“I remember,” I said. What I also remembered was how Liz had arranged for a weekly cleaning service at Jane’s house until she could get around.
“Well, small town, small world—it was Michael Vega who worked on her back.”
“What did she say?” Charlotte asked.
“Oh, Jane pretty much thinks he walks on water. Not only did he do wonders for her back, but he’s also a devoted family man. She told me about this romantic dinner he planned and pulled off for his wife’s birthday.” She gave us a wry smile. “He and their four kids took her on a scavenger hunt to all the important places in their life—where they went for their first date, where he proposed, the little chapel where they got married. It ended with a catered picnic up at the park.” Liz rolled her eyes. She wasn’t exactly a romantic.
“That doesn’t sound like the kind of thing a man having an affair would do,” Charlotte said.
“It doesn’t sound like the kind of thing most of the men I know would do,” Liz countered. “He had to have been up to something. No man is that perfect.” She looked over at me. “And don’t tell me I sound like a cynical old woman.”
“I would never do that,” I said, putting a hand to my chest in umbrage.
“Good,” she said.
I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m not stupid enough to ever tell you you’re old.” I could hear Charlotte laughing as I headed for the door.
I went outside to talk to Mac, who was sanding a small metal cabinet. I had a couple of questions about my plan for Clayton McNamara’s house. He agreed with my estimate for the cost of the job and we talked for a few minutes about when we could fit the work into our schedule.
I was back in my office, working on a plan of attack for Clayton’s house, when Nick called.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” he said. He sounded a bit off.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I got the results from Rose’s blood tests. I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you.”
“That’s all right.”
He didn’t say anything.
“What did you find out?”
“I owe you an apology,” he said. “And Rose and, hell, probably Jess, too.”
“Rose didn’t have a stroke.” I didn’t make the words a question because I already knew the answer.
“No. You can say ‘I told you so.’”
I pictured him shaking his head and probably raking a hand back through his hair. “I’m not going to do that.”
“Jess will.”
I laughed, leaning back in my desk chair. “Yep. She probably will.”
“I still don’t think Rose and my mother and the rest of them have any business getting involved in Michelle’s cases,” he said with just a little I know I’m right-ness in his voice.
“I get that,” I said. I didn’t add that that was the problem. “More importantly, though, was Rose drugged?”
“She was. Methohexital. They found very small amounts of it in her blood.”
I couldn’t help it. “I knew it!” I said, pumping my fist in the air.
“She was attacked,” Nick said. “I should have listened to her. I should have listened to you. I’m sorry.”
I took a moment before I spoke. “I know you are. Maybe from now on just try to keep an open mind when it comes to Rose and the others.”
“I am trying, Sarah,” he said quietly.
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “I know.”
“I already gave everything to Michelle. You’ll probably hear from her. And if anyone was helping Leesa Cameron, we’ll find them. I promise you that.”
“Do you know yet how she died?” I asked. I didn’t really expect him to tell me.
“The autopsy hasn’t been done,” Nick said. “But you saw the vodka bottle.”
“And the pill bottle.”
“Sleeping pills. She had a prescription for them.”
“What about Jeff Cameron?”
“C’mon, you know I can’t tell you that.”
I didn’t say anything. Nick sighed. “He drowned.”
“Drowned?” I whispered.
“He was hit over the head first.”
“That would explain why there was no blood in the kitchen.”
“It answers some questions and it raises others,” he said.
I knew it would be pushing it to ask what he meant. I thanked him for calling and said good-bye.
I’d just come back from the staff room with a cup of coffee when my phone rang again. I leaned over to check the screen. It was Michelle.
“Hi, Sarah. Did Nick call you?” she asked.
“About five minutes ago,” I said.
“So you know what the blood tests show.”
“He told me about the traces of the drug they found.”
“Rose was attacked and I dismissed what happened as just her being old,” Michelle said. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “Rose will, too.”
“We’re still investigating, and I won’t be so quick to jump to conclusions.”
“Then, as Gram would say, ‘You learned something.’” I took a sip of my coffee. “And I don’t want to sound like some public service announcement, but you weren’t completely off base. Most strokes happen in people over sixty-five, which Rose is, and more women have strokes than men. You could have been right.” It was easy to be magnanimous when I’d been proved right.
“I could have looked at all the possibilities, not just one.”
“So you do that next time. C’mon, Michelle. You know there’s going to be a next time with Rose and the rest of them.”
She laughed then. “There probably will be.”
“So,” I said. “I know you can’t give me any details about your investigation, but can you at least tell me if you think it will be wrapped up soon?”
There was silence and I thought she wasn’t going to answer, but then she said, “Honestly, Sarah. I don’t know.”
There wasn’t much more to say after that. I thanked her for calling and promised to be in touch if the Angels came up with anything. I went downstairs and found Rose out in the sunporch with Mr. P. I came up behind her and put my arms around her shoulders. “I talked to Nick,” I said.
She turned her head and looked up at me. “And?”
“And there were traces of methohexital in your blood.”
A triumphant smile spread across her face.
“So someone did drug Rosie?” Mr. P. said.
I nodded.
“We wouldn’t have known that if you hadn’t seen the needle mark on my neck,” Rose said. She leaned her head against my shoulder for a moment before I let go.
“That was mostly luck,” I said.
“Maybe,” Mr. P. said. “You’re also very observant, Sarah.”
“I will admit I do like being vindicated,” Rose said, “but I don’t know how this information is going to help us.”
I rested a hand on the table Mr. P. was using as a desk. “Nick said dentists often use the drug because it acts quickly and the effects only last for a short period of time.”
“Leesa Cameron was a buyer for a chain of stores,” Mr. P. said.
“No one has any connection to any dentist,” Rose said.
I shook my head vigorously in frustration. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
“So do I,” she said.
I tapped the back of my head with three fingers. “There’s something back here. I just can’t pull it out.”
“Give it time,” Mr. P. said with a smile. “You know what they say about two heads being better than one.”
I held up one hand and ticked off the fingers. “All right. But really, there’s you, Rose, Liz, Charlotte and me. If two heads are better than one, what are five?”
“A basketball team,” Rose said.
I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. “I have work to do,” I said and started for the store.