'Nah.' Doyle shook Quill's hand. 'He heaves again, give Doc Bishop a call. You won't need us. Bit of a waste of time, this. Took me away from a great video and the girlfriend.'
'You must let the Inn make a contribution to the ambulance fund,' said Quill hastily. 'I mean, on top of the one we give every year.' Quill drew them to the stairs. 'And we'll take good care of Mr. Baumer. We'll see that he stays in bed a couple of days. Meg will see to the menu herself.'
'Told him you prob'bly wouldn't charge him,' Maureen tossed over her shoulder as they carried their equipment out, 'on account of you wouldn't want a lawsuit or nothing.' She waved the test tube aloft in farewell.
'Thank you,' Quill said to the closed door, 'very, very much.' She turned to her sister. 'What were you thinking of?'
'That we'd get rid of him!' said Meg with spirit. 'Have him move to the Marriott or something. Let them put up with him.'
'Good plan,' Quill said cordially. 'Excellent plan. I like a plan that means we're going to have to wait on him hand and foot for the next three days. For free!'
'Tell you what,' said Meg with a charitable air. 'Since you're so upset about this, let me take care of it. You don't have to worry about a thing.'
'That's big of you.' 'It's the least I can do.' A shout came from behind the closed door of 221. Quill smiled sweetly. 'That call's for you.'
The Chamber members were eating lemon tarts when Quill returned to the Lounge. She sat down, looked at the yellow custard filling, and pushed it away.
'Everything all right?' asked Howie after a moment. 'Elmer wanted to come stampeding to the rescue, but I convinced him that another eighteen bodies stuffed into your front lobby would only confuse matters.'
'Seventeen,' said Marge. 'I hollered at Ollie Doyle out the window. Said your sister finally poisoned somebody.'
'Don't be absurd, Marge,' said Esther. 'What we have to worry about is whether a murderer's running around loose in Hemlock Falls. He might be staying right here at the Inn!'
'The only person who'd want to murder Keith Baumer is his wife,' said Quill. 'And she went back to Manhattan this morning after Myles let her out of jail.' Well aware of the town's propensity for gossip, she came to a decision. She ground her teeth, looked Marge in the eye, and said, 'You were right. My sister thought Keith Baumer was the ultimate pest. So she put ipecac in his food.' She shut her eyes, waiting for the barrage of indignation sure to follow.
'Really?' said Betty Hall with interest. 'Marge tried that once with this smartass yuppie from New Jersey that kept sending his food back. Worked a treat. Never saw him again.'
'Made him pay the bill, too,' said Marge with satisfaction. 'Tell Meg baking soda in the scrambled eggs works just as good. And there's no mess to clean up.'
'Well, we all hope that Meg's efforts are rewarded,' said the Reverend Shuttleworth. 'There are certain signs about the man that are very disturbing, very disturbing. There is strong evidence that he was an instrument in the downfall of that poor creature who went to her reward this afternoon. And I have your Doreen Muxworthy to thank for first bringing them to my attention.'
'The staff at the Inn aims to please,' said Quill. 'Mayor, if the meeting is going to go on much longer, I'll need to leave you to your coffee. I've got to see to some things.'
'Yes. With John being accused of these murders, you will have many extra duties,' said the Reverend Shuttleworth. 'The members were telling me about this APR.'
'APB,' said Quill, 'and John has not been accused of these murders, Mr. Shuttleworth. And I'd appreciate it very much if you all understand that. Myles just wants to talk to him. That's all. He has... evidence germane to these incidents.'
Nobody would meet Quill's eye. She wondered just exactly what had been discussed while she was occupied with Baumer. 'You've known him for years,' she said. 'He grew up in this town. He does the books for half the businesses in town. You've trusted him in the past. Has he ever betrayed that trust?'
Mark Anthony Jefferson cleared his throat. 'Well, that's just it, Quill. We've been talking the matter over and - ' Quill drew breath to protest, and Jefferson held his hand up.
'Please. He knew, for example, quite a bit more about Gil's car business than Tom here - his own partner - did. I'm going to go over the books tomorrow with Tom, at the bank, to see if there may have been any irregularities that Gil could have discovered.'
'You have no basis for that belief,' said Quill hotly. 'None!'
'It's wise to take precautions,' said Mark Anthony. 'As for Ms. Collin wood...'
'He'd never even met Mavis Collinwood before she came here!' said Quill. 'This is all - There's a word for it. Howie?'
'Supposition?' said the lawyer.
'No!' Quill knew her face was red with anger. 'Slander!'
Howie looked at Marge and raised his eyebrows.
'I'll tell her,' said Marge gruffly. She rocked back in her chair. 'Mavis told me something about John that you have to know, Quill. I'm sorry to be the one to do it, too, because although I ain't sure about this fancy schmancy kwee-zeen you all serve, you've been a good enough friend and neighbor over the years. And you know I'm mostly joking when I give you a little bit of hassle over stuff. The way I figure, we've got a friendly rivalry, that right, Howie?'
'You ought to get to the point, Marge,' said Howie. 'John was the head of the accounting department for Dog- gone Good Dogs some years back. After my time. Mavis figured he was the one who embezzled near three hundred thousand dollars from their company. Then he disappeared and nobody saw hide nor hair of him for a couple of
