Killer Confections8 Delectable Mysteries(558)

“And Linda? You said she died of respiratory failure as well. So then it wasn’t poison?”

Doc gave me a look that would have curdled buttermilk, had there been any out in the open. “I didn’t say it wasn’t poison. Respiratory failure is often the cause of death from fast-acting poisons. Both plant and animal poisons.”

“Animal poisons? What kind?”

“Snakes, mainly. Some marine life as well.”

“Spiders?”

Instead of getting angry again, Doc laughed. “Give it a rest, Magdalena. It wasn’t a spider that did Linda in. Ed could tell that much already.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. It’s not that I didn’t care about Linda, but I cared even more about avoiding a lawsuit for negligent housekeeping, or whatever it was they would have charged me with, had it been a spider. That is, had the spider in question been a homegrown one and not some fancy imported variety.

“If it’s any comfort,” said Doc needlessly, “that young lady died about as quickly as it’s possible to die.”

I flashed up a picture of young Linda, lying on Susannah’s bed and clutching one of Mama’s quilts. “She might have died fast, but it sure wasn’t painless. I’d just as soon go in my sleep.”

“Wouldn’t we all.”

I was about to say something witty about the way old Doc would undoubtedly depart the Earth, but my mind flitted back to the scene I’d just conjured up. There was something definitely wrong with it. Something was very much out of place, but I couldn’t seem to hold the scene in my mind long enough to figure it out.

“A penny for your thoughts,” said Doc gently.

“They aren’t worth much right now, that’s for sure. I’ve been thinking about seeing Linda lying there on Susannah’s bed, and something’s just not right.”

Doc smiled. “Besides the fact that she was dead?”

“Yes, besides that.”

Just then Freni came into the kitchen through the back door. She seemed surprised to find anyone there, especially Doc.

“Afternoon, Freni,” said Doc with what was undoubtedly forced joviality.

Freni jerked her head in acknowledgment. She was no more fond of old Doc than he was of her. The Doc / Freni feud, I’m told, goes back even to before I was born. I’m not even sure what it’s about, but I am sure it’s as clear as crystal in both their minds. Neither of them forgets anything, and both of them seem to have a genuine need to be generally disliked. Freni more so than Doc. Doc at least has Ed Houlihan and a few other old cronies to pal around with. Freni, now that Mama’s gone, has only Mose and me.

“Thanks for bringing the casserole over last night,” I practically sang out. I’m all for diverting confrontations.

“No problem, Magdalena, except, of course, that you weren’t here.”

“Sorry, Freni, but you did hear what happened to Shnookums.”

“Grown men should have more important things to do than treating English dogs,” said Freni, looking somewhere just past Doc’s ear. “Anyway, Magdalena, I’m here to start supper. Same old crowd, I suppose.” Freni opened the fridge and began rummaging around.

“You suppose right, Freni. Well, sort of, anyway. One of them’s dead.”

Her voice showed no sign of surprise. “And which one is that?”

“The young woman. Linda was her name.”

“A shame,” said Freni simply.

She started busying herself with supper preparations without clearing anything with me first, including her employment status. From the way she acted, Freni knew exactly what she planned to cook, and that was that. By the looks of what she had lined up on the table, Jeanette and Joel were simply going to be out of luck. Freni, it was clear, had come back with a vengeance.

Doc and I ate our second lunch in respectful silence. We were very careful, however, to chew our food slowly, so it should have been obvious, even to Freni, that we were not at all intimidated by her presence.

When we were quite done, I said good-bye to Doc, who had a four-o’clock appointment to spay the Methodist minister’s Doberman. Then, after a quick prayer and a couple of deep breaths, I worked up enough nerve to sneak back into the parlor. The game was essentially still the same, except for the addition of a few more players.

“Then where were you, if you weren’t hunting?” Melvin was asking the Congressman. Incidentally, Melvin used the same tone of voice with the Congressman as he did with me. I took some comfort in that.

The Congressman, on the other hand, did not seem to possess the bottomless font of patience that I am so famous for. “Look here, kid,” said Garrett, “either I’m a suspect or I’m not. If I’m not, then my whereabouts today are none of your damn business. And you can be damn sure the Governor’s going to hear about this. Delbert, give Paul a ring as soon as this cretin lets us go.”