Bernadette Pajer [Professor B Capacity for Murder (epub)

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.”The muscles of Bradshaw’s spine tightened.“I was told there was an accident of an electrical nature.How serious was it?”Deputy Mitchell’s boyish features looked apologetic, as if he hated being the one to break bad news.“About as serious as an accident gets, Professor.The handyman is dead.”Bradshaw glanced quickly over his shoulder at his romping entourage.Mrs.Prouty, his stern and stout housekeeper, was giggling and dancing a jig in the edges of the surf, holding her skirts nearly to her knees.Henry was elbow-deep in a dune with Justin and Paul, lifting handfuls of glittering sand and watching the wind whisk it away.Four of his students were near the water’s edge, poking with sticks at the tiny jets of water squirting up from the wet sand.His fifth student, Colin Ingersoll, a lanky and intelligent young man who was the natural leader of the student group, was now leading Missouri up the beach.For a second, Bradshaw’s thoughts went blank.He forced himself to look away, shifting his gaze.He shifted his gaze to the three-story main house of the sanitarium, sitting beyond a driftwood boundary.Its shape was boxy, ordinary, yet fitting, as it appeared to have been built nearly entirely of sun-bleached drift logs.The windows and doors were trimmed in crisp white, matching the white wrap-around porch that reflected the dying rays of the sun.Beside the double front doors, a porch light glowed.An electric porch light.This was unexpected.He ran his eye over the roof and eves and spied the incoming power line that ran to a barn-like structure at the base of the cliff.A generator? No smoke rose from the structure, so it wasn’t coal or wood-fired.It was difficult to be sure at this distance, but it looked as if a pipe ran up the cliff, at the top of which stood gnarled and stunted Sitka spruce, their branches reaching inland, deformed by the constant attack of salty wind.A penstock supplying flowing water to a waterwheel? Another pipe ran from the barn to the creek their wagon had just waded across.“Dr.Hornsby is waiting,” the deputy said.Bradshaw called out to his group.Knut whistled to get the attention of Colin and Missouri, who heeded the sound and turned back without breaking from their conversation.She looked up at the young man and laughed.He looked down at her, entranced.A development as unforeseen as the electric light.And more disturbing.They all gathered their shoes and socks and picked their way across the sand and drift logs to the porch of Healing Sands.Dr.Hornsby was a short, stocky gentleman of fifty plus years, with a white goatee and small mustache.He wore a pale linen suit with a white shirt and tie, his feet in felt house slippers.His dark eyes were puffy and red-rimmed, and when they met Bradshaw’s directly, they flashed with a desperate emotion before shuttering.He shook Bradshaw’s hand almost painfully, and greeted them all with a resonant bass voice.Bradshaw resisted the impulse to chastise the doctor for leaving out of his invitation the vital detail of a man’s death.Mrs.Hornsby added her gentler greeting to the doctor’s.Her smile, like her husband’s, was a welcoming mask that didn’t touch her eyes.She was slightly taller than the doctor, and plump featured but not fat, with straw-colored hair pulled tight into a bun.Her dress and apron were white and simply cut, and she, too, wore felt house slippers.“Now, I know you are not here as patients but visitors; still, this is a place of healing, and we have certain rules that apply to everyone staying here.You will find signs posted in every room, and we ask you to please read and respect them.I see most of you have already removed your shoes, and we ask that you remove them every time you enter Healing House and the cabins.Place them in a cubby here on the side porch.Choose a pair of new felt house slippers from the chest.The slippers are yours to wear during your stay and to take home with you.Write your name in them if you wish.If you misplace them, simply take another pair.”As they all began to obey this unusual requirement, Dr.Hornsby went on to explain in powerful tones that somehow lacked conviction, his reasoning for the slippers, his practiced sermon ending with, “This ritual prepares you to approach your visit to Healing Sands with a sense of respect, belonging, and active participation in your own well-being.”Once slippered, they were ushered inside to the dining room at the back of the house, where they found long tables laid with herbal tea and fresh blackberries, which they served themselves.They were then sorted into various sleeping quarters.Bradshaw’s five students chose to bunk together in Hahnnemann House, one of the large cabins that flanked the main house.Justin and Paul wanted a cabin adventure, too, and Mrs.Prouty was a good sport and agreed to bunk with them in Paracelsus Cottage, once she was assured the cabin was furnished with real beds and she’d have her own room.Henry and Missouri both took rooms on the second floor of Healing House, the main building they were now in, and Bradshaw, on a whim, chose to bunk on his own in Camp Franklin, one of the small cabins.“It’s named for another inventive Benjamin, Professor,” Dr.Hornsby said, a brief smile lighting his eyes.The fourth and final cabin, Hippocrates Hut, he explained, was occupied.Fighting yawns, his group dispersed to their beds, saying general good-nights.Only Colin Ingersoll singled out one of them to wish a good night’s rest.Missouri was pleasant in her “you, too” reply, but not effusive, nor did her eye linger for any length of time on Colin’s obviously smitten face, but that gave Bradshaw small comfort.He would have to keep that young man busy.Annoyance had its advantages, and one was its ability to revitalize strength.Bradshaw was wide awake and ready to begin his investigation as he climbed the stairs.He found Dr [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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