First, the mystery ...
Dianna Mattson ended her phone call, grabbed her coat, and stepped through the curtains onto the sales floor of The General Store. “Charley? I’ll be back in a few. Emily Dodson needs some emotional support,” she explained on her way to the front door. “Little Kayla has been sick, and Emily finally called the doctor.”
“Tell her we’re thinking of her.” Charley waved as his wife darted by.
Dianna hustled as fast as she could through the crowd of guests up Market Street toward The Dickens Mansion. She turned down the alley on the north side of the Print Shop. Emily met her at the side door, wringing her hands.
“Thanks for coming, Dianna,” Emily said, helping her friend off with her coat. “I didn’t know what to do. Von’s still out of town and I couldn’t reach his sister, Kayla’s mother.”
Dianna took Emily’s hands in hers. “You did the right thing, Em. I’m here for you. Has the doctor arrived yet?”
Emily nodded. “He arrived shortly after I hung up with you. He’s with her now. I stepped out to unlock the door for you. Come on, let’s go in.” She barely touched the knob when the door opened inward. The doctor stepped through and pulled the door closed behind him.
“Is she all right, John? What’s wrong with her?” Emily asked, squeezing the doctor’s wrist.
Dr. John Halifax placed his other hand on hers. “She’s going to be all right, Em. But, as to what’s wrong, I’m not sure. So I’ve called for an ambulance to take her to Rutland General for some tests.”
“An ambulance,” Emily gasped.
Dr. Halifax patted her hand. “Now, Emily, calm yourself. I just need to run some tests I can’t run here.”
“What do you suspect, doctor?” Dianna asked.
Dr. Halifax’s gaze found Dianna’s before refocusing on Emily and taking her hand. “Emily, Kayla’s temperature, along with the vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, are signs of being poisoned in some way.”
“Poisoned?” Emily shrieked. “She’s only nine. How?”
“I don’t know. That’s what we need to find out.” His attention shifted to the window in the door behind Dianna. “The ambulance is here.”
Dianna hugged Emily across her shoulders and directed her to one side. “Come on, Em. Let’s give them some room.”
Before they backed too far away, Dr. Halifax added, speaking to Dianna. “It would speed up our efforts if we could identify anything that may have poisoned her.”
Dianna acknowledged with a nod. She waited while Emily watched the attendants move her niece to a stretcher. “Emily, can you think of anything Kayla may have gotten into that could be poison, you know, like cleaning products, pills, insecticides, anything like that?”
Emily shook her head, never taking her eyes off her niece. “No, Von has anything like insecticides locked in a cabinet in the basement. Kayla knows not to mess with the cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink, and I’ve never seen her in our bathroom, much less near the pill cabinet.” Emily donned her coat as the attendants wheeled Kayla to the door.
“One more question,” Dianna asked while Emily buttoned her coat. “What has she been doing while she stayed with you? Where has she been playing?”
Emily seemed to force herself to focus, as if she understood Dianna was trying to help her. “She plays all over the shop,” Emily sighed. “But the inks and dyes are all non-toxic, and I’d know if she got into any of those. She’s been playing dress up with those old trunks of clothes in the attic.” Emily’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God, Dianna. There are rat traps in the attic. The exterminator said they are sealed and childproof, but you don’t think she—”
“I don’t know, Em, but I’ll find out. Right now, you gotta go. I’ll call you if I find anything.”
Emily slipped through the door and climbed into the back of the ambulance with Kayla and the attendant. Moments later, the ambulance rolled silently to Back Street and disappeared around the corner before Dianna heard the siren.
Luckily, The Print Shop had already closed for the day and was empty.
Dianna started her search in the attic to check out the rat traps. She found them quickly along the north and south walls. Emily was right. The traps were sealed with only small openings for the rats to enter to eat the bait. Dianna saw no signs of tampering or leaking. She doubted if these caused Kayla’s illness.
She wandered around the dusty, old attic, looking for anything unusual. Toward the front of the store, near the window that faced Market Street, Dianna found what she assumed to be Kayla’s play dressing room. A large oval antique full-length mirror stood next to the window and had been angled to catch the light. Three large steamer trunks sat open in a semicircle around the mirror, with several drawers half-open, Victorian-era clothes draped over them, and shoes staged neatly as if awaiting feet. A period dressing table completed the makeshift dressing room, strewn with antique jewelry and other dressing supplies, brushes, make-up containers, etc.
Dianna sat at the dressing table and examined each piece of history. She admired a monogrammed Victorian-era brush set that dominated the space. Each piece, the hairbrush, hat brush, clothes brush, comb, and mirror, had been decoratively hand-crafted in hallmarked silver, their ivory backs inlaid with a silver D. Matching silver adorned perfume bottles, a powder box, a compact, and make-up brushes, also hallmarked, completed the set and revealed to Dianna that the original owner had been a woman of wealth. The perfume bottles were empty and dry. The compact still had traces of powder inside. The powder box contained a quarter inch of powder. An examination of a blush brush revealed signs of recent use. Dianna found strands of hair that resembled Kayla’s in the hairbrush and comb.
Dianna turned her attention to the steamer trunks. Fragments of shipping tags, now yellowing with age, revealed England as the trunks’ country of origin. But the lack of colorful luggage labels, so popular in the nineteen-twenties, suggested to Dianna that the trunks had seen no travel during the early nineteen-hundreds. Full, flowing, empire-waist dresses in whites, pinks, and pastels in one trunk pointed to the mid-eighteen hundreds, while corsets and high necklines showed the other two were used after the beginning of the Victorian era. Dianna spied an object on the floor between the two trunks. She picked up and examined an empty, antique tin that once contained mothballs.
She sat at the dressing table again, pulled out her cell phone, and called Emily. “Em, Di. Get a message to Dr. Halifax for me.”
My challenge to you . . .
Mystery lovers, pause here!
You now know all the evidence available to Dianna. Have you solved the mystery? There are three questions you should answer before reading the resolution. Was Kayla poisoned? If so, how? If not, what happened to make Kayla sick?
When you have your hypotheses in mind, read the resolution as Dianna Mattson solves The Case of the Pretty Poison.
The Resolution ...
Dianna’s approach activated the Emergency Room doors at Rutland General Hospital. Emily rose to her feet.
“Did they find out anything?” Dianna asked as she hugged Emily.
They parted, and Emily held Dianna by the forearms. “You were right, Dianna. Kayla has been exposed to arsenic, which was making her gradually sicker and sicker. But how did you know?”
“Yes, I’d like to know that, too,” Dr. Halifax said as he approached.
Dianna fished in her purse and produced the compact from the Victorian dressing table. “Here’s the culprit.”
“A compact?” Emily took it from her and examined it.
“Not just any compact, a Victorian compact, probably from the mid-eighteen-hundreds.”
“I still don’t understand,” Emily said, closing the compact and examining its beautifully monogrammed cover.
“The culprit I refer to is inside. In the eighteen hundreds,” Dianna explained, “they used arsenic in women’s makeup and a host of other products.”
Emily reopened the compact. “But this only has a few traces of the powder?”
Dianna took it from her. “The powder box beside it still has plenty of powder, and the blush brush has been recently used. The British began regulating the sale of arsenic in 1851, but not its use. It wasn’t until the late eighteen hundreds that they caught on that arsenic may be toxic. I’m not an expert in antique jewelry, but the entire dressing set seems at least that old.”
Dr. Halifax added, “When Emily told me Kayla had been playing dress up with old clothes in the attic, I suspected mothballs, but the tests for naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene came back negative.”
Dianna nodded. “I found an old tin that once contained mothballs, but it was a Victorian antique. The mothballs would have evaporated well over a hundred years ago. I also suspected the antique jewelry she was playing with because that often contains lead. But Kayla’s symptoms aren’t consistent with lead poisoning.”
Dr. Halifax interjected, “Well, whether or not the Victorian powder is the source, you were right, Dianna. When I got your message, we were able to test for and identify the problem as arsenic exposure. Knowing that helped Kayla immensely. Unfortunately, there is no antidote for arsenic. Still, we’ve been able to take steps to remove the toxins from her system and make her comfortable until the body can heal itself. The main thing is to ensure she will no longer be exposed to arsenic.”
“May I see her, doctor?” Emily asked.
“Certainly. But she’s been through a lot, so try to keep her quiet and allow her to rest.”
“In the meantime,” Dianna offered, “I’ll go back to the shop, clean everything on and in that dressing stand, and dispose of the wastewater as hazardous waste.”
Emily hugged Dianna. “Thanks, Dianna. You’re the best.”
Closing Comments ...
Well, there you have it.
Did you solve The Case of the Pretty Poison?
If you enjoyed this puzzling little diversion, please rate your experience below, and do let me know if you were successful. Please don’t leave any spoilers in the comments, but please do comment. Your input helps me plan our next adventure.
Thanks for reading and exercising your “little grey cells.”
If you enjoyed The Case of the Pretty Poison, try your deductive reasoning skills at my two other mini mysteries, A Case of Misshaken Identity and The Case of the Telltale Tiles.
Good luck!
Very clever Don! I love how you pulled it all together so quickly!
Thanks, Dianna. As you know, short stories have their challenges.
Great story! I was on the right track, at least!
An entertaining read presenting an interesting conundrum — as well as a real-life cautionary tale. One has to be alert to dangers children may encounter and prepare them as well as possible without creating a fragile, paranoid generation. However, it also illustrated how members of a tight community can come together in support of each other, and that’s encouraging.
Well said, Ben. And thanks for your help in getting this mini mystery online.
Great story, Don. I identified the culprit, but not the exact poison. I especially loved the description of the attic. I would’ve loved playing dress-up there as a little girl.
Very good, Lori. Evidently you know your history.