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“They’re amazing,” Melly said, her gaze meeting mine. “You know that.”
“Well, that’s what the town says, so I guess it must be true, right?” Sue’s laugh held a harsh edge. “As for the punch, in that, she excels.” Her gaze flicked to Melly. “You have the recipe. You should share it with me sometime.”
“You know Grannie doesn’t want anyone else knowing her secret ingredients,” Melly said.
“One day, I’ll figure it out.” Sue’s smile contained no humor. “I often drink three or four glasses of it through the evening. I was thirsty because this one . . .” She laid her hand on Alfred’s and squeezed. “This man thought it would be fun to hike one of the trails through the woods on the edge of town. Did you know the Mystic Harbor Hiking Society has been working in the forest behind the park? They’ve cleared three new trails for walking, and one of them is over four miles long. Somehow, Alfred and I ended up on that one. I was so tired, hungry, and thirsty when we finished, but by then, it was almost time to leave for the church social, so we just grabbed our potluck offering and scooted to the church.”
“Where you drank the punch,” I said.
“Tainted punch,” Alfred said with a scowl. His worried gaze met Sue’s. “Her kidney function took a solid hit. I hope Detective Carter arrests the correct personsoon, because I’d like to have a word with them. They hurt my girlfriend, and I want to see them pay.”
“I’m sorry about your kidneys,” Melly said.
Sue shrugged. “Fate sure is determined to kill me early.”
Melly gasped. “What do you mean?”
“My kidneys aren’t recovering from this as much as I’d like.”
“You can do dialysis,” Alfred said softly, wringing his hands on his lap.
“I don’t want to. I told you that already.” Sue’s gaze met mine. “My dad was on dialysis. He was a diabetic, which fortunately, I’m not. His kidneys failed, and he did dialysis for three years while waiting and hoping for a kidney transplant. I gave him one of mine, but his body rejected it. Can you imagine that? We were a perfect match, and it still wasn’t enough.” Her fingertip traced along the seam of the bed spread. “I don’t have a spare kidney any longer. It’s ironic that the one I still have has decided it’s had enough. But I won’t do dialysis. It wore my dad out each time, and I’m not going to go through that as well. I’m old. If I die now, it’s my time, and I accept that.”
The nurse gave me an odd look but didn’t say anything.
Alfred stood and rounded the bed. “Well,Idon’t accept it.” He grabbed the papers, folded them, and stuffed them into the manilla envelope lying beneath them marked with Sterling Life and Indemnity. “I’m going to do all I can to talk you into considering dialysis.” After tucking the envelope into a tote bag sitting on thefloor, he straightened and looked toward Melly. “Speak with Rose, will you? See if she can talk to Sue.”
“I’m right here, Alfred.” An edge had crept back into Sue’s voice. “Rose knows how I feel already.”
The nurse strode closer to the bed. “Are you about ready to leave, Sue?”
“I believe so,” she said. A woman wearing bright pink scrubs brought a wheelchair into the room. “There’s my ride now.” She looked up at me. “Do you have any more questions, Elrik?”
“Not right now.”
“Well, if you do,” she rattled off a phone number, and I noted it in my mind, “feel free to call.” Her smile fell on Melly. “Thank you so much for stopping by, sweetie. I appreciate it. Say hi to your grannie for me. Tell her I’ll stop by her place for coffee soon.”
Melly gave Sue a kiss on the cheek. “I will. Take care. Let me know when you’re coming for coffee so I can join you.”
“I will, sweetie. I will.”
We left and went out to my truck.
“Poor Sue,” Melly said with a sigh. “It sounds like she’s going to die.” Her teary gaze met mine. “She and Grannie have been friends forever. I feel like she’s my second grandmother. But I do understand why she feels that way about dialysis. I remember her mentioning more than once how tough it was for her father, how she would never want to do it herself. I guess we have to respect that, since this is how she wants to live her life.” She buckled and stared through the windshield, sighing. “I saw you trying to get a peek at the paperwork she signed. Did you see what it was?”
“I did,” I said grimly.
Melly shot a frown my way. “You sound concerned.”
“That paperwork she signed? It changed her life insurance policy beneficiary to Alfred.”
11
MELLY
“Alfred has a motive and the means to commit the crime,” I said as Elrik drove his truck from the hospital parking lot and into town.
“I’ll notify Detective Carter of what we’d discovered and overheard.” Elrik pulled his vehicle into the lot across the street from Creature Cones and shut off the engine. “But this doesn’t mean he dumped the Xylitol in Grannie’s punch. Others were there that evening. This could be a coincidence.”
