Any Meat In That Soup? (Sam Darling Mystery #2) Read online

  “Stop it, Clancy. You know I can’t stand it when you treat me like this. I’m sorry I cussed at you. Okay?”

  She smiled. I love it when she does that.

  “Okay, now that you’ve forgiven me, I want to talk some more about today. I wonder what happened to Pluto; one minute he was fine, the next he was on the floor.”

  Clancy cocked her head and listened intently.

  “No, I didn’t do anything to him, silly. I was just talking to him. Okay, I’m going to go over exactly what happened. I was at the clinic. My last client left at 3, and about 3:30 I went to the hospital to help surprise Jenny.”

  Clancy yipped.

  “Yeah, she was surprised. All six of us were together but none of the out-laws or kids made it. Anyway, there was a potluck meal.” Clancy looked at me with her head cocked. “No, I didn’t know about it ahead of time, so I didn’t bring anything. I looked around and saw chicken wings and meatballs and other gross stuff. Then I noticed some vegetable soup. I asked Loretta if there was any meat in it. She said ‘no’ so I helped myself to some. Pluto—that’s the guy’s name—came in a few minutes later. He looked around, nodded at Jill and she handed him a plateful of wings and other flesh…”

  Clancy smiled again. She was almost a vegetarian herself.

  “…‌and he sat by me. I said ‘hello’ but he only nodded. His mouth was full. Then suddenly he keeled over. Everyone kind of dropped their food and jumped up to help him. Well, except for me. I know my limitations. Anyway, after they wheeled him out, I didn’t see him again. Hope it wasn’t murder.”

  At that, Clancy snorted. She didn’t have to remind me that the last murder that occurred in Quincy had my nose prints all over it.

  We arrived home…‌at least almost home. We rested for a moment in front of the big house. Ours was the carriage house behind the mansion.

  “Let’s be quiet when we walk by the house. I don’t want Georgianne to know I’m home.”

  Too late. She’d already seen us. Her flowered housecoat rivaled the blossoms surrounding her house, and announced her arrival before her words.

  “Yoo-hoo. Miss Darling. I mean…‌yoo-hoo. Sam.” We’d gotten well acquainted after my boss, Dr. Burns, was murdered. Now we were on a first name basis. To my chagrin.

  “Hi, Georgianne. How’s Gus?” Gus was always a safe topic. He was her husband, one-half of my landlord couple and one of my best friends.

  “Well, you know how sick he is…”

  Yeah, I know how sick you make him.

  “…‌but I imagine he’s doing as well as can be expected.”

  “I’ve got to run, Georgianne. Nice to see you. Say ‘hi’ to Gus for me.”

  She half turned and sighed loud enough to be heard all the way to Pike County. “Well, if you don’t care about your dog then…”

  I had to admit she had me with that line.

  “What do you mean?”

  “There have been two dogs poisoned in the neighborhood, and I wanted to warn you so your darling little poochy-woochy doesn’t get hurt.”

  At that she leaned over and pursed her dried-up lips at Clancy. And Clancy did what she always does; she betrayed me. She rolled over, exposing her stomach to Georgianne’s ministrations, and Clancy’s sounds of absolute ecstasy irked me even more.

  “Traitor.”

  Georgianne didn’t stop her petting, “What was that, Sam?”

  “Nothing. C’mon, Clancy. Thanks for telling me about the dogs; but I don’t let Clancy outside without me, so I’m not worried about her.”

  “Okay, just thought you’d want to know. Bye, Clancy dear. You too, Sam.”

  We escaped before she could change her mind and start talking again.

  “God, Clancy, I think we set the world’s record for ditching Georgianne. Good for us. Want a treat?”

  As I opened a cabinet in my compact kitchen to get treats for both of us, I thought about what Georgianne said. Dogs poisoned. That certainly wasn’t an ordinary occurrence. Especially for this ritzy neighborhood.

  “Georgianne drives me crazy.” I shivered. “Yeah, I know you like her. You act like her love slave. I find it sickening.”

  Clancy tolerated my disapproval. In fact, she thought I was overreacting. “I don’t care what you say, Clancy. You don’t think clearly when it comes to Georgianne.”

  Silence.

  “Yes, I know she saved my life. Yes, I’ll never forget it. You and she won’t let me. Let’s change the subject, okay?”

  Ever since Georgianne saved me and her husband, Gus, from being killed by two murder suspects in a bizarre incident, Clancy has reminded me at every chance she gets that I’d be dead except for her friend. Yuck. Sometimes I almost wished my dog and I didn’t have such a psychic connection. She was such a nag.

  “Why don’t you help me choose something nice to wear for my date?” We both sauntered to my climb-in closet to examine the contents.

  “I have so much stuff in here. Why is it I have nothing to wear?”

  Beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.

  “Shit.” My pager. I was the therapist on-call this week. The beeper’s display showed the phone number of the clinic’s answering service.

  I punched in the number. A sweet, albeit bored, voice answered, “Quincy Community Clinic. We’re here to help.”

  “Hi, this is Sam Darling. You paged me?”

  “Hi, Sam. There’s a patient in the ER who’s a possible psych admission. They called less than five minutes ago.”

  I thanked her and tried to sound sincere. Damn. I didn’t want to postpone my date with Michael. He’s the most handsome guy in town…‌at least of the eligible guys around my age.

  I quickly poured some food in Clancy’s bowl and replenished her water as I gave her my apologies. “Sorry I can’t spend more time with you. Gotta go.”

  I rushed out of the house, barely remembering my purse and my keys. When I got into my car, I used a speed dial button on my cell phone to call Michael.

  Damn. Voice mail.

  “Hi, Michael. This is Sam. I’m really sorry but I’ll have to take a rain check on dinner. I’m on call and just got paged for the ER. Call me later?”

  Shoot. There I was, sounding like a needy female.

  “Er…‌or I’ll call you when I get home. Either way. Doesn’t matter. ’Bye.”

  It took me only a few minutes to get to Bay General. One of the many benefits of living in a city with only 40,000 inhabitants is that you can get anywhere fast—unless you’re behind a tractor.

  I hadn’t been gone that long from the ER and Jen’s party, but the scene was quite different from when I left. The waiting room and triage room were completely full, and there were three people at the reception desk. I didn’t know who to ask about my emergency page. So I did what anyone would do if their sister was nurse manager, I pushed on the door marked Emergency Personnel Only, and walked straight into organized chaos.

  I saw Jen quickly exit a room and almost run toward the adjoining one. She saw me and held up her hand in the universal sign for STOP. “Sorry, I don’t have time to talk.”

  Quickly, before she could move out of sight, I said, “Someone paged me.”

  “Check with the front desk. I’ll talk with you in a minute. Love you.” And with that she was gone, quicker than me when there were dishes to be done.

  I didn’t go back to the reception desk, figuring it was still too busy, and checked with the nursing station instead. Loretta was staring at the computer. “Goshdarn thing,” she said, as she not-so-gently hit the side of the monitor. The hit caused a list to appear on the monitor. I couldn’t see what it said, but imagined it contained a list of patients in each room and what their symptoms were. “Goshdarn thing,” she said again as the display disappeared once more.

  “Sometimes you have to sacrifice a chicken,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  Loretta’s round face looked up with concern, “What did you say?”

  “Sometimes you have to
sacrifice a chicken to get those things to work.”

  At that she jumped up, knocking over her chair. “You think because I’m Black and my folks were from Haiti that I go in for all that voodoo? I’m a fine Christian woman.” Even though there was a counter between us, she got so close to me I was able to tell what she had for lunch. The odor made me a little dizzy. Or maybe it was my vibes. I willed the dizziness away; there was no way I wanted any psychic bullshit distracting me right now.

  “No, no, you got it wrong. I’m a smart ass. I say that line all the time about computers. Sorry if I offended you.” Wow. This wasn’t like Loretta at all. Even though she was a “close talker,” she was a mainstay in the Bay General ER and was always known as a sweetheart. I knew she was opinionated, but so was I. Was this an overreaction, or did I just push the wrong button?

  Loretta shook her head, “Nah, Sam, I’m the one who’s sorry. I get frustrated with computers sometimes, and I took it out on you.” She gave me a petite hand to shake in conciliation.

  “No problem. Maybe you can help me. I got paged to come in and help with some behavioral health issues. Do you know…”

  “Yeah,” she interrupted. Everyone in the ER interrupted. They were always in a hurry. “Rooms 18 and 19 both have folks that need to be evaluated for involuntary commitments. The one in 19 is on suicide watch. We have her monitored already, so you can see Room 18 first. I’ll be in and out of rooms. Let the secretary know if you need me.” She started to walk away then turned and said, “Again, I’m sorry, Sam.”

  “No problem.” I pulled a clipboard out of my bag that contained the assessment form agreed upon by Bay General and Quincy Community Clinic. After taking a deep breath I opened the door and saw my sister Jen standing by an empty bed.

  “What…”

  “Shhh,” she put her finger to her lips and pointed toward a closed door. “She’s in the bathroom. We’ve just got a minute.”

  “Okay, what…”

  “Shhh. Just listen and be quiet. “ Improbable, but I’d try. “There were two more deaths right after you left. Similar to Pluto. Except they came in with one symptom and then keeled over after being in the exam room alone. I’m worried and kind of afraid.”

  “Aw, Jen, I’m sure you didn’t do anything to cause…”

  She interrupted, as usual, “Of course I didn’t. But three people died and they weren’t in an accident together, and their hearts looked okay, and blood pressure was fine when they first came in, and…”

  My turn to interrupt. “Take a breath. Tell me more.”

  “I can’t now. And I shouldn’t be telling you anything.” With that she threw me a dime and I managed to catch it in my fist. “You’re officially my therapist, so now you can’t repeat anything I’ve said.”

  At that, the bathroom door opened slowly and a frail middle-aged woman stood in the doorway.

  Jen introduced us, and with a quick good-bye, tried to exit the room. I intercepted her to give the money back. “Nope, I’m not a ‘dime-a-dance woman.’ I have to talk this over with someone. I’ll want to check things out. I won’t use your name. And you didn’t tell me anything confidential, really.” I crossed my fingers behind my back and pushed her out of the room.

  I did what I do, first in room 18 and then again in 19. Room 18 needed more of a domestic violence shelter rather than a commitment, so I made the appropriate referrals and knew someone from the shelter would soon arrive to help her. Room 19 took more time. This teenage girl had been a “cutter” for a few years, but the cuts had become much more serious. Today her parents brought her in when she said she was going to kill herself. Since she was 18 she needed to agree to be hospitalized or she would be sent to the state hospital in Springfield. After about an hour of combination Mental Health Assessment, Lethality Assessment, and begging, she agreed to be hospitalized at Bay General on a voluntary basis, and my work was done.

  A few minutes later I drove onto the driveway of my carriage house, expecting to open my door to let Clancy out. What I found instead was my friend Gus playing fetch with my dog in the near darkness.

  Before I could express my surprise, Gus said, “Hi ya, Sam. I’m sorry about this. Georgie was so worried about Clancy that she forced me to check on her. Thought I might as well play with her while I was at it.”

  I gave him a hug. “I don’t mind at all. If it was Georgianne, I’d have to act mad, just to keep up appearances.” We both smiled. “But you’re always welcome to take care of Clancy.”

  His smiled turned to a frown. “I brought my key, but didn’t need it. What have I told you about locking your door?”

  “This is Quincy. I don’t have to lock my door.”

  “Sam, it wasn’t that long ago when two people tried to kill you. Hell—they tried to kill both of us. Lock your door, and I mean it.”

  “Yes, sir. Hey, why was Georiganne worried about Clancy? I told her Clancy doesn’t go outside without me.”

  He just raised his eyebrows and we both laughed. Georgianne was Georgianne.

  “You’re just the two I wanted to talk to,” indicating him and Clancy.

  Gus grinned. He knew it was time for another adventure.

  THREE

  After I told Gus what little I knew, he expressed his disappointment. I apologized, “Sorry I can’t always get you involved in murder.”

  His gray sweater complemented his gray mood. “That’s not what I mean, Sam. Not really. It’s just that when I helped you solve Dr. Burns’ murder I felt younger and healthier than I had in years.”

  I couldn’t disagree.

  We said our good-nights, and I slept the sleep of the almost innocent, with the windows open and the sweet smell of flowering trees enhancing my dreams.

  The next morning as I was getting ready for work I knew there was something I was forgetting. I looked at Clancy for a hint. “C’mon, Clance. Tell me.” And then it hit me. Breakfast with George, and I’d forgotten. Of course it wasn’t as bad as him “forgetting” me on prom night, but it was bad enough. I hated to be in a position of having to apologize to him. So I rushed to the Dairy on 18th Street, right by the University, and was only a little late.

  “Hi ya, Sam. I thought you weren’t going to make it.” George was happily munching on french toast at the counter. He kept eating as I sat and gave my order—whole grain pancakes with syrup and pecans, plus black, dark roast coffee.

  I decided not to address my tardiness. “So what did you want to talk about?”

  “I said I wanted to see what you knew about this Pluto character, but I thought it would be nice to have a meal with you at the city’s expense.”

  It was hard to tell if he was kidding or not, so I chose to ignore what he said. “I really don’t know much. He came in, ate chicken wings, fell over, went to the ICU, and died. That simple.”

  “Okay, that’s pretty much what I got from the rest of the witnesses, most of them your family.”

  At that I smiled. Everyone but Rob and me were involved in the healthcare profession. Rob was a cop and I was a therapist-wannabe-cop. At Bay General Jen was a nurse manager, Ed was security director, Pete was a nurse/priest, and Jill was an ER resident. I’ve often wondered why we all got involved in service professions. Maybe it was because our parents died young. As I was musing, the pancakes appeared and I poured the luscious syrup on them. Then I tuned back in to George’s ramblings.

  “…‌and so I thought since you moved back to Quincy maybe we could be friends again. I mean that’s how we started out.”

  “Sorry. I was taking a mental health break. I caught the last thing you said.” I took a huge bite of the steaming pancakes. “Yeah, I think we can be friends. Prom night was a long time ago and I decided at the Burns’ house that I was going to forgive you.”

  “It’s funny how looking down the barrel of a gun puts things into perspective.” As a cop, George felt the same way my brother Rob did…‌that I should keep my nose out of police business. Of course I didn’t buy what
they were selling.

  Breakfast was quick, and delicious, and I was soon on my way to work. Clara, our receptionist, told me my first two clients had cancelled, so I settled into my office with another cup of coffee and a pile of paperwork.

  I had no sooner begun rewriting a treatment plan when my phone rang. “This is Sam Darling.”

  “I love your name,” Michael replied. I’m glad he couldn’t see my blush at the compliment.

  After a mutual exchange of pleasantries Michael reminded me of our missed date last night, as if I needed reminding. He closed with, “There’s something important I want to talk to you about.”

  As I hung up, I knew the rest of my work day was shot. How could I concentrate on helping people when Michael had something important to talk to me about? Something important. My curiosity was piqued, but there was no satisfactory answer to my questions. It was too early for him to say I love you, and too early even for me to say it. We’d been on only a few dates and one of them had taken place in my hospital room. Nevertheless, I’d fallen for him in a big way.

  Even though I was thinking about Michael and what he wanted to tell me, the image of George kissing me after rescuing me from the killers kept creeping its way inside my brain. I hadn’t encouraged that kiss, but I liked it. Involuntarily liked it.

  I made it go away and went back to thinking about Michael. The two free hours passed much too quickly. Even though I didn’t think it was possible, I was able to stop thinking about him and begin thinking about the people who trusted me to help them.

  There were no more cancellations, so I was able to stay busy listening, consoling, challenging and then writing the unloved progress notes.

  At the end of the workday I hurried home to Clancy. Her wagging tail stopped and the tail dropped to the floor. “I’m sorry, Clancy, I really am.”

  Without forgiving me, she got her leash and met me at the door. We began our walk after Clancy “watered” Georgianne’s ferns. Then we headed out along our usual route, with Clancy stopping at the crosswalks until it was safe. As she did so, I again apologized. “Remember I had a dinner date with Michael last night and then got paged so I had to cancel. Well, we’re just going to have dinner and that’s it. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.”