Henry asked.
I nodded. “It was anaphylactic shock, but I can’t imagine he would have poisoned himself.”
“Couldn’t he have eaten something that caused his death?” Henry must not have had access to our reports so far. Ewan meant what he said about trying to keep things close to the vest. Not that sweet Henry would ever say anything on purpose that might hurt the case. He was a great officer.
“No.” I didn’t see any harm in him knowing, since he was the one investigating.
“Abigail updated the reports this morning. The bee venom was in his lip balm. We checked with the maker of the balm, and they don’t use the stuff.
So someone must have put it in there. I wanted to check here and at his home to see if there were more tubes that might have been affected. ”
And to see if there were any clues to who might have killed him. I was not sure exactly what I thought I might find, but it was worth looking.
Whenever I started a case, I had no idea where the evidence might lead, but I had this deep-seated need to find out. It turned out my real-life love of mystery novels and television shows had come in handy when I moved to Scotland.
I’d been a reluctant coroner when I’d first arrived in Sea Isle a year ago. But the need to solve cases had become a part of me that I’d never known was there. It was my job to speak for the dead, and I took the responsibility seriously.
“I came by to look through the files and to collect his computer,” Henry said. “I’ll be searching all of the offices for information. The partner gave me permission to go through anything that wasn’t personal client files. I have a warrant with the judge for that.”
There was an offer in his voice. Henry really was the sweetest.
“Do you mind if I help out?” I asked.
“No problem.”
“Don’t you need to check with Ewan?”
He shook his head. “The boss says to keep you informed. You might as well be here.”
I wasn’t so sure that was exactly what Ewan meant, but I was grateful to the young officer. “Thanks, Henry.”
We worked in silence. After putting the computer equipment in the box he’d brought, he went through some of the bookshelves that lined all three offices.
I donned a pair of gloves and went through the victim’s desk.
“Have you spoken with anyone who works with him?” I asked. I found more lip balms and put them in an evidence bag and marked them on the log Henry was keeping. “Also, I’m taking these to the lab for Abigail to check. I marked them on the evidence log.”
He nodded. “I spoke with his partner, Mr. Burns. He is in Edinburgh for an event. He left early last week to take some vacation. He’s speaking at the event but plans to come back in a few days.”
“OK, so he wasn’t here when his partner died. Still doesn’t absolve him from possibly tainting the lip balms.”
“True. But he wasn’t the one who put him in the closet at the train station. I followed up on his alibi, and it’s solid.”
“There is that.”
Ewan had mentioned something earlier that made me curious. “What if it’s an angry client?”
“We’re looking into that,” Henry said. “In addition to being an accountant, he did a lot of family planning and financial advising. There is a chance if he lost money for one or more of his clients, they could have wanted him dead.”
“True. Money is …”
“One of the top motives.” He finished my sentence.
I’d said the same thing earlier. Great minds and all that.
I continued to go through the desk. There was something weird about the spacing of the top right drawer. The drawer from the outside looked larger than the inside actually was.
I took everything out and found a false bottom.
“That’s strange,” I said.
Henry turned toward me. “What did you find?”
“A secret space in this top drawer.”
“Anything interesting?”
I pulled out a stack of letters that had been rubber-banded together.
I took the band off. Then I opened one of the letters.
My eyebrows rose.
“What is it?”
I turned the first letter so Henry could see it.
The message was typewritten.
You stole my money. You will die.
“Well, that looks like motive,” he said.
“If only they’d taken the time to sign it,” I joked. OK, it wasn’t funny but it was true.
Henry grunted.
I opened a few others. Many of them were the same tone. Someone was quite upset with the victim.
“I wonder if we’ve found our killer?” I’d just said the words when there was a noise in the front office.
Henry pulled out his baton as he inched to the door of the victim’s office. He held out his other hand to tell me to stay.
He needn’t have bothered. I was frozen to the chair.