Page 42 of Murder Will Out
“You mean, poison him with lithium from some other source, and then wait for a slam-dunk opportunity to give the cops a clear connection at the reception?” Diana grimaced. “Unfortunately, it seems to be working.” She looked back up at Catherine’s easel. “So… who was it? What are the other options?”
“And remember, given what Willow heard in the church, it’s not just Geralt we have to consider,” Catherine said. “I think we have to proceed on the likelihood that all three of the deaths of Cameron heirs—Effie, Sue, and Geralt—are connected. And the motive is possession of Cameron House.”
Diana nodded. “If you’re right, then we’re looking for someone with a reason to break the Cameron House line of succession, who also had the access and opportunity to kill all three potential heirsandmake the deaths look accidental or natural. And speaking of a slam dunk, whatever we come up with will have to be that as well—the police won’t be eager to admit they effed up in wrapping up Effie’s and Sue’s deaths without proper investigations.”
They sat contemplating for a few moments. Catherine said, “A lot of these people disappear off the list then, but Naomi?She could have gotten rid of Effie to help Geralt get his inheritance sooner, or to guarantee that he would outlive Effie. Then Effie surprised everyone by leaving the house to Sue instead of Geralt, so she could have realized Sue needed to be removed as well, before she married Rina and Rina inherited everything. Spouse gets everything in Maine. Once Geralt’s the only heir left, she gets rid of him too and inherits it all.”
Diana shook her head doubtfully. “It almost makes sense, right up to Geralt himself, which doesn’t. What would be her point in hurrying everything along? I mean, even if we can imagine her killing Effie and Sue, which is a stretch, what would be the point in risking a third death? All she had to do was wait.”
Willow swallowed hard, then spoke up. “Okay, there’s something else I haven’t told you all yet,” she said, not meeting any of their eyes. “I think Naomi is having an affair.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Willow hesitantly told the group about the texts Naomi had received from “Iron Man,” with their eggplant emojis and promises of Jacuzzi time and pepperoni pizza. “I don’t know who he is, but if she’s involved with someone else, that could give her a reason to want to be free of Geralt… sooner.”
There was stunned silence around the room. At last, Diana asked icily, “And you waited this long to mention itwhy?”
“I would have told you this morning, but then Rina jumped down my throat,” Willow shot back defensively. “And it’s not like there’s been a lot of opportunity since then. Besides, it still doesn’t feel right,” she said. “I don’t see Naomi as some criminal mastermind, and this is a long-term, complicated plan we’re talking about here. But it’s become something we need to consider.”
Diana threw up her hands and glared at Willow. “We’re not doing crime-solving-by-vibes here, Willow; we can’t unravel any of this if you hold information back.” She fixed Willow with her sternest lawyer look. “Is there anything else you’re holding back?”
Willow shook her head quickly. She wasnotgoing to tell this group she was having conversations with the Cameron House ghost population.
Catherine wroteIron Manon the page with a big red question mark beside it.
Mac said doubtfully, “I know Mom just said we shouldn’t be making decisions based on vibes, but I kind of agree with Willow about Naomi and the criminal mastermind thing. What about Hank? He totally wanted that land; we should put him up there too.”
Catherine nodded and wrote Hank’s name on the page beneath Naomi’s. “Okay, I guess,” she said. “Although, even with Geralt gone, I’m not sure how he could hope to acquire it.”
Diana made a note in her file. “We need to check Maine intestacy laws; in some places, if there are literally zero heirs, I suppose it could go to the state to be sold?”
Catherine nodded. “Intestacy laws, I’m on it. I’ll check it out.”
Then Catherine hesitantly wrote Patricia Ramsey’s name under her husband’s. “She’s an extremely long shot, but by the same logic of Naomi inheriting from Geralt, if Hank got the house and died, it would go to Patricia, right?” Diana and Mac nodded agreement, but Willow frowned.
“But Patricia was attacked too,” she said. “Someone tried to kill her and nearly succeeded. Maybe Hank was the actual target, and our saboteur messed up and got Patricia instead—”
Mac interrupted, “Or someone went after her as, I don’t know, a warning to Hank to stop whatever he is doing? Like, they weren’t even trying to kill her, but wanted him to know they could get to her?”
Diana shook her head decisively. “All right, we’re starting to head into the weeds here. Inventing plotlines forLaw & Orderepisodes isn’t going to help Rina.” They lapsed back into thought.
Willow said, “What about the type and amount of poisoning? We talked the other day about how lithium toxicity can comefrom one big dose or a slow, bit-by-bit overdose, or a combination of the two, and how his symptoms seemed to have aspects of both.”
Diana nodded and made a note. “Thatsounds like something a postmortem will tell us.” She looked over her red-framed reading glasses at Willow. “And it’s probably our best hope—to prove that someone poisoned him incrementally over time, but then found a way to tie Rina andherlithium carbonate directly to his final collapse.”
Willow nodded. “No one could suspect Rina of poisoning him little by little; they could barely stand to be in the same room together. And he carried that cup around all through the reception, so anyone could have slipped him something to finish him off.”
They looked at the pages stuck around the room. “If it comes down to slow poisoning over time,” Mac said, “then we are back to Naomi.”
Willow shook her head. “I still don’t think it’s Naomi. It doesn’t make sense.”
“It does and it doesn’t,” Catherine said. “The fact is, who else had that kind of access?”
“Anyone on his staff had access,” Willow said stubbornly. “I mean, people that rich, they have housekeepers, maids, cooks.”
“She’s right,” Diana admitted. “Housekeepers, secretaries, security guards, Naomi’s assistant too, I guess, if we look at it from that perspective. He must have been a real creep to work for. But”—she threw up her hands—“Bill at the Dockside made him his lobster roll every Wednesday. On Saturdays after croquet, he snuck into the ice cream shop like clockwork for his root beer float, and Naomi pretended she didn’t know about it. Geralt Talbot was pretty predictable. If someone really wanted to do it, they could have found a way to slip poison into his food slowly over time. But none of those folks have a claim on Cameron House, do they? Just Naomi.”
“But why now, after being married to him for eight years?”Willow shook her head. “I mean, there’s the whole affair thing, but—would that be enough to make her do something this risky?”
