Nick turned to see the man he'd noticed talking to the doctor. Silver sideburns, no sign of ever having to shave and a smirking mouth that didn't match the dead grey eyes.

"Braxton Kerr." He held out a hand and Nick ignored it. "A friend of mine that was dining there knows, Polly. He mentioned it in passing."

"And you rushed right to your buddy here with the news."

"Hey, watch it, Roth." Cummins bristled.

"Polly is a member of my board at BK Developments; any information about, shall we say, circumstances that seemed out of the ordinary I felt germane to Captain Cummins' investigation should be reported."

"Out of the ordinary. That would be a black woman eating with a white man in your vanilla restaurant."

"You got a mouth on you. Roth." Cummins still bristling.

Braxton touched the Captain's arm. "It's alright, Aaron. Mr. Roth seems to forget we were quite liberal in appointing Miss Duayne to our board."

"The word tokenism ring a bell?"

"That's it!" Cummins puffed up. "Take off, Roth. Now."

"I'm here to support my cousin and her friend so why don't you and, out of the ordinary circumstances here do the taking off. I'm sure one of your board members here in the hospital will alert you about my movements."

Braxton steered the police Captain away but drilled Nick with his dead eyes on the way.

"I don't think you won any friends there, Nicholas."

"Not the kind I'd want anyway. Where did that doctor go that Braxton was speaking with?"

"That room beside the nurse's station."

"Wait here a sec, I want to ask him something."

A brief few words with the nurse that Barbara couldn't hear and then she watched him enter the room beside the station. She wondered if all this was her fault. making a nuisance of herself with the authorities then getting Nicholas to poke around. Of course it was, if she had accepted things as described maybe none of this would have happened.

Nick came back out of the room, winked at the nurse and rejoined Barbara.

"Let's grab a coffee. Dr. Winston will call as soon as Paulette can be seen."

"What about the police?"

"We had a meeting of minds. We get first crack."

In a corner of the sterile cafeteria Nick laid out his theory of events as he saw them and Barbara listened, stunned.

"Richard learned that Braxton's practices were loading the river, groundwater and the aquifers with deadly toxins. He collected enough evidence to open an investigation and then somehow, before he could, his actions were discovered I believe Braxton had him bumped off."

"But how?"

"I'm working on that. The dental appointment where he needed fillings or something, did he need freezing or a full anaesthetic?"

"I don't-- why would that matter? What are you get--"

"I think Richard was injected or somehow he unknowingly ingested a fatal dose of hydrogen peroxide the stuff he used in well treatment. It caused bubbles or something in his blood and they did something to his heart and that's what killed him. I'm not too good on the technical details here. I never asked before; where did he die?"

"Right here in Westhaven. He admitted himself and died before they could do anything."

"How long after his dental appointment?"

Barbara stared at him, her mouth opened but no words came out.

"Barb?"

"That-- that evening . . . but that-- that would mean somebody at my work did this! I don't believe it."

Nick played with the spoon on his saucer. "I know what this means but listen. I questioned Paulette and gave her part of another theory I had about her position on the board at BK and she said that at one meeting the others seemed to be consoling your boss, Ramsey."

"That doesn't mean he had anything to do with it."

"Next thing after we had dinner we find Paulette beaten to a pulp and in hospital. I don't believe in coincidence, Barb." He leaned closer. "Another thing I learned from that doc I just spoke to is that several people have been in complaining about stomach cramps and diarrhea; two of them are still here with gastrointestinal problems and nausea."

"But it's so-- Why wasn't anyone told? Nick you must be wrong."

"Barb, think about it. The BK board is all the people I mentioned earlier. Braxton runs the board and if I dig deeper I'll bet he has something on all of them. I'll bet he carries enough weight in your town and Westhaven to suppress any bad news . . . except in Paulette's case; that's why Daltry was sent to deliver a message."

Barbara sat twisting her fingers and shaking her head. "But now she can identify him and the police will have to act."

"She could, yes. Richard's death joins them together like a string of pearls. The strand breaks and they all start scattering to find a fix, a big mistake on their part because now they need to make sure she doesn't get fixed."

********

Ed Daltry slouched in the back of the car alongside Braxton. He had just listened to ten minutes of withering insults about his ability to send a message. Truth was, once he started he really got into it but he would never dare tell Braxton that. Bad enough he now had to finish the job somehow and take care of Roth as well.

"No slip ups this time, Ed, or you'll be part of what we're spreading over the property." Braxton pointed a rigid finger at his foreman.

"What about the Sanders woman? She started all this."

"Forget her for now. Get the main players out of the picture. I'll call a meeting of the board and make sure everyone is on the same page. This operation could be worth millions and I'm not seeing it stopped . . . by anyone."

Ed Daltry stood and listened to a few more warnings then left to work out the best way to take care of Duayne.

********

Nick and Barbara were dozing in the lounge when Dr. Winston tapped Nick on the shoulder.

"Miss Duayne is conscious but you only have a minute or two. She needs more medication and rest."

"Thanks, Doc. I won't need long at all." He prodded Barbara and told her what was happening.

"I need to ask her a couple of questions so you can only say hi and then back off, okay?"

She stifled a yawn and nodded, clearly disappointed.

They both paused at the room entrance, stopped by the appearance of Paulette and the severity of her injuries.

"My God!" Barbara whispered.

"Say your hello and then out, okay? I must ask her my questions and there might not be another chance for a while."

Barbara walked to the bed and touched the ends of Paulette's fingers extending from a large cast. Nick waited by the door and watched the exchange. Barbara leaned down and kissed the bandaged head then turned and hurried out.

"I'll wait in the lounge."

"I don't want to waste any time here, Paulette." Nick stood close by her side and bent down. "Who did this?" The reply was muffled and he leaned closer to hear. "Was anything said?" Again he had to strain to hear. He stood up and looked at the woman who ate dinner with him just a few night ago.

"Stay strong, Paulette. We'll get you through this." Nick touched her arm and nodded when her eye found his then he left and went to find Barbara.

"What did she say? God she looked awful, Nick. Who could do something like that?"

"BK Developments foreman, Ed Daltry."

"She said that?"

"I doubt she would be making it up."

"But she's a board member! Why would they--?"

"Because she talked to me . . . I told you. And that's what Daltry repeated in her ear with each punch." Nick took her arm. "C'mon, I'll take you home."

"I have my car."

"I'll follow you."

********

Captain Aaron Cummins paced back and forth in front of Braxton's sofa, hands waving dramatically as he bitterly complained about the fix he was left to untangle.

"What were you thinking; my God he could have killed her?"

"It would have been better if he had," Braxton swirled a brandy in a small glass.

"What am I going to do? If she identifies him I have to arrest him. If I arrest him he'll blab the whole story!"

"First off, he's going to see that she doesn't identify him. Secondly, if he's too late then you will have to hunt him down . . ."

"Hunt him-- you mean kill him. I'm police Captain, Brax, I can't just go around killing people!"

"If you ever want to be more you should reconsider that, Aaron."

"Brax, people like Daltry don't leave themselves unprotected. He'll have something hidden somewhere for insurance. He may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but he's crafty . . . street crafty."

The swirling paused. Braxton frowned at the liquid realizing he hadn't credited Ed with enough moxie to do something like that -- if he had. He watched Cummins, still pacing and wondered if he took out the same insurance . . . or any of the others involved.

Braxton realized suddenly that they had built a house of cards. At any time one of them could become dissatisfied and bring the whole house down. He needed to remind them all of his own insurance.

"Aaron, you're right. The situation has become riskier and uncertain. How is Alma doing these days?"

"Huh? What? Why are you asking about my wife?"

"Just a friendly question. Is she still sticking to her programme?"

"I don't like this line of questioning one bit. What are you up to, Braxton?"

The brandy swirled again and then he finished it in one gulp. "We have a million dollar business here with the possibility of even more. It won't be worth a nickel if we don't have our own insurance."

"You keep saying we and our . . . I'm not part of your operation."

"Not directly but you can be . . . a big part."

Aaron stared at the man he had agreed to assist in small matters in exchange for assistance in getting his wife into an alcohol detoxification programme without the town council knowing. Their secret was a mutual given.

"I see where this is going, Braxton and I think you are a bastard."

"We don't have to love one another to enjoy the potential success."

Aaron walked to the window and stared out at nothing; his focus was internal. Do what Braxton wanted or his wife's condition would become public and his career ruined not only for not revealing her addiction but for dealing to keep it secret.

His shoulders slumped and turned back to the man watching him. "What do I have to do?"