Summary: Dinah matches wits with a town's strange denizens.

Author's Note: See Part 1. Thanks to Char for her generous beta-reading.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to DC and Time/Warner; this is an original story that doesn't intend to infringe on their copyright. Feedback is welcome.

Copyright December 2003

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Death Over Easy

By Syl Francis

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"I ran those autopsy reports you wanted."

"Go ahead." Dinah stood behind the police tape at the scenic overlook. Emergency crews were just now beginning the process of recovering the vehicle that the victim--John Vernon of Gotham City--had been driving. The stretch of road in question had a dangerous S-curve and had been the scene previous accidents. In addition, the Sheriff's Deputy on the scene had reported that the accident was possibly alcohol-related.

According to local news reports, Vernon's wife, Julia, with whom he'd been staying at the local landmark, Bed and Breakfast, reported they'd had an argument because he'd been drinking excessively that morning and the night before. Dinah recalled the scene in the dining room. She remembered Vernon taking only a few sips from his coffee cup. Less than hour later, she'd observed him walking towards his car, just as she was about to pull out. He had not seemed drunk to her at the time.

"According to the Gotham State Medical Examiner's Office," Barbara was saying, "there have been no 'deaths under suspicious circumstances' reported from the Pleasant Hill Coroner's Office for almost 25 years. The last case involved a man who'd been 'accidentally' run over by his wife. Apparently, she backed into him in their own driveway--several times."

Dinah snorted in amusement. "But there's nothing unusual reported within the past four years?"

"Not according to the M.E.'s Office," Barbara replied. Dinah felt a sense of disappointment. She'd been so certain. "On the other hand," Barbara continued, causing Dinah's ears to suddenly perk, "while officially there hasn't been any suspicious activity reported, unofficially any reports coming from Pleasant Hill have been red-flagged for the past twelve months."

"So what you're saying is that whatever's going on here--*if* anything is going on here--it's been enough to raise questions, but not enough to launch any sort of official investigation?"

"Correct. The autopsy reports of Margery Peters and Lemuel Darcy were filed on the same day by the Pleasant Hill Coroner's Office--death by natural causes. Peters apparently suffered from a massive heart attack, causing her to lose control of her vehicle, which subsequently went over the edge at approximately the same spot as John Vernon. The impact resulted immediately in death. Darcy's autopsy states that his death was due to a massive brain hemorrhage. In other words--"

"--In other words, a stroke. Who signed the autopsies?" Dinah asked.

"Benjamin Walters, the county coroner," came the immediate response. "And this is where it gets interesting."

"Oh--?"

"Benjamin Walters also happens to be the town's only doctor *and* the owner of the sole funeral parlor in Pleasant Hill."

"So--?"

"So, apparently his dearly, departed wife--whose autopsy report his office prepared--*also* reportedly died from 'natural causes.' Like Margery Peters, Sue Ann Walters suffered from a massive heart attack, and like Lemuel Darcy, she too was found dead in her own bed. What is even more interesting is that the previous evening she and her husband had dined at the same Bed and Breakfast your little friend says she last saw her mother. The one owned by Mrs. Erbina Darcy."

"Yet another coincidence," Dinah murmured. "Tell me...by any chance was the tragically departed Mrs. Walters cremated?"

"Funny you should ask, my dear Dr. Lance," Barbara replied. "Shortly following her untimely, yet 'natural,' death, Mrs. Sue Ann Walters was indeed cremated. As were, let me see...Mrs. Debra Edwards, wife of your favorite bookstore owner...Mr. Seth Carr, owner of a local auto repair shop whom rumors say was probably romancing the deceased Sue Ann Walters..., and Mr. Vincent Messina. He and his wife ran an Italian restaurant, 'Vicente's'--"

"Oh, I've seen it," Dinah with a snap of her finger. "It's on the main drag, about two miles from here."

"Correct. And it's still in operation today. Apparently, the bereaved widow found the inner strength to continue to go on without her husband."

"That is certainly most noble of her," Dinah murmured in mock approval. Barbara laughed softly.

"Well, in that case, you should be pleased to know that each of the deceased left behind appropriately bereaved spouses, who have all somehow managed to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and continue with their lives. But not before they each had the deceased spouse cremated. After the Coroner's Report was filed stating they died of natural causes, of course."

"Of course," Dinah murmured. "After all, we must keep up appearances."

"Yes, but it gets better," Barbara interjected.

"Don't tell me...let me guess," Dinah interrupted. "The gentlemen and ladies in question had all recently dined at our favorite local landmark, the Bed and Breakfast?"

"Dinah, we'll make a detective out of you, yet. Bruce would be so proud!"

"Don't push our friendship, Barbara."

"Sorry. To continue...the dearly departed all seemed to be having some sort of illicit affair at the time of their deaths. In almost every case, each party in the affair ended up dead of so-called natural causes."

Dinah took a moment to digest the information. At last, she spoke, her tone musing. "Barb, it looks like we've got trouble with a capital 'T' here."

"And 'T' rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'Pleasant Hill,' Barbara sing-songed lightly. Her tone suddenly serious, she added, "Dinah, that isn't all. Besides the local residents, there have also been a number of visitors to the town who've met with untimely deaths."

"Like John Vernon?"

"Like John Vernon," Barbara agreed. "They've all met either with an 'accidental or natural' death," she added. "Furthermore, most of these victims hadn't had any reported medical problem prior to suffering from some sort of massive heart attack or brain hemorrhage. Several were reported to have lost control of their vehicles over the town's scenic overlook point--supposedly due to alcohol-related circumstances--"

"--Again, like John Vernon."

"Again, like our Mr. Vernon."

"Only he wasn't drinking, Barb," Dinah said softly. "I saw him this morning. And he was perfectly sober." She paused. "Funny, now that I think about it, it was his *wife* who wasn't drinking..."

"What? His wife wasn't drinking?" Barbara asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Barb, I saw them this morning, arguing in the dining room," Dinah explained distractedly. "I thought she was going to slap him or something, when suddenly her entire demeanor changed. She smiled and poured him a cup of coffee and offered him a toast to 'new beginnings.'" She stopped, trying to recall the scene exactly as she saw it that morning. It suddenly came to her, as clearly as if she were watching a video playback. "That's it! Barb, that's it!" she said excitedly. "*He* took a sip from his cup, but she put hers down...Barb, Vernon's wife never took a drink from her coffee cup! That's it! That's how she did it."

"Did what?" Barbara asked.

"How she poisoned him," Dinah hastily explained. "Barb, don't you see it? This morning, I'd poured myself a cup of coffee, but Erbina bumped into my table and knocked it over the side. At the time, I thought it was an accident, but now I'm sure it was totally deliberate! Before I knew what was going on, I had a brand new cup in front of me and my very own carafe. Barb...the carafe she gave me was white; the carafe I'd poured myself a cup from had been black!"

"And that's important because--?"

"That's important because Julia Vernon poured her husband a cup of coffee from a black carafe similar to the one I'd used earlier," Dinah said hurriedly. "Oh, Barb, can't you see? Julia deliberately *put her cup down*! She knew it was poisoned. The coffee in the black carafe was meant for John Vernon all along. Julia was just as much in on this as Erbina Darcy!" She paused, the enormity of what she'd just said dawning on her. "Barb, that means that all those visitors to town who've stayed at the Bed and Breakfast...the ones who died by so-called 'natural causes' or who have had tragic accidents--"

"It means that they were probably set up," Barbara finished. "I'll run a check to see if any were cheating on their spouses. If that's the case, then..."

"...Then it's likely that Erbina Darcy is running some kind of 'Murder, Inc.' and half the town's leading citizens are in on it with her!"

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End of Part 4