Stork Raving Mad: A Meg Langslow Mystery (A Meg Lanslow Mystery)

fingers on his right hand a couple of times, as if stretching out a cramp. “Ms. Langslow is being kind enough to give my hand a rest.”
    They all gave me a perfunctory glance and then focused back on the chief.
    “Now,” he said. “Any of y’all got anything you want to add to your previous statements? Here or in private?”
    They stared at him.
    “I thought not,” he said. “So I wanted to notify all three of you that you might want to find yourselves attorneys.”

Chapter 24
     
    Danny’s and Ramon’s mouths fell open. Bronwyn’s tightened.
    “I’m probably not going to arrest anyone till after I get the preliminary tox-screen results,” the chief went on. “But all of you already have a lot of explaining to do. First, Mr. Soto. You want to tell me why you slipped some of your sleeping pills into Dr. Wright’s tea?”
    Ramon’s face drained of blood, and after standing frozen for a couple of seconds, he whirled to face Browyn and took several steps away from her.
    “You said you wouldn’t tell anyone!” he shouted.
    “I didn’t, you idiot,” she said. She didn’t look at all shaken, either by the chief’s revelation or Ramon’s anger.
    “No, she didn’t,” the chief said. “We learned that through another source.” I was grateful that he didn’t even glance in my direction as he said that. “Though since we’re tying down every loose end, I’d appreciate it if you would make a statement about what
you
observed, Ms. Jones.”
    “And why should I?” she said. “You’ll only use it to frame Ramon for the murder.”
    “At the moment, we’re not charging Mr. Soto with murder,”the chief said. “I expect the DA will go for reckless endangerment.”
    “Reckless endangerment!” Ramon exclaimed. “I wasn’t trying to hurt her! I just wanted to put off the damned meeting that was going to kill my hopes of ever getting my doctorate.”
    “It doesn’t matter what you were trying to do or why,” the chief said. “You gave Dr. Wright a dose of your Valium.”
    “No, it was my sleeping medicine,” Ramon said.
    “Your sleeping medicine
is
Valium,” the chief said. “Or, more accurately, diazepam, the generic for Valium.”
    Ramon blinked. Another person who hadn’t done a bit of research on the drugs he was so happily chucking down this throat.
    “Even if that’s so, Valium’s just a mild sedative, right?” Ramon said when he found his voice again.
    “To most people,” the chief said. “We have no way of knowing if she had any medical conditions that would make it dangerous to her. And even if your medicine didn’t harm her, you knocked her out and made her vulnerable when someone else came along who did want to kill her. I’ll let the DA decide whether that justifies a charge of accessory to murder.”
    “But I had no idea anyone was trying to kill her!” Ramon spluttered.
    “Doesn’t matter,” the chief said. “You contributed to her death. Then there’s Ms. Jones, who also added something to Dr. Wright’s tea. Just what was it?”
    Bronwyn looked a little shaken now.
    “I didn’t,” she said. “You’re just making that up to threaten me.”
    “I have very reliable evidence to indicate otherwise,” the chief said. He turned toward Danny. “Mr. Oh—”
    Danny started as if the chief had fired a gun.
    “You idiot!” Bron snapped at Danny.
    “It wasn’t me!” he said. “You have to believe me, Bron!”
    “As I was about to say—” the chief said.
    “I’d never do anything to—” Danny began.
    “Oh, shut up,” Bronwyn snarled. “It was just more of Ramon’s sleeping medicine,” she said, turning to the chief. “It was his idea, and I thought he wanted me to do it. I didn’t realize he’d already done it, or that it could hurt her.”
    “I did not!” Ramon exclaimed. “She’s lying!”
    “And it was only two tablets,” Bronwyn said. “I told Ramon that would be enough, but he didn’t agree. He argued with me. I bet he gave her more than he’s admitting.”
    “Bron—” Danny began.
    “Shut up,” she snapped at him.
    Danny blinked. His face wore a look of hurt surprise, like a puppy who’d been kicked.
    “She’s lying,” Danny said finally. “She put at least four in there.”
    Bronwyn looked from Danny to Ramon. Ramon was glaring at her. I’d have found Danny’s look of painful disillusionment harder to bear, but Bron probably didn’t care.
    “Maybe I lost count, but they were just Valium,” Bronwyn said.