Evil Never Dies

“Jake Polly.”

“Lizzy Gardner.”

“I know,” Jake said and then pointed at the etching on the door.

After he left, Kitally continued to watch Lizzy. That was the most normal she’d seen her boss since Jared’s funeral. It felt sort of good to see Lizzy carry on a conversation with a stranger. Her gaze fell to Lizzy’s stomach. She had on a baggy shirt, but still, she didn’t have an ounce of flab on her. There was no way Lizzy was pregnant.

“Do you want something, Kitally?”

“Who me?”

“Yes, you,” Lizzy said. “Nobody else is here, and I can feel your eyes boring a hole through the side of my head.”

“Sorry. It’s just nice to see you interacting with people again.”

“You worry too much.”

“Maybe you’re right. My mom says the same thing.”

Lizzy swiveled her chair around. “Out with it. What else is on your mind?”

“Jake Polly was right. You are perceptive, aren’t you?”

Lizzy said nothing. Instead, she waited for Kitally to spit it out.

“It’s about Salma,” Kitally finally said.

“Is her baby doing OK?”

“The baby is fine. The thing is, I did a little snooping around when she was living at the house, and it turns out her boyfriend is a guy named Joey Rich.”

“And?”

“And her family does not approve of him. Like, at all. She’s worried he’ll be harmed.”

“It’s not your problem, Kitally. Stay out of it.”

“Well, it is sort of my problem because she’s back at the house.”

“And what do you propose to do about it?”

“I’m not sure. That’s why I thought I’d ask you.”

“She’s young. She should be with her family. I refuse to make it my business. You should do the same. She needs to go home.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll talk to her.” Kitally stood. “I have something I want to show you.” Kitally ran to the back room and returned with a broom and a dustpan.

“Good job,” Lizzy said without enthusiasm. “I appreciate you keeping the place spruced up.”

“You think I’m just sweeping?”

Lizzy crossed her arms and sighed.

“Aha!” Kitally twisted the handle and the bristly part of the broom popped off onto the floor. Then she tripped a hidden lever and a lethal-looking spear point sprang out where the bristles used to be.

Lizzy leaned back in her chair, her hand at her heart. “That looks dangerous as hell.”

“That’s because it is. I made it myself. Pretty cool, don’t you think?”

Apparently Lizzy had no words to express her excitement for Kitally’s invention.

“About a month ago, I came up with this idea, and I couldn’t sleep. The next day I called this guy who works for my dad and asked him to put this prototype together. We have another one, too. We’ll keep one here in the office and one at home, just in case we ever get a surprise visitor.”

“I don’t have any plans to stop carrying a gun, but I’ll keep the broomstick in mind.”

“Absolutely works fine as a broom, too,” Kitally said proudly.

“Outstanding.”

There was a tap on the door. Through the glass, Kitally could see an old man. He was stooped over, and he held tightly to a cane. She put the broomstick back together and set it aside, then hurried over to the door and held it open for the man.

He grunted as he walked inside. When he looked as if he might trip over his own feet, Kitally put out a hand to help him.

“Leave me be,” he said.

She did as he said and backed off.

His hands shook as he pulled out the chair in front of Lizzy’s desk.

“Hello, Gus,” Lizzy said.

“I haven’t gotten a call since I was here,” the old man said. “We had a deal. I’m here for an update.”

Kitally kept waiting for Lizzy to tell the old man off. Since Jared’s death, she had zero patience. But she nodded and gestured toward Kitally with her chin. “Gus,” she said, “meet my assistant, Kitally. She’s the one working your case.”

Kitally pulled up a chair and offered Gus a hand. He ignored it. “Your wife was Helsie?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said. “I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about her. I wish I could have met her.”

He looked uncomfortable. His eyes glistened.

“I’ve been to the Shady Oaks Nursing Home twice now,” Kitally told him.

He wore a short-sleeved brown shirt and khakis. His shirt had two big stains on the front. “Go on,” he said.

“I met Betty Ackley,” Kitally said, speaking loud enough for him to hear. “She told me she knew you. Do you remember her?”

“Stop shouting,” he said. “I’m not deaf. And of course I remember Betty,” he said angrily. “How could I forget? Everyone’s heard of that loudmouth woman. She’s always getting into other people’s business. She’s also the noisiest little bird I’ve ever met.”

“She’s the one who sent you the note.”

His mouth was open, ready to spit out more venom, no doubt, but he swallowed his words.

“You look surprised,” Lizzy said.

“I am,” he muttered. “We never had a nice word to say to each other. Why would she help me?”

“Because she loved Helsie and thought of her like a sister,” Kitally said.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and then his eyes got all misty again.

“Betty is sure that something fishy is going on at Shady Oaks,” Kitally continued. “She believes the answers we need are in the file room at the nursing home, which is why I snuck through Betty’s bedroom window the other night.”

Lizzy frowned.

“Why did you do that?” Gus asked.

“Because Betty said nobody would be around at night.”

He shook his head. “She’s addle-brained, I tell you . . . a few clowns short of a circus.”

Kitally decided to let that one go. “After I climbed through the window, someone was coming, so I had to hide under Betty’s bed. I could hear the exchange between the orderly and Betty. The woman forces Betty to take a handful of pills every day, whether she wants to or not.”

“I think that’s a common practice,” Lizzy said. “And it’s not unusual for the elderly to try to avoid taking their medication.”

Gus waved off whatever Lizzy had to say, his full attention now on Kitally. “Go on.”

“Well, the orderly, or whatever the staff people are called, got very upset with Betty. She wanted her to take her sleeping pill like everyone else in the place. Betty told the woman in the green smock that she had, in fact, taken her medication, but I know that’s not true.”

“How do you know?” Lizzy asked.

“As I was hunkered down in the bushes waiting for Betty to open the window and let me in, I saw a bunch of tablets scattered about the ground. On my way out, I picked up all the pills I could find and brought them home with me. I thought maybe we could take the medication to a lab and find out what they are.”

Lizzy tapped the eraser end of the pencil against her chin. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“I’m going to go back to see Betty later today to talk about how we can get into that file room.”

Gus struggled to get out of his chair. “Don’t just sit there,” he told Kitally. “Help me up.”

“You’re leaving?”

He poked the ground with his cane in frustration and said, “You’re coming with me.”

Kitally helped Gus to his feet and then handed him his cane. “Where are we going?”

“To the nursing home,” Lizzy said.

He pointed a crooked finger at Lizzy. “Maybe you should come instead.” He tilted his head toward Kitally. “Seems like the chimney’s clogged in this one.”

“Hey,” Kitally said, pretty sure he was making fun of her. “This is my case.”

“Well, then start paying attention.”

Kitally rolled her eyes.

“I saw that,” he said.

“We’ll take my car,” Kitally told him as they made slow progress toward the door.

“Not in my lifetime. We’ll take my car.”

Kitally winced. “Maybe I should follow you.”

“Maybe you should learn to follow orders.”

Kitally looked over her shoulder at Lizzy, but she wasn’t even paying attention. Her expression already grave, her thoughts had wandered to a different place and time.