Unnatural Wastage (20 page)

‘Fascinating,' said Vicky. ‘Penny and I had the task of checking on Cowell's photographs and it seems Seaton used the same hotel on several occasions, and not just with Fenella. She had at least one predecessor; there may have been more but the receptionist we spoke to has only been there about eighteen months.'

‘Carla obviously had reason for her suspicions,' said Sukey. I wonder if she ever tackled him about it.'

‘Probably. And no doubt he shed tears of contrition and promised to be a good boy—'

‘Until next time,' Sukey finished as Vicky paused to take a bite of her bacon sandwich. ‘I believe that, knowing his track record, she saw Jennifer as her next potential rival and unexpectedly saw a chance to get even.'

‘So you believe she did sneak the quinine into Jennifer's drink?'

‘I reckon so, although like DCI Leach I doubt if she had murder in mind. I think it's more likely she was hoping Jennifer would become disorientated and make a fool of herself in front of Brian. I checked with Hazel and she said Jennifer always drinks strong black coffee without sugar, which of course tastes very bitter. I dare say there was some comment about it – maybe Jennifer said that was why she liked it – and Carla hit on the idea of inviting her to lunch knowing they had Campari in the drinks cupboard. She was probably going to offer it anyway, banking on its bitter flavour concealing the bitterness of the quinine she was planning to put in it. Jennifer played into her hands by asking for it.'

‘Carla must have a razor-sharp brain to concoct her plan so quickly.' Vicky finished her sandwich and began tackling her portion of chocolate gateau. ‘So what happens next?'

‘We go back to Holmwood with a warrant and check for quinine.'

On the way back to the canteen, Sukey's mobile rang. ‘Is that DC Sukey?' It was a woman's voice and it sounded familiar.

‘Speaking. Who's calling?'

‘This is Barbara Melrose. I'm calling from Holmwood Care Centre. I've just overheard something I think you should know about.'

‘What is it?'

‘The Seatons have been having a flaming row. Something about quinine tablets prescribed for old Mrs Donaldson. He said, “Why didn't you tell them?” and she said, “What was the point? The old lady's dead.” Then he said, “What became of them?” and she said, “What is this? Are you accusing me of bumping off your latest floozie? I'm not staying here to listen to this rubbish.” I thought she was about to come out of the office any second so I hurried into the residents' lounge just across the corridor.'

‘Where are you calling from?'

‘I'm in the nurses' room. Sally's here with me.'

‘Did she overhear the Seatons as well?'

‘No, I told her about it and she said I should call you straight away.'

‘Absolutely right. Now listen, when's the next time Mrs Seaton will unlock the drugs cabinet?'

‘About seven o'clock, when the patients have their evening meal.'

‘Right. Can you and Sally between you manage to keep an eye on the drugs cabinet and let us know at once if Mrs Seaton goes to it before the usual time?'

‘Will do.'

‘Cheers.'

When she got back to the office she hurried over to Rathbone's desk and reported the call. ‘Right,' he said. ‘I've got the warrant. Let's go!'

‘W
hat in the world do you want now?' demanded a furious Carla Seaton, leaping to her feet as Rathbone and Sukey entered the office. ‘Haven't we suffered enough harassment and inconvenience already? And how dare you come marching in here without even having the courtesy to knock at the door?'

‘Sorry, this is no time for formalities,' said Rathbone. ‘We have a warrant to search the premises and I must ask you to remain in this room for the time being. We have no wish to cause unnecessary disturbance to your residents,' he went on, ‘and we see no need to enter the lounge or their private rooms for the time being. Where is your husband?'

At that moment Brian Seaton entered in an obvious state of agitation. ‘Whatever's going on?' he gasped. ‘There are a dozen police officers waiting outside the front door.'

Carla grabbed hold of his arm and shook it. ‘These two detect­ives are back . . . they want to search the place . . . they've got a warrant . . . tell them it must be a mistake, we've got nothing to hide.'

‘Please, both of you, sit down.' said Rathbone. He held out a hand. ‘Mrs Seaton, please give me the key to your drugs cabinet.'

For a moment Sukey thought she was going to defy him, but after a brief hesitation she opened a drawer in the desk, took out a key attached to a bright red tag and gave it to him. ‘The cabinet is in a locked cupboard; this opens both of them. If you're expecting to find a supply of Class A drugs you're wasting your time,' she added with an attempt at bravado. ‘Everything in there is perfectly legitimate and properly accounted for.'

‘We shall see.' He gave the key to Sukey. ‘Let the officers in and ask them to wait while you find our contact. You know what to do. Then come back here.'

‘Right, Sarge.' Barbara Melrose had told her the exact location of the nurses' sitting room and she was waiting there when Sukey entered. ‘Right, the search party's downstairs,' she said, ignoring the curious glances from two other occupants. ‘I'll take you to the officer in charge.'

Back in the entrance hall, Sukey introduced Barbara to Sergeant Drury. ‘Nurse Melrose will show you round,' she informed him. ‘DS Rathbone says there's no need to search the residents' lounge or any of their private rooms for the time being. Here's the key to the drugs cupboard. DS Rathbone and I are interviewing Mr and Mrs Seaton in their office. If you find anything, let us know straight away.'

‘Will do.'

Leaving them to it, Sukey returned to find Rathbone sitting in a relaxed position with his legs crossed. When she entered he sat upright and indicated the chair beside him. She sat down and looked across at the Seatons, who sat side by side behind the desk. He was toying nervously with a glass paperweight while she sat as if turned to stone, her face expressionless.

‘Right,' said Rathbone, ‘we want answers to some of the questions we asked this morning, and this time we want the truth. Mrs Seaton, do you recall DC Reynolds mentioning that her mother's doctor had prescribed quinine tablets to relieve her night cramps?'

‘I can't say I do,' she replied.

Rathbone turned to Sukey. ‘Perhaps you would refresh Mrs Seaton's memory.'

Sukey opened her notebook and read out the references to quinine, ending with Rathbone asking whether it had been prescribed for any Holmwood residents. ‘And what did Mrs Seaton reply?' he asked.

‘She replied “definitely not”.'

‘Mrs Seaton, I'm asking you once again,' said Rathbone, ‘has quinine been prescribed at any time for any of your residents?'

Carla Seaton passed a hand over her forehead and appeared to be searching her memory. ‘I suppose it's possible at some time or another,' she said vaguely, ‘but it would have been quite a while ago. It is still used in the treatment of malaria – but as you can imagine we don't have many cases of that here,' she added with a touch of sarcasm. ‘And as I think I told you, it is no longer prescribed for night cramps.'

‘As you think you told us,' Rathbone repeated, slowly and with emphasis on each individual word. Carla's colour rose as she realized her mistake. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her mouth, where Sukey had already noticed beads of sweat on the upper lip. Rathbone pulled his chair forward and planted his elbows on the desk. Sukey could not see his face but from past experience she could visualize his steady, penetrating gaze. Carla's hands were shaking. ‘First you claim not to remember any reference in our previous interview to quinine being prescribed for the relief of night cramps,' he began, ‘and in the next breath you point out that you had already informed us that its use for that purpose has been discontinued.'

Carla shifted in her seat and clasped her hands together in an attempt to steady them, but even her voice was shaking as she stammered, ‘I have a lot on my mind; I can't recall every detail of every conversation.'

‘Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that you were telling a deliberate lie?'

‘No, I was not lying. I simply made a mistake.'

‘Because the last time quinine was prescribed for a patient was such a long time ago?'

‘I suppose so.'

‘We may have up to thirty residents at any particular time, Sergeant,' Brian Seaton interposed. ‘Sometimes they are here for only short periods of respite care and then return home. And their average age is about seventy, so one way or another there is a considerable turnover. It is not reasonable to expect me or my wife to carry all their details in our heads.'

‘Quite so, sir,' said Rathbone briskly, ‘but I presume you keep a file on each resident?'

‘Naturally. All the files are on our computer.'

‘We'd like to see the late Mrs Donaldson's history, please, Mr Seaton.'

‘Mrs Donaldson? So that's what this is about! Her son put you up to this!' After wriggling uncomfortably under Rathbone's questioning, Carla now managed to summon up a display of righteous indignation. ‘Despite your assurances that no blame whatsoever attached to us, Bradley Donaldson has made some trumped-up excuse to bring you back here to make our lives a misery and disturb the peace of our establishment. What's he accusing us of? Having caused her death by mismanaging her medication? It's absolutely monstrous! Brian!' She rounded on her husband. ‘Shut down the computer and call Mr Goodall. We're answering no more questions without consulting our solicitor.'

There was a knock at the door. Sukey opened it and an officer entered, carrying in gloved hands two clear plastic bags. ‘Sergeant Drury told me to bring these to you right away, Sarge,' he said. ‘This –' he held up one of the bags – ‘was in a special waste bin along with a load of similar items.' Sukey recognized a foil strip of the type used by used by pharmaceutical companies to pack capsules containing drugs. ‘One of the staff told us it was a load of out of date or out of use pills and stuff waiting to be destroyed. The packet in this other bag was with paper waiting to be recycled.'

Rathbone took the bags, turning them while he scrutinized their contents through the plastic. ‘This strip held quinine sulphate three-hundred-milligram tablets,' he read aloud. ‘According to the label on the packet, identical tablets were prescribed for Mrs Angela Donaldson in February this year.' He turned back to the couple behind the desk and said, ‘I suggest you call your solicitor from police headquarters. You will probably wish to nominate one of your senior staff to deputize for you during your absence.'

There was a brief consultation between husband and wife before Brian said, ‘Barbara Melrose is our most senior nurse. Shall I go and find her?'

He half rose from his seat, but Rathbone said, ‘No thank you, sir.' He turned to the officer. ‘Find Nurse Melrose, pass on Mr Seaton's instruction and tell her where we're going. Inform Sergeant Drury and tell him to let me know immediately if you find anything else.'

‘Will do, Sarge.'

At police headquarters Brian and Carla Seaton, with their solicitor, Hedley Goodall, sat side by side at a table in an interview room. Opposite them sat DS Rathbone and DC Sukey Reynolds. After the completion of formalities, Goodall said, ‘Sergeant, I have had a full and frank discussion with my clients and they assure me that while they deeply regret the death of Ms Jennifer Freeman they categorically deny any responsibility for it.'

‘Thank you, sir, your comments are noted,' said Rathbone. ‘Perhaps, so that you should be fully informed, I'll ask DC Reynolds to read you an extract from this afternoon's interview with your clients in their office at Holmwood Care Home.' After Sukey read the exchanges referring to the use of quinine in the treatment of night cramps, Rathbone turned to the Seatons and said, ‘Do you agree this is an accurate record of what was said?' They exchanged glances and nodded. ‘Please speak aloud for the tape.'

After they had both reluctantly muttered, ‘Yes,' Rathbone continued. ‘I have here –' he held up a file that lay open on his desk – ‘a report of the proceedings at the inquest on Jennifer Freeman that was held yesterday afternoon. Do I take it that neither of you attended?'

‘We didn't even know the inquest was taking place,' said Brian.

‘Have you read any reports of the proceedings?' Both the Seatons gave negative replies. ‘Then you may be interested to know that as certain questions remained unanswered it was adjourned pending further enquiries.'

‘May we know what questions?' asked Goodall, as neither of his clients showed any reaction.

‘The post-mortem examination revealed a significant quantity of quinine in Jennifer Freeman's system – a drug that had never been prescribed for her.' At the mention of quinine, Sukey noticed Carla stiffen. ‘As we have just heard,' Rathbone continued, ‘it was once the practice to use it as a relief for night cramps but as you, Mrs Seaton, told us it is no longer recommended, chiefly because – as an experienced nurse – you are no doubt well aware that it has been known to cause certain side effects such as dis­orientation and confusion. That's true, isn't it?'

‘Yes,' she replied through tight lips.

‘Now, let me remind you of some further exchanges between us, this time from this morning's interview. Sukey?' Once again, Sukey read out her transcript of the relevant passages.

The Seatons listened in silence. When Sukey had finished, Rathbone said, ‘Quinine has a bitter taste. You, Mr Seaton, informed us that Jennifer Freeman had expressed a fondness for bitter drinks, among them strong, black, unsweetened coffee. And you, Mrs Seaton, suddenly invited Jennifer to stay for lunch by way of apologizing for having been “a bit unpleasant” during a previous discussion. I put it to you that, hoping she would ask for Campari as an aperitif, you saw an opportunity to spike her drink with quinine with the deliberate intention of causing some of the known side effects.'