Dead For Christmas by Pandora Pine

Author:Pandora Pine [Pine, Pandora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-12-23T00:00:00+00:00

11

Ronan

Ronan had outdone himself with the ribeye steaks he’d grilled for dinner. He and River had worked like a well-oiled machine with Ronan in charge of the meat and his brother-in-law in charge of the sides. The mashed potatoes were the creamiest he’d ever eaten and the kids had loved his roasted brussels sprouts, a miracle in Ronan’s eyes. He’d asked River for the recipe so he could make them at home for Everly and Ezra.

After dinner, they’d settled the kids in the family room with Frozen and bowls of ice cream with hot fudge, while the adults sat on the patio, enjoying the sultry southern breezes. “I hate to bring this up, River, but there are some things we learned about Patrick Marsh today.”

“Bad things, I assume?” River asked.

Ronan nodded. “Jude, Fitz, and I met with Shane Matheson earlier.”

“That’s the former Boston cop you worked with?”

“Right,” Ronan agreed. “He’s working as a licensed private investigator and mall Santa. One of his clients is Mabel Marsh.”

“Patrick’s wife?” Barb asked. “Why did she hire a PI?”

Ronan exchanged an uneasy look with Tennyson, who nodded. “She thinks he’s cheating on her.” Ronan paused for Barb’s reaction.

“Cheating? There’s no way Pat would do that. He’s an upstanding guy who…” Barb stopped in her tracks when Ronan, Fitz, Jude and Ten all shook their heads.

“Barb,” Ronan began gently, “Not only is Patrick cheating on Mabel, he’s also poisoning her.”

“He, what?” Barb asked so loudly that she woke her sleeping daughter cradled in her arms. Delta let out an angry squeak, but soon settled back to sleep. “You know I love you, Ronan, but you can’t go around making up lies about people just because he had the misfortune of his first wife dying.”

Ronan was about to remind Barb that Patrick’s first wife hadn’t died, she’d been viciously murdered, but for the sake of family harmony, Ronan took a different tact. “Mabel came to Shane Matheson with a claim that her husband was poisoning her. She had several health ailments that her doctor couldn’t explain, so Shane sent her for a heavy metal toxicology panel. The results came back today and Mabel had higher than normal levels of arsenic in her blood.”

“Arsenic? How is that even possible?” Barb looked to River, who looked as confused as she sounded. “I thought the EPA banned it from rat poison.”

“They did,” Fitzgibbon said, “but arsenic itself is still sold commercially. You can order it online. It’s used to make bullets stronger and is also used in taxidermy. It’s regulated and monitored, so it should be easy enough to find a record of Patrick Marsh purchasing it.”

“Oh, God,” Barb gasped. “Patrick does taxidermy in his spare time to relax. Mabel always talks about how disgusting it is to have dead animals in her house as décor.”

Ronan felt his stomach turn, he never understood how people could shoot and kill wild animals for fun or prestige. He would rather starve to death that snack on Bambi’s mother. “If that’s the case, then it might have been a weapon of opportunity.

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