Pick Your Poison

The young boy jerked awake as a blood-curdling scream pierced through the air. He got out of his bed with pace, adrenaline rushing through his veins. Eyes wide with terror, he sprinted across the oak wood floors of the big bedroom and found himself in the living room, the location of the awful noise.

“M-mom?” The boy’s words came out in a whimper. “MOM!”

The boy’s mother lay there on the floor, gaping into blank space. Lifeless.

~~~

“How is he?”

“Not responsive…he just shakes his head every time I ask him what he saw.”

“Well, the poor kid’s in shock. No child should have to see what Blake saw.”

“Of course not. Especially since the father’s gone as well…his case was never solved.”

The young investigator sighed and rubbed his eyes as if trying to shake off old memories that shouldn’t be brought to mind.

“Don’t blame yourself, Rick.” His assistant said with sympathy in his voice. “Ray’s murder has to be one of the toughest cases we’ve ever seen. Zero witnesses and no one hated Ray as far as we’re aware. Ray was a great guy.”

The two detectives sat in grief for a minute until Rick broke the silence.

 “Flynn, didn’t you and Ray coach Blake’s baseball team?” 

“Oh yeah! I remember that.” Flynn chuckled. “We were such good friends…I always remember us in the living room, watching football and yelling at the TV. My neighbor wouldn’t put up with the racket, so she’d always send us over to Ray’s house for his wife to deal with.” 

“I bet Millie was happy about that. She was a feisty one…I always remember her chewing Blake out when he’d get in her roses.” Rick said with his eyes filled to the brim with sadness. 

Again, the small office was quiet with mourning until Flynn broke the silence.

“Good Lord! Look at the time! I better get home.” 

 Flynn exchanged his goodbyes and walked down the stairs of the office building. Rick watched as he drove his white Honda away from the building in the moonlight.

 Even though Rick’s eyes hung heavy with exhaustion, he walked over to his chestnut-wooded desk and pulled out a beige folder that held little information inside. The top read:

Evidence File: Ray Henson 

With a shuddering sigh, Rick opened the file.

Inside were two photographs. One held an image of a glass of water next to a bottle of Tylenol that sat on a table next to Ray’s living room couch. On the couch sat Ray’s unconscious body.

What was the Tylenol used for? A headache? What would’ve caused that headache? Ray’s corpse showed no evidence that he was knocked unconscious. His body had no wounds on it at all. 

 They knew poison was the cause. Belladonna to be exact.

 The second photo was of a green cocktail that had been tipped over to the side, with little liquid still in it.

The last drink Ray ever drank.

 Ray was a drinker at parties. His wife, Millie, would always get on to him about it. Maybe enough to stop it entirely? No. Millie adored Ray. She wasn’t her happy, optimistic self after he was murdered.

Just like everyone else.

 Rick reached over to the other side of the desk and pulled out another case file. It was marked: 

Evidence File: Millie Henson 

  Like the other file, two photos lived inside. One of a syringe with a teaspoon of blue to dark purple colored liquid inside. The other, of a puncture wound located on the neck with blue veins shown in the affected area. 

 The cause of death was wolfsbane that had been injected into Millie's neck by the murderer. 

Whoever murdered Ray and Millie was they had knowledge of and access to the deadly herbs. 

Well, that’s very comforting to know that people can just go ahead and get access to stuff like that these days.

Rick thought bitterly. 

  Not only did the criminal know about herbs but in covering up a scene as well. They took the syringe with them when they murdered Millie. 

 Where did the drink come from?

A gift? Could someone who was at the house slip something deadly into Ray’s drink while no one was looking?

 Wait a minute…would Blake know about anyone visiting that night Ray was murdered?

 I have to visit Blake!

  Rick got up to grab his car keys but stopped short when he realized what time it was.  

“3 in the morning?!” 

Rick had been so caught up unraveling what happened that he forgot about sleep. He’d have to go in the morning to visit Blake.

~~~

 The next day Rick found himself groggily getting himself out of bed. He check the clock on the side of his nightstand. 11 am.

After Rick had got a breakfast bar and some coffee, he drove over to where Blake was being kept. His Blake’s grandparent’s house.

 He drove into the driveway. Blake was playing with his grandfather, throwing around a baseball.

“Hey Blake! Remember me? I used to come out and help with your baseball games!” Rick explained, trying to be as friendly as possible.

“Oh! Yes, I remember you. You used to be friends with my parents.” 

The young child’s eyes were dull and his voice was unemotional. The boy was obviously struggling with the weight of his grief and it made Rick muster a sad smile.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Rick. Can I get you something to eat or drink?” The boy’s grandpa asked.

“No thank you. I’m here to ask Blake a few questions.”

 Blake’s eyes seemed to look through the detective for what seemed like forever and then finally he nodded. 

 “Now Blake…I want you to try to remember the day your father passed on. Was anyone at the house with him?”

  “No.”

“Did you notice how he got that green drink?”

Blake thought for a moment.

“It was a gift. From someone he worked with.”

Finally. A breakthrough.

This time it was his grandpa who spoke. 

 “Do you know who Blake is?”

He had been listening intently. Ray was his son after all.

Blake gave a sad shake of his head.

 “That’s alright. You helped us a lot today Blake. I bought you something.”

Rick grabbed something out of the passenger seat of his car. It was a Cubs baseball cap. Ray’s favorite team.

 Blake's eyes lit up with pure joy as he put it on his head. 

“Thank you so much!” Blake exclaimed.

Rick gave a smile in return and then drove back to his office to update the file.

~~~

   Once the file was updated he drove to Flynn’s house to tell him all he had learned. The last time Rick had been to his partner’s house was before Ray died three years ago. 

 It feels way longer than that.

 Rick pulled into the driveway and then knocked on Flynn’s. A wide-eyed Flynn answered the door. 

“Why, hello Rick. You look exhausted.” He observed.

“Yes, I stayed up last night working on the case. So anyways, I got Blake to talk. He said that the drink that poisoned Ray came from someone he worked with as a “gift”. Rick explained. “Do you happen to know who Ray could’ve worked with?”

 “Hm. Not off the top of my head but I’ll be looking.” Flynn moved his hand to close the door and Rick noticed something. A stain. Not just any stain but a dark purple stain. Deadly nightshade.

 “Flynn? What’s that?” Rick asked with a trembling voice.

“Why don’t you come inside and I’ll tell you more about the people Ray worked with?” A bitter smile crept onto Flynn’s face.

 Before Rick could move, Flynn’s hand shot out grabbed Rick’s hand, jerking him inside. 

 “Fly-“ Rick’s petrified voice was cut short by a sharp pain that ran up and down Rick’s arm. The syringe that had taken Millie’s life was sticking out of Rick’s arm with the same deadly liquid filled inside.

 “What is that?!” Rick’s arm was turning a sickly blue color.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Flynn chuckled. “Deadly Nightshade. A.K.A Belladonna. Home grown actually. Gardening’s been a hobby of mine for a while.”

 A sad smile slipped onto Flynn’s face.

“Why? Why did you take Blake’s parents from him?” Rick’s voice began to rise in rage. “The little boy is only ten years old and you ripped them away from him! How can you live with yourself?!”

 “The question you should ask is ‘How could Millie live with herself?’. ” Flynn’s voice was eerily soft. “She let her son grow up not knowing his own father. Me. Soon after Blake was born we divorced. I couldn’t raise a child then.

Then I told her to wait. Wait for me to get better, mentally. But she didn’t. Once Blake was three years old, Millie went to my best friend, Ray. I couldn’t bear it. I gained their trust when coaching Blake’s baseball and got close to Ray again. 

So no one would expect it was me. Once they were out of the picture I would finally get my son. So I will soon gain custody. 

Once I get rid of the grandparents of course. Blake has no more living relatives after them.” 

 “You're insane. Do you hear me? INSA-!” Rick felt his legs give away as his vision faded to a blur. Then his breathing went shallow. He wanted to say much more but his speech became slurred and lights of all colors seemed to consume him.

“I’m sorry it had to end this way, Rick.” Flynn’s gaze held pity. “You were a great partner, but you were getting too smart for your good so I guess this is goodbye.”

 The last thing Rick saw was Flynn’s eyes filled with guilt and grief staring down at him.