The Perils of Peaches (Scents of Murder Book 3) (11 page)

What was it she’d said to Dr. Bradley that day? Something that happened “a long time ago.” And I couldn’t forget Dr. Bradley’s fuming stomp across the restaurant. His words still stung me, which is probably why I wanted forget the whole encounter.

“Have you heard anything about a memorial service for Dr. Bradley?” I asked Barkha. “I realize it’s soon, but I didn’t know if Eunice mentioned anything.”

“I’m not sure,” Barkha said. “I doubt that the medical examiner has released the body yet. Eunice hasn’t mentioned anything. Neither has Franklin.”

My change of subject certainly hadn’t improved our moods at all. Hannah squealed and waved her cracker-covered fingers at us.

“Look at those teeth.” Barkha’s expression transformed into a smile. Hannah couldn’t help but inspire a smile from someone in a troubled mood.

“Yes, her gums are just erupting. Maybe I’ll get a better night’s sleep tonight now that the latest tooth has pushed through.” At my words, Hannah giggled.

When the guys cleared out from the kitchen, Barkha glanced toward the living room, then snapped her focus to me. “I need to talk to Jerry.”

I nodded and reached for a clean napkin to wipe Hannah’s grubby fingers. “I’ve been hoping we can continue our conversation from Monday.”

Barkha stood, and started stacking dirty plates and bringing them to the dishwasher. “My lunch with Dr. Bradley. About Tushar. And . . . about what happened before.”

“Hey, don’t worry about the plates.”

“I don’t mind helping. Gives my hands something to do.”

A roar from the living room made us look in that direction. “Someone made a hit.”

Barkha smiled, but her hands shook. “Andi, I’m scared.” She sank into one of the wooden chairs.

“Please, tell me what happened.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to end up at the top of Jerry’s suspect list. If not the very top, close to it.”

“Why?”

“Something happened a long time ago. Something that Dr. Bradley found out about me, and, well . . . when we had our discussion the other day, he was talking about releasing me from my contract with the medical group.” I’d never heard her voice so soft, and I had to almost lean in her direction to hear her.

“You should talk to Jerry, tonight. He’s a good man.”

“I don’t know . . . I don’t want to put him in the middle.”

“He should hear this from you, instead of him finding out during the investigation. Just tell him straight out.”

Barkha sighed. “You’re right.”

I tried to give her an encouraging smile. “Besides, we’ve got DVR and the game will keep, so don’t say you can’t interrupt the game. This is too important.”

Within a few minutes, the four of us had gathered around the table again. I put Hannah in her playpen to keep her from terrorizing Spot kitty.

“Barkha.” Jerry spoke her name gently, and moved as if he wanted to touch her hand, but stopped.

“Just before Hiram died, he discovered something about me that I didn’t want revealed. And he, well, he threatened me.” Normally in control of her emotions, Barkha blinked, and I thought I saw tears in her eyes. “I should have told someone. But it happened in medical school. I was young, foolish, and desperate . . .”

Her large brown eyes focused not on the lasagna stain on the tablecloth, but probably on memories of another time.

“Jerry, should Barkha get a lawyer before she talks to you?” I had to ask. No matter how much I wanted the two of them together, reality smacked me in the face. I should have asked her about what happened before now. I shouldn’t have given up. If I truly thought of myself as her friend, I should have paid better attention.

“You don’t have to say anything, Barkha.” This time Jerry did touch her hand. She accepted his gesture like a lifeline, and he squeezed.

“Yes, I do.” She glanced from their hands to Jerry’s face. “I know what I’m doing.”

Oh Lord, please don’t let it be something horrible.

“People have disagreements all the time, and none of us know when it’ll be our last time to speak to someone.” I sounded an awful lot like Momma.

Jerry shot me a look that made me fall silent. I could always load the dishwasher to stay out of the way. But I kept my seat. Barkha might need the moral support.

“It was my last year of medical school, the final semester. I’d struggled with one class. Imagine that, me a straight-A student struggling to pull a B. But I did.” At this, Barkha half smiled. “All my life, I’d lived under such pressure. To be the best. To make my parents proud. I couldn’t let anyone down.

“I was applying to the residency program at Vanderbilt. And I just couldn’t let that smudge show up on my transcript. A perfect record, but for one class.”

None of us said anything. No wonder she had an impeccable office, perfect dictations, and nary a hair out of place. And yet now she sat with us, wringing her hands and tied up in knots.

“So . . . through a friend of a friend of yet another friend, I got a phone number. Someone had the exam I needed. I’d have a guaranteed A. for a price. I met the anonymous contact with my money in hand. But what I didn’t know was someone had followed me.” She paused and looked at Jerry.

“It’s okay. Go on.” He nodded.

“When I met the person with the exam, I realized what I was about to do could kill my career before it started. If anyone ever found out. So, I told him I’d changed my mind and didn’t buy the test.”

“You never actually bought an exam,” Jerry said.

Barkha shook her head. “But like I said, someone followed me and took pictures of us, then turned me in. I was called into the dean’s office and nearly got booted from the program. They ended up catching the one selling exams, and the guy was furious. First he tried to pin it on me, that I was the one selling exams. He was sure I was trying to set him up. So I was off the hook. I ended up getting a C+ in the course with a disciplinary ethical mark on my record. Even after I finished my residency, several facilities chose not to hire me because of that one smudge. Hiram must not have paid attention to that section on my transcript. At any rate, he hired me without a quibble. He didn’t ask, and I didn’t volunteer the information. I figured if it was there, he could ask.”

“So how did Dr. Bradley find out?” The question flew from my mouth.

“Ironically, one of Hiram’s old colleagues is a professor where I attended medical school. Recently my name came up in a conversation and Hiram found out what happened. Hence our go-round at Oat Grass. He accused me of hiding information from him.”

Jerry nodded. “I can figure out the rest. But Andi’s right. Getting a lawyer is a wise idea. You do that, and come down to the station and tell me the rest of the story tomorrow.” He looked at his hand, still holding Barkha’s, and pulled away.

Barkha closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I can just imagine what you all must think of me. What I was about to do . . .”

“We don’t hate you, and we sure don’t think less of you. How long ago did this happen?” I asked.

“At little over five years ago.”

“And you’ve been carrying this around since then?”

Barkha frowned and looked at me. “It’s followed me here. I know God forgave me for my sins. I left Hinduism and chose Him instead, just over two years ago. But I wish I could forget . . . In the past, I’d have done something good to make up for it, to get things to even out, to avoid any problems in the future. My mother was always warning us kids about the next life. Karma, you know. Although, technically speaking, I never bought that test.”

I touched her shoulder. “You did the right thing by walking away.”

“I know I did the right thing. But Hiram said—”

“Hush, now.” Jerry’s voice held a gentle tone. “We can talk about that tomorrow. It’ll keep. Let’s just enjoy tonight.”

A tear crept down Barkha’s tawny cheek and she dashed it away. “Thanks. It’s good to have friends.”

“Well, we’re here for you, aren’t we, guys?” I’d never seen this side of Barkha before. She’d always been bright, upbeat, pleasant. Efficient as a physician, and carrying a load she didn’t have to. At church she asked eager questions in Bible study, and never let on about her inner struggle.

After that I broke out the dessert, which helped to lighten the mood, at least for Ben and Jerry. They took their strawberry shortcake to the living room. Jerry gave Barkha a long look before he left the kitchen, as if he’d rather stay with us. He really must have it bad if he’d consider giving up watching a baseball game to sit in the kitchen with us ladies.

Barkha took a bite of her dessert. “This is absolutely delicious. I’m a big fan of comfort food.”

“Thanks. I half-learned from the best. My pound cake isn’t made from scratch like Momma’s, but the strawberries don’t seem to mind much. And I actually whipped the cream myself.” I thought about giving Hannah a cookie too, but she still chewed on her bunny’s ear and kicked at some blocks in her playpen. “You know, you did the right thing, talking to Jerry.”

“I can’t believe how relieved I am at telling Jerry about what happened.” She stared over at our stove, but I didn’t think her focus was on the stainless steel..

“What is it?”

“I miss my mother’s cooking. All of us would gather once a week at my parents’ home. My brother, sister, and I. Plus their spouses and children. My father didn’t want us to move far from them.”

“You sound homesick.”

“Not so much anymore. I do miss my family, but they don’t understand. They don’t accept who I am now. I’m the same, but I’m different too.” She gestured with her fork, then placed it on the table.

“What about Tushar?”

Barkha frowned. “He thinks I’ll go back to Atlanta, that this is a personal crisis I need to work through. But I can’t.”

“Is he still around town? I haven’t seen him since Friday.”

“Oh, he’s around. We met for coffee last night.”

“You met him for coffee? What were you thinking?”

“Honestly, it’s not like he’s a stalker.” Barkha nibbled her dessert. “I had to hear him out. Tushar knew about what happened in medical school, and he was afraid that the longer I stayed here, it might come out.”

“Do you think Tushar could have done something to Dr. Bradley?”

Barkha frowned. “I don’t think so. He is a gentle man, but when he’s very passionate about something he can be intense. And of course, we doctors are supposed to ‘first, do no harm.’ I can’t see Tushar hurting someone.” She rubbed her arms, then moved to help me stack the dessert plates plates.

“He shows up the afternoon before Dr. Bradley dies. What if Tushar was passionate enough to protect your secret?”

“What happened is not a secret. Not exactly. Of course, it’s not public knowledge, and it didn’t keep me from going through my residency. Obviously.”

“I bet Dr. Bradley was afraid if this news came out, you could be discredited, and then his practice as well, since he took you on as a partner.”

“He was very narcissistic. I mentioned this tendency to him once, and he flew into a rage.” The corners of Barkha’s mouth twitched, and then she sighed.

“You’ve got that right. He certainly didn’t suffer from a lack of self-esteem.” I opened the dishwasher and started putting plates inside. “What if Dr. Bradley was planning to let you go from the practice? Force you out, legally. That couldn’t look good to the police.”

“Ironic, since I actually considered resigning.”

I nodded. “But we won’t let you leave, especially if you really want to be here. Greenburg belongs to anyone who wants to call it home.” My mind flashed back to what Gloria had said at our Mommy’s Morning gathering at Tennessee River Soaps. “And first thing after you get that lawyer, we’re going to figure out who killed Dr. Bradley.”

Chapter Nine

Di called me on Friday morning while I was driving my bleary-eyed self and Hannah over to Momma and Daddy’s house. “I found about Momma. She heard back from the doctor.”

“What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

“Momma’s diabetic.” Di’s voice came across the speakerphone. “And Daddy was the one who called to tell me. Can you imagine? Momma, the one who wants to know all about what we’re doing, won’t give us the latest news about herself?”

“Oh, wow.” I’d had my suspicions, but now they’d been confirmed. “Why didn’t she tell us? Why didn’t she call me? I’m right here.”

“Daddy said she didn’t want to worry us.”

“But at least we know. Is she on insulin or just pills?”

“Just pills, right now.” Di sighed. “I’ve said for years we’ve needed to quit frying and sugaring everything.”

“I know, I know. Momma can still live a full life. But she’s got to be careful.”

“I’ve got to say I’m relieved I wasn’t the only one out of the loop on this one.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it. Do you ever feel like you’re out of the loop?” I turned onto Momma and Daddy’s road, and waved at one of their neighbors.

“Sometimes . . . I love where we are, but I miss y’all so much. The everyday things we used to do.”

“I know, hon.”