Alex Harris 00 - Poisoned

didn’t. A fine boy, a fine boy.”
    I patted Mrs. Brissart’s small spotted hand and we walked a while longer with only the sound of crunching leaves to accompany us.

CHAPTER TEN

    John met us at the back door after we finished our walk. “Here you are.”
    “I’m sorry, Detective Van der Burg. I should have let you know I’d be out for a while. You remember Alex Harris from yesterday? She’ll be helping me in Chantal’s absence.”
    John and I smiled.
    “Yes, Mrs. Brissart, I remember her. Alex and I are dating.”
    “Well, isn’t that nice! Detective, you’re getting a lovely girl. Whole family is a delight. Not that I know her parents well, but I served on several committees with Mabel over the years, and Harry handles all of our insurance.” She turned to look up at me. “All these tall people! How are your parents, my dear?”
    “They’re fine, Mrs. Brissart. They’re getting ready to go on a trip to London. It was a Christmas present from last year.”
    “Mrs. Brissart, I’d like to talk with you before everyone arrives,” John said.
    “Ah, back to reality. Yes, Detective. I have as much time as it takes to catch the person responsible for taking Bradley away. Come. I’ll have Mrs. Platz bring some tea.”
    We followed Mrs. Brissart into the old house and she directed us to the living room and then went off in the direction of the kitchen.
    John and I each took a seat on the opposite side of the big sofa. John started to say something, but I cut him off. “Look, I know you don’t want me involved, but she needs someone right now.”
    “It’s okay, but just for support, right?”
    “Of course. Who have you been with all this time?” I asked, already forgetting the “just for support.”
    “The gardener. Jim’s talking with a few of the neighbors. Maybe they saw something. I want to know what they have in their sheds, too. Mr. Kaminski says he keeps several things that are poisonous if ingested.”
    “Is that where the killer got— What did kill Bradley?”
    “Don’t know yet. I should be getting something today. We’ll get someone in here to go through everything out in the shed with a fine tooth comb and check for prints, but all that stuff’s been out there for years, according to Mr. Kaminski, and the shed is never locked.”
    Mrs. Brissart came in carrying a tray with a pot of tea in a china pot with cups and saucers to match. We helped ourselves and then John asked his questions.
    “Mrs. Brissart, first, I spoke with Mr. Kaminski. Yesterday morning the police found footprints around the house and some under the study window. Mr. Kaminski claims he just raked all the ground and put in potted mums a few days ago, so there would be no reason for footprints to be in the soil. Unfortunately, they weren’t very clear. Mr. Kaminski watered at the crack of dawn. Plus the fact that whoever made them must have walked over them a few times. Do you have any idea where they came from?”
    “Well, I walk the garden quite a bit, but I would have no reason to be treading under the windows. Virginia and I washed all the windows about a month ago, so the prints couldn’t be ours. Do you think they belong to the person who killed Bradley? I don’t recall anyone out there that evening. And in all honesty, Detective, Ralph isn’t as young as he used to be, like the rest of us in this house. Maybe he just doesn’t remember walking in the area.”
    John sighed. “That’s possible. We also found a bit of what looks like the same mud on the front door mat. We took that to the lab. No mud in the house, though.”
    “Ralph is a bit of a perfectionist,” Mrs. Brissart continued, “when it comes to the yard, and if he saw something, a piece of paper or whatnot, he would automatically reach for it. I can’t imagine he would allow mud to be all over the front mat.”
    “Maybe one of your family members had mud on their shoes when they arrived. Do you remember anyone taking their shoes off?” John asked.
    “No. I don’t think anyone walked around without shoes,”
    “Not to worry. At this point I don’t know if it means anything, but we’ve got to check out every detail. Now, I know we went over the events of Monday night, but if you don’t mind, I’d like you to tell me again and then give me a bit of background information on your family.”
    Mrs. Brissart settled back into the well-worn sofa. “Monday evening, about five, my family started to arrive. Chantal left early and I