an idea. Maybe she hadn’t planned to distribute everything. Perhaps some item was for her personal use.
But if so, why would the items be labeled with the names of persons living in this county?
I hung up and went to our home office and took the plastic sack out of the cupboard. Keith watched from the doorway. “I want to look at the diabetic kit.”
“Wait.” He went into the kitchen and came back with a pair of disposable latex gloves from the box he kept for professional use when clients brought small animals over to the house.
“Thanks. But, it’s a little late for that.” Yet Sam also had commented on fingerprint contamination, so I supposed it wouldn’t hurt. I slipped them on, then reached for the diabetic kit labeled Bertha Summers. I unzipped the little case holding testing strips, the lancing pen, and the monitor. I pushed the memory function.
Nothing. No thirty day history or fourteen day history. I checked the code on the testing strip vial. The monitor code had not been set yet. Everything looked brand new. Even so, we would check all of Mary’s medical records.
I sighed and zipped it back up. If she had been a diabetic, perhaps there had been an insulin screw-up. An overdose or underdose.
“Something?” Keith asked.
“Nothing. I thought maybe Mary was a diabetic and she was in some kind of a medical state because of that. It would have made it simpler.”
“That’s because you don’t want to consider murder,” he said flatly.
He was right. I wanted a simple solution. Most of all, I wanted one quickly.
I put the kit back in the bag, pulled off the gloves, and stood.
“Your instincts were sound,” he said. “Turn the bag over to the KBI. Might be something in that salve, or the aspirin, or hiding in that roll of bandages.”
I looked at him sharply. He was not kidding. “You’re right. I’ll call Sam back and tell him the KBI needs to look at these things too.”
Wearily, I dialed Sam and told him that Mary didn’t appear to be a diabetic, but of course we needed to check it out with her doctor.
Just in case.
***
I woke up six hours later and took a warm shower. Keith had coffee waiting and had rightly decided that a big breakfast made more sense than a lunch.
“Oh honey, you didn’t have to wait around for me to wake up.”
“I had office work to take care of. So say thank you and sit down.”
“Thank you,” I smiled. My stomach wasn’t up to bacon, eggs, and toast, but I faked it. And I expected to be grilled. For a take-charge person, my job had to be pure torture to him. But I kept my side of the bargain now by telling him everything.
As I ate, I went over everything I knew.
“There have to be employment records. Her W-4 should be on file along with everyone else’s.”
“Well it wasn’t. And none of this makes sense. A normal healthy human being doesn’t simply drop dead. And what do you think about Edna’s saying that a stranger gave Mary a heart attack?”
Keith didn’t like to stray over to a medical doctor’s territory. As a veterinarian he usually stuck to his area of expertise, but he read and studied a great deal. “I’ve read that a sudden shock can cause an episode, but you said there wasn’t any sign of a heart attack.”
I nibbled on a strip of bacon and thought about Mary dropping the chalice. “As to the stranger, everyone was a stranger to most of us. Then afterwards, we all just wanted to get the hell out of there.”
“So you have a body, no way to notify anybody, and no cause of death.”
“Right. That’s about it.”
“I’d start with the family issue first. There’s got to be something somewhere that will let us know who she is.”
I smiled at the “us.”
“Did you check her phone logs?”
“Yes. It was all business or local calls. Nothing there. Pizza Hut, dry cleaners, places like that.”
“You said absolutely no one got near the body?”
“That’s one of the few things I’m sure of. No one got in or
But if so, why would the items be labeled with the names of persons living in this county?
I hung up and went to our home office and took the plastic sack out of the cupboard. Keith watched from the doorway. “I want to look at the diabetic kit.”
“Wait.” He went into the kitchen and came back with a pair of disposable latex gloves from the box he kept for professional use when clients brought small animals over to the house.
“Thanks. But, it’s a little late for that.” Yet Sam also had commented on fingerprint contamination, so I supposed it wouldn’t hurt. I slipped them on, then reached for the diabetic kit labeled Bertha Summers. I unzipped the little case holding testing strips, the lancing pen, and the monitor. I pushed the memory function.
Nothing. No thirty day history or fourteen day history. I checked the code on the testing strip vial. The monitor code had not been set yet. Everything looked brand new. Even so, we would check all of Mary’s medical records.
I sighed and zipped it back up. If she had been a diabetic, perhaps there had been an insulin screw-up. An overdose or underdose.
“Something?” Keith asked.
“Nothing. I thought maybe Mary was a diabetic and she was in some kind of a medical state because of that. It would have made it simpler.”
“That’s because you don’t want to consider murder,” he said flatly.
He was right. I wanted a simple solution. Most of all, I wanted one quickly.
I put the kit back in the bag, pulled off the gloves, and stood.
“Your instincts were sound,” he said. “Turn the bag over to the KBI. Might be something in that salve, or the aspirin, or hiding in that roll of bandages.”
I looked at him sharply. He was not kidding. “You’re right. I’ll call Sam back and tell him the KBI needs to look at these things too.”
Wearily, I dialed Sam and told him that Mary didn’t appear to be a diabetic, but of course we needed to check it out with her doctor.
Just in case.
***
I woke up six hours later and took a warm shower. Keith had coffee waiting and had rightly decided that a big breakfast made more sense than a lunch.
“Oh honey, you didn’t have to wait around for me to wake up.”
“I had office work to take care of. So say thank you and sit down.”
“Thank you,” I smiled. My stomach wasn’t up to bacon, eggs, and toast, but I faked it. And I expected to be grilled. For a take-charge person, my job had to be pure torture to him. But I kept my side of the bargain now by telling him everything.
As I ate, I went over everything I knew.
“There have to be employment records. Her W-4 should be on file along with everyone else’s.”
“Well it wasn’t. And none of this makes sense. A normal healthy human being doesn’t simply drop dead. And what do you think about Edna’s saying that a stranger gave Mary a heart attack?”
Keith didn’t like to stray over to a medical doctor’s territory. As a veterinarian he usually stuck to his area of expertise, but he read and studied a great deal. “I’ve read that a sudden shock can cause an episode, but you said there wasn’t any sign of a heart attack.”
I nibbled on a strip of bacon and thought about Mary dropping the chalice. “As to the stranger, everyone was a stranger to most of us. Then afterwards, we all just wanted to get the hell out of there.”
“So you have a body, no way to notify anybody, and no cause of death.”
“Right. That’s about it.”
“I’d start with the family issue first. There’s got to be something somewhere that will let us know who she is.”
I smiled at the “us.”
“Did you check her phone logs?”
“Yes. It was all business or local calls. Nothing there. Pizza Hut, dry cleaners, places like that.”
“You said absolutely no one got near the body?”
“That’s one of the few things I’m sure of. No one got in or
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