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

“What’s the harm?”
    “Are you sure about that?” the chief said. “Remember, when the tox reports come back, it may tell us an interesting tale. Were all of those pills you people put in her tea from Ramon’spill bottle, or are we going to find out that Dr. Wright also ingested some of Señor Mendoza’s pills?”
    I had to admire the way he avoided lying about what was in Señor Mendoza’s pill bottle.
    Ramon looked puzzled. Bron looked paler but put on an air of offended dignity.
    “The pills I used were from Ramon’s bottle,” she said. “I don’t know about Ramon. He was awfully interested in helping pick up Señor Mendoza’s pills.”
    “You lying b—” Ramon spluttered. The chief rapped sharply on the desk, and we all jumped.
    “None of that language, young man,” he said, with a sharp look at Ramon. “As I said, we’ll see what we find when the tox reports come back. Meanwhile, on to another subject. Mr. Oh?”
    Danny, who had been staring at Bronwyn with a look of utter misery on his face, turned slowly to face the chief.
    “She put the pills in the tea,” Danny said. “At least four of them. Could have been more.”
    “Pills that may have poisoned Dr. Wright,” the chief said. “Or at the very least, immobilized her sufficiently to give the real killer a chance to strike. Would you like to tell me what happened when you went into the library, Mr. Oh?”
    Danny’s mouth fell open and then his shoulders slumped and he looked down at his feet.
    “I don’t know why I did it,” he said. “Actually, I do—I did it because Bron kept going on about how Dr. Wright was doing this to hurt her career—”
    “Her career!” Ramon snorted. “That’s rich.”
    “And when I saw her just lying there with her head on the desk and that horrible statue was right there. . . .”
    He began shaking his head, slowly and repetitively, as if doing it enough might shake off the memory of what he’d done.
    “You hit her on the head with the statue?” the chief asked.
    Danny nodded.
    “You did that for me?” Bron asked.
    Danny’s head shot up.
    “Yeah,” he said. “Pretty stupid, right? Committing murder for a bi—a worthless harpy like you. I must have been crazy.”
    Bronwyn looked more shaken at the defection of her conquests than she had at the chief’s veiled threats. The chief looked as if he felt a little sorry for Danny.
    “Actually, we don’t yet know that you did commit murder, Mr. Oh,” the chief said. “The wound you made bled very little. Dr. Langslow tells me that she was probably already dead when you bludgeoned her.”
    “I didn’t kill her?” Danny asked. “What a relief!”
    “Don’t be too relieved,” the chief said. “I think the DA will go for attempted murder. After all, you were trying to kill her. Even if she was already dead when you made your attempt, that doesn’t change your intent. And even if you get off, which is always possible, you’ll have to live for the rest of your time on this Earth with the knowledge that you’re capable of taking a human life.”
    “Yeah, but at least I didn’t actually do it,” Danny said. He sounded almost tearful with relief.
    “So if she wasn’t killed with the statue, how was she killed?” Ramon asked.
    “We believe she was poisoned,” the chief said. “We’ll know for sure when the tox screen comes back.”
    Bronwyn frowned. You could almost see the wheels turning in her head.
    “You realize, don’t you, that you’ll never prove who put what in the tea,” she said with a smug smile.
    “I don’t think we’ll have too much trouble figuring out who poisoned her,” the chief said. He was wearing what I thought of as his Cheshire Cat smile. “And all three of y’all are in for some legal trouble. Murder, attempted murder, accessory to murder, reckless endangerment—they all carry hard time. I’ll let the DA sort out what he thinks he can convict you people of. If any of you think you have information that might help you make a deal, I’d cough it up soon. The DA’s not a patient man. Now, unless you have something to say, make yourselves scarce. But don’t leave the county.”
    The three of them looked at each other. Ramon and Danny looked properly stricken, as if they had at least begun to realize how badly they’d screwed up their lives. Bronwyn was glaring at the two of them as if she thought they were to blame for her predicament. She was the first to move.
    “I think you’re