Chapter 11

Jean had not heard from her husband all day. She had not heard from Danny, Charlie, Matthew, or Rose either. Not wanting to waste the roast that she'd cooked but unsure if anyone but herself would be there to eat it, Jean called the hospital and asked to speak to Alice.

"She and Doctor Blake are very busy," the nurse explained.

"Good God did something horrible happen?" Jean asked. She worried that maybe Mrs. Dunwoody or Reginald had taken a bad turn or worse some sort of mass casualty event.

"It's not good, Mrs. Blake. I'm not sure how much information I can give you," the nurse admitted.

"Don't get yourself in trouble, I'll come see for myself," Jean told her before quickly hanging up. She had no car and the walk to the hospital was a little long. She picked the phone back up and called for a taxi.

"So how are we going with the bloodwork?" Lucien rubbed his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on.

"All farmhands' blood samples have been collected and sent to the lab. I've checked our supply of Dimercaptosuccinic acid. We do not have enough to treat everyone if they need it," Alice heaved a sigh. They were down in the morgue trying to run some tests of their own. All the farmhands had been checked into the hospital. They argued that if the farm was abandoned that someone might try something. Matthew had understood their concern. Arnold was dead and Reginald had been shot. While the Chief Superintendent had not been able to get the Wagners to crack, he knew there had to be something that they could dig up to arrest them with. So, Matthew promised that he would have a few of his men stay and patrol the property. It was a possible crime scene now anyway.

"What about Melbourne?" Lucien asked as he looked at a label on a container of water.

"Melbourne promises to send some our way, first thing in the morning. It's dark out now and as I was told – 'the Roos are out on the road.'," Alice told him.

"Yes, kangaroos love the lights on cars for some reason. Much better to have the supply safe on its way here than to have the poor driver have an accident. Besides, we don't even know if we need it. As confident as I want to be, none of the farmhands seem to be exhibiting symptoms. Or at least ones that we can rule as specifically arsenic poisoning," Lucien admitted as he set down the container and looked for the next one.

"The water samples from the farm – where do you want to start?" Alice asked, not even bothering to question the Police Surgeon's beliefs. He'd been right before and even if the farmhands did not have arsenic poisoning, the blood tests and wellness checks could help them in the long run. Alice figured that most had not seen a doctor in a long time.

"Let's start with the well that serves the farmhands' homes. I know we had samples collected from all the faucets but if it's in the well…" Lucien trailed off.

"It's in the faucets," Alice finished his sentence and nodded. That's when they were interrupted by the morgue door opening.

"Lucien…" the man looked up.

"Jean is everything all right?" He immediately grew concerned. She normally did not visit him at work.

"I'm fine but I could not reach anyone. Dinner was ready but I was the only one home," Jean admitted. Lucien noted the basket in her hands.

"I am sorry. I should have called. Charlie and Danny are out at the farm guarding the property. Matthew is at the station, trying to get some direction as to who to call about the possible contamination we're dealing with. Admittedly, I do not know where Rose is," he said.

"Well, I made sandwiches with the roast. I figured you wouldn't be eating properly," Jean gave him a look.

"I've heard these sandwiches are famous," Alice said.

"Plenty for us to all enjoy," Jean smiled before continuing, "Why are Charlie and Danny out at the farm?"

"We think the arsenic may be in the water supply out at the farm. We had to pull all the farmhands in for testing and possible medical treatment," Lucien admitted. He quickly grabbed a chair for each of them so they could all take a seat.

"How is that possible?" Jean was only picturing rat poison which seemed like an odd way to do it to her. She quickly handed each of them a sandwich, which she'd wrapped in foil. Next came the pitcher she'd brought of tea. She couldn't reheat it but at least they'd have something to wash down their sandwiches with.

"Arsenic is used in pesticides. When it rains the pesticides are washed off the plants and into the ground. The water in the ground helps to move the arsenic into areas where water collects – like wells. The farm is outside the municipal water system so they count on wells and rainwater for their homes and watering the crops," Lucien explained.

"So, crop dusting would be the best way for large amounts of arsenic to land on crops. I believe that Sergeant Hobart was checking with the Wagners to see if they crop dust. He's also supposed to be getting us water samples from their well," Alice spoke up.

"That would mean the poisoning would be accidental, wouldn't it? I mean once the pesticide was sprayed, you couldn't control where it went," Jean said before taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Yes, but since we believe that Arnold's cancer could have been caused by the arsenic. Since the main farmhouse is served by one well and the farmhands' homes by another well…" Lucien trailed off.

"Someone could have been dosing Arnold's well," Jean's eyes went wide.

"Right now, we're not seeing any outward symptoms to suggest that the farmhands have as much exposure as was possible for Arnold to come in contact with," Alice admitted.

"So, the arsenic caused the cancer but who killed him?" Jean asked.

"I'm guessing someone who didn't know he was being poisoned. The bruise on his chest still makes me wonder," Lucien shook his head.

"I think you'll find that it was a wrench," Alice said. That made the doctor stop and look at her.

"I wanted to tell you earlier but things got out of control, fairly quickly." Alice told him. She put her sandwich down on the counter and took a sip of her tea. After that, she went to the body storage unit. Pulling Arnold out of the drawer, she showed Lucien the bruise.

"Why do you think that's a wrench? It looks more like a pole," Lucien said. The bruise was not very wide but it wasn't as long as a pole, which is why it had him stumped.

"The length of the bruise bothered me – as well as the ability for it to fully break a rib. A pole this skinny would hurt but there'd have to be more force behind it to break a rib so it broke into pieces. I think we got a little caught up in the length but look at the indent in the chest," Alice said. Lucien bent over so that he could look at the body from the side. There was a distinct pattern from the force of the blow but the broken rib made it look deeper than it seemed. Alice placed a shifting spanner or crescent wrench over the bruising and it fit almost perfectly.

"We need to go back to the crime scene and see if this was handy or if our killer brought it with them," Lucien said.

"I'll handle the water samples. Why don't you and Jean take some food to Danny and Charlie?" Alice winked.

To Be Continued…