Grave Doubts (A Paranormal Mystery Novel) (24 page)

Marion’s eyes
lit up. “What does a lab report have to do with anything?”

Lee took a deep
breath before responding. “Bud Maddox works in the lab.”

“So?”

“I think he
might have been blackmailing people by running phony lab reports.”

Marion stopped
with her wine glass inches from her mouth. “How?”

The adrenaline
started to pump as Lee began to explain. “I met with both the lab director and
a lab technician today. What I pieced together is that someone could run phony
lab reports and use them for a variety of illegal purposes.”

Marion just
stared at her for a moment. “And you think the lab report you found at Diane’s
was one of those?”

“I don’t know. I
didn’t know what it was at the time, so I didn’t read it. It was in a bathroom
drawer, and her condominium was broken into the other day. It was ransacked as
if someone was looking for something, so I’m not sure it’s even still there.
And, as you know, my house was broken into, too.”

Her voice
trailed away as her mind raced back to that night. Perhaps that was what Bud
was looking for. Perhaps he thought Lee had found the lab report at Diane’s and
brought it home. That would mean he'd known she had visited the condo the night
of the funeral.

“You okay, Lee?” 
Marion’s voice pierced the haze of thoughts whirling around in Lee’s head. “You
look a bit green.”

“Sorry,” she
said, shaking her head. “I just got a chill.”

Lee got up to
open a blanket chest next to the fireplace. She pulled out her favorite afghan.
“I did find something else, though,” she said, sitting down and pulling the
afghan across her lap. “A chip from the missing vase. It was under a throw rug
that had been placed under the coffee table.”

“So, you were
right, it had been broken?”

Marion turned
to the board. Under Suspicion, she wrote
vase broken - by whom?
Then she
drew an arrow extending into the Research column, and finally, wrote
broken
chip
in the Facts column.

“Stay there,”
Lee continued. “There’s more. The throw rug had been moved to cover up a deep
gouge in the floor.”

“A gouge that
could have been caused by a vase being smashed on the floor?” Marion speculated.

“Exactly. The
gouge in the floor wasn’t there before. I couldn’t prove it, but I’m positive
it wasn’t. Diane had just had her floors refinished.”

Marion noted
the information on the board, and then said, “This is pretty incredible.” With
her long fingers wrapped around the wineglass, she slowly sank onto the arm of
her chair.

“I wasn’t
kidding this afternoon.”

“I know. I
guess I just didn’t know how much information you actually had.”

“You still want
to help?”

The look on
Marion’s face betrayed her doubts. This was no longer a lark − two
friends playacting at being investigators. A long moment stretched between them
until Marion made a decision.

“Let’s keep
going. What does Pauline Bates have to do with all of this?”

The bushes near
the window scraped against the glass making both women look up.

“There’s a wind
coming up,” Lee said, standing up and crossing to the window.

She pulled the
curtain aside and gazed out at the clear night. The moon shone brightly across
the lawn and sounds of music drifted from across the street where a number of
cars were parked. She felt relieved when she saw only a VW bus, a brown pickup
truck, and a beat-up old station wagon. She frowned at the brown pickup,
realizing she’d seen one just like it several times over the past few days. She
paused a moment, trying to remember if she knew anyone who drove one. Finally,
she shrugged and let the drapes close. At least the tan sedan was gone.

“Patrick and I
went to the Bates’ party the other night,” she said, remembering Marion’s
question about Pauline Bates.

“Fortunately, I
was busy and couldn’t make it.” Marion poured another glass of wine.

Lee twisted to
look at her friend. “Have you ever been through that house?”

“Can’t say I’ve
had the pleasure,” she said, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

“I’m not sure I
can say it was a pleasure. I wandered upstairs and went into what I thought was
the master bedroom.”

“I’ve heard
weird stories about how Mrs. Bates’ mother disappeared. Was she stuffed and
mounted on the wall?”

“No,” Lee
smiled. “But the room was filled from stem to stern with cats.”

“Live cats?”
Marion asked in astonishment.

“No. Figurines,
stuffed animals, prints, enameled boxes, pillows. You name it. Some of the
things were obviously expensive collectibles, but others were cheap, trashy
looking things. I was just about to leave, when Pauline was just there, right
in front of me, glaring at me. Then, she ordered me to go.”

“Okay, but I
still don’t get how she’s connected to Diane’s death.”

“She was
wearing a black dress and a long black scarf. There was a woman at the
graveyard just like that. I couldn’t see her well because she was watching from
a distance, and she had on a black hat and sunglasses.”

“That‘s a
pretty far stretch. A lot of women have black dresses and scarves, especially
for funerals.”

“I know. You
just had to be there. I have a very strong feeling she was at the cemetery and
that she’s involved in this somehow.”

“Well, I know I
shouldn’t be editing what we put on the board, but I think we need more than
that to go on where Pauline is concerned.”

Lee returned to
the sofa, pulling her legs up underneath her. “She’s just so weird. She
actually makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.”

Marion offered
more wine to Lee. Lee waved her away.

“I did make a
few phone calls today,” Marion began. “I don’t know that I learned anything of
value. Certainly nothing that would connect her to Diane.”

“How about Bud
Maddox?”

“No,” she
confirmed. “Pauline has lived at home forever. She’s never worked until
recently. She graduated with a degree in economics, like her dad, but never
held a job in the field. No one’s ever seen her out on a date. She doesn’t have
any friends that she’s seen with regularly. However, I found out two significant
things. She volunteers one day a week at the blood bank.”

Lee sat up. “The
blood bank?  So, she would have access to syringes.”

“Well, I
suppose.” Marion looked doubtful again. “She also just took a job at the
University and is working in the library.”

Something in
Lee’s mind clicked. “Wait a minute. Who holds the University’s occupational
health contract?”

Marion looked
confused. “I have no idea.”

“I’ll bet Twin
Rivers does!” Lee announced with jubilation.

“I don’t get
it.”

Lee was sitting
forward now. “Don’t you see?  You guys all have to have drug tests before going
to work, don’t you?”

“Hell, I don’t
know. I’ve worked there for twenty years. They didn’t give drug tests back then.
I’ve never had one.”

“Well, I bet
new employees do. And they’d come to our hospital, our lab, for the test.”

“I still don’t
get it.”

Lee was up at
the board now. She took the pen and began writing as she talked. “Bud Maddox is
a lab technician.” She wrote this under the heading of Facts and added
Pauline
Bates - drug test?
Then she drew an arrow from the Suspicion column to the
Research column. “I’ll need to check this out.”

“Don’t you
think that’s a slim connection?  So what if she had her blood drawn by Bud
Maddox?”

“Maybe they hit
it off.”

Marion nearly
choked on a mouthful of popcorn. “You’ve got to be kidding. You met her. She’d
be lucky to hit it off with Andy Warhol.”

“He’s dead.”

“My point
exactly,” Marion smiled grimly.

“There’s got to
be something.” Lee’s eyes lit up. “What about the cat connection?”

“What cat
connection?”

“Pauline Bates
is obviously obsessed with cats. Diane had a cat.”

Marion rolled
her eyes, “No, Lee. I don’t think there
is
a ‘cat connection.’ After
all, what could the connection be?  They both had the same vet?  Or, that
Pauline is an animal activist and thought Diane was abusing her cat by giving
it injections with the wrong size needles?  I think we need to look for
something else. Think. Give me some more.”

Lee thought for
a moment. “I told you I went to Medford. That’s where Bud used to work. I found
out he was asked to leave.”

“He was fired?”

“Not fired, but
something happened that made him leave under pressure. I couldn’t find out the
exact reason, but I did find out that it had something to do with a breach of
confidentiality.”

Marion wrinkled
her forehead. “What could that mean?”

“It would have
had to have been patient-related. But if he’s doing something illegal now,
maybe he was suspected of the same thing down there.”

“Like doctoring
the results of drug testing.” Marion was catching on.

“Yes, just like
that. There have been a few incidents recently where our night security has
found secure rooms left open and computers on.” Lee turned and scribbled all of
this onto the board. “And there’s one more thing. I’m not even sure if I should
add this, but…”

“Go on. We need
to get it all out if we’re going to analyze it.”

“I’ve received
some very weird messages.”

“Messages? 
From the birds?”  Marion was serious.

“No. Through
the mail. Two were written in verse, and one was the picture of a refrigerator.
Each message was signed only 'a friend.'“  She paused and leveled a solemn look
at her friend. “I was up in the lab today and was told that one of the
technicians was killed yesterday by a hit and run accident. Turns out she liked
to write verse, and the refrigerator where they keep the lab samples was right
next to her station.”

Marion stopped
in the middle of a sip of wine. Lee continued.

“It’s certainly
not conclusive, but I’d bet my last dollar there’s a link.” Lee sat in a
wing-backed chair next to the easel. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this,
Marion. What if Bud was doing something illegal and Diane found out about it? 
He might have killed her to keep her quiet. And somehow he linked up with
Pauline Bates.”

Marion’s face
appeared pale in the low light. She sat immobile in her chair, a full glass of
wine held limply in one hand.

“It could have
happened that way,” Lee went on. “Perhaps this technician saw or heard
something, and was trying to tell me about it.”

“But why?”
Marion asked. “Why you?”

Lee shrugged. “I
don’t know. Because I was her boss. Because people knew we were close friends.”

Marion finally
became animated again. “I don’t know, Lee. It’s just too fantastic. And how
does Pauline Bates fit into it?  Just because she’s weird doesn’t mean she
murdered someone.”

“I know,” Lee
answered in exasperation. “There are obviously a lot of holes to fill, but I
feel like there’s a picture being painted here.”

“Painted by
numbers, maybe,” Marion offered cynically.

“Well, I may be
painting by numbers, but I’m positive Bud Maddox had something to do with
Diane’s death. I’d stake my life on that!  I had an encounter with him up in
the lab today, and he practically admitted he was the one who broke into my
house.”

“You’re
kidding?  Lee, you need to be more careful.”

The phone rang,
making them both jump. Lee got up to answer it as the sound of a truck engine
flared outside and then faded away. She listened as a male voice spoke on the
other end.

“Um, yes,” she
mumbled into the phone. “Well, okay. Fine. I’ll be there. Thanks.”

“What was that?”

“We have a
photo shoot later tonight at one of the lumber mills. My public relations
director can’t be there, so I have to go. They just changed the location.”

Marion looked
at her watch. “What time is the shoot?”

“Eleven
o’clock.”

“Okay, we’ve
got some time. Keep going. What else do you have?”

Lee explained
about Vern Mathews, the life insurance, and the family’s financial trouble. She
finished by profiling Mathews’ violent personality and abusiveness towards
Carey.

“The man is a
brute,” Lee finished. “If he can hit his wife, maybe he could kill his
sister-in-law. Maybe Diane knew about the abuse and confronted him. Maybe they
got into an argument and her death was an accident of some kind.”

Marion crossed
her legs. “That would change things, wouldn’t it?”

“Maybe, but I
have one more piece of information about Mathews.” She grabbed the note Marion
had taken. “Jenny’s phone call earlier was to tell me that Vern wasn’t where he
was supposed to be the night Diane died.”

Marion looked
suitably surprised. “Where was he?”

“He was
supposed to be bowling, but he didn’t show up, and he wasn’t home. Carey was
alone when the police called her.”

“How much was
the life insurance policy?”

“Only $25,000,
but they’re broke.”

“I suppose
crimes have been committed for much less.” Marion stood up and wrote all of
this on the board.

“I think you
should add one more thing. He came to the condo today when I was there.”

“You were alone
with him?”

“He kicked me
out and wasn’t too nice about it. But the question is, what was he doing there
in the middle of the afternoon on a workday?”

“What does he
do for a living?”

“He’s a drug
rep for some pharmaceutical compa…” Lee stopped in the middle of her sentence,
her facial muscles freezing into place. “Oh, my God!  He represents a drug
company. I never thought of that. He’d have access to the insulin and probably
the syringes.”

Marion looked
like she’d just swallowed a spider. “I think it’s time you told somebody about
all of this, Lee.”