Sweet Ginger Poison (8 page)

Ginger cringed. Sweet Ginger Cake did contain peanut
flour.

The chief glanced over at her with an ‘ah-ha’ look in
his eyes.

“But I really think it was the fish oil,” said the
M.E.

“Why?” said the chief.

“Because the peanut flour made sense, considering that
I also found oatmeal, sugar, and eggs.”

“But couldn’t the fish oil have been from a
capsule—you know, a supplement?” said the chief. “I take one every morning.”

“A lot of people do. But not in
this
quantity.
And not in
liquid
form.”

“You mean the fish oil wasn’t in capsules?” said
Ginger.

“No,” said the M.E. “There was no gelatin. So, it had
to have been in his food, or in the coffee he drank. Although, I doubt it was
in the coffee. He would have noticed it. Can you imagine drinking coffee with a
fourth cup of oil in it?”

“That much?” said Ginger. “But wouldn’t he have
noticed it in food too? Wouldn’t it have tasted fishy?”

“Actually, no,” said the medical examiner. “They use
purified
fish oil in supplements. It has no taste or odor.”

“But you said there was no evidence of capsules,” said
the chief.

“That’s right,” said the M.E. “But someone could have
cut open a handful of capsules.”

“So, the fish oil that killed him was in the coffee
cake,” said the chief.

“Wait. What about the cherry tart?” said Ginger.
“Couldn’t the fish oil have been in that?”

“No,” said the M.E. “Some of the tart was still stuck
in his throat. And it did not contain fish oil.”

The chief was obviously satisfied. He stood up.
“Thanks so much.”

Ginger and the medical examiner got up.

“By the way,” said the M.E., “did you find his
Epi-Pen?”

“What’s that?” said the chief.

“It’s a little medical device the size of a magic
marker that’s used to inject epinephrine into your blood stream when you’re
having an allergic reaction. Anybody who is highly allergic would probably be
carrying one.”

“No,” said the chief, “we didn’t find anything like
that at the scene.”

After the chief and Ginger left the medical examiner’s
office and walked to his car, it suddenly hit him. “The glove box. That’s what
Navy was frantically searching for—his Epi-Pen.”

They got into the car.

He continued. “So, what do we know so far? Somebody
baked Navy a special cake with fish oil in it. Then they stole the Epi-Pen from
his glove box. And Lacey Greendale’s panties were under his car seat.”

Ginger didn’t speak.

“So, just what was Lacey’s relationship with Navy?”

Ginger wished she didn’t know. But she did. “They used
to date.”

“They
used
to date. And now he has that new
girlfriend. What’s her name?”

“Kayla Hanker.”

The chief smiled slyly. “So, that’s it. Lacey was mad
at Navy for dumping her, and she just happens to work at your bakery. So, she
baked him a nice little fish oil cake and stole the Epi-Pen out of his glove
box. Oh, what sweet revenge. I bet we’ll find her fingerprints on the glove
box.”

“No, Chief, I really think you’re on the wrong track.
I know Lacey well. And I can tell you that she would never do anything like
this. I’m sure of it.” It was a lie. She wasn’t sure—she just
hoped
.

“Sometimes you don’t know people as well as you think
you do. Jealousy can make people do horrible things.”

The chief started the engine and drove out of the
parking lot, and headed back to Coreyville.

“Time to pay a visit to Miss Greendale,” said the
chief. “You want to come along?”

Ginger figured the chief was planning to use her
again. He probably thought Lacey would be more open to answering questions if
her friend and employer were in the room. But still—she wanted to be there to
support Lacey in whatever way she could. “I guess so.”

“Good. I thank you for your help, Mrs. Lightley.
Navy’s family and the City of Coreyville thank you too.”

What had she done? This could destroy Lacey’s life—and
she probably wasn’t even guilty. If Ginger had not gone out to the nursing home
to satisfy her own curiosity, would Lacey’s freedom now be in jeopardy?

The chief was wrong about Lacey, Ginger reassured
herself. Lacey had truth on her side, and
truth
would win the day.

Then she thought about a story she had recently read
in the newspaper. A man had spent twenty years in prison, and then was released
after some new evidence finally proved his innocence.

Could that happen to a sweet, trusting young woman
like Lacey?

Lacey had slept for nearly three hours after making
love to Danny. She didn’t know how long he had been awake or what he had been
doing. But now he wanted to drive down to Longview and party at his favorite
dance club. Lacey would have preferred to sleep until morning. But she wanted
to please Danny, so she got up.

The warm spray of the shower and the lathery soap
refreshed her skin. But it couldn’t erase bad memories or wash away guilt.

Was she making another mistake? Did Danny really love
her, or was he just using her like Navy did?

She had been so in love with Navy. They would be
together forever. That was the plan. So, when she realized he was on a path to
self-destruction, she tried to save him. But Navy didn’t want to be saved. Who
did she think she was, telling him what to do? He didn’t need her. There were
plenty of other women ready to jump in his bed. So, that’s all she was to him?

Danny might prove no more reliable than Navy, she
thought. And this time she couldn’t run home to Grandma Greendale. Her
grandmother had been the one person she could always count on in times of
trouble.

Lacey and her parents had lived with her grandmother
from the time Lacey was fifteen. They had moved in shortly after Lacey’s
grandfather died. Lacey’s father said he didn’t want his mother living all
alone. They would take care of her.

The truth was that Gabe Greendale was a bum. Lacey
finally understood that. Her dad was not a good father, or a good husband, or
even a good son. And her mother, Marika, was no better. All either of them ever
thought about was themselves. Somehow that was their bond. They enabled each
other’s selfishness.

When Lacey told her parents she was moving to Dallas
with Navy during her senior year in high school, they did nothing to stop
her—probably because they didn’t care about her. She was just a bother to them,
just another responsibility—like a collection agency nagging you every month.
You just want it to go away.

By the time Lacey’s grandmother found out what was
going on, Lacey was already in Dallas. This led to a huge fight between her
grandmother and her parents, resulting in an ultimatum: either Lacey’s parents
would drive to Dallas and bring Lacey back home, or they could find somewhere
else to live.

They moved out.

Gabe and Marika had been planning to relocate to
California. They both wanted to make it in the movie industry: Marika as an
actress, Gabe as a screenwriter. They would never fulfill their dreams unless
they moved to L.A. So, Gabe figured that being thrown out of his mother’s house
was just the ‘kick in the butt’ they needed.

Lacey’s grandmother had gladly welcomed her back into
her home when Lacey left Navy in Dallas and returned to Coreyville. Lacey had
not heard from either of her parents since her mother called over a year ago
begging for money. She sounded like she was either drunk or doped up. Lacey
didn’t have any money to send. And her grandmother refused to help. Lacey
understood why.

After Grandma Greendale’s funeral, Lacey was more lost
than ever before. She went home to her grandmother’s house and curled up in bed
to die.

But Ginger Lightley had been a long-time friend of her
grandmother, and must have been keeping an eye on Lacey to make sure she was
okay. Ginger dropped by the house with a home-cooked meal the day after the
funeral. She knocked on the door and then on Lacey’s bedroom window to get her
attention. Lacey dragged herself to the door and let Ginger in with the tray of
food.

Lacey would not have eaten the meal. She would have
gone back to bed as soon as Ginger left. But Ginger wouldn’t leave. She
insisted on staying until Lacey had eaten every bite. And she offered Lacey a
job at her bakery. Lacey didn’t think she was up to it. She needed more time to
get over her grandmother’s death. But Ginger told her that she knew Lacey’s
grandmother would agree that Lacey should get out and get to work right away—be
out there among other people. It would do her a world of good.

Lacey knew Ginger was right. It was exactly what her
grandmother would have told her. And besides, Ginger had just lost her Baker
Trainee. Lacey was doing her a favor by agreeing to start on Monday.

That was five weeks ago. And things had been going
well. She loved the people she was working with—especially Ginger—even though
at times Ginger could be such a perfectionist that it got on Lacey’s nerves.
She sometimes reminded her of her grandmother—who was more of a mom to her than
her real mother had ever been.

Two weeks ago, she had hooked up with Danny. She was
drawn to his sense of humor. Then she had discovered his temper. But they were
in love, weren’t they?

She turned off the water, stepped out of the shower,
and began to towel off.

The doorbell rang. Who could that be? she wondered.
Pizza. Danny must have gotten too hungry to wait until they got to the club.

“Danny, can you get that?” she yelled to the living
room over the blaring TV.

The TV sound went dead.

“Yeah, I’ve got it.”

She could barely hear the conversation at the door.

“Good evening, Sir. I’m Chief of Police Daniel
Foenapper, and this is Mrs. Virginia Lightley. I’m sorry to disturb you at this
hour, but I need to speak to Lacey Greendale. Is she here?”

“Uh, yes,” said Danny. “Come in.”

Lacey wrapped a towel around her wet hair and quickly
put on her underwear. She could only imagine the look on Ginger’s face. This
wasn’t the way she had wanted Ginger to find out that she and Danny were
dating. She slipped into her bathrobe and walked out to the living room.

“Hi, Lacey,” said Ginger.

“Please, y’all have a seat,” said Lacey.

The chief and Ginger sat down in the chairs on
opposite sides of the TV.

Lacey and Danny sat on the couch.

“What’s this about?” said Lacey.

“Well, as I’m sure you know,” said the chief, “Navy
Newcomb died this morning.”

“Yes,” said Lacey.

“And the medical examiner has finished his autopsy,”
said the chief. “We just came from his office.”

Lacey felt sick at the thought of Navy’s body
stretched out across a cold, metal table, being butchered like a slab of beef.

“And he has determined that Navy was poisoned. That’s
what killed him—anaphylactic shock.”

“So, it was murder?” said Danny.

“More than likely,” said the chief. “He was apparently
allergic to fish oil.”

“Shell fish,” offered Lacey. “He was
highly
allergic
to it.”

“The chief thinks somebody put it in his food,” said
Ginger.

“Specifically,” said the chief, “a coffee cake.”

“One of
our
coffee cakes?” said Danny.

“I’m afraid so,” said Ginger.

“He loved Ginger’s coffee cakes, didn’t he, Lacey?”
said the chief.

“Well…,” she glanced at Danny. She didn’t like being
the expert on Navy’s likes and dislikes. “…yes, he did.”

“Did he have a favorite?” said the chief.

“Sweet Ginger Cake,” said Lacey. “That was his
favorite.”

“I see,” said the chief. “Okay, thanks.” He stood up.
“That’s it for now. But I may have some more questions for you later.”

“Sure,” said Lacey, “no problem.”

Ginger stood up, and she and the chief walked toward
the door. Lacey and Danny followed them.

Then the chief turned around. “Oh, yes—I knew I was
forgetting something. And you might find this particularly interesting, Lacey.”

“What’s that?”

“He didn’t have an Epi-Pen with him,” said the chief.
“Wonder why?”

“Uh, I don’t know. He used to carry one around in his
car.”

“In the glove compartment?” said the chief.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“We didn’t find it. And obviously he didn’t find it
either—otherwise he’d still be alive.”

Lacey didn’t know what to say.

“No Epi-Pen,” said the chief. “But we did find something
interesting under the front seat of his car.”