Third Degree (A Murder 101 Mystery)

very expensive business suit, and one in a fake jeweled collar. We listened in rapt attention to Ginny’s story of encountering Carter Wilmott at a town hall meeting and his insistent wooing of this slightly overweight and kind of dowdy-looking and very married nurse.
    “Why did you break up?” I asked.
    “Guilt.”
    Max snorted. “That’s a good reason.”
    I kicked her under the table.
    “And I love George.”
    “Yeah, but not enough to not sleep with Blogenstein,” Max added. Her excessive use of double negatives left even her mildly confused and she shook her head to regain her equilibrium. Another kick under the table was intended to silence her but she kept going. “It’s something I don’t understand. How could you do that to your husband and another woman? Don’t you believe in the sisterhood?”
    I put my hand on Max’s shoulder; the threat of physical harm wasn’t stopping her so I thought I’d try the gentle approach. “Max, we’re not here to judge. Let’s listen to what Ginny needs.”
    Queen nodded vigorously, her blond ringlets bouncing up and down. I still didn’t know why she was here but figured we’d get to that later.
    Ginny rested her head on her arms that were crossed on the dining room table. After a few seconds, she picked her head up and addressed us. “Listen, I know it was wrong, but I was flattered.” She waved a hand to indicate herself. “Look at me. I’m a frumpy, middle-aged woman who’s married to a frumpy, middle-aged man. I’ve had three children and look like it. The fact that someone like Carter Wilmott was even interested in me in the least was … well, flattering.”
    You’d think that I would have been more judgmental, given my history with cheating spouses, but all I felt for her was sorrow. She was a mess. Probably an extremely competent nurse based on some of the chutzpah and clinical knowledge of the healing powers of pineapple she had previously displayed with me, but an emotional wreck nonetheless.
    “Carter Wilmott was a troll,” Max said. The kicks didn’t work nor did the hands on the shoulder so I just shot her a death gaze that said “shut your freaking piehole.” “I’m just saying,” she added quietly.
    “What do you need from me, Ginny?” I asked finally. Cut to the chase, sister.
    “I don’t think Carter died from the blow to the head,” she said.
    Now I was getting impatient. “We know,” I said. “We’ve been through this, Ginny.”
    “No,” she said. “Wait.”
    Queen sighed. Even she was getting tired of this nonsense and she had only been here less than half an hour.
    “I think Carter was poisoned.”
    “At Greg’s?” That statement left me incredulous. His coffee was bad but it couldn’t kill you. Could it? I started to worry.
    “No, not at Greg’s,” she said. She looked at me intently. “At home. By Lydia.”
    Queen leaned over to Max and whispered, “Who’s Lydia?” Max just shushed her loudly, so intent on hearing the resolution to this tawdry story. In reality, she had no idea who Lydia was, either.
    “Ginny, you’re crazy,” I said before I had time to think of an appropriate response. “Even if you’re right about him being poisoned, he still died from your husband’s pummeling.”
    “Maybe,” she said.
    “No, not maybe. Definitely,” I said. “I was there. I heard what the ME had to say. It’s all there in black-and-white. Hit to the head? Die.” I stood up. “Who wants coffee?”
    Ginny stood, as well. “No. You’re wrong. I’m telling you, he was being poisoned. Slowly.”
    I started for the kitchen but turned back around. “Ginny, I don’t know which one of you I like better: angry, hostile Ginny or completely deluded Ginny. Right now, it’s a tie.” I went into the kitchen and pulled the filter basket out of the coffee maker. “It’s not like you have proof or anything.”
    “Here! Catch!” Ginny called, and I turned just as a huge chunk of rock was thrown at my head. I put a hand up and caught it.
    I looked at the big hunk of rock in my hand.
    “Now do you believe me?” she asked.
    “I would if I knew what this was,” I said.
    “It’s arsenic.” Max’s and Queen’s jaws dropped. “I found it on Carter’s boat the night that we were both there.”
    “Arsenic?”
    “Yeah, arsenic.” She stood. “If you shave a little bit of that rock into someone’s food or drink every day, it will slowly kill them. All you need is a cheese grater and a rock