Murder by Mushroom Read Online Free

to find out about Mrs. Farmer’s relatives. Mr. Price hadn’t been much help, though. He promised to make some calls to various church members and contact them later with any information he discovered. In the meantime, Margaret had instructed Jackie to search Mrs. Farmer’s purse to find her Medicare card and a set of keys so the house could be locked for the night. Jackie had reluctantly agreed to handle that chore. As far as she was concerned, a woman’s purse was even more private than her underwear drawer.
    The pink-clad nurse’s gaze slid away. “Wait right here, please.”
    “But could you tell me—”
    The nurse ignored Pastor Palmer’s question and disappeared through a door behind the desk. Margaret looked questioningly at her husband, who shrugged.
    Moments later the nurse returned.
    “Could you come this way? The doctor would like to talk to you.”
    Jackie, Margaret and the pastor followed her into the emergency treatment area, a wide corridor partitioned by floor-to-ceiling curtains that gave a semblance of privacy to half-dozen hospital beds. To Jackie’s relief, none were occupied, though several nurses sat talking quietly at the other end of the hallway.
    They were led to a cluttered office, and after a moment a doctor joined them. He was a pleasant-looking man, but young. Jackie was glad she wasn’t there for treatment. She would have insisted on seeing his credentials before allowing him to so much as take her pulse.
    “I’m Dr. Peters.” He closed the door behind him.
    “Earl Palmer, and this is my wife, Margaret, and a member of our congregation, Jackie Hoffner.”
    Dr. Peters shook their hands. “You’re Mrs. Farmer’s minister?”
    Pastor Palmer nodded. “But I’ve actually only been at the church for about seven months, so I’m afraid I don’t know her as well as I would like. I do know she doesn’t have any relatives in town, so we brought her insurance information with us. Is she being admitted?”
    “No, she’s not.” The doctor paused, and the look on his face warned Jackie of the news before he spoke his next words. “I’m afraid Mrs. Farmer passed away en route to the hospital. The paramedics did everything they could. They administered CPR until she arrived here, but we weren’t able to resuscitate her.”
    Jackie took a step backward and sat abruptly in a hard plastic chair. Mrs. Farmer, dead. She could hardly believe it. Two days ago she had been complaining about the UPS man. An hour ago Jackie had wiped her forehead with a cool cloth. Now she was dead.
    “But how?” Margaret’s face registered as much shock as Jackie felt.
    “The paramedics’ report indicates that she was suffering from severe dehydration and was semiconscious when they arrived. She experienced a mild seizure in the ambulance and then she coded—uh, died. Heart failure.”
    “She had a weak heart,” Pastor Palmer told him. “I’ve heard her say that often enough.”
    “And she obviously had the flu or something,” Jackie added. “When I got there I could tell she’d been sick for a while.”
    “Actually, the paramedics said the patient’s condition and the evidence they found at the house might indicate a rather severe case of food poisoning.”
    Jackie’s eyes widened. Food poisoning? Could the cause have been leftovers from the church potluck? Mrs. Farmer had eaten some of her casserole. Had she taken some home with her?
    Ridiculous! Don’t be paranoid!
    “Regardless,” the doctor went on, “if she had a history of heart problems, a flu or food poisoning could put her in a weakened condition, and a seizure could send her into cardiac arrest. Of course, an autopsy will be performed, and we’ll know more then. In the meantime, the police have been notified and will probably want to talk to you so they can contact her next of kin.”
    The police?
    “I washed her sheets,” Jackie said. They all turned to look at her. “I mean, in case the police want to know who did