Alex Harris 00 - Poisoned

room. Chantal lowered the volume on the machine and got a pencil ready. “Ralph, are you there? Where is everyone? Virginia’s sister had a bit of a setback and we’ve been at the hospital most of the time. Should be back to Indian Cove in a few days. Virginia’s sister is doing much better.”
    The machine clicked off, and reset itself. Chantal dialed the number in Hartford, and getting no answer, she turned to me. “Well, I guess it won’t hurt to go have a look.”
    We went back out into the hall and took the staircase up to the second floor. With no one around, the heat had not been turned on and it felt very cold. We left our coats on and were glad we had both worn slacks. I had never been up here and it surprised me to see it was very bright and freshly painted. The walls were white from the baseboard to the middle and then a soft pale pink striped wallpaper finished to the ceiling. The carpet was a deep rose and there was a window at the end of the long hall that ordinarily would have let in a stream of sunlight.
    Chantal wasn’t sure which room was Bradley’s, having been upstairs only a few times herself. All the doors stood open. She knew Mrs. Brissart and Mrs. Platz each had rooms on this floor and Mr. Kaminski had a small apartment off the kitchen, which had been converted for him many years before. She peeked into each room with me right behind her satisfying my nosy streak. A room on the left toward the end of the hall looked as if it might be Bradley’s. It was painted in a tan color and the furniture was dark and seemed more masculine.
    “What do you think?” asked Chantal.
    “Looks like it could be his. All the rest are very feminine.”
    We entered the room and began our search.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

    Chantal and I took off our coats. The lifting of the mattress was the final straw and we felt too hot from our labors. So far, we found nothing of interest. I felt odd going through Bradley’s things though there really wasn’t all that much; a few changes of clothes, and a selection of paperbacks, but it still felt like snooping and of course it was.
    We looked under the oriental carpet, in the closet, and under all the drawers because as I told Chantal, this was always where the police found stuff in the movies. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be the choice in real life. Chantal even looked behind the drapes, thinking that maybe Bradley had sewn the papers into the fabric on a particularly boring evening. Nothing.
    “I think maybe we’ve made a mistake. Help me get this mattress back up,” Chantal said brushing a piece of her hair out of her eyes. “You know, why would Bradley hide the papers to begin with? I can understand him making copies so he could make notes on them, but why did he feel the need to hide them if in fact he did?”
    “You have a point. Maybe he didn’t. They’re probably not even here but I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else .”
    “Huh?” Chantal looked at me.
    “Oh, nothing.” I didn’t feel like enlightening Chantal to my quirky Churchill-quoting habit so instead I just helped her put the bed back together, placing the chenille bedspread on top. “I can’t imagine he would want to hide something from his grandmother. After all, they probably belong to her in the first place though he could have been hiding them from the likes of May and June.”
    “Well, they do come over quite a bit, but they very rarely come up here.”
    “Maybe John found something up at the house in Farmington,” I said, hoping his luck turned out better than ours. What was left of the sun disappeared for the day and I walked over to the wall and turned on a switch illuminating a large floor lamp while Chantal turned on the bedside lamp. “Well, I guess that’s it.” I plopped myself onto the freshly made bed.
    “Do you think we should check anywhere else?” Chantal asked.
    I sat for a moment staring off into space. “I wouldn’t feel right going into Mrs. Brissart’s room. Maybe we should wait until we get in touch with her.” Something caught my eye and I slowly stood up, a smile spreading across my face. “Bingo!”
    “Bingo? What are you grinning about, Alex?” Chantal watched as I walked across the room to where the floor lamp stood. I reached underneath the burgundy shade and turned it off using the knob attached to the base.
    I reached inside the shade and slowly peeled away a piece of tape. “Well, well, well. What a