Bring Your Own Poison by Jimmie Ruth Evans Read Free Book Online

somebody poison a man in a roomful of people like that?
    Wanda Nell shook her head. No, she trusted her instincts. Something was definitely fishy, and she was willing to bet that, if he was indeed dead, Travis Blakeley had been murdered.
    The sound of approaching sirens brought Wanda Nell out of her daze. She hurried from the office back to the scene. By this time the few diners in the front of the restaurant were aware something was going on. The doors to the back room were wide open, and people were standing and staring.
    As Wanda Nell slipped through to the back room, the front door opened. The emergency team had arrived.
    Wanda Nell scuttled aside and turned to survey the room. The younger Dr. Crowell still knelt beside Travis Blakeley, but from what Wanda Nell could see, Blakeley wasn’t moving, or even breathing. The elder Dr. Crowell stood a couple feet away, staring down at his son and the victim, an enigmatic look on his face.
    Wanda Nell stiffened as someone stumbled against her. She turned slightly, frowning. Gerald Blakeley stared at her, his eyes blinking rapidly. He held out a hand. In it lay a glass vial.
    â€œWhattaya think this is?” His words ran together, and from the fumes emanating from his mouth, Wanda Nell decided he was as drunk as Cooter Brown.
    Without thinking, she reached out a hand to take the vial from him. Then she realized what she was about to do. Her hand dropped by her side.
    â€œI don’t know what it is,” Wanda Nell said. “Gerald, where did you find it?”
    â€œYou know who I am?” The young man gave her a drunken smile. “Everybody knows Travis, but nobody knows me.”
    â€œWhere did you find that?” Wanda Nell said, her voice stern.
    Gerald wobbled his head at her. “Not sure.”
    Sighing heavily, Wanda Nell grabbed a clean napkin from a nearby table. “Let me have it,” she said.
    â€œWhy do you want it?” Gerald asked, turning sullen. “It’s mine. I found it.”
    â€œI’m afraid you might drop it, and then it’ll break all over the floor,” Wanda Nell said, hanging on to her patience by a mere thread. She held the napkin in her hand, ready for the vial. Before Gerald could react, she grabbed the vial out of his open hand, wrapping the napkin around it.
    Gerald frowned at her as he swayed a bit. “Thass not nice.”
    â€œWe’ll worry about that later,” Wanda Nell said. “I think we need to get you some coffee.” She pulled him over to a chair and pushed him down into it. “You sit there, and don’t get up.”
    The bartender had a carafe of coffee behind the bar, and Wanda Nell asked him for a cup, black. Without a word, he did as she asked and handed her the cup.
    Wanda Nell turned back to Gerald Blakeley. He sat in the chair, staring off into space, a few tears trickling down his face. Wanda Nell touched his shoulder, and he tried to focus on her. She reached for a napkin and gave it to him. He wiped his face, but then his hand fell to his lap.
    â€œYou need to drink this,” Wanda Nell said, her voice gentle. She picked up his right hand and placed the cup in it. “Come on, now, start drinking the coffee for me.”
    Gerald blinked up at her, but he did as she told him. He raised the cup to his face and started sipping. Wanda Nell watched him for a moment, and once she was satisfied he would be okay with the coffee, she stepped away to give him some space.
    All the time she had been dealing with Gerald Blakeley, Wanda Nell heard the commotion continue over the supine body of Travis Blakeley. There was an oxygen mask on his face, but from what Wanda Nell could see, Blakeley wasn’t responding.
    As Wanda Nell watched, the EMTs bundled Blakeley onto a gurney and started moving him out of the room. The younger Dr. Crowell went with them. His father had found a chair and was sitting, staring into space.
    â€œWhat the hell is going on here?”