Page 76 of Colton Family Bodyguard (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

Hazel watched her go behind the hotel staffers and then turned to Callum, who sat at the dining room table in front of his laptop, digging up what he could on Nan, all the places she had lived, places she had worked, people she knew from her Facebook page and other social media sites.

“Patsy seems out of sorts today,” she said.

He looked up. “How so?”

“I don’t know. Does she have a happy home life?”

“As far as I know. She always seems happy to me.”

“Hmm.” She began putting food away, starting with the produce and perishables like milk. Next came the canned goods and other pantry items.

Lifting the jar of olive oil, her fingers came in contact with something grainy. Inspecting the jar, she saw traces of a white substance, a powdery film. And then she saw what appeared to be a fingerprint on the glass. Holding the jar closer to her eyes, she spotted undissolved white particles inside, floating in the olive oil. Twisting the cap, she found the seal had already been broken.

“Callum?”

He looked up again and then stood to come to her.

“This doesn’t look good,” she said.

He took the jar and placed it on the counter, then bent to examine it. “It looks like it might be poisonous.”

Patsy’s edgy demeanor came back to her. No. One of Callum’s agency’s assistants?

“You said Patsy was acting strange?” Callum asked.

“Yes.”

“Someone could have paid her to try and poison us.”

“Not me, my clients,” she said. “I would have used this oil for recipes to be delivered.”

His mouth flattened in consternation. “That doesn’t sound like something the killer would do. He’d want you dead. You and Evie. Evie isn’t here and he can’t find her. While he must be getting impatient, I doubt he’d go after your clients.”

Well, Hazel could think of only one other person who had a motive to see Hazel’s clients die. Carolyn.

* * *

The next day Kerry reported the jar of olive oil had been tested. The liquid had been poisoned. Kerry also let them know she’d picked up Patsy and now had her in custody. Callum took Hazel to the police station. She entered the observation room with Callum and watched Kerry interrogate the nervous woman.

“This will go much easier for you if you cooperate,” Kerry said. “Now, I

’ll ask you again. Why did you put poison in the olive oil that was delivered to Callum Colton and Hazel Hart’s room at the Dales Inn?”

“I didn’t put poison in it,” Patsy said, wringing her hands.

“Then you must know who did, because you were the one who purchased the oil and helped deliver it.”

“I don’t.”

Kerry sighed. “I know you do. I have enough to arrest you right now. We have a fingerprint on the jar. My guess is, it’s yours. Do you really want to take that chance?”

“It’s not mine,” Patsy said. “I just made the delivery.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Patsy continued to wring her hands and now added chewing her lower lip to her edgy movements.

“Whose fingerprint could it be?”

---