Malpractice Makes Perfect

Chapter 6

          I hightailed it downstairs before anymore close calls. The garden party was winding down by then, and several guests had left—including Malik and nurse turned boo-thang, Corrine. As I rounded the corner just off the stairs Gabe came plowing into me. I stumbled back a bit before regaining my footing and looked up at him with my heart in my throat.

          He looked at me, his eyes red and swollen, and bowed his head. "Excuse me," he said softly.

          "It's fine."

          In the garden, Alice was chatting up some business types near a patio table. We exchanged a look across the lawn, and I waved to let her know she could keep talking. Alexis had taken a seat on a bench under a shady oak overlooking the river. I walked the small steppingstone pathway toward the tree and plopped down next to her on the cold metal.

          "Mom loved this spot," she said as she stared at the glimmering waters with nostalgic longing. "Did you find it?"

          "No." Her face fell a little, but she nodded. "I found something else though." I handed the box over as carefully as if it were made of glass, then waited as she shuffled through the papers. The note was on top of the pile, gently folded as I'd found it. The only thing removed was Este's passport.

          Alexis took a moment to read the letter; her brow dotted with anguished little frown lines. "I don't understand," she said. "This is my mother's handwriting. Where did you find this?"

           "Her bedroom. Under the bed."

          "Why were you in her room?"

          "Looking for the necklace."

          She bit at her lip and stared off into the river. "This doesn't make any sense. My mother died of cancer."

          "Was there an autopsy?"

          "No."

          "Is there any way this could be possible?"

          She stared back at me for a time then shook her head so violently a couple of her braids fell loose from her bun. "No. Who would want to hurt mom?"

          I could think of many people who would want to kill a millionaire if it meant inheritance. "I don't know."

          "Mom wasn't herself the last few months." She said with a heavy sigh. "The brain cancer messed with her head. Made her meaner. More paranoid."

          "So, you think it was just delusions brought on by illness?"

          "...Maybe. Probably." She closed the box and looked back over the river. "At the end she became much more erratic. This government stuff sounds crazy. But that's how she was. The tumor...she would hallucinate, have wild mood swings, memory loss...and she swore someone was out to get her."

          If that was true then everything made sense. Diana was dying and the cancer was destroying her mind. The government, her room being bugged, all signs pointed to paranoid delusions. I could even understand why the family would keep it under wraps. If she was truly that far gone it was better to maintain her dignity and let her die in peace. But still...

          Alexis stood suddenly. "I need to think about this."

          "Of course." I stood too and busied my hands smoothing out the creases of my skirt. "Call me if you want me to look into it."

          She shook her head again. "It's probably just her paranoia."

          "Probably, but if not..."