The Priest Who Ate a Poison Petit Four Read online

  “It’s my honor, and call me Jonathan,” Whipson said. He smiled before turning his head to cough a few times. The woman with him reinforced her stance and steadied him. He signed that he was okay before introducing her to Hannah.

  “This is my granddaughter, Dr. Susan York.”

  “Just Susan,” she said, offering her hand to the sleuth.

  Taking it as offered, Hannah shook. 5’3”. Mid-thirties. Short, bobbed, brown hair. Deep green eyes. Physician’s coat. Studying the woman’s eyes, Hannah found that the left one had a section discolored from the rest of the eye.

  Noticing the sleuth’s curiosity, the woman smiled. “It’s called sectoral heterochromia,”” she explained. “It’s a mutation.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. That was rude, but it’s just so pretty.”

  Susan smiled. “Thank you. Most people think I’m going blind.” She looked up at Hannah’s hat. “I like it,” she said pointing, and then she turned to Hym with a broad grin. She threw her arms outward. To Hannah’s rare surprise, Hym moved forward and hugged the woman. “Good to see you, Mudbug,” he said.

  Mudbug, thought Hannah. Curious nickname. When the two separated, Hannah stood waiting. Hym looked over and his eyes widened. “Oh, sorry. We know each other from the neighborhood. Mudbug lived three doors up from Mags and me, next to the Reverend here, and just down the way from Calvin. Calvin is now her husband and fellow doctor. Where is he, by the way?”

  “With a patient. He’ll be down as soon as he’s done.” Susan looked at the two. “It’s a long drive from Twilight. Would y’all like something to drink? Coffee, maybe?””

  “I could use a jolt,” Hannah declared with noted enthusiasm.

  Susan turned to her grandfather. “Pawpaw, you want me to bring you something to drink back here or do you want to go to the cafeteria?”

  “I could use some water. Thank you, dear, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to sit down.”

  Susan helped her grandfather to one of the reception area chairs. “What does everyone want?”

  “I’ll give you a hand,” Hannah said.

  “No, no, you stay. I believe he wants to talk to you two anyway. I got it.” After getting everyone’s orders, she announced that she would be right back. With that, the doctor headed toward a hall with a sign indicating the way to the cafeteria.

  For the first few moments after, the three remaining chatted about the general wedding plans. Whipson listened with a smile, but Hannah could tell that something bothered him. Finally, she asked, “When we talked on the phone, you sounded upset. Is something wrong?”

  Whipson looked first to Hym, then to Hannah. “Well, I did want to talk to you about the wedding, of course, but I’m afraid I’m going to impose on our friendship a little, Hym, if possible,” looking to Hannah, he added, “and as a boon from you, young lady.”

  Hannah’s curiosity peaked. She leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees and crossed her arms. Hym noticed the intense focus but said nothing to her. Instead, he responded to Whipson.

  “Anything. Name it.”

  “You did good investigative work in Zebulon,” the Reverend then peered at Hannah, “and Hym mentioned that you were a talented investigator.””

  Hym gave his bride-to-be a proud smile. “The best I’ve ever met.” He lifted her hand to kiss it. She returned his grin before addressing the Reverend.

  “Well, you can’t believe him. I’ve got him under my thumb.”

  Whipson laughed. He suppressed a cough before the expression on his face became serious. “There’s something I’d like you to look into.””

  “Pawpaw, she’s getting married.”

  Hannah and Hym looked up to see Susan carrying a holder with four drinks. Beside her stood a man wearing a similar physician’s coat. Calvin York, she inferred. 5’10” to 5’11”. Mid to late thirties or early forties. Short brown hair. Hazel-brown eyes. Medium build. Angled face with thin nose.

  “I know, dear. I’m marrying them,” Whipson informed.

  Calvin sat his drink down and gave Hym a hug before offering a hand to Hannah. Shaking it, she added to her profile. Solid, poised handshake. Steady eye contact. Focused and confident.

  The reverend turned back to Hannah. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Calvin shook his head as he sat. He turned his attention to Hannah and Hym. “It’s coincidence, that’s all.””

  Hannah listened, intrigued. “What’s a coincidence?” she asked.

  Hym looked over at Hannah with a quizzical expression. She maintained focus on Calvin. Seeing Hym’s reaction, Calvin sat back before answering. “Well, there’s been some deaths. Jonathan, here, seems to think they’re suspicious.”

  “Are they?” Hannah asked, staring straight at the man. He moved in an uncomfortable manner.

  “I admit there are some odd things about it all, but Happiness is an advanced senior living facility. Death is just part of it.”

  Whipson coughed hard and broke the tension. After clearing his throat, he waved a finger in the young doctor’s direction. “Seven deaths to be accurate. Not random at all. Every one of them died when they shouldn’’t have.”

  Calvin again shook his head. “Not true. All were terminal.”

  “Yes, but they died before they should have, and under strange circumstances.”

  “What do you mean?” Hym interjected.

  Susan moved in her chair and her eyes darted from her husband to her grandfather. “It’s nothing specific,” she interceded, ““but like Calvin mentioned, just some odd occurrences.”

  Everyone’s attention shifted to the woman, so she continued in a halting voice. “Like, for instance, we had one patient who came complaining of an ongoing headache. We put her in a room to run some tests. She was alone for maybe ten minutes, monitored. During that time, she died.”

  “Of a heart attack?” Hannah inquired.

  Calvin crossed his arms. “No, cardiac arrest. There’s a difference. Regardless, it’s sad, but reality. Truth is that it happens all the time. Not surprising given the average age of our residents.”

  Hannah’s eyes narrowed. Her nose wiggled back and forth. This particular affectation always showed her intrigue. Focusing on the doctors, she shifted her eyes to Calvin. His face held an intense frown. Uncomfortable with the questions, she noted.

  Calvin threw his hands outward, as if to dismiss the notions of his wife. “She was eighty three, guys.”

  “In otherwise good health,” Whipson insisted.

  “She was not otherwise in good health. She had advanced liver disease.”

  “But that’s not what killed her.” Whipson’s voice raised in intensity.

  Calvin pushed back against his chair and crossed his arms. “She went into cardiac arrest, Jonathan. Her heart stopped. There was no boogieman. No Grim Reaper lurking around.”

  “Right after you admitted her and checked her out. You said she was fine.”

  Whipson began coughing. Susan placed her hand on her grandfather’s back. “It just seemed sudden, Pawpaw. I know she was a friend, but these things do happen.”

  After a moment, the Reverend again ceased. He cleared his throat while shaking his head. “And Mr. Bunn? Watterson? The others?”

  “Over what period?” Hannah asked.

  Calvin reached out and took a drink from his cup. “Over an eighteen month period.”

  Hannah said nothing, while listening to the conversation and observing. She concluded that Calvin’s insistent dismissal belied a nervousness. Skeptical, but something about it unnerves him.

  For Susan, Hannah noted that the woman struggled with allegiance. She remained supportive of her husband, but attempted to keep her grandfather from harm. Loyal, she added to her profile of the woman.

  Reverend Whipson drew the most of Hannah’s attention. She applied Calvin’s attitude to his being a physician. Susan’s to being a wife and granddaughter. Nevertheless, Whipson’s insistence that something was afo
ot intrigued her. Few people would draw a connection between seven deaths over an eighteen-month period, she thought. What made him look in the first place?

  Hym scratched under his chin. “Eighteen months. Older people. Heart issues. It doesn’t sound that unusual, sir, and then you add in that they were in the hospital…”

  Calvin smiled and pointed at Hym. He bobbed his head once in approval of the man’s agreement with him.

  Whipson started to reply, but a cry for help interrupted him. Everyone except Whipson rose. Hannah saw someone moving behind the reception desk. They appeared bent over. From the side, she made out a pair of feet. On the floor. Pepper? She heard someone call for a doctor as Calvin and Susan both bolted toward them. Hannah followed after. Hym remained with Whipson.

  When Hannah reached the desk, both Calvin and Susan were kneeling beside the woman. Pepper lay unconscious, her eyes turned up to the point that only the whites showed. As far as Hannah could tell, she was not breathing. After a quick check for a pulse, Calvin began CPR. Susan grabbed the house phone. Overhead, the speaker system announced her words. “Code Blue. Reception. Crash cart stat.””

  Some fifty-five minutes later, Hannah saw Calvin and Susan walking down the hall toward the reception area. Both looked tired and moved at a slow pace. An older gentleman now sat where Pepper had before. The two doctors stopped to speak with him. Hannah could tell by their body language that the news was upsetting. The man nodded before wiping his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. He cleared his throat and covered his mouth. Susan walked around and gave him a hug. Calvin looked toward Hannah, Hym, and Whipson. He produced a sad, weak, hurting, half-hearted smile.

  Didn’t make it, Hannah said to herself.

  Whipson, who had risen upon seeing his granddaughter and grandson-in-law, sat back down. He turned his eyes to Hym and Hannah. “Eight,” he said with a sad, but stern tone.

  Hannah sat down beside him. She took the man’s hand and looked straight to his eyes. “Tell me about the others.”

  With that, Hannah agreed to look into the deaths for Reverend Whipson. The man seemed relieved to have Hym and her investigating. There was more to the deaths for the clergyman. It went beyond just the passing of friends, acquaintances, or even people he counselled. He feels responsible somehow, Hannah concluded.

  Later that night over dinner, in the presence of the Yorks, he gave the couples his marital low down as he referred to it. He went over everything they needed and all that he required to perform the ceremony. When he excused himself from the table for a moment after a bit of coughing, Hannah turned to the Yorks.

  “He didn’t eat dessert, though he wanted too. Has indigestion. Yellow eyes. Same tint to the skin. He’s weak. How bad off is he?””

  Tears welled in Susan’s eyes as she dropped her head and laid it on her husband’s shoulder. Calvin leaned over and kissed the top of her head before looking back toward the two and answering. “Bad. The coughing is dyspnea caused by lymphangitis carcinomatosa, inflammation of the lungs linings. He has pancreatic cancer. We found out when we tested him for diabetes two months ago.”

  Hannah glanced over at Hym. The corners of his mouth tightened as he drew his hand up to cover the lower part of his face. “I didn’t know,” he said.

  “Almost no one does,” Calvin said. “You know the Reverend. A great man, but he is stubborn. Tells everyone he’s spitting up evil, and then he laughs it off.”

  “How long?” Hym asked.

  Calvin shrugged. “That’s always a tricky question. It’s not like in the movies. Two months. A year. Never works that way.”” He looked down at his wife and pulled her close. “His oncologist said no more than six months. It’s not my area, but I’d have to agree.”

  Hym acknowledged with a slow gesture of the head. Hannah reached over, took his hand and squeezed. She could see the pain in her love’s eyes and it ripped at her soul.

  Hym ran his hand through his short, close-cropped dark hair. “We shouldn’t have asked him. We can get someone else.”

  “No,” Susan interjected in an adamant tone. She sat up and looked at the couple. “He wants to do it. You grew up around us. In his church. You’’re like family. Yours will be his last. Don’t take that away, please.”

  Both Hannah and Hym agreed.

  *****

  Chapter Two

  It was 8:30 AM. Cate Jordan, Hannah’s best friend sat across from the amateur sleuth, sipping on herbal tea. The two met for their standing Thursday morning breakfast date at Jesse Belle’s. The place was a small coffee and pastry shop in Twilight’s renovated wharf district.

  “So, it’s a Presbyterian hospital?”

  Hannah gestured no. “Non-denominational as I understand it. His position is voluntary. There’s another clergyman on staff but I didn’t meet him. Whoever he is, the Reverend mentioned him as being of a different sect.”

  “Interesting. Anyway, you said eight? Hmm. Over eighteen months? Doesn’t seem too much of a stretch,” Cate said, blowing on her tea. ““Not given the age within the community.”

  “That’s what Hym said,” Hannah responded as she examined her cheese Danish. “I don’t know. Reverend Whipson seems so adamant. I kind of feel for him, you know?”

  “Weren’t a lot of these people his parishioners?”

  Hannah affirmed with a nod of the head. “And friends.”

  “Well, of course I’ll be glad to look up the obituaries, but I’m not promising anything. I doubt there’ll be a whole lot more. It seems like a place for the rich, but not the rich and famous. Ergo, not that much write up if there’s no suspicion.”

  “I figured as much, but I’m hoping you’ll find a connection that ties them all together, other than the Reverend.”

  Cate scratched the side of her head through her dark curls. She took a sip of the tea and twisted her lip. “I’ll get into what financials I can. Family history and such. It’ll take me a day or two.”

  Hannah smiled. Not only did she know she could rely on her best friend, she also knew Cate would deliver no later than the next day. Her librarian and friend displayed a knack for computers, as well as investigation, and beyond that, was her dogged determination. Hannah also knew Cate tended to overstate how long a project would take. When Hannah called her on this fact once, her friend just smiled. “How do you think I got my stellar reputation?” she said.

  “Thank you, as always. Hym’ll appreciate it too. He’s close to the Reverend. You’ll like the man yourself. Who knows, maybe he’ll take care of Al and you at the same time.”

  “Oh, hush, you. He hasn’t even asked. Not so much as hinted.” Cate stared at her friend. “Has he said something to you?”

  “Like I’d tell.”

  “You would, in a heartbeat.”

  “You’re right,” Hannah confessed. “I would.””

  Both women laughed.

  “Well, anyway. Hym and I are off to the station in just a bit. His sister, Magdalen, is taking the train in. She’s taking time off from work, and is going to stay with us until the wedding. Gives us time to get to know each other some. Then we’’re going down to Zebulon again this weekend for a few days. Hym wants me to get to know his remaining family, just in case I want to bail, which brings me to something else. Would you mind if Magdalen came along for the fitting? I thought it might make things easier.”

  “Of course not. Bring her along. I look forward to meeting her. Vera will be here day after tomorrow in the morning, but she has to fly right back out for a meeting. Buster should be here in just a bit.” Cate took another sip of tea and gave a pensive look. ““Are you going through with that color scheme?”

  Again, Hannah shrugged. “It was Mom’s idea, and given me, well, it kind of fits in some weird, quirky, cosmic way. And Hym… kind of liked it after he saw the sketches, so---””

  “Kind of? What about you? This is your wedding, girl. Everything should be perfect for you. There’s still time. Let me make some calls. We’ll get this fi
xed.””

  Hannah smiled as she reached out and took hold of Cate’s hand. “As long as he makes it, and you, Buster, and the rest of my family are there, then it will be. You’ve always been there for me. Love you, girlfriend.”

  “Love you too. I’d have to be to wear that combination at a wedding.”

  “Oh, come on. Vera, Buster, and you, are going to be the most awesome bridesmaids ever.”

  “Different, if nothing else. You were never the traditional type girl anyway.”

  There was a pause in the conversation before Cate led it back around to the topic at hand.

  “Anyway, getting back to it. I’ll be looking of course, but just in case, we might want to see who was on staff at the time of these deaths. Will you be going back anytime soon?”

  Hannah noted Cate used the phrase ‘we might want to’. It made the sleuth smile again. Hooked, she thought, noting that hence forth, her friend would also be her fellow investigator on the case. “I’m sure we will. We need to make some final arrangements with the Reverend. We may just sneak over on the way back, if I can talk Hym into it.”

  “If you do, you might be able to get to the records easier and faster. They store most via electronic database these days, as you well know. There are going to be protocols to get through as always.”

  Hannah’s mind rolled back to a previous case, where she and Cate accessed a hospital’s records. However, that instance would be far different from the present situation. To begin with, that case took place in Zebulon, a small town setting. Security breaches were not of a great concern there. The medical center in Happiness would be a matter all unto itself. Hannah recalled Hym’s words about Happiness in general. Privacy is at a premium. She had no doubts that level of security extended to the medical facilities records as well. “You don’t think you can get to them online then?”

  Cate shook her head. “I’d imagine not. You’re going to have to find a different way in. It’’s just my opinion, but if there is something to this, knowing who was present and had access to the victims would be the place to start.”

  Hannah frowned but agreed. “You’re thinking Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome?”