Murder in the Secret Garden (19 page)

Butterworth touched Victoria's name, slightly smudging the V. “It was Earle Pharmaceuticals.”

“There's your most logical source for the arsenic,”
Sterling said with confidence. “Arsenic compounds are used to wipe out certain cancer cells, aren't they, Mr. Sinclair?”

“One moment.” Sinclair's hands fluttered over the keyboard like bird's wings. “You are correct, Mr. Sterling. Earle Pharmaceuticals produces one such drug created from arsenic compounds. There's a lengthy description of the tumor-fighting properties of this drug and an equally lengthy list of its potential side effects.”

Uncle Aloysius cleared his throat. “Forgive me if I sound obtuse, but we don't think Victoria's young man smuggled arsenic from his company's lab per her request, do we?” He turned to his wife with a look of tenderness. “I know a boy will do just about anything for his girl, but would he steal poison for her? What sane reason could she possibly give for asking him to do such a thing?”

Jane leapt to her feet. “We're venturing into the realm of pure conjecture, and we have no time for that. I don't care how many attorneys the Earles keep on retainer. I'm going to have a talk with the blushing bride.”

“A pair of Fins should accompany you,” Sinclair said. “In the event things turn physical. At this hour, you're likely to encounter both newlyweds.”

Lachlan had the quickest reflexes and Butterworth was the most adept at hand-to-hand combat, so these two formidable men flanked Jane as she knocked on the door to the Princess Bride Suite.

Carson cracked the door and peered out through the opening. “Seriously? Don't you think we've been disturbed enough for one day?”

“That depends,” Jane said pleasantly. “You could invite us in for a friendly chat, or you could shut the door, and I will march straight to my office and dial the Alleghany police station. It's your choice.”

Carson looked amused. “Really? Do you know how many times people have tried to get one over on me? I'm heir to
the Earle Pharmaceutical empire. I was born with a BS meter, and it's going off right now. You're not going to call anyone.”

Jane crossed her arms over her chest. “Your meter must have been malfunctioning for well over a year, because your wife has been keeping secrets from you.” She leaned forward and raised her voice. “Isn't that true, Victoria?”

A flash of doubt crept into Carson's eyes, and he darted a glance to his left.

“Let them in or we'll never get any rest,” Victoria grumbled. “But don't expect me to play the gracious hostess,” she added as Jane, Butterworth, and Lachlan entered the spacious sitting room area of the bridal suite. Victoria was stretched out on one of two sofas perpendicular to the fireplace. She wore white sweatpants and an ivory sweater and held a glass of red wine in her hand.

“May I sit down?” Jane asked, indicating the sofa opposite Victoria's.

Instead of answering, Victoria waved at the bottle of wine on the coffee table. “I'm having a nightcap. Want to join me?”

“That would be lovely, thank you,” Jane said, thinking that the newlyweds might relax their guard if she also imbibed.

After Butterworth did the honors, Jane toasted the health of the bride and groom. Carson took a tentative sip of the pinot noir, but not Victoria. She drank a deep swallow and then leaned back against the sofa cushions with an air of feigned nonchalance.

“I believe I understand why you and your sister hated Andrew Green. The man known locally as the druid.” Jane spoke softly, keeping her gaze on the hearth as though it were wintertime and a stack of thick logs burned in the fireplace. “It was his fault, wasn't it? That your mother died of cancer. He gave her a harmful drug. Due to his blatant misconduct, you and your sister lost your mother at far too
young an age. And because of one man's greed, Hannah also endured a lifetime of physical pain.”

Jane stopped talking and let her words hang in the space between the sofas. Victoria drained the contents of her wineglass and reached for the bottle. Butterworth moved to perform his butler duties, but Jane shook her head to stop him.

“What the hell is she talking about?” Carson asked in a petulant tone. When Victoria didn't reply, but instead, raised the bottle to her lips and took a long pull of wine, he stared at her in open disapproval. “Via. Come on. We're not at a frat party.”

“Don't call me that!” Victoria snapped. “Only my sister calls me that. I told you before.
She's
my only family.”

Carson was clearly stung by the remark. “I'm your family too. I'm your husband!”

“Whatever,” Victoria murmured and took another swig of wine.

Jane allowed the awkward silence to lengthen before she spoke again. “I grew up without knowing my parents. I had my great-aunt and -uncle, but I wasn't like the other kids and I felt the difference. There was a hole in the middle of my chest that was never filled. Not until I had kids of my own, that is. I'm sorry you had to feel that emptiness too. I'm sorry for both you and Hannah.”

Slowly, Victoria turned her head to look at Jane. “You lost both parents?”

“I have no memory of either of them,” Jane said sadly. “I had to rely on other people's memories. On letters and photographs. Do you remember your mom at all?”

“In flashes,” Victoria whispered after a long pause. “I'm not sure if they're real or something I saw on TV.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Green kept prescribing that drug
after
it was pulled from the market, you know. His deal with Earle Pharmaceuticals was just too sweet.”

Carson, who was unaccustomed to being ignored, moved
to stand directly in front of Victoria, blocking her line of sight to Jane. Waving both hands in front of her face, he said, “Hello? Earth to Victoria. This is your husband speaking. The man you love. What the hell are you babbling about? Why are you talking about my company?”

Victoria sat up. Gingerly, she set the wine bottle on the coffee table and then released a long, slow sigh. “I'm sorry, Carson. I didn't mean for you to find out this quickly, but there's no avoiding it.” She glanced up at him with a mixture of pity and contempt. “
Your
company is responsible for death, illness, and suffering. Because of a drug
your
company produced, my mother died prematurely and my sister spent her life in pain—both physical and emotional. Mine was just emotional, thanks very much.”

“What—” Carson spluttered.

“Shut up,” Victoria commanded. Her voice was like cold steel.

Carson reeled backward as though he'd been slapped.

Her eyes simmering with what Jane knew was a lifetime's worth of anger, Victoria pointed at a wing chair near the fireplace. “Sit there and be quiet. I need to speak with Ms. Steward.” Without waiting to see if Carson would comply, Victoria fixed her gaze on Jane again. “I came across a study on Benetyne when I first starting working at the library. A med student needed material for a research paper on birth defects of the spine. Because of Hannah's condition, I was naturally curious about his topic and ended up reading most of the material he requested. Imagine my surprise when I learned about Benetyne. The dates of the drug's availability corresponded with my mother's pregnancies, so I did more digging. I found some old receipts in a box at home—my mom kept a file of drugstore receipts—and discovered that a Dr. Andrew Green had given her multiple prescriptions for Benetyne.”

“Especially given the age gap between you and Hannah,” Jane said.

Victoria balled her hands into fists. “Exactly! He would have seen Hannah. My mom had to bring her everywhere because she couldn't get anyone else to watch her. So that scumbag would have known what he'd done by prescribing Benetyne to my mom during her first pregnancy. And yet he prescribed it
again
. It's a miracle that I came out healthy.”

“It is,” Jane agreed, silently wondering how many other babies weren't as lucky. “Where was your father through all this, if you don't mind my asking?”

Looking aggrieved, Victoria picked up the wine bottle. She refilled her glass, but didn't drink from it. “He couldn't accept Hannah. He tried for a little while, but he and my mom divorced not long after I was born. He remarried and moved to California. We never heard from him again.”

Jane fought to keep her emotions in check. It was difficult to listen to all that Hannah and Victoria had endured. She knew, at the end of Victoria's story, there would finally be an answer to why Andrew Green had been poisoned, but she now realized that the explanation would give her no comfort. No relief. This was a story about two little girls whose lives had been defined by the bad choices made by others. Those choices had continued to plague them until all they had left was each other. And a desire for revenge.

“After discovering that Andrew Green had prescribed the Benetyne, what did you do next?” Jane asked.

“I tried to hunt the bastard down,” Victoria said sharply. “Of course, he was already off the grid by then. My next move was to seduce Carson in order to gain access to the Earle Pharmaceutical files. I figured it was a long shot, so imagine my surprise when not only did I find out that HR had a record on Green, but that it was still active.”

Jane hadn't expected this. However, she was unable to
ask Victoria another question because Carson had bolted to his feet and was standing in front of his wife again. “You
used
me?”

“Sorry,” Victoria said without much sincerity. “At night, I'd get on your computer after you were asleep to access company files. I learned that Green was on your payroll—that he'd signed a contract with Earle Pharmaceuticals before he fled to Storyton stating that he would continue the research he'd done during his academic days. This was before he went into private practice. He was studying pain management using poisonous plants.”

“So?” Carson spat. “We have contracts with dozens of doctors and scientists. How do you think new medicines are invented?”

“Funny that neither you nor your parents mentioned knowing Dr. Green to the authorities,” Jane said.

Carson sneered at her. “Our attorney advised us not to volunteer any information. Why should we?” He now directed his sneer at his bride. “
We're
not murderers.”

“Yes, you are!” Victoria shouted. “Your family killed my mother! Your parents are the CEOs of a corrupt and immoral company. They suspected that Benetyne was responsible for birth defects, but they wanted to keep it on the market for as long as possible. They wanted to rake in a little more cash before they were forced to recall it. I
know
this because I found internal memos between your parents and the R and D department in your father's file cabinet. And you're no better. You're seeking FDA approval for a drug that has no business being manufactured. Pretending to be in love with such a shallow human being has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life!”

“The only person you love is your troll of a sister!” Carson yelled.

Victoria nodded. “That's true. I doubt I could love any man. Between Green and my father, my trust in men was
ruined from the start. Maybe a good man could have turned me around, but someone like you just made me more determined to set things right. I didn't have to marry you. I could have just strung you along until I had what I needed, but I wanted to make sure Hannah had plenty of money to live on if something happened to me. That's why I convinced you not to sign a prenup.”

Butterworth began to edge closer to Carson. Lachlan also made his way deeper into the room and stood, tensed and ready to spring if necessary, behind Jane's sofa. Jane decided to ask Victoria a critical question before the fight between the newlyweds escalated into a full-blown brawl.

“Things are definitely clearer to me now,” Jane said in a conversational tone. Her demeanor was so out of place that both Carson and Victoria looked at her. “I now know how you were able to tell Hannah where Storyton's druid was located. You found the information in Andrew Green's Human Resources file. Hannah then passed the information on to Claude Mason.” Victoria gave a little shrug, which Jane read as assent and pressed on. “Did you get the arsenic from Earle Pharmaceuticals too?”

A veil fell over Victoria's features. She made a poor show of hiding a yawn behind her hand and then rose gracefully to her feet. “I'm sorry, but I've had enough for today. I'm going to bed.”

“Not in that room, you're not!” Carson cried, pointing toward the bedroom suite.

Ignoring him, Victoria strolled into the room and shut the double doors behind her. She engaged the lock before Carson had a chance to wrap his hand around the brass handle.

“Open up this second!” he raged. When it was clear that his new wife had no intention of obeying, he swung around and glared at Jane. “You do it! Get a master key and unlock this damn door.”

Butterworth stepped in front of Jane, shielding her with his body. “Mr. Earle. Mr. Lachlan and I will now escort you to another room.” Carson's face grew ruddy with fury, but Butterworth didn't give him a chance to speak. Darting forward, he closed the distance between himself and the younger man in a flash. Towering over him, he whispered, “I will repeat myself once more. Mr. Lachlan and I will now escort you to another room. You can come willingly, or we can drag you out by your ankles. Which will it be, Mr. Earle?”

To Jane's relief, Carson left the Princess Bride Suite under his own steam.

As soon as the men were gone, Jane crossed to the writing desk and picked up the phone. Releasing a heavy sigh, she dialed the number for the Alleghany police.

When the officer on duty answered, Jane said, “I need to speak with Officer McCullough, please. Yes, it's urgent. He's arrested the wrong person for the murder of Andrew Green. The real killer is Hannah Billingsley, and she's here. At Storyton Hall.”