Eggs Benedict Arnold (59 page)

Chapter thirty three

Suzanne,
shaking and shivering, couldn
’
t rinse her mouth enough. Over and over, she coughed, rinsed, spit,
then repeated the process. Finally, she grabbed a saltshaker,
spilled salt into a giant glass of warm water, rinsed thoroughly, then gargled.

Petra stood behind Suzanne, tears streaming down her
face. She
’
d thrown an Indian-patterned blanket around Suzanne
’
s shoulders and was gently patting her back. Doogie
and Sam stood discreetly behind her, Sam giving a quick account of Dil
’
s role to a still-startled Doogie.

Toni stalked from the kitchen out into the cafe, pounding her right fist into a cupped left hand, looking like she wanted to smack Nadine in the mouth.
“
Miserable piece of filth,
”
she muttered as she passed by Nadine. Kicking the back of Nadine
’
s chair, she threatened,
“
I oughta clock you a good one!
”
Then she scurried back into the kitchen.

“
What. . . ?
”
said Suzanne, still leaning over the sink.
“
What kind of poison was in the cake?
”
She took a sip of salt water, rinsed, and spit again. Finally she straightened up and turned to face Doogie and Sam.

Doogie put his hands on his bulky hips and said,
“
Remember the ashes that were in that sink?
”

Suzanne just stared at him.

“
At Driesden and Draper?
”
prompted Doogie.
“
The day
we found Ozzie?
”

Suzanne nodded and frowned. She
did
remember the
little bit of charred ashes smeared in the bottom of the sink
in Ozzie
’
s embalming room. But with Ozzie lying there dead, she hadn
’
t given them much more than a cursory inspection.

“
I just got a call from the state crime lab,
”
said Doogie.
“
And I mean
—
literally—I
just took their call! When I pulled in here!
”
Doogie looked shaken and wobbly, like his ticker might not be faring so well.
“
The crime lab determined that the ashes contained small bits of hair and fingernails.
”

“
Oh ... ick,
”
said Toni, making a face.

“
No wait,
”
said Doogie, holding up a hand.
“
The thing is, they belonged to Nadine
’
s husband.
”

“
Dear Lord,
”
said Suzanne, suddenly catching on.
“
She
was poisoning him?
”

Doogie gave a miserable nod.
“
Arsenic. That
’
s what
killed poor Julian. Poison. Nadine had been slipping it into his food, slowly, over time, until she finally killed him.
”

“
Killing him slowly,
”
murmured Suzanne.

“
She murdered her husband?
”
said Petra.
“
Dear Lord.
”

“
It
’
s not unheard of,
”
said Doogie. He wiped a hand against his cheek.
“
When Ozzie was prepping Julian
’
s
body, he must have noticed something funny. Had a suspi
cion about Nadine. That
’
s why he collected evidence
—hair
and fingernail samples to send to the lab.
”

“
But Nadine got nervous,
”
said Suzanne.
“
Or maybe
Ozzie even said something to her. So she killed Ozzie and
th
en tried to destroy the samples.
”

Doogie nodded.
“
Until
you
came along and she slapped
that chloroformed rag over your mouth.
”

“
So . . . wait a minute,
”
said Petra.
“
Nadine killed Bo Becker, too?
”

“
Holy cow,
”
said Toni.
“
The lady
’
s a regular black widow spider!
”

Doogie scratched his head.
“
This all came at me pretty
fast, but that
’
s what it looks like. Probably because Bo worked so closely with Ozzie.
”

“
And Bo might have been suspicious of Nadine,
”
said Suzanne.
“
He might have been watching her during her
husband
’
s funeral or something tripped in his brain that she
wasn
’
t the sweet little old lady she pretended to be.
”

“
Nadine was smart as a cobra,
”
said Doogie.
“
She
’
s the
one who probably sent Bo to that deserted cemetery. Then
got the drop on him and strung him up.
”

“
Almonds,
”
said Dr. Sam Hazelet, almost as if it were a
non sequitur.
“
That
’
s the smell of arsenic.
”

“
And quite lethal over time,
”
said Doogie.

“
Exactly,
”
said Sam.

Doogie stared at Suzanne with compassion in his rheumy eyes.
“
And then she tried to poison you. When I
burst in and saw the cagey look on her face
—watching you
eat—I figured she
’
d somehow slipped poison to you, too.
”

“
With her almond cake,
”
said Suzanne in a hoarse voice.
Suzanne held a clean terry-cloth towel to her mouth and blotted slowly.
“
I want to talk to her.
”

“
Leave her alone,
”
said Petra.
“
Let the law deal with Nadine.
”
She put a hand on Suzanne
’
s shoulder.
“
And a
higher power.
”
She paused.
“
There
’
s really nothing you can
say to her.
”

“
Oh yes, there is!
”
said Suzanne. Not only was she feel
ing decidedly stronger, her anger was building into a terrific head of steam.

“
Atta girl,
”
encouraged Toni.
“
Go out there and knock Nadine
’
s block off!
”

“
No violence,
”
barked Doogie, spreading his arms wide.
“
Nobody
’
s gonna touch a hair on that murderous woman
’
s head. Nobody takes the law into their own hands in my county!
”

But like an avenging angel, Suzanne swept past Doo
gie and burst through the door into the cafe.
“
Nadine!
”
she
shouted. Definitely had her energy back and her hackles up.

Doogie was hot on Suzanne
’
s heels, with everybody else piling in right behind him.

“
I have a bone to pick with you!
”
cried Suzanne. Her
blue eyes were frosted ice, her voice resonated with anger.
She circled around Nadine, footsteps echoing sharply off the wooden floor of the Cackleberry Club.

“
Easy now!
”
called out Sam.

“
Be
careful
!
”
yelled a timorous Dil.

Suzanne came to a halt in front of Nadine, who was still
tied to the cane chair, her coat draped over her shoulders, her purple ribbon pinned to one lapel.

“
You are hereby
disqualified
from the Cackleberry Club
cake-decorating contest,
”
said Suzanne, as Nadine stared mutely at her.

A spatter of applause broke out behind her.

“
It was a lousy cake anyway!
”
yelled Toni.

But Suzanne wasn
’
t finished. Like lightning, her hand suddenly shot out toward Nadine.

“
Dear Lord!
”
gasped Petra.
“
She
’
s going to smack her!
”

Instead, Suzanne grasped Nadine
’
s purple ribbon and
ripped it from her coat.
“
Your grand prize ribbon is hereby
revoked!
”

“
You go, girl,
”
chortled Toni.

Suzanne rolled up the ribbon, slowly twining it around
an index finger. Turning her back on the sullen Nadine, she
walked across the Cackleberry Club and into Sam Hazelet
’
s open arms.

“
You okay?
”
he asked her.

Suzanne nodded.
“
I think so.
”

“
So,
”
he said.
“
That optimistic, fearless thing you men
tioned the other night. How
’
s that workin
’
for you?
”

This time Suzanne managed a crooked grin.
“
I think ... pretty well.
”
She tilted her head back, hesitated for the briefest of moments, then kissed him full on the lips.

“
Now that,
”
exclaimed Toni,
“
really takes the cake!
”