Poison Ivy (33 page)
Authors: Cynthia Riggs
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“Let me have the light,” said Bigelow.
“No way.” Robert swung the flashlight behind him.
Bigelow caught his arm and snatched the light out of it. He shone it down, where he'd pulled his trouser leg up, exposing his bony shin. “There!”
Robert moved in behind him. “Where?”
Bigelow swung around, slammed the flashlight over Robert's head, and shoved him into the grave. He crouched on the ground and was clawing handfuls of dirt from the nearest mound when Victoria reached him.
“Stop!” she commanded, lifting her stick.
“Watch it, Victoria!” Howland moved in with the light.
Bigelow looked up, his hands full of dirt.
Victoria brought down her stick with a powerful whack on his wrists. Bigelow dropped the earth and reached for her, his hands dripping muddy dirt, when Brownie attacked with a mighty growl.
Killdeer and Rabbit held Bigelow, who shouted obscenities at them. Howland and Stevenson hauled the stunned Robert out of the grave. Victoria called Casey on the cell phone, and within a few minutes the state police arrived followed soon after by Casey.
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Linda, Thackery's assistant, was out sick again. The news of her sister Roberta's imprisonment and release had sent her to her bed with a sick headache.
Victoria volunteered to help in Linda's absence.
She was on the phone when Wellborn Price came into the office.
“I'm sorry,” Victoria was saying, “we have no comment at this time.” She set the phone down and it rang again.
Wellborn slapped a bundle of letters and magazines on the desk in front of Victoria. “I picked up the mail.”
“Ivy Green College ⦠I'm sorry, no comment at this time.”
“Sounds like this is where I first came in,” said Wellborn. There was a knock on the door and Price Henderson entered.
They shook hands, then Price threw his arms around Wellborn Price and they hugged each other until Victoria thought she heard bones cracking.
“Hey, Dad, old man!”
“Hey, kid. Answer the phone, will you? Mrs. Trumbull and I want to talk.”
“Yes, sir.”
The phone rang. Price picked it up.
Thackery strode into the office, wheeled Linda's chair over, and sat down. “Mrs. Trumbull, I don't know how we can thank you enough. You saved that delivery man.”
“I had help,” said Victoria.
“Much as I couldn't stand Bigelow, I never imagined him as a serial killer.”
“Combination of genes, rigid upbringing, bad choices, and stress he couldn't handle,” said Wellborn.
Victoria was slitting envelopes. “Bruce Steinbicker didn't want Roberta to press charges, and when she learned her students were behind her kidnapping and why, she decided not to.” Victoria held up an envelope. “Here's a letter for you, Thackery, from Ocean Engineering, Inc.” She handed him the opened envelope. “That's where Dedie Wieler works.”
“Who's she?” asked Wellborn.
“She was a faculty member on the oversight committee. She ⦠what's the matter, Thackery?”
“This.” Thackery held the letter out to her. “This is the matter.”
Victoria read the letter and looked up. “A five-million-dollar grant to Ivy Green College to train ocean engineers?”
“Plus any required courses,” said Thackery. “Five million dollars. You realize what that means?”
The front door opened and Walter entered. “Where's Thackery?”
Thackery put the letter down, took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and put his glasses back on. “What is it, Walter?”
“I want my dog.”
The phone rang and Price answered. “No comment.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Thackery.
“That officious cop took my dog.”
“Dr. Killdeer?” asked Victoria. “He took Brownie?”
Walter stuck out his lower lip. “He took Brownie and left me a fifty-thousand-dollar check.”
“What!?” said Thackery.
“I don't want the money. I want my dog,” said Walter.
“Oh, my!” said Victoria. The phone rang again.
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CYNTHIA RIGGS
is the author of eleven books in the Martha's Vineyard mystery series. She was born on Martha's Vineyard and is the eighth generation to live in her family homestead in West Tisbury, Massachusetts, which she runs as a bed-and-breakfast catering to poets, writers, and other creative people. You can sign up for email updates
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O
THER
M
ARTHA'S
V
INEYARD
M
YSTERIES
Death and Honesty
Indian Pipes
Jack in the Pulpit
The Cemetery Yew
The Cranefly Orchid Murders
Deadly Nightshade
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CONTENTS
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group.
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POISON IVY.
Copyright © 2013 by Cynthia Riggs. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
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Cover illustration by Ken Joudrey
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eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
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Riggs, Cynthia.
    Poison ivy: a Martha's Vineyard mystery / Cynthia Riggs.âFirst edition.
           pages   cm.   (Martha's Vineyard mystery; 11)
    “A Thomas Dunne Book.”
    ISBN 978-1-250-05867-6 (hardcover)
    ISBN 978-1-4668-6308-8 (e-book)
  1.  Trumbull, Victoria (Fictitious character)âFiction.  2.  Women detectivesâMassachusettsâMartha's VineyardâFiction.  3.  Serial murder investigationâFiction.  4.  Martha's Vineyard (Mass.)âFiction.  I.  Title.
    PS3618.I394P65 2015
    813'.6âdc23
2014042140
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e-ISBN 9781466863088
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First published in 2013 by Cleveland House Books
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First Minotaur Books Edition: April 2015