Inquiry into the Charlottetown Mental Asylum poisoning
...Thus it is the finding of this report that the instigator of the poisoning was Geraldine McDonald. She had access to the poison cupboard and to the kitchen. This report concludes that it was she who dropped half the bottle of arsenic into the cake mixture whilst the baker, Irma Munch had her back turned. McDonald will be tried for murder.
Whilst there was some conjecture that Munch was the poisoner, it is evident by the tender care she administered to the afflicted that this cannot have been the case. It makes no sense for a person to harm if they also nurture, and as a result Munch is hereby exonerated of those suspicions and in fact a further enquiry will be held as to the necessity of her incarceration.
It is not possible or practical to ban poisons from the asylum; rats and other vermin abound and will always require management. However, henceforth poisons will be kept locked up in a cupboard and only senior staff will have access to a key...
After what could only be described as a busy time over the last few months, Marilla and John were pleased that life was settling down. Mme Soigne cared for them most wonderfully. She had high standards for cleanliness and her cooking was unsurpassed, even Marilla had to admit.
One sunny warm afternoon Marilla was happily weeding in the vegetable patch. She sat on a stool and bent over to pull the weeds out and trimmed anything that required it. It was satisfying work, making the unruly patch neat again. She had already amassed a pile of beans to accompany that night's dinner. Brushing her hand over her red face, she looked up as she heard a cry of, "Marilla!" and shielded her eyes, as she saw Rachel hurrying up the lane, skirts hitched in her right hand, a newspaper tucked under her left arm, "Marilla!"
"Goodness, whatever can it be, Rachel? Marilla stood up at her approach, "what makes you come rushing up the lane this fine afternoon?" Rachel Lynde was not known for her speed.
Rachel bent over to catch her breath, panting heavily she thrust the newspaper into Marilla's face, proclaiming "look!"
Marilla's red face paled as she read the front-page article and she sat back down on her stool heavily.
Report of the arsenic poisoning episode at Charlottetown Asylum
Accused exonerated.
The woman initially accused in the arsenic poisoning case, has been found not guilty by an in-camera inquiry.
She quickly scanned the rest of the article which outlined the findings of the report and concluded that Irma Munch would be released later in the week, while another woman had already been tried and was to hang for the offence. She looked up at Rachel, "Oh my Lord!"
"Come up to the house, I need to read it through carefully," Marilla gathered the beans in her apron and walked through the garden gate, carefully locking it behind her. Arm in arm the women walked towards the house. Mme Soigne heard them as they sat down on the veranda chairs and appeared as they sat down. Wordlessly Marilla handed over the beans. "Is anything the matter?" enquired Mme Soigne, her employer seemed upset.
"She has had some bad news Mme Soigne," explained Rachel, "your predecessor has been released."
"Mon dieu" replied Mme Soigne, crossing herself, "surely not! I will bring tea."
Over her tea, Marilla slowly read the report again, taking note of the language used and the implications thereof.
"What shall we tell John?" Rachel enquired.
"Leave it to me, I'll have to tell him gently. He's got a slight cold, he's asleep right now."
After dinner that night, Marilla broke the news. John had not been to town for some days due to his cold and had thankfully missed the news. He had taken himself back to bed after dinner and Marilla followed him there. "John," she started.
"Mmm?"
"Rachel came up this afternoon," Marilla sat down on the edge of the bed, crossing her hands in her lap.
"Uh huh," John was not much interested, he was tired, he just wanted to sleep.
Marilla licked her lips nervously, "yes, she had some news," she continued quietly. John was silent. "Mrs Munch has been released, an inquiry determined that she had been wrongfully accused. She did such magnificent work during their outbreak that they believe she must be innocent," Marilla reached out her hand to John's shoulder, but he rolled away and curled up into a tight ball, remaining silent. The clock tolled the hour and when the last chime sounded, she heard John whisper, "I was frightened you know."
"Frightened? When?"
"Of Mrs Munch", whispered John.
"Oh, darling. Tell me."
"It's just I woke up, you know I'd been so unwell. Mrs Munch had been caring for me, I thought I could trust her. But I, but I, I, I couldn't. When I came to, when the fog cleared, you weren't there, I wanted you Mar, I needed you, Mar-illa," his voice caught in a sob, "I needed you, but I didn't know where you were."
Marilla climbed onto the bed and under the covers and squeezed his body tight. She could hear her blood roaring, the only sound in the room, apart from John's sobs. After a minute or so, he continued, "she was really scaring me, I didn't know what she was going to do next and I was so very weak, I was worried she'd do something."
"She did do something, John."
"Yes, but I worried she'd do something worse."
"But then the cavalry arrived."
John turned to her and smiled, caressing her face with his hand, "yes! Thank goodness for them all. Hug me, Mar, just hug me, I need you."
"I do feel so very guilty about that time John," Marilla spoke into his chest, "you were still recovering and I was so upset." John stroked her hair. "I should have been more understanding. It was wrong of me."
"Shh, shh," he calmed her, "shh."
Irma clutched her familiar grey carpetbag, blinking in the sudden bright light, as the door of the asylum clanged shut behind her.
Much to her relief she had been released. They had bathed her and given her a new, if second hand, set of clothes. She felt the material between her fingers, good quality, if rather outmoded, probably from some woman of a couple of years ago. Without a backward glance at the high walls Irma confidently strode out into the bustling world of the Charlottetown high street.
She had listened with growing satisfaction when the matron had called her into her sitting room. In contrast to the stark wards, the room was bright and cosy. Bucolic paintings of summery scenes upon its walls and every surface festooned with knick knacks carefully placed on doilies. A warm fire crackled in the fireplace and a cat purred beside it, lying in a fur-lined basket. In short, it resembled nothing more than an upper-class parlor, instead of a room within the walls of the asylum. "Tea?" enquired the matron? Irma sipped the hot drink, but declined the cake, even though she had not baked it. She had rather gone off cake.
The Cake Incident had been a monumental event in the lives of all asylum inmates. Irma had been worked off her feet as she cared for the afflicted, it had been wonderful. Sadly, she had lost some patients, her roommates Maggie and Julia had been greedy. They had split an extra piece of cake between them and both had been too ill to save. Irma still remembered their vomit spattered cheeks, as they spewed the contents of their stomachs out. She mourned both women briefly, but honestly their own greed brought them down. If they had stopped at just one piece of cake each, instead of taking more than their fair share, they might have stood a better chance. Irma suspected their ravaged bodies would have been flung into a paupers pit along with the other victims. No matter, she was tiring of their small mindedness and sycophantic attention. Irma watched dispassionately as McDonald had been lead away, protesting her innocence. Good riddance, she thought. She had never liked the woman.
Jingling the coins in her pocket that she had been handed upon her release, she walked over to a paper boy and bought a copy of the newspaper. She had to get herself sorted again, a new position should be easy enough to locate. The matron had given her an excellent reference.
A gentleman stood on the corner watching her. She emerged confidently from the asylum doorway, stopped for a moment to gain her bearings, then strode away, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
