Alex Harris 00 - Poisoned

and when they left, there was no reason to stay.”
    “Did you go straight home, April?”
    “Well, no, we didn’t.” She looked across me again at her husband. “I’m afraid Aunt Roberta didn’t offer much in the way of dinner. We were still a bit hungry. We stopped at a restaurant in town for a little something.” April started to bring the sandwich back to her lips. “Hey, I know what you’re getting at. You want to know if maybe we sneaked back in here and put some stuff in those cookies. That’s right, isn’t it?”
    I’m happy to report I had the good manners to look shame-faced. “Well, now that you mention it...”
    April patted my leg. “Don’t give it another thought. I guess we’re all wondering who did it. It’s pretty obvious someone in the family must be responsible. I mean, why on earth would someone from the outside want to kill Aunt Roberta?” April shook her cap of dark curls and popped the rest of the sandwich into her round little mouth.
    “What makes you think they wanted to kill Mrs. Brissart?”
    April brushed a crumb off her slacks onto the floor. “Why would anyone want to kill Bradley?” April looked at me like I lost my mind. “Besides, with the questions the police are asking, it’s pretty obvious who they think the victim was supposed to be.”
    “You don’t think it odd someone would want to kill your aunt?”
    “I think what my wife means,” Larry ventured, “is that my aunt, well, is a lot older and would have a lot more time to accumulate enemies. Not that she has any, at least that I know of, but Bradley was so young and a good kid.”
    “I understand you’re an inventor, Larry.” I changed the subject but hoping to get a better insight as to Larry’s finances.
    “Yep, that’s right.”
    “Have you invented anything that I would know?” I asked with true curiosity. I never met a real inventor before and maybe this guy created Silly Putty or Play-Doh or the Slinky. And maybe he kept a few samples on him and I could get one for my nephew, Henry.
    April reached for another sandwich from her plate. “Oh, he’s invented lots of things, haven’t you dear?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “He invented an air filter system back when all the restaurants in the area converted to smoking and non-smoking sections. He installed one in a seafood restaurant in New Haven, but it didn’t work out very well. The first night it ran a man sitting under the vent wore a toupee and it sucked it right off. He was real embarrassed, from what the manager of the restaurant told us. They had to pay to get his toupee replaced and to extract the old one from the air filter, and right after that they disconnected the thing. We’re hoping they don’t sue us, though there is talk,” April said, and then bit down on her lip.
    “Oh.” I tried my hardest to stifle a laugh.
    “Oh, another of the things he invented, maybe you’ve seen it, or even have one, is an automatic clothes hanger, the kind they use in dry cleaning stores. Right, honey?” she reached over and nudged her husband’s arm sloshing coffee onto his tie. Just one more stain for the collection.
    “You mean you invented those rotating racks?” I asked. Okay, so it wasn’t Play-Doh and I guess I wouldn’t be taking a goodie bag home with me, but those conveyer hangers in the dry cleaners were kind of cool.
    “Oh, not exactly the ones you see in the cleaners,” April answered while Larry took another bite of his sandwich. “He invented one for home use. It’s really quite ingenious, don’t you think, Larry?” She reached passed me again and nudged Larry, this time sending a bit of mayonnaise down his chin where it came to rest on his collar.
    I squeezed by arms as close to my body as possible in an attempt to ward off any splatters that didn’t quite make the tie.
    “It’s programmable,” April continued, obviously unaware of what she was doing to Larry. “Each slot has a number and you put your clothes on the hangers and put the hangers into the slots. Then you program it, up to two weeks at a time and up to eight items per day, to pick out your clothes for you. So in the morning all you have to do is open your closet door and the things you need for that day are right in front. It has a timer so you can let it know exactly what time you’ll be opening the door each morning. Saves a lot of time rummaging through a closet full of stuff when you’re in a hurry. Of course, you need to