The Case of the Cursed Corpse, Chapter the Eleventh.
A huge 'thank you' to my beta, Medcat.
Also, a big 'thanks' to all who read and reviewed-
Hades, Lord of the Dead- I'm glad that you liked reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
All three men's heads whipped around at the same time, and a giggle escaped Mrs. Leboux' lips. Looking sterner, she repeated her question. "That is my nitroglycerin bottle. How did you get it from my dresser, and why do you have it?"
"I assure you that I had very pressing reasons..." Holmes began.
"Pressing enough to cause you to act in a rather ungentlemanly way? I took you into my own home, and how do you repay me? There really needs to be an accounting of this, Mr. Holmes, and I am waiting to hear it." She sat down next to the detective and looked him straight in the eyes. "Dr. Leonard, you helped to distract my attention so that he could do this. I think you need to join us. Now, what is going on?"
"If you will allow me to tell you without interrupting me further, I will do so. An attempt was made on Dr. Watson's life."
"An attempt on his life? I thought he had a heart attack."
"No, he collapsed because the bar of soap that he was using was heavily laced with ground-up nitroglycerin."
"And you thought that I had something to do with it?"
"No, actually I thought that that would be too obvious, and was attempting to rule you out. Not to do my due diligence would be not only an insult to my friend and associate, but it would be an unforgivable insult to you, since you took us in in the face of tragedy."
"Now that you tell me this...why did you not just ask me for my nitroglycerin? I would have given it to you."
"Not knowing who was the guilty party, I did not want it to slip, however innocently, to the wrong person. I thought I would get the nitroglycerin and show Dr. Leonard how many there were left. Then he could tell me if there were enough missing to have 'doctored' the cake of soap. Then, when you were cleared, I would return it. However, our plan did not get that far." He stopped and thought a moment. "Mrs. Leboux, what brought you up here?"
"Why, Yvette did. She came down and told me that she heard a strangled gasp coming from my closet. I was just coming to get you to come and look with me. Usually, I would ask Christopher, but he went to the market in town."
Watson and Dr. Leonard were hard-pressed not to chuckle or smile.
"I am afraid that I was the source of that strangled gasp. I had to hide in your closet and there was not a lot of room, however I did not think that she heard me."
"I shall tell her that a bird was caught in the closet. It has happened before when I left my window open. Now, have you had a chance to count these pills yet? There should be twenty-five left. I get thirty each month, and I have used five so far this month."
Dr. Leonard counted the small pills, and then looked up. "Twenty-five, just as there should be."
"Wonderful!"exclaimed the detective. "Madam, please accept my deepest apologies for not confiding in you at the start. I shall do so from now on..."
"No, you won't. That is why you are the detective and I am not. I want you to do as you see fit to get to the bottom of this, and that does not entail confiding in me. I am sorry that I barged in and demanded answers."
Watson had a sudden coughing fit. Dr. Leonard handed him a glass of water. As he did so, he saw one of Mrs. Foster's gloves. It was lying on the floor by Watson's bed. Dr. Leonard frowned. He did not remember seeing Mrs. Foster downstairs when he had had his tea. Come to think of it, he had not seen her since earlier this morning. At that moment, a faint moan came from underneath Watson's bed.
Holmes, Watson, and Dr. Leonard shared a glance. The next moment, Holmes and Dr. Leonard were both on the floor by the bed. Watson jerked the coverlet up, and they saw the nurse lying underneath the bed.
Together they carried the unconscious woman to the couch. Dr. Leonard felt for a pulse and found that it was rapid, but not alarmingly so. "Gentlemen, ,"he said. "It seems that our poisoner has struck again."