Page 40 of Luck of the Devil
He carefully sorted through the sopping-wet clothes, unfolding each item to check for anything hidden. Then, to my surprise, instead of tossing the items into a pile, he refolded each one and set it on the floor. I was sure he was being this careful because they belonged to my mother. Part of me wanted to tell him to just drop them and move on to the next piece of clothing. It would be faster if he did, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I felt like my mother deserved some shred of dignity. I couldn’t help noticing the irony that James Malcolm was the one giving it to her. I had no doubt she wouldn’t have granted him the same consideration.
By the time Malcolm went through all the clothing, I’d counted two pairs of pajamas, five pairs of slacks, six long-sleeved and three short-sleeved shirts, a cardigan, and two business-style dresses.
“Your mother was a great packer,” he said with a short laugh. “Not a lot of people could have gotten that much into one side of a carry-on suitcase.”
“True.” Funny how I’d never known that about her. Then again, she hated to travel, so I’d never seen her packing skills in use.
He started on the other side, searching inside each shoe before setting it beside the stacks of clothes. Next, he pulled out a trench coat and searched the pockets, which were completely empty. The makeup bag held her cosmetics, her toothbrush, and skin care bottles, but it was the two pill bottles that commanded our attention.
Malcolm held one up and read the label. “Zestril.”
“Her blood pressure medication.”
He shook the bottle, and the pills rattled inside of it. Then he opened the cap, showing me the contents. “Do you know if this is what they look like?”
I looked up the medication and compared the photo of the orange tablets to the ones in the bottle. “They look the same.”
He set the bottle to the side and picked up the other one. “Lipitor.” He looked up at me. “Cholesterol medication.” He shook the bottle, then glanced at the white tablets. “Yep, that’s what they look like.”
I didn’t ask how he knew.
“Her bottle of Zoloft isn’t in there,” I said.
“Nope.” He set the bottle on the floor. “Seems like she would have kept all her medication together. It’s not the kind of pill you pop when you get anxious. You take it once a day.”
“Agreed.” It seemed unlikely, but I suppose there was a chance it been in her purse and they’d removed it. But I wondered if she’d been taking it at all. Could I convince the pharmacy to tell me who’d picked up her prescription? Or maybe Malcolm could use his other questionable resources to find out?
“Can Carter have his mysterious helpers find out if my mother picked up the Zoloft or someone else did?” As soon as the words fell out of my mouth, I knew I should be horrified that I’d suggested it, but I couldn’t muster up the self-disgust.
His brow lifted in surprise. “You don’t want to question them yourself?”
“They’re not going to tell me anything,” I said. “It seems like it will be a more efficient use of our time if you get someone else on it.” Then I realized the people working for him didn’t do it out of the kindness of their hearts. “I’ll pay for their time.”
A frown creased his forehead. “Like hell you’re gonna pay. Whatever we find out will likely benefit me too.” He gave me a smarmy grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “And if it doesn’t benefit me in any way, I’ll let you work it off.”
His tone made it sound like an innuendo. I put a hand on my hip. “With a PI case?”
“Of course,” he said like I was an idiot. “What else?”
What else indeed? After last night, there was no way in hell he’d ever want to sleep with me, and even though my wandering eyes were lustful, I knew better than to sleep with him.
What the hell was I thinking about anyway? I was investigating my mother’s murder. Why was I imagining James Malcolm naked, pinning me against a wall?
I suddenly wished I had a fifth of whiskey—vow or no vow—to wash that image away.
His eyes narrowed in concern. “You okay? You need a drink?”
“I’m fine,” I said gruffly. “Let’s finish.”
He gave me a lingering look before he searched the lining of the case. After he’d gone over it twice, he announced. “Nothing hidden in here.”
Thankfully, my attention was back where it belonged. “She packed for multiple days. It wasn’t just a day trip, which is weird because she didn’t cancel her dentist appointment.”
“Maybe she forgot.”
I gave a slight shake of my head. “She wouldn’t have forgotten.”
“So if she didn’t cancel before she left, she planned on cancelling later?” he asked.
