“I… Yes, I’d like to hear it. Did you write it yourself?”
“Mother and I got together over it late last night. I couldn’t sleep, see.”
“Of course. I understand.”
“And Mother made me hot Ovaltine like she used to when I was a boy, and we worked and worked. She thought it would take my mind off my problems. And that we should do what needed to be done. ‘Let’s get on with it’ is what she said. Mother is very big on getting on with it.”
Definitely drugged, Susan decided. “Do you want to read it to me?” she asked.
“Yes, I would like that. It may be a bit unconventional. It is unconventional, but I think unconventional times call for unconventional responses, don’t you?”
“Yes. Of course.” She picked up her cup, sipped, and hoped the expression on her face looked sympathetic as well as encouraging. “Go ahead.”
Donald took a deep breath and began reading in a voice about half an octave deeper than his normal speaking voice.
“ ‘Mrs. Nadine Baines, née Mortimer, died unexpectedly in her home yesterday afternoon.’ I thought that was probably more than enough detail. What do you think?”
Since Susan was sure the front page of the paper where this would be published would be covered with details of the murder itself she could only agree.
“ ‘Born in Connecticut, she graduated with honors from Trinity College. She was married to Donald Baines, owner of Donald Baines Executive Homes. The couple moved to Hancock this year. Mrs. Baines was a deacon at the Hancock Presbyterian Church as well as active in their Women’s Circle. She played on the mixed doubles tennis team at the Hancock Field Club.’ Well, she would have this summer. We had signed up,” he explained to Susan.
She nodded.
“ ‘She was also a member of the Women’s auxiliary of the Lions’ Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Elks, and the Rotary. A founding member of the Hancock Women’s Reading Circle, she also did volunteer work for the public library. A famous hostess, she will be sadly missed by her loving family and her friends.’ ”
“What do you think?”
“I… I think it’s very nice.” Susan stumbled over her words. This was the woman who had been wasting so much time in her kitchen for the past few months?
Shannon entered the room, a baby in each arm, and a frown on her face. “I think I’ve broken the babies’ bottle warmer.”
There was a crash and a splash and Donald Baines looked down at the Samarkand carpet. “I think I’ve broken your lovely coffee cup,” he explained needlessly, not taking his eyes off Shannon.
ELEVEN
SUSAN DIDN’T KNOW WHO WAS PALER-SHANNON OR DONALD. But she knew where her priorities lay; she got up to take Ethan and Rosie from their nurse’s arms.
“I… Oh, I…” Shannon seemed unable to express herself.
Donald was not having that problem. “You! You’re that nurse!” He pointed at her dramatically. “What are you doing here?”
“I work here,” Shannon whispered, hugging the babies close to her chest. She turned to Susan. “If you could just check on the warmer for me and put a pan of water on a burner to warm? I don’t trust microwaves to heat evenly and these little guys will realize how hungry they are any min-ute now. I’m going to go back upstairs. I was trying to let Chrissy sleep. But…” She glanced over at Donald Baines. “I…” She left without finishing her sentence.
Donald Baines wasn’t so discreet. “You know who that is, don’t you?” he asked. “That’s the person who killed my wife! Call the police immediately!”
“I won’t and she isn’t,” Susan protested loudly, hoping Shannon was still close enough to overhear. “She was with Chrissy and the twins yesterday-all day. She couldn’t possibly have murdered your wife!”
Donald Baines got up, oblivious to the fact that he was grinding the handle of Susan’s antique Herend cup into her carpet. “If you won’t call, I’ll go home and do it myself!” he announced and stormed out.
Susan sat quietly for a moment, gazing at the mess on her carpet. She didn’t have long to wait. Shannon walked back into the room, bouncing the now whimpering twins in her arms. “Let’s go into the kitchen and warm up those bottles. We can talk while we do it,” Susan suggested.
“What he said… I can explain… but you… It didn’t surprise you, did it?” Shannon asked, following Susan.
“No. Nadine told me about the Perry Island Care Center deaths.”
“And that I was working there at the time.”
“Yes.”
“And that’s why you know I was here with Chrissy when the murder occurred. You checked.”
“Yes.” Susan grabbed a heavy copper pan, filled it with water, and plopped it on the stove. She turned back to Shannon. “You know what?”
“No. What?”
“I think we need two baby seats in here. We could put them on the table and then the babies would be nice and safe when you’re working at the stove or getting things from the refrigerator or whatever.”
“Chrissy is trying to keep their stuff from taking over the house.”
Susan smiled. “Fat chance.”
Shannon didn’t return her smile. “Why are you letting me stay here if you knew about P.I.C.C.?”
“You’re such a good nurse. And I don’t believe you’re the murderer.”
“Yesterday you said you have discovered the identity of murderers in the past.”
“Yes,” Susan answered modestly.
“So you can tell who is a killer and who isn’t-that’s why you trust me?”
“No. I’m not psychic or anything. I just… I can figure things out. It started years ago-there was a murder inthe PTA. The police began an investigation immediately, of course. But they didn’t know anyone involved or the various groups or how things work in town. You could say I had inside information.”
“Like you have now. I mean, you knew Nadine and she told you about me.”
“Yes, I knew Nadine but not all that well. She only moved to town a few months ago.”
“And you’ve really found murderers.”
Susan nodded.
“It’s too bad you don’t live out on Perry. My life would be different if someone had figured out who killed our residents. And not just my life, the lives of others as well,” she added sadly.
The water began to simmer and Susan put the bottles in to warm. Ethan started to grizzle so she took him from Shannon ’s arms. Tucking his head underneath her chin, she began to walk about the room. Just as this movement had consoled her babies decades ago, Ethan settled down immediately. “What exactly happened on Perry Island? I remember hearing about some deaths in the nursing home there, but not many of the details.” She decided it was not the time to tell her that she had visited Perry Island only yesterday.
Shannon gently wiped a line of drool off Rosie’s chin before answering. “It’s hard to know where to begin.”
“At the beginning.” Susan was always willing to use a cliché if the circumstances required it.
“That’s just it. I’m not sure when the murders began or who was the first person to be killed.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Nursing homes aren’t like other places. The residents of nursing homes are old and many of them will die there, so when there is a death, no one thinks of murder. Death is just not all that unusual.”
Susan tried out the formula on her wrist before handing one bottle to Shannon and sitting down to offer the other to Ethan. “I understood that three people were killed.”
“Well, there were deaths that the coroner called murder, but there was one death right after I began working there that struck me as odd-well, not when it happened, but later when we knew about the other three. You see, the murders were all different. More than one method was used. That’s the reason no one knew what was happening at first. There was no pattern.”
Susan smiled down at the baby in her arms and thought how nice it was that he was too young to understand even one word of their conversation. “What do you remember about each death?”