Heaven Preserve Us by Cricket McRae Page B

else is going on?"
    I paused. A huge philodendron wound its way up a trellis in
the corner of her office. The tiny fountain in the massage room
behind her gurgled softly but failed to sooth me.
    "Well? What?"
    I sighed and plunged in. "I think someone may have deliberately poisoned Philip."
    The look on her face could have stopped an oncoming truck.
It didn't stop me, mind you, but it did warn me of the reception
my theory would receive. I laid it out in a systematic manner, citing Ruth's insistence that the offending beets had not come from
her kitchen, Philip telling me someone had threatened him and
asking Barr about how to get a restraining order, and finally, Philip's cryptic words to me before the paramedics had hauled him
off to the hospital to die.
    By the time I finished, she'd leaned back in her chair and was
examining the ceiling. Now she rubbed both hands over her face
and sighed.
     
    "You're not kidding, are you? You know, just because you
thought Walter didn't kill himself, and lo and behold it turned out
you were right, it doesn't mean Philip's death has nefarious roots.
For Pete's sake, the poor man died from botulism, not arsenic."
    "Barr thinks it's suspicious, too"
    "Great. So he can do something about it. You don't have to."
    "He's sick."
    "There are other people in the Cadyville Police Department"
    I tried to explain that Chief Maher and Detective Lane didn't
have the most receptive attitudes in this situation.
    "This is not your problem," Meghan insisted in a dangerous
voice.
    I held up my hands. "Okay, okay." But of course I didn't agree,
not at all. Philip had grabbed my arm and as much as told me someone had poisoned him; Ruth had specifically asked me to find out
where the offending beets had come from; and, last but not least, my
boyfriend was in the hospital, possibly due to some twisted killer's
plan.
    "You promise?"
    I smiled. "Stop worrying." I stood up. "I'm getting more tea and
going downstairs to get a few things done before I go to bed. Do
you want any?"
    She looked vaguely dissatisfied. "No, thanks."
    "Okay. See you in the morning."
    She said something, but by then I was already out in the front
hallway, and I pretended not to hear her. Sue me. At least I didn't
make any promises I couldn't keep.

     
TWELVE

    OKAY, SO I HAD to admit I was a little spooked when I got to
Heaven House that night. I'd worked for a couple of hours, then
called and talked to Barr at the hospital for another. Finally,
Meghan went to bed. Now it was late and dark, and the ugly hulk
of the building squatted in the murky light filtering through the
fog from the streetlight. It was even darker in the alley where I
parked, but the only way I could get in was to "borrow" Meghan's
key, and the only key she had happened to be for the back door. I
was lucky she still had that; she didn't spend as much time at HH
as she used to.
    Barr would've had a fit if he'd seen me wandering around town
alone in the dark, using a key I wasn't even supposed to have to
get into a building that could very well be a crime scene. Sneaking.
And very, very carefully ignoring the fact that there seemed to be
someone interested in noting my whereabouts and activities. My
stomach clenched at the thought of my friendly stalker lurking in
the fog-ridden shadows.
     
    I shoved the door open, stepped inside and shut it behind me.
Locked it.
    Inside, it was pitch black, the kind of frightening absolute darkness that makes you entertain the idea, if only for a few moments,
that maybe you've really, actually gone blind and will never see light
again in your life. Smothering dark. Darkness so thick it coats your
lungs, clogs your arteries ...
    My fumbling hand found the light switch and the overheads
came on. It suddenly became easy to breathe again.
    Okay. So far, so good.
    The main room looked as boring and uninspired as ever. No
chalk outlines on the floor. No police tape. No suspicion from
anyone