24. Elrik

24

ELRIK

" S he didn't mention anything like that," Melly said, her concerned gaze meeting mine.

"While I was lying on that hospital stretcher with that tube up my nose, I started thinking," Hazel said. "Sue was near the punchbowl but then she left the building. When she came back, she started chugging the punch like she'd run a marathon without taking one sip of water."

"You're pretty close. She and Alfred went on a long hike," I said. "She told us they finished late, that they hadn't brought water, and that when they got here, she was very thirsty."

"Sue never does anything like that," Hazel said. "She's told me a number of times that she's supposed to take in regular fluids, that it's good for her kidneys. I can't believe she'd go for a hike without water."

I couldn't see how this might play into her possibly poisoning the punch, but it wouldn't hurt to ask her why she'd left the building abruptly .

Melly's gaze met mine. "Do we have any other questions?"

I shook my head. "Thank you," I told Hazel.

"You're welcome. I'll see you two around?" Hazel's gaze traveled back and forth between us.

Melly kissed Hazel's cheek. "Take care. I'll call you later to make sure you don't need anything."

"You're a sweet girl, Melly." Hazel stepped inside and started shutting the door. "Come visit me anytime."

We started walking toward Creature Cones.

I looked at my phone. No return text from Sue.

"I'll ask Sue about where she went when she has time to talk," I said as we stopped outside the ice cream shop. Customers had lined up in front of the counter, and that would please Melly.

"Let me know what she says?"

"I will." I stroked her face. "What would you like to do tonight after dinner?"

She gave me a sly smile. "You mentioned something about ice?"

"Yes, I did. Tonight."

She leaned into my chest and gazed up at me. "What sort of icy thing are you planning, my spicy, icy lord?"

I laughed and gave her a quick kiss, wishing we had time for more. "You'll see."

"Or feel." She winked before she sauntered inside.

Grinning, I watched her for a moment before I turned and strode across the road, aiming for my truck. Inside, I called Sue, who answered and said she had a few minutes to talk if I came over now. After parking in her driveway, I walked up the path to the light green painted cottage placed near the woods. Flowers overflowed the window boxes and the well-tended, narrow strips of garden along the path.

She opened the front door before I could knock. "Come on in, Elrik." Inside, she took me into her kitchen. "Would you like some coffee?"

"No thank you." I sat at the island while she fixed a cup for herself and brought it over, remaining standing. She added cream and sipped, placing her mug back on the counter after.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, noting a pile of papers and a manilla envelope labeled Sterling on the end of the island. Did it contain the beneficiary papers I'd seen at the hospital?

"I feel wonderful." Her bright smile made her green eyes sparkle. "I'm much better."

"I'm sorry about the progression of your disease." This wasn't the most delicate way to put it, but I wasn't sure how else to bring this up without revealing that the nurse had shared confidential information.

"Thank you."

"Melly's really worried about you. She said you're like a second grandmother to her."

Her smile faded, and her gaze dropped from mine. "Yes."

"You're sure you won't consider dialysis?"

She started pacing back and forth in the kitchen, her shoes squeaking on the linoleum. "My dad hated it. I always told myself I wouldn't put myself through it."

"I understand. Melly does too."

"A lot of patients do fine with it, but it made him horribly sick. He'd lay in bed all the next day, and then it was time to do it all over again the day after that."

"Your wishes are important. The quality of your life is important."

"Quality," she huffed.

"It's hard to lose someone you care about, but I know Melly understands. She'll support you no matter what you choose to do."

"Melly's amazing." Pausing in the middle of the kitchen, she cupped her face. When she lowered her hands back to her sides, her sorrow-filled gaze met mine. "I shouldn't. I can't."

"Can't what?"

With a shake of her head, she strode back over to the counter, leaning her arms on it.

"Can I confess something to you?" she whispered.

"Of course."

I said nothing, waiting to see what she'd say. Would she confess to dumping Xylitol into the punch to gain sympathy?

"My kidney is fine," she said in a rush.

"Really?" I tried to act surprised, but I wasn't much of an actor.

"I fibbed."

Now there was a word appropriate for an elementary school teacher.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Alfred and I got married a few months ago. I haven't told Melly yet, but Rose knows."

Rose hadn't mentioned that to us.

"I swore her to secrecy," Sue said before I could voice my thoughts. "We plan to announce it soon, but . . ." She fiddled with the handle of her mug, running her fingers up and down the smooth surface. "Alfred's younger than me. I know I shouldn't worry about something like that, but I do. So . . . When I was hospitalized, I told him my kidney disease is advancing. It's not. The doctor said the Xylitol made no difference."

How could she hope to hold onto someone she loved with lies? "You should confess to Alfred, not me."

"I know I should but once I started telling fibs, they got tangled together, and I can't find a way out of them."

"Confess everything."

"I know I should, but it's hard."

"Did you put Xylitol in the punch?"

Horror filled her eyes, and she reeled away from me. "I might tell a fib about my kidney disease, but I would never purposefully do something like that to myself or anyone else. It would be stupid. I could truly damage my kidney."

Yet she'd lie about it to someone she supposedly loved. I wasn't ruling her out yet. "Have you shared this with Rose? She's worried about you. Melly is too."

"I plan to. Soon. When Alfred kissed that woman . . . Actually, she kissed him, not the other way around. I see that now. He loves me. He's made that plain."

I didn't point out that he'd explain something like that away if he was trying to get Sue to name him her life insurance beneficiary.

"I thought I could hold onto my younger husband with sympathy," Sue said. "But that's a mean thing to do when you're trying to save your marriage. I'm going to tell him tonight. I hope he'll forgive me." She gave me a sad smile. "That's why I didn't hesitate to sign the paperwork he brought to the hospital. I have a rather large life insurance policy I've paid into for most of my life. He suggested I name him as the beneficiary not long after we got married, but I balked at first. After what happened at the social club, and seeing how concerned he was about me, I decided to show him I trust him and sign."

Interesting that Alfred had been urging her to sign since they married.

"Who do you think put Xylitol in the punch?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. After I got there, and I'd helped Rose into the bathroom, I realized I'd forgotten the coleslaw I put all that effort into making. Alfred and I went out to get it together."

That explained why she'd left.

"Let's go through the timeframe once more," I said. "You arrived and almost immediately helped Rose to the bathroom?"

"Yes. Alfred helped too, though he didn't go inside the stall. We initially waited in the hallway. I wanted to be there to be with her until she'd returned to the function room. She does very well with the walker, but it can snag on things. I'm sure she won't need it much longer, but I didn't want her to fall again. I could hear someone else arriving, but I couldn't see who it was."

Was that when the punch was poisoned?

"You know how mayonnaise can go bad if it's not refrigerated? I always put a bowl of ice beneath my coleslaw to keep it cold. I told Rose I'd left it in the car, and she insisted I go get it right away. Alfred came with me. He's trying to quit, but it's hard, you know?"

"Quit?"

"He's smoked for most of his life. I keep telling him it's going to ruin his lungs. He finally agreed. He's cut back to one cigarette a day. He takes a few puffs, carefully puts it out, then saves the rest for later. Next week, he's cutting back to half a cigarette a day. He used to smoke a pack, which I just can't imagine, but we thought a slow wean like this might be easier than going cold turkey."

"You're saying Alfred was with you from the time you arrived until you came back inside and started drinking the punch?"

"Yes. He stood by the car and took his two puffs while I grabbed the coleslaw from the backseat." She winced. "I have another confession to make. We . . . didn't go back inside right away."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"We . . ." Color rose in her cheeks. "We haven't been married long. We're practically newlyweds. We, um, got into the backseat and . . . I don't want to say any more."

I held in my laugh. "You don't need to. How long do you think it was before you went back inside?"

"Quite a long time. Alfred's a young man compared to me."

I really didn't want to hear about his stamina in bed, but I did need to know the timeframe.

"I'd say ten minutes," she added.

I didn't comment on the fact that ten minutes from start to finish was not anything to crow about.

"I heard other vehicles arriving, car doors closing," she said. Blinking slowly, she stared forward, remembering that evening. "Anyway. We finished and went inside. I made a beeline for the punch, as I always do. As I said, we'd hiked, and I was very thirsty."

"With kidney disease, I'd think you'd carry water with you everywhere." By mentioning it this way, I wasn't bringing in what Hazel said.

"I usually do, but the hike was spontaneous. Alfred was quite insistent, and I really don't want to disappoint my new husband. My kidney is fine. The hospital ran all sorts of tests and told me I was doing great when Alfred wasn't in the room. I asked them not to share my medical condition with my boyfriend. That's what the community thinks he is, and we agreed to call him that while he was there."

"Why?"

"Because we're still planning our reception. We don't want anyone to know until the announcements go out."

I guessed that made sense. "Where was Rose when you went back inside?"

"Still in the bathroom."

"Were you concerned that she was taking that long?" Ten minutes was a long time even for someone using a walker.

"Not really. She said she had to," Sue coughed and lowered her voice, "poop. I wasn't going to get involved with that. By then, I was more worried about everyone crowding around the punchbowl, scooping it out. It goes fast."

"Who else was in the function hall by then?" We were missing something. I just couldn't determine what .

"Bob. Hazel. And Carla."

"Did you happen to see Ginny there?"

"No, but Bob was all set up in this chair, so I assume she was out in the van like usual."

"Did you notice if the van was there when you were out front?"

"It was." She took a sip of her coffee before placing the mug back on the counter. "It's big. Silver. They park in the handicap spot right out front, and you can't miss it."

"Was she in it?"

"I didn't look."

That didn't mean she wasn't there. "Did Bob drink any punch?"

"I don't think so. He usually sticks to ginger ale. He drove his scooter over to the buffet table while I was sipping my first cup. He loves Carla's barbecued mini weenies, and they go almost as fast as Rose's punch."

"What does he do after dishing up a plate?"

"He always places it on his lap and steers his scooter over to the table. We leave a spot without a chair and his scooter fits nicely beneath the table. I finished my second glass of punch and poured my third. Feeling bad for Bob because it was nearly gone, I got a cup for him and brought it to the table in case he wanted some."

"Did he drink any?"

"I don't know. I just grabbed my third cup. It had been hot all day, and I was thirsty. Between the four of us, we were close to emptying the punch bowl. I started vomiting soon after, and honestly, I don't recall much of what happened after that. I was too focused on making sure my vomit reached the inside of the trash barrel and didn't splatter on the floor."

Since I couldn't think of anything else to ask, I stood. "Thank you very much for speaking with me."

"You're most welcome."

"I hope you're able to straighten things out with Alfred."

She fidgeted with her coffee cup, sloshing the liquid around. "I hope so too."

As I drove back toward town, I pretty much crossed Sue off as a suspect.

That left Hazel, Alfred, Carla, Bob, and Ginny, with Alfred at the top of the list.