Love Can Be Murder

wonder..."
    "Go on."
    "I wonder if Nell was the one who gave her the drugs. She's been ill, and I stumbled across enough prescription painkillers in her cabinet to take out a herd of elephants."
    He quirked an eyebrow. "What else do you have?"
    "She tried to divert suspicion in the Tammy Paulen case to Angora, tried to convince me that Angora was guilty and unstable. I'll bet she told others the same thing."
    "To protect Seger."
    "Probably."
    He pointed to the file between them. "Do you remember the date the Paulen girl was killed?"
    "Yeah, it was December second, 1992."
    "Look in that folder for a copy of Dr. Seger's bio. It's four or five pages stapled together."
    "Why? What am I looking for?"
    "Just a hunch, but check the dates on his list of speaking engagements."
    She found the paper, which listed Dr. Seger's accomplishments. A resume of sorts, including an exhaustive list of seminars he'd given. Roxann scanned the dates, then stopped. "November twenty-ninth through December third, Carl was giving a seminar in Philadelphia."
    Capistrano whistled low. "Think he loaned his car to anyone to use while he was gone?"
    "Someone who doesn't have a car." She closed her eyes. "I can't believe it. Angora said that she told Carl she'd seen his car leaving the scene."
    "So he knew that Dr. Oney had done it."
    "Right. Maybe he called Nell, threatened to blackmail her. Maybe that's when she contacted Cape and made the deal or sped up the deal they'd already made."
    Capistrano's mouth tightened. "If we realized that Seger wasn't around when the Paulen girl was killed, someone else will eventually notice, too. And without Angora around to testify..."
    She nodded, reeling. Nell...lonely Nell. Had she stayed holed up in her little house quietly going mad?
    He picked up the phone. "What's the name of the hospital?"
    "Holy Cross."
    He punched in a number and asked directory assistance for a direct connection. "Security please," he said. "This is urgent." Then he frowned. "What?...When?...Thank you."
    He disconnected the call. "The hospital has been evacuated for a possible fire. The fire department is on its way."
    "Think it's a coincidence?" she asked.
    He pulled a blue siren from beneath his seat, rolled down the window, and stuck it to the top of the cab. "Darlin', there are very few coincidences in this world."

Chapter Thirty-four

    ANGORA ALLOWED NELL to plump her pillow and brush off the crumbs. "Thank you."
    "I brought you something," Nell said, holding up a white bag. "Jelly doughnuts and milk."
    Angora smiled—maybe she'd misjudged Dr. Oney. She'd thought for some reason that the woman didn't like her. "Thank you. The food here is terrible."
    Nell handed her a doughnut and opened a pint carton of milk. "Go ahead and eat. I had one already."
    She frowned at the message still playing over the intercom. "If there's no fire, why don't they turn off the alarm?"
    "They probably have to wait for the fire department to reset it."
    Angora bit into the doughnut—the food of all foods, in her opinion. Dee wouldn't even allow them in the house. Ooh, and whole milk. Wow. She took a big drink, then winced. "This milk tastes funny."
    "It's fresh," Nell assured her. "I just bought it in the cafeteria."
    "Oh. I'm used to drinking skim."
    "That must be it," Nell agreed.
    She took another large bite and swallow of milk, "Roxann said she was coming over."
    "I'm sorry I'll miss her. I can't stay very long."
    "Roxann really thinks the world of you, you know."
    Nell looked sad. "I think the world of her, too." She stood and walked around the room with her hands clasped behind her, as if she were in the classroom giving a lecture. "I hear that you've been spreading lies about Dr. Seger."
    She stopped mid-chew and talked through a mouthful of jelly. "Huh?"
    "Mike Brown said you told the police that you had a sexual encounter with Carl in his office."
    She swallowed and tried to speak, but her throat was dry and tingly. She downed another drink of milk, then laid her head back. "I wasn't lying. It...happened."
    "You lying little glutton of a bitch," Nell said in a calm voice.
    But Angora wasn't sure she heard her correctly, because something was wrong. Her head felt funny, and her stomach burned—inside and out.
    "He also said that you saw Carl driving away from the scene the night that Tammy Paulen was killed."
    "I...did." She moaned and clutched her stomach.
    "That makes two lies, Angora. I was driving Carl's car. I saw that little slut in the