Prodigal Son (22 page)

“Thank you,” Bill said somberly, as Peter went to his own bedroom and closed the door. The nephew he scarcely knew had turned his life upside down ever since they’d met in London. And more than likely, he had led him on a wild-goose chase to save his mother from a danger that didn’t even exist. Peter lay on his bed with all his clothes on, and was asleep five minutes later.

Peter awoke to the sound of his BlackBerry ringing at eight o’clock the next morning. “Mr. McDowell?” the voice at the other end asked him when he answered, and he responded with a deep affirmative rumble. “Tilton Labs here. We have the results for you on the paraquat ingestion.” Peter shook himself awake and sat upright. He wanted to be awake to hear this clearly. “The results are positive for human ingestion. The subject has a heavy dose on board, possibly lethal. I’d say it’s very close to lethal. The subject needs treatment immediately. I’ll e-mail you the report this morning.”

“Could you do it right now? We need to take it to the authorities this morning,” he said, trying to sound official. His mind was reeling, and his heart was pounding. He wanted to cry.

“Of course. I’ll have it to you in five minutes.” Peter stumbled out of bed and saw it appear on his e-mail, just as Bill came through the bedroom doorway. Like Peter, he was still wearing his clothes from the night before.

“What is it?” his nephew asked him. He thought it was too early to be the lab, but Peter was looking at his e-mail with a grim expression, and hit the button on the printer. And then he turned to Bill.

“I owe you an apology,” Peter said with a look of amazement. He still couldn’t believe it. But there was no doubt anymore. Bill wasn’t crazy. And it might be too late to save Maggie, but they had to try. “Your mother’s hair tested positive for paraquat, a possibly lethal dose or close to it. We have to get back to the hospital right away. What the fuck do we do now?” Peter said with tears in his eyes. He hadn’t expected this.

Bill stared at Peter when he spoke to him, frozen for a minute. Bill had been so convinced of it, but suddenly it was real. They knew that they had to act quickly, but neither of them knew what to do first. They hadn’t eaten, and neither of them had showered or shaved. They stood staring at each other in disbelief for a long moment.

“Where do we go? The hospital?” Bill asked him nervously. “The police?” Peter considered the question. It was hard to know what to do next. Peter didn’t trust Michael with Maggie at the hospital, but he wanted to get to the police and show them the lab report. He printed the e-mail, made two copies and held them in a trembling hand.

“Police first. Then hospital,” Peter said as he sped into action, and both of them went to their rooms to shower and change. They were in Peter’s truck in five minutes, speeding from the lake to Ware.

The two men hardly said a word to each other on the drive to town. Peter kept his foot on the gas, and Bill was staring out the window,
as they both tried to absorb what had happened. Now that they knew for sure, Bill wasn’t angry—he was frightened for his mother, more than he’d ever been in his life. Every fear and suspicion he’d ever had, had suddenly become real. And Peter had stepped into the nightmare with him. And there was no way out. With the positive lab report, there was no waking up from this.

They were at the police station in fifteen minutes, and Peter looked at his nephew long and hard. “Are you ready for this?” he asked him in a harsh tone. “They’re not going to believe us, you know. Your dad and the chief are good friends.” The police were going to have to check it out themselves. Peter just hoped they didn’t warn Michael. He was deathly afraid of what he would do to Maggie before he was stopped. And they had to stop him soon.

“I’m ready,” Bill said in a shaking voice and followed his uncle out of the truck. Peter strode into the police station with a serious expression and asked to see the chief of police. He declined to tell the sergeant on duty what it was about and said that it was an urgent personal matter and gave his name. Jack Nelson came out of his office five minutes later with a look of fear, recognized both men immediately, and was instantly afraid they had come to tell him Maggie had died.

“Maggie?” he said in a choked voice as Peter nodded.

“May we speak to you alone?” Peter said tersely.

“Of course,” the chief said sympathetically, led them into his office, and motioned to the chairs across from his desk. “I’m so sorry,” he said in a somber tone. “When did it happen?”

“She’s not dead,” Peter said clearly, “but she could be very soon. We’ve come to see you about a serious matter. I know this will sound hard to believe, and I have no explanation for it myself. My nephew
has been convinced that his father was poisoning his mother. He’s done considerable research on the Internet, and came up with a poison he was convinced my brother was using. I know it sounds like a crackpot scheme, and I thought so too. He convinced me to take some of Maggie’s hair to a toxicology lab in Boston yesterday and have it tested. I did, and we just got the report. Maggie has been given a potentially lethal dose of a weed killer called paraquat. She has enough in her system to kill her.” As he said it, he handed the lab report across Jack Nelson’s desk, and the chief’s eyes widened as he read it, and then he looked angrily back at Peter and then at Bill, who had been sitting there silently, looking distressed.

“Are you both crazy? That’s ridiculous. Michael McDowell wouldn’t hurt anyone, least of all his wife. I’d stake my own life on that.” And then he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Peter and tossed the lab report on his desk. “I know you and your brother have had bad blood between you for years over your parents’ will.” Michael had told him all about it. “Maybe you’re trying to get even with him now with a bogus claim that he’s killing Maggie. I don’t believe it!” he shouted at Peter.

“Neither did I,” Peter said quietly. “I didn’t want to believe it. I thought my nephew was nuts. He isn’t. And Maggie is in grave danger.”

“What makes you think Michael did it?”

“He’s been keeping my mother weak and sick for years,” Bill answered bravely. “And she’s been getting steadily worse since my grandfather died. He left her a lot of money. I think my father wants it. I think that’s why he married her. And now that she inherited it, he wants the money.” Bill spoke up in a serious tone, as Jack Nelson met his eyes squarely. He could see that they were both convinced, but he
wasn’t, not by a long shot. He would never believe Michael capable of something like that, and he was going to prove it. He knew that Maggie’s father had left her the lumber mill and that she had sold it for a huge amount of money, but not in a million years would Jack Nelson ever believe that Michael would kill her to get it. Their accusation was outrageous, but with a lab report sitting on his desk, he couldn’t ignore it either. And he was furious about it. He hated the situation, and was convinced that Michael was being falsely accused and by his own son and brother, which made it even worse.

“You have to stop Michael and protect Maggie,” Peter said seriously.

“Don’t tell me how to do my job!” Jack shouted at him.

“What are you going to do?” Peter persisted. He was anxious to get to the hospital before Michael could poison her again, or just kill her.

“I’m going to run that test again, and make sure this lab report isn’t something you two cooked up. And I’ll get a search warrant on the house. I don’t even want to mention it to Michael. He’s got enough to worry about right now with Maggie so sick. I’m not going to accuse him of poisoning her too. He’ll think I’m as off my rocker as you are.” For now, he wanted to protect Michael as much as Maggie. “And we’ll see what we have after that. And I’m warning you, if this is some kind of hoax to falsely accuse Michael, I’m going to bring charges against you both.” Both Peter and Bill nodded. They believed him. “Don’t either of you leave town.” Jack Nelson sounded harsh.

“What are you going to do to protect Maggie?” Peter said, feeling desperate.

“I have no reason to believe she needs protection from her husband for the moment. Even if she’s been poisoned, I have no evidence that he did it. I’ll let the hospital know we have this toxicology
report, in case they want to do anything about it medically, and I’ll ask them not to tell Michael for now. That’s all I’m going to do until we repeat the test and I search the house.”

“When are you going to do that?” Peter doggedly persisted. He was not intimidated by Jack Nelson, and he knew the wheels of justice turned slowly.

“As soon as I get a search warrant,” Jack said, in an angry tone. It was obvious he didn’t believe Bill or Peter, but he couldn’t ignore what they’d said either. He was planning to call a judge for a search warrant as soon as they left his office, and he was going to have the hospital provide another sample of Maggie’s hair and send it to a police lab in Boston, and all of it without Michael’s knowledge. Jack Nelson felt like a traitor, but he had to do his job. Even if Michael was his friend, Peter had come to him with a toxicology report from a reputable lab, claiming Maggie was being poisoned. He doubted it was true, but he couldn’t just brush it off. Responsibly, he had to check it out. “I’ll get in touch with both of you,” he said as he stood up. They both gave him their cell phone numbers. Peter realized that he would be the only one protecting Maggie from Michael, until the police checked out his accusations. He hoped they’d do it quickly.

He and Bill looked somber as they left the chief’s office. Jack had asked Bill if there was anyone at the house, and Bill said that Pru Walker was probably there. Jack had made no further comment. And Bill and Peter got into the truck feeling shaken.

“Now what do we do?” Bill said grimly as Peter started the truck.

“I’ll sit with your mother, and you disappear, unless you want to see her too. It might be smart for your father not to know you’re here for the moment. I don’t want to make him nervous now and cause him to make any fast moves.” Bill agreed. He said he’d go to a
friend’s house, who would keep quiet about it. Peter dropped him off and was at the hospital five minutes later. The scene there was peaceful. Maggie was asleep and a nurse was with her. She said Michael hadn’t been there yet that morning and had called in to say he was visiting a few patients, and Maggie was about the same. No better. No worse, which was at least something. He settled quietly into a chair, his mind reeling from everything that had happened.

An hour later a lab tech came in and took a sample of blood from Maggie. She barely stirred, and then Peter saw him take a few hairs from her head, so he knew Jack Nelson had requested the test, and fortunately Michael wasn’t there to see it.

When Michael did walk in an hour later, Maggie was awake and talking to Peter. She looked groggy, and a nurse had added something to her IV. Peter wondered if it was something to counteract the poison they now knew was in her system, but he didn’t ask.

Michael appeared to be in good spirits, and Maggie was happy to see him. And he thanked Peter for keeping Maggie company. It was excruciating trying to appear normal. All Peter could think of was Jack Nelson and what he was doing to prove their story true. He wondered how soon Jack would search the house and what he would find there. Peter’s mind was whirling, as Michael sat down next to him and Maggie went back to sleep.

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” Michael said gently, as he looked at his twin. “You look beat.”

“I’m okay.” Peter smiled at him. It was going to be a long twenty-four hours waiting for verification of the first lab’s report and the police to search the house, if anything even turned up there. Peter couldn’t imagine it. Michael was too smart for that. And Peter now knew that Bill’s worst fears were true. Michael had been killing Maggie,
little by little, and all Peter could do now was pray that he’d be stopped, and Maggie would survive. For now, nothing was sure, as Peter continued his vigil. Until Jack Nelson verified his story, Peter was the only protection Maggie had. He hoped it wasn’t too late. For the rest of the day, Peter never moved.

Jack Nelson didn’t know whether to scream or cry when Peter and Bill left his office. He didn’t believe their story for a minute. They were obviously trying to frame Michael, and they both had had their issues with him, Peter over money and their parents’ will, and Bill over some sort of father-son rivalry that had caused him to leave. And why would anyone want to kill Maggie? It made no sense. Jack had no intention of accusing Michael of trying to kill his wife, but he couldn’t deny the toxicology report. He had work to do. Jack Nelson was above all a dedicated, conscientious cop, no matter how ludicrous the accusation seemed.

He called the hospital administrator at St. Mary’s, as he had told Peter he would. He faxed him the report so they could act on it immediately if they needed to medically, and he suggested that they watch Maggie closely. If someone was trying to poison her, then Jack wanted a nurse in the room at all times. He was sure it wasn’t Michael, and he didn’t trust Peter or Bill. They were both under suspicion right now, as far as Jack was concerned. Why would they
make an accusation like that against Michael? Maybe Peter had poisoned her himself. But why?

The hospital administrator agreed to say nothing to Michael. Jack didn’t tell him that Michael had been accused of poisoning her, only that someone had been and that it was to remain confidential. Jack said that he didn’t want to upset Michael further until they had more information, since Maggie was so ill. The administrator said he understood, and they would begin treatment immediately to try to administer activated charcoal and flush the poison from her system without alerting anyone that they had. There was nothing else they could do to counteract the poison anyway. There was no known antidote for it, which made Maggie’s situation even worse.

Jack’s next phone call was to obtain the search warrant on Maggie and Michael’s house. He called a judge he knew well at the district court in Belchertown, since the courthouse in Ware had been closed for some time. And when the judge heard who it was for, he whistled through his teeth.