Spell It Out, page 3
“No,” I said. “I don’t suppose so. Camino, it seems obvious to me that the man was murdered.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked me.
“Why would anyone drug everyone in the room, if it wasn’t to murder him?” I said. “I think it hadn’t occurred to us before, because we were all drugged and drowsy. Surely someone wanted to drug us so they could push him out the window.”
I looked up to see Sabrina leaning over to us. “You’re right!” she said. “I don’t think anyone would drug everyone just for a joke. It seems a risky thing to do.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by it being risky,” Camino said. “Only one person died.”
“Surely there was a chance it could have been fatal,” she said. “The drug must have been mixed well into the tea leaves. That means someone could have had a stronger dose than another person, and surely that could be potentially dangerous.”
I yawned and scratched my head. “That makes sense. Do you think the police will tell us what it was?”
She shrugged. “They’re going to question us all. Do you remember them telling us that?”
“No,” I admitted, “but of course they would. Someone died, after all.”
“Murdered,” Sabrina hissed.
I tried to remember. “I’m sure that window was shut when we went in the room because I was thinking how the room smelled strongly of that scented candle. Vanilla, wasn’t it?” I asked.
Both Camino and Sabrina nodded. “I’m sure I would have noticed if the window had been open. If your boss wasn’t murdered, Sabrina, then he must have walked in his sleep to open the window and then fallen out. It doesn’t seem likely at all.”
She readily agreed. “I’m sure we’ll know more when the police question us.”
Camino stuck her fingers into the upper part of my arm. “Amelia, we’re all suspects.”
I patted her hand. “Don’t worry, Camino. We didn’t even know the man. They won’t suspect us.” It wasn’t the most tactful thing to say in front of Sabrina, but Camino had once been a suspect in a murder investigation, and I’m sure the ordeal had left emotional scars.
“What happens after everyone’s had blood taken?” I asked Sabrina. “Do the police question us here? Or do we have to go to the police station?”
Just then, two men strode into the room. The first was of short stature with a large belly and slicked back hair in a combover, and I recognised him as Detective Sam Barrett. His partner, Detective Chris Bowes, was the opposite. He clearly spent most of his free time in the gym, and was stereotypically tall, dark, and handsome. He had developed a recent crush on Mint, and Mint seemed to have a crush on him, but I think they were both circling each other and neither had acted on it, not as far as I knew.
Detective Bowes gave a slight nod in my direction.
Detective Barrett clapped his hands once. “If I may have your attention, everyone. Has everyone had their blood samples taken yet?”
“Mystical Maria is in there now,” one of the men said.
The detective nodded. “The doctors here want you all to wait at the hospital until they know what drug was involved because they might want to admit you for observation for the night.”
“They’ve already asked us if we have any existing medical conditions,” the short, thin man said.
I couldn’t remember anyone asking me that, so I wondered if the offending drug was one of those that causes memory loss. I planned to ask the first doctor I saw.
“No one is to go home until I say you can,” Detective Barrett continued.
“How long will it take before they analyse the samples?” I asked him.
He fixed me with a steely gaze and looked put out that I had asked a question. “I’m waiting to hear right now,” he said.
Right on cue, a woman in a white suit, who I assumed was a doctor, bustled into the room and nodded to the detective. He left the room with her, but they were gone no more than a minute before the detective returned. “The doctor wants to admit everyone for observation tonight,” he said, “and then once you’re admitted, we will question you all. Does anyone here object to being admitted?”
I was about to raise my hand, but Camino grabbed my hand and pulled it down. She shook her head slightly, so I kept quiet. No one else objected, so the detective pressed on. “All right then, I’ll turn you over to the hospital staff.”
An efficient looking woman handed everyone a whole bunch of forms to fill out.
“I can’t believe we’re stuck here overnight and have to fill out all these forms,” I whispered to Camino. “I can’t even call Alder and tell him where we are. Did you get a message out to Ruprecht?”
Camino shook her head. “They confiscated our handbags, remember? Never mind; once we’re in our rooms, we can use the landline.”
I was dismayed. “I don’t know what Alder’s number is! It’s just on my phone contacts. I don’t know anyone’s numbers. I only know my own number.”
Camino hurried to reassure me. “I’m much older than you, Amelia. I remember Ruprecht’s landline.”
I breathed a big sigh of relief. The forms were comprehensive and took quite some time filling out. We had to inform the lady that we didn’t have our Medicare numbers or any other identification on us because the police had confiscated everything. She seemed quite irritated, but said she would arrange to get our details from the police.
“I’m absolutely ravenous,” I told Camino. “I felt sick before, but now I’m starving.”
“Once we get to our room, I’ll call Ruprecht and ask him to smuggle in food,” she said. “I don’t think the hospital food would be any good.”
I nodded.
“Since we’re all stuck here, I’ll introduce you to everyone,” Sabrina said. “Hey guys, this is Camino, and this is Amelia.” She pointed to each of us in turn.
Lucy gave us a wan smile. “We’ve already met,” she said. She seemed to be struggling to stay awake.
“I’m Bruce Gordon,” the short, thin man said. I wondered idly if his parents had been Batman fans, but that might have been an effect of the drugs.
We all looked at the remaining man. “James Collins,” he said, before he yawned widely. “And we all know Mystical Maria.”
Mystical Maria smiled at us. “My name is actually Barbara, Barbara Mason. You can call me Barb.”
“I thought your name was Mystical Maria,” Bruce said.
“Mystical Barb doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.” She smiled broadly.
“She could have called herself New Age Nellie, Witchy Wendy, Clairvoyant Clara, or Pagan Prudence,” Camino whispered a little too loudly. Everyone turned to look at her, so I elbowed her in the ribs.
“They can’t hear what I say,” she protested.
“Mystical Maria, oh, I mean Barb,” I said, “where did you get that tea that you served us? Did you leave it unattended at any time today?”
Barb seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open. “It wasn’t actually my tea. The Gum Leaf Tea Company sent me a parcel of tea, and they said it was a special jasmine tea sample for today’s tea leaf reading.”
Camino and I exchanged glances. “Do the police know that?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes. They confiscated it.”
The efficient woman returned at that point. Camino and I requested that we be in the same room. She put up no objection and handed us over to another woman who led the way to a room at the end of a ward. It was soulless and intimidating, two hospital beds placed against a bland, grey wall, the room smelling faintly of pine disinfectant. I wanted to run for the hills.
“I’ll just take your temperatures and blood pressure and then leave you alone to rest,” she said to us.
She didn’t take long to perform the checks. No sooner had she left the room than Camino called Ruprecht on the hospital landline. “I gave him the phone number here and our room number. He’s going to call everyone, and Alder too,” she said. “He was shocked. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Ruprecht so shocked.”
“It is a shocking turn of events,” I admitted. “No wonder he was surprised. Did you ask him to bring food?”
Camino frowned. “Yes. Don’t you remember?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m still a bit out of it and drowsy. I’m sure I’ll feel better in the morning after I have a good night’s sleep.”
“I hope they have an antidote for whatever we were given,” Camino muttered. “My eyes are heavy too, and I don’t feel well.”
She said more, but I did not remember what it was because I drifted off to sleep.
I awoke with a start to see Detective Barrett and Detective Bowes standing over me. I looked over at the other bed, but Camino was gone. “Where’s Camino?” I asked, suddenly alarmed.
“She’s in another room waiting to be questioned,” Detective Barrett said.
In my sleepy state, I wondered why we had to be questioned separately, but then again, I supposed that was the standard procedure when questioning murder suspects.
“Ms Spelled, do you take any medication?” Barrett asked me.
“No.”
My reply seemed to annoy him. “Ever? Are you telling me you never take any medication of any kind?”
“I take Nurofen if I have a really bad headache, or sometimes Panadol,” I said. “That’s about it. I usually take some vitamins when I remember.”
“And do you have any problems with insomnia?”
I shook my head. “Never. I always sleep like a log.”
He continued to look displeased. “What about medications to help you sleep?”
I shot him a blank look.
He pressed on. “That is to say, Ms Spelled, do you ever take sleeping tablets?”
“I’ve never taken sleeping tablets in my life,” I said.
“Well then, can you tell me why you had a large quantity in your handbag?”
Chapter 4
“Sleeping tablets in my handbag?” I repeated.
He did not respond but simply looked at me.
“That’s not possible,” I said.
His expression did not change. “I assure you, Ms Spelled, it is entirely possible. We found a large quantity of a specific sleeping medication in your handbag.”
“Then it’s obvious someone put it there,” I said. “I’ve never taken sleeping pills in my life. In fact, I have trouble waking up, especially on a cold winter’s morning.”
“What was your relationship with Aurelius Matters?”
“The murdered man?” I quickly amended that to, “The dead man?”
Barrett narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think he was murdered? I didn’t mention murder, did I, Detective Bowes?”
I knew he thought he had caught me out, and it irritated me. “Sabrina Sanders overheard police officers saying he’d been murdered, and told us,” I said. “You can check with her and check with Camino. I was with Camino when Sabrina told us.”
He seemed a little upset by that. “You haven’t answered my question. What was your relationship with the deceased?”
“Relationship?” I spat. “I didn’t have a relationship with him. I met him for the first time tonight.”
“If that was so, then why was there a large quantity of medication in your handbag?”
“How should I know?” I said. “You’re a detective, you figure it out. All I know is that I didn’t put it there.”
He continued to look at me blankly, so I added, “Well, it’s a prescription medication, surely? You can check with my doctor, and she can tell you that she’s never given me a prescription for sleeping tablets.”
“The medication was not labelled,” he said in a smug tone. “Clearly, it was not obtained legally.”
I threw up my hands. “I don’t know what more I can tell you! The murderer obviously slipped it into my handbag in an attempt to frame me for the murder. If I murdered someone, I wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave the evidence in my handbag.”
I had never taken to Detective Barrett, and now I liked him even less.
He was interrupted at that point by a woman who came into the room and offered me a cup of tea or coffee. I asked for coffee, hoping it was brewed and not instant. I didn’t like my chances but figured that the caffeine would clear my head. I wondered if was contraindicated with the medication with which I had been drugged. Still, I supposed if it had been, the kitchen staff would have been alerted.
I emptied several sugar packets into my coffee and stirred it well. Barrett was clearly displeased by the interruption, so I did everything as slowly as I could.
“So you will make a sworn statement to the effect that you had never met the deceased, Aurelius Matters?” Barrett asked me.
“Of course I will,” I said. “I had never laid eyes on the man. I met him for the first time today.”
“So the two of you weren’t having an affair?”
I gasped. “Of course not! I have a boyfriend, Alder Vervain.”
Barrett edged closer to me. “Aurelius Matters was a very wealthy man.”
I crossed my arms. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but I’m in a committed relationship, and I don’t have affairs.” I tried to glare at him, but yawned widely, spoiling the effect. “I hope you are not trying to pin this murder on me,” I added, surprised that I was so bold. “Most of the people at Mystical Maria’s reading worked in his company. They’re the ones you should be looking at.”
“I’ll thank you not to tell me how to do my job, Ms Spelled,” he said curtly.
I fought the urge to stick out my tongue out him. Instead I said, “Are you supposed to be questioning me and making me upset? What if it puts up my blood pressure? Obviously I’m not well, or I wouldn’t be staying in the hospital overnight.”
“It’s only for observation,” he said in a cold tone. “I’m sure you’re not in any danger.”
“I think I’ll only take my medical advice from a doctor, not a detective,” I said.
He shot me an angry look and then said, “That will be all for now, Ms Spelled. Don’t leave town. I’ll need to speak to you again sometime soon.”
With that, he left the room. Detective Bowes shot me an apologetic look.
I had only just finished my cup of coffee when Camino returned to the room. “Did they question you too?” I asked her.
She nodded. “They asked a lot of questions about you, Amelia.”
I held my hands, palms upwards. “I know! It’s crazy. They found a whole lot of sleeping pills in my handbag, and Barrett thinks I did it.”
Camino shook her head. “You had never even met the man.”
I nodded. “I told Detective Barrett that, but he didn’t seem to believe me. He asked me what my relationship with the deceased was, and yes, I told him I’d never met him.”
“I’m Dr Smith,” came a cheery tone from the doorway. “We now know the medication you ladies were given. It’s Zolpidem, a type of sleeping tablet.”
“No kidding,” Camino said. “We knew it was a sleeping tablet, but is it dangerous or anything?”
He shook his head. “It is in overdose, and it appears that you were all given high doses but not an overdose, technically speaking. So far, no one is showing any worrying symptoms, but please let us know if you feel nauseous or have headaches.”
Camino clutched her throat. “Is there an antidote?”
He nodded. “There certainly is, but as I said, we don’t think you were given a clinical overdose. You were simply given a large dose, enough to make you sleep for a short time. Since you haven’t been on this drug before, it should have no lasting effects, but we’re going to monitor you overnight just to be on the safe side.”
“What does it do to someone?” I asked him. “Apart from making someone sleep, of course.”
“Yes, it makes people sleep, but only for a short time,” he said. “It has to be taken continually to sustain sleep. It does have side effects, as I’ve mentioned.”
I looked at Camino. “Have you ever heard of it?” I asked her.
“I’ve never taken sleeping tablets,” she said. “I’ve been lucky enough never to have had insomnia.”
“It’s prescription only and is known by several trade names,” the doctor said, and proceeded to rattle off a list of the drugs’ names.
When he finished, Camino shook her head. “I’ve never heard of any of them.”
“I haven’t either, not until today,” I said. “Will we recover okay, Doctor?”
“Yes, absolutely,” he said. “People all over the country are having a bigger dose than what you were given this very night. It’s nothing to worry about. Please don’t concern yourselves. Most of the drug would already be out of your system. It only has a half-life of thirty minutes.”
With that, he left, leaving me to stare at Camino in confusion. “What’s a half-life?”
She simply shrugged. “Why didn’t I get coffee?” was her only response. “I’m off to the bathroom. A nice hot shower might do me the world of good.”
No sooner had Camino left, than Alder hurried into the room. His face was white and drawn.
I could have cried with relief when I saw him.
He hurried to my bed and took my hand. “Ruprecht told me what happened.”
“The police think I did it,” I said, close to tears.
Alder looked shocked. “Surely not!”
I nodded. “The police found the sleeping pills in my handbag. The doctor just told us it was a drug called Zolpidem. There was no prescription label on the medication, but Detective Barrett thinks I procured it by illegal means.”
Alder muttered something under his breath. “Do you have to stay in here until tomorrow?”
“I feel like discharging myself right now,” I admitted, “but I had better play along. Alder, I really don’t like being a suspect in a murder investigation.” Before he could speak, I continued. “Camino and I were the only people at the tea leaf reading, with the possible exception of Mystical Maria, who hadn’t met Aurelius Matters before,” I said. “One of them has to be the murderer.”
“It could have been someone who sneaked in when you were all asleep,” Alder pointed out.
