Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 03 - The Priest Who Ate a Poison Petit Fore (27 page)

The elder Starvling’s face eased. She glanced around and then looked up toward a stained glass dome depicting religious scenes. “Sorry,”
she whispered.

“Ahem.” Borden interrupted. He pointed to the passage. “Not to intrude on…whatever that was, but what…does…this… mean?”

“The name.” Holmes stood erect. “Nothing else stands out but that single line. And given the other individual reported leaving after me, it does rather fit.””

“You know her then?”

“I do. And I have another detail that might intrigue you.”

“WHAT NAME?”

“Wormwood,” both Hannah and Holmes answered.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Both the elder Starvling and the lawman waited for an explanation. Hannah explained.

“It’s the name of a woman who works here.”

“Volunteers, to be precise,” Holmes interjected. “She does various duties around the hospital.”

“Giving her access to?”

“Almost everything, I would imagine. I have encountered her in records, at nursing stations, reception.” Holmes frowned a bit. “No one would pay attention to her, regardless. It is the general demeanor of trust with the entire facility. I have made note of it several times with administration, but to no avail.”

Hannah pondered the description from couple.
60s. Short. 5’3” or 5’4””. Light dyed blonde hair. Well maintained. In a hurry.

Gran pointed to her granddaughter’s quirk. “What are you thinking, dear?”

“The who fits. The why will come once we find her.” She peered over to Holmes. “That detail you mentioned.”

“Oh, yes, Pasithea Pharmaceutical. One Gabriel Wormwood founded the corporation.”

Hannah’s interest piqued. “Husband?”

“Correct. He retired here several years ago, and in large part, founded Happiness. In particular, this facility. He died, I believe it was, around eighteen months ago.”

“Didn’t you say that’s when all this started?” Borden interceded.

Hannah gestured yes but continued processing everything in her head. “Her husband’s death could have triggered all this. How did he die?”

“If memory serves---”

“And it always does,” Borden interrupted, much to Holmes’ consternation.

“If memory serves, he suffered from coronary disease acerbated by diabetes. That and his advanced age prevented a heart transplant. In time, he succumbed to…” Holmes words stopped midsentence. He cleared his throat before finishing. ““He succumbed to cardiac arrest.”

Borden pulled out his phone. “That’s enough for me. I’m picking her up for questioning. Henry, could you check with security and see if she’’s still on the grounds.”

“I will do it from my office.”

“Oh yeah, right.”

Holmes turned to Hannah and pointed to Borden’s phone. “I do not ascribe to those. My office is on the west side of the building, second floor. Would you care to join us there?”

Hannah shook her head. “We’ll have to catch up with you two in a bit. I still have something else to check first. I also need to check in with my husband.” She thumbed to Gran. ““She as well.”

“Of course. Well, please allow me to provide you with my office phone. I’m sure Jack will do the same for his device.”

Hannah took the information for both.

Looking to Magdalen and Gran, Holmes smiled. “Ladies, a pleasure.” With that, he and Borden moved down the hall and out of sight.

Gran peered at Hannah. “Why are we not going with them?”

“Because we’re still missing something. I’m not sure what yet. It just seems so random and disconnected. She fits some details. Accessibility. The description, but I don’’t see the connection.” Hannah removed her hat and dusted at the edges. “She was there after Pepper Mothershed died. I saw her around in the gift shop. We talked some, but…”” Her words trailed off.

Gran frowned. “But what?”

“Our conversation…” Hannah thought back to the gift shop. “I think she might have been…I don’t know.” She turned to stare at her companions. “Mocking me, I think. Dangling a carrot, so to speak.”

“How?” Magdalen asked.

“Just by what she said. We were talking and she mentioned her husband dying. I said I was sorry and she waved it off, but she said something else.” Hannah closed her eyes and thought back to the conversation. Doing so, she tried to remember the words Wormwood had said. She repeated them aloud as they came to her in pieces. “T
hings happen... Sometimes when we’re not old... That’s when it hurts. To those we love…. We never know why. We just suffer. There’s an opportunity to amend things thereafter.”

Hannah twisted her lip around. “She gave me this smile. Unnerving. Then she suggested I take some of the candies to Susan, like she wanted to taunt her or something.”

Magdalen, who hung on every word, let out a breath. “That’s messed up. I mean, in a big time way.”

The elder Starvling pulled her face in, a sign Hannah took as consideration. “Amend things. That sounds like she’s trying to fix things.”

Amend
. Hannah let the word tumble in her thoughts.
Could be positive or negative, depending.
She glanced up to her companions. “Maybe. It depends on how she sees amending. Does that mean she thinks she’s fixing thing by killing? Or is it something else?”

Gran nodded in acknowledgement and consideration.

Magdalen assumed an odd expression. “Something else? Like what?”

“Revenge,” Gran interjected. “She could be talking about getting even. Amending a wrong.””

Hannah agreed with a gesture. “One of the old motives.”

Gran agreed, tumbling the words around in her mouth as though she were seeking to taste them. “When we’re not old... That’s when it hurts. To those we love.” After a moment’s contemplation, she added, “Bet you a cookie that’’s a reference to Susan.”

Magdalen shuffled on her feet for a moment. “And the Reverend? Right. To those we love. It’s aimed at him, isn’t it?””

Hannah could tell her sister-in-law was attempting to work it out without someone telling her. The sleuth appreciated the effort.

“Excellent, dear,” Gran interceded before Hannah could answer. “You’’ve got a knack for this.”

Magdalen smiled at the praise. “Don’t know about that. Every question ends in another.”

“Nature of the beast,” Grans stated with some enthusiasm. “Makes you all tingly, doesn’’t it?”

Magdalen affirmed with a mischievous grin.

Hannah agreed with both. “So it sounds like revenge… maybe. Question is the same old trope though. Why?” She stretched herself out as she further announced, “Like I said, we’re still missing something. A piece of the puzzle.”

The sudden buzzing of her phone made her jump. Retrieving the device, she glanced at the number. “It’s Cate,” she notified Gran, as she stepped away to answer. “What’s up?”

From the other end of the conversation, Hanna could tell her best friend was both frustrated and excited.

“Hey, listen, that friend found Ingrid Larkin.”

Hannah held the phone and waited for Cate to continue. Although efficient to no end, the librarian showed a fondness for dramatics. Sometimes, Hannah became frustrated with the display, but given her friend’s excitement, she decided just to wait her out.

“You still there?”

“Still here.”

“Great, anyway, so she did marry and is now Ingrid Adams, a widower. But you were right about the affair, and the woman still has a thing for Janus all these years later. You can just tell. I almost couldn’t get her to shut up about that man.””

“And?”

“She did work in records and he was looking for information on his siblings, and she remembered every little detail.”

“Because she was in love with him.”

“Still is. That’s what I’m guessing. Anyway, he found out that they sent his two brothers to the same foster home.”

“Do you have anything on them?”

“I do, and some of their history, but it’s not good. She remembered the home the brother went to was problematic. The oldest died in their care just two years after being placed. Some sort of accident was the official ruling. After that, the younger became challenging over time. A mini rap sheet. Drugs for the most part. Possession. Dealing. Theft. That sort of thing. He died homeless in a shelter two years ago. That’s all unconfirmed. It came from her.”

“Hmm, and the twin?”

“The sister went to live with a local family living near the seminary in Bevis. She took on their last name, though they never adopted her. Mary Beaumont became Mary Ridden. I’m still waiting for info on her, if the woman does indeed remember it right.””

“It’s pretty detailed not to be. I don’t think most people would make up such specific details.”

“Point taken.”

Hannah’s quirk presented itself per usual.

“I can hear it again,” Cate determined. “What have you found out that you’re not telling me?”

“We’re not sure yet, but we have a suspect that turned up. Someone I hadn’t yet considered. The sheriff I was telling you about, he’’s trying to track her down and bring her in for questioning. But you think you could---”

“Just hit me with a name, girl. I’m on it.”

“Ruth Wormwood. Her husband owned Pasithea Pharmaceutical. Gabriel was his name.”

“Got it. So, all this with Janus. It was a waste of time?”

Hannah considered the idea for the moment. Although her initial thought was to say yes, her instinct told her otherwise.

“I’m not sure yet. There’s evidence linking this woman but it’s all circumstantial and not in a strong way yet. I could be misreading the situation, but just for argument’s sake, I’d like to keep my options open until we find out for sure.”

“Well, Al and I are heading out later. We’ll drop by the cabin and see if we can talk with him, just to cover bases. But I’ll get right on this.””

“That’d be great. Couldn’t do this without you, you know that, right?”

“Sure you could. It just wouldn’t be half as fun or half as interesting. Keep me informed. Love you.”

“Do the same. Love you too. Bye.”

Hannah clicked off her phone.

“Now what?” Magdalen inquired.

“Well, I, for one, need to check in with Hym. I bet Buster wouldn’t mind seeing you as well. Maybe then we can catch up with Papa Jay.” A frown crept across Hannah’’s face. “Then there’s the other thing. We’ve got to tell the Reverend about Mr. Rhoades.””

A silence came across the three. After a few seconds, Magdalen let out a breath.

“We might want to find out his condition first though. To be honest, it didn’t look good when I left. It’s a pretty bad injury to his head. The leaking fluid came from his brain. It could be just a rupture, but he might have cracked or fractured his skull.” Magdalen paused. “Even under the best conditions, in a strong, young individual, it’s a tough road to recovery, but on a man in his seventies…” Her words faded before she continued. “Even if he comes out on the other side, he won’t be the same.””

Both Hannah and Gran acknowledged with a silent nod.

*****

“I don’t understand this,” Whipson declared as tears rolled down his aged cheeks. With one hand, he held onto his crucifix. Calvin sat next to him, clutching the other.

“They’ve taken him to surgery,” Hannah informed.

The sleuth sat down in the chair next to her husband and leaned forward. Placing her elbows on her knees, she clasped her hands together and rested her head on them. Gran stepped up from behind and put a hand on her granddaughter’s shoulder. Magdalen did the same for her brother. Buster stood next to her, his hand holding hers. All looked over to the Reverend.

“I’m not going to lie to you, sir. It doesn’t look good. It’s a bad injury, but I think you need to know. To prepare yourself, just in case.”

“This is my fault. I asked him to look for evidence. I shouldn’t have---”

“This is not on you,” Hym interceded. “You didn’t do this.””

Calvin reassured him with a squeeze of the hand. He then looked back to Hannah. “You said you think you have a lead on who did this?”

“We do. Sheriff Borden is looking to bring her in for questioning.”

“Her.”

“Ruth Wormwood.”

Whipson sat up and wiped the tears from his eyes. He adjusted his glasses and stared at Hannah. “Ruth?”

Hannah said nothing, but acknowledged yes. Calvin too adjusted his position. “I’m assuming there’s a why included in this?””

“That’s the one question that remains. The sheriff is going to let us know when he picks her up for questioning.”

“That’s the woman from reception, right?” Hym asked. “While you were gone, I stepped out to stretch my legs. I went down to the lobby and out front. I saw her headed out across the front lawn. I think she was leaving.” He looked over at Gran. “That’s how I knew you were here. I ran into Jayland with the dogs.”

Gran smiled. “The old grumpus spoils surprises even when he’s not around.”