Chapter 12
"Danny, Charlie, how goes it here?" Lucien asked as he and Jean exited his vehicle and walked up to the two. They were sitting on chairs outside the farmhouse and were due to make a round of walking the property soon. Really, the two of them were not enough, but their car and the lights from the farm being on helped it seem like there were more people there.
"Well so far everything has been quiet but Bill has been up at the Wagners for a while," Danny admitted.
"I don't think the Wagners would be dumb enough to try something to Bill. Didn't he take someone with him?" Lucien wondered.
"Constable Benson," Charlie spoke up.
"Well, how about you have some sandwiches I made while Lucien looks for the possible murder weapon in the farmhouse?" Jean asked. They thanked her and she set the basket down on the chair that Danny vacated. She passed out sandwiches and a couple of cups and tea.
"You figured out what it was Doc?" Charlie gave him a look.
"Alice figures it's a shifting spanner. Seems to fit the bruise pattern. Now, I was wondering if someone brought it with them or…" Lucien was interrupted by Danny.
"I'm pretty sure we would have tripped over a toolbox when we searched the home earlier. Still, it couldn't hurt to check under the sink. We know whoever hit him took paperwork. They were in the house for a bit," he said.
"Very true. Excellent Danny," Lucien smiled.
"Doc, shouldn't Mary have been in the house with Arnold? Why is she not sick?" Charlie wanted to know.
"We don't know that she isn't. What had been happening to Arnold was long and slow. Mary hasn't been on the farm for as long as the rest of the farmhands," the doctor explained, hoping that he wouldn't have to expose Mary and Reginald's secret. A car coming up the road made them all turn to see it was Bill and Constable Benson.
"Hey Doc, I have those samples you asked for," Bill said after he climbed out of the vehicle with Constable right behind him. Benson handed the doctor a box with little jars in it.
"Excellent! Get anything we can use?" Lucien wondered as he carefully deposited the box into the trunk of the car.
"The Wagners do have their crops dusted but they claim to not know what's in the pesticide. Bernie Pitzen does the dusting so we'll check with him in the morning. Meantime, we'll be joining Davis and Parks here at the farm," Bill told them.
"Well, you two better have the last two sandwiches and tea then," Jean smiled and handed the foil wrapped sandwiches to the men.
"Thank you, Jean," Bill smiled slightly.
"Thank you, Mrs. Blake," Benson smiled and quickly tucked into his sandwich. The basket emptied of food and drink; Jean left it with Danny so he could bring back the teacups and pitcher.
"We'll check out under the sink and get out of your hair," Lucien promised.
"Sounds good. The cadets will be here at dawn and Chief Superintendent Lawson said we could go home and get some sleep," Bill let him know.
"An excellent idea. Do you have any water that isn't from the taps here?" Lucien wanted to know.
"I have a jug in the trunk," Bill said.
"As do we," Charlie nodded.
"Good. Last thing we need is you getting dehydrated out here," with that Lucien and Jean, ducked into the farmhouse. The blood that stained the floor of the hallway was still there and Jean tried not to look. They made it into the kitchen and checked under the sink.
"No tool kit," Lucien frowned.
"Christopher and I used to keep the tools in the shed but we always had a set of screwdrivers and wrenches in the house, in case of emergencies," Jean said.
"Where did you keep those?" Lucien asked.
"We used the bottom of a small linen closet in the hall," she told him. They searched the pantry in the kitchen and found nothing. Moving to the hallway, there was a closet, but it contained boots and coats, no tools. They moved from room to room, methodically, checking all the closets.
"There they are," Lucien smirked when they opened the cabinet under the bathroom sink.
"No shifting spanner though. Still, I doubt the killer come here to grab a wrench," Jean frowned.
"Quite right. The front door wasn't locked so getting in wasn't the issue. The paperwork would have been stashed in the office so coming out of their way to the bathroom would have been odd," her husband nodded. The bathroom was off the main bedroom. There was a half bath off the hallway and Lucien figured that Mary liked staying with Reginald since she wouldn't have to go through her employer's bedroom to bathe in her employer's bathtub.
"Anyone who brought their own wrench would have cleaned it by now or threw it out," Jean said as they made their way back to the front door.
"Agreed. We may never find the murder weapon but if we can prove that the wells were poisoned, then the poisoner could still be charged with murder. We're missing something though. If the Wagners were going to be patient enough for the poison to work, why come here and kill Arnold? Whoever killed him, took his will, not realizing that there were more copies of the will. Yet someone took a shot at Reginald," Lucien frowned.
"I think we can work this out at home. This house is…" Jean involuntarily shivered.
"It was nice house, until you see the dried blood. Come, I'll drop you at home and then head over to the hospital to give Alice the water samples," he told her.
To Be Continued…