The Fever Cabinet_An Abandoned Hospital, an Antique Contrivance, and a Very Modern Murder by Frankie Bow

Author:Frankie Bow [Bow, Frankie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: British, female sleuth, agatha award, Molly Mystery, oxford mysteries, Cozy Mystery
Amazon: B07VFD3D26
Publisher: Hawaiian Heritage Press
Published: 2019-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

Molly: The Baby’s Cry

BY THE NEXT MORNING, Saturday’s gruesome discovery seemed very far away. My queasiness had faded, as had my determination to be a vegetarian for the rest of my life. I took Francesca to Mass and stopped by Donnie’s Drive-Inn to pick up some lunch and see Donnie. (Sunday is the Drive-Inn’s busiest day.) I had just gotten everything put away at home when I remembered I had Student Retention Office paperwork due Monday. And I’d left the forms in my office.

So I buckled Francesca into the car seat and headed to the College of Commerce. I felt a little strange going back into the building after what had happened yesterday. But Campus Security had sent out an announcement this morning, assuring us there was no danger to the Mahina State University community, but to be on the safe side, they were stepping up security at the old hospital complex.

My only problem was going to be keeping Francesca out of sight.

Right after we moved to the new building, one of the marketing professors brought his non-housebroken twins into work and let them run loose while he met with his students. The adorable tots managed to steal their father’s cigarette lighter and set the hallway bulletin board ablaze. Fortunately, Serena, the dean’s secretary, got there quickly with the fire extinguisher. But from then on, children were banned from the College of Commerce building.

Once inside my office I locked the door behind us. Then, balancing the baby on one hip, I pressed a slightly-worn spot on the koa-paneled wall and entered my secret room. It smelled like old leather with a whiff of mildew. I plunked Francesca into the portable playpen I’d set up and switched on my battery-powered desk lamp to supplement the natural light.

When Pat Flanagan, my reporter friend in Honolulu, was researching the old hospital, I asked him to find out what the hidden room was for. He thinks my office, together with the adjoining room, was the personal workspace of Constance Brigham, heiress to the Brigham fortune. Miss Brigham was from one of those old Hawaiian dynasties that sprang from the son of a missionary marrying the daughter of a chief. Constance herself devoted her life to temperance and charity, and the Inebriates’ Asylum had been her life’s work.

Whether Miss Brigham used the secret room to court donors, rendezvous with lovers, or simply relax with a glass of something otherwise not permitted on the premises, was unknown. For me, the room had been perfect as a private space to pump breast milk. Now Francesca was mostly weaned, I’d found it was a good place to do paperwork. My computer wasn’t there to distract me, and with the panel closed, no one could barge in and interrupt me.

A breeze ruffled the stack of forms under the Alice Mongoose teapot I used as a paperweight. Francesca babbled happily as she played with her squeaky, jingly toys.

Filling out the Student Retention Office forms by hand was frustratingly inefficient, especially compared to the all-online system the Student Retention Office had until recently.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.