e Godfrey
On The Case
By
Mario V. Farina
Copyright 2016 Mario V. Farina
All Rights Reserved
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[email protected] Detective Godfrey arrived at 1635 Waterview Lane and parked the police van on the circular driveway. She noted that there were already three autos there, but she did not believe her vehicle would cause any inconvenience to any other driver, at least, for a little while. She walked the short distance to the front door, tapped the knocker a couple of times, then opened the door and entered.
Inside, there were several members of the Evidence Detail who apparently were just finishing up. She saw several other people that she assumed were involved with the case and looked for the person who, she felt, could give her the information that she needed.
She noted two women formally dressed in red and yellow gowns. The men were wearing dark suits.
She approached the tall, distinguished looking man, and asked, "are you the owner of the premises?"
"Oh no, I'm Sir Anthony Higginbotham, a guest here this evening. I'm from England. The owner is Mr. Trumble." Pointing to another man, shorter, and more ordinary looking, he continued, "that's Mr. Trumble there. His wife was just taken to the hospital in an ambulance. I believe he's getting ready to leave to go there."
"Thank you, I'm Detective Edna Godfrey," she said. "I'm with the 16th Precinct. Captain Hughes assigned me to this case about half an hour ago. I'll be investigating, and will probably be asking you some questions later."
She hurried to where James Trumble was standing and hastily introduced herself. "I'm from the police. I know you're anxious to go see your wife," she said. "But I need to ask you some questions first."
Mr. Trumble, apparently irritated by the delay, reluctantly agreed to delay his departure. "Tell me what happened," she asked.
"We were having dinner, the soup had just been served by the caterer. Suddenly, my wife became extremely ill, fainted, and fell to the floor. I called 911 instantly and the ambulance came. At the same time, I noted that there was a strange smell coming from the soup, and I made a second call to 911 while waiting for the ambulance. They said they would send someone from the police. I imagine you're the one of the people they sent."
"Yes I think so," responded Detective Godfrey. "Tell me who was present at the time that this happened, and where they were."
Mr. Trumble pointed to a long table set for dinner. At each place there were plates containing soup. "I was seated at the head of the table, my wife, Helen, was at the other end. We had invited Janet and David Grant. Janet was to her left and David to her right. Next to David was Sir Anthony Higginbotham, a guest to the United States under the program, CEP, that stands for Citizens Exchange Program. On the other side of the table, next to Janet was the place that had been set for Mrs. Higginbotham. She had been sitting there only a few minutes before she left saying that she was suffering from a sudden headache. She said she would be all right and drove herself home. The man that you see with the uniform is Alexander. He's a caterer from Bellevue Catering."
"I see the carpet under the table seems to be soaking wet. Is there an explanation for that?"
"Yes, but I don't completely understand what happened. The water came from the bathroom which is in the hallway to the right of where my wife was sitting. The kitchen is there also. We had just begun eating, Helen suddenly noticed that her feet were getting wet. She stood up audibly raising an alarm. It became apparent that water was coming from the bathroom. Sir Anthony rushed there and found that the sink had the cold water running full bore. The sink has an outlet, but it's too small to handle a large flow of water, so the sink was overflowing. He shut the water off and came back to the table. I asked Alexander if he would mind getting some towels to put on the floor so that we could continue eating. He said he would and went off somewhere looking for them. In the meantime, I asked the guests to resume eating while the soup was still hot. It was only a few minutes later that Helen keeled over. Soon after that I noticed that Helen's soup had a strange, strong odor. The people that came over from the police before you did took away samples from all the dishes. I overheard one of them say he thought Helen's dish had been dosed with strychnine or some other strong poison."
"Do you know how the poison get into her dish," Detective Godfrey asked?
"No, I don't."
"Did you do it?"
"No, ma'am! She's my wife!"
"Do you have access to strychnine or any kind of poison?"
"No, ma'am. I'm an electrical engineer. I don't use anything like that in my work!"
"I may want to talk to you again. You're free to leave now. I hope your wife will be OK. Am I blocking you in? "
"No, I'm at the head of the line on the driveway. Thanks for asking. And thanks for the good wishes."
Mr. Trumble left through the front door.
Detective Godfrey approached Sir Anthony. "May I speak to you again for a few minutes, Sir Higginbotham," she asked?
"Not at all, Detective," he responded. "How may I help you?"
"I understand your wife was with you, but she needed to leave suddenly. Tell me about that."
"I'm afraid I'm the cause of that," said Sir Anthony. "We had sat down for dinner, and I noticed something that probably meant nothing. My wife and Mr. Trumble exchanged glances that I thought were more than casual. It's difficult to explain. They seemed to be exchanging secrets through their eyes. I had a sudden twinge of jealousy. I said to her a little too loudly, 'I trust you will enjoy this tryst with your host this evening!'. It was a nasty thing for me to say. There was probably nothing to it. She took umbrage at what I had said, and suddenly declared that she had a headache and needed to get rid of it. She turned to Mr. Trumble and angrily stated that she needed to leave because of illness. Mr. Trumble looked confused but she was gone before he had time to ask even one question. She did not indicate how I should get home after dinner."
"Had you seen anything before this that might indicate there was some justification for your jealousy?"
"Not exactly. There were strange hushed phone calls that Annette made from time to time, wrong numbers when she answered the phone at times, nothing else that I can point to. I don't think there was anything going on between her and Mr. Trumble. I shouldn't have spouted off like a blathering idiot."
"How are you getting home?"
"I'll probably call a taxi."
"There was a problem with water," Detective Godfrey said . "Tell me about that."
"We had just barely started with our soup, when Mrs. Trumble suddenly stood up with a small cry saying that the carpet was all wet. I, Mr. Grant, and the others at the table were confused, wondering what was happening, looking at each other, etcetera. That's when I noticed that the water was coming from the hallway. I ran in that direction and found that it was coming from the washroom. I went in and saw the cold water running full on. The sink was overflowing onto the floor and flowing toward the dining room. I turned the water off and went back to the table. I announced that everything was all right, nothing to worry about. Mr. Trumble said something to the caterer and suggested we resume eating, which we did. In less than a minute, Mrs. Trumble was lying on the floor apparently unconscious. That's when Mr. Trumble made some phone calls to 911."
"How did the water get turned
on like that?"
"I don't know, Detective."
"Did you turn it on?"
"No!"
"Did you notice anything about the soup?"
"Yes, it had a pungent smell. Mine was all right. I can't say about the others."
"Did you taste any of yours?"
"Yes. It was delicious. No unpleasant odor.
"Do you have access to poisonous materials, Sir Anthony," Detective Godfrey asked?
"Blimey, no. We're guests in the States. I dare say it would be rude to bring poison with us. I wouldn't know where to get poisonous materials even if I wanted any!"
"Assuming Mrs. Trumble was poisoned, did you have anything to do with it?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Do you know of anyone that might have had something to do with it?"
"No!"
"Thank you, Sir Anthony. I'm sorry that your visit to our country should be marred by this experience. If you'll excuse me now, I'd like to talk to Mr. Grant."
"Brilliant!"
Detective Godfrey approached Mr. and Mrs. Grant who were involved in an animated, and perhaps unfriendly conversation. "I'm Detective Edna Godfrey from the 16th Precinct," she said. "Do you mind, Mrs. Grant, if I speak to your husband alone for a few minutes?"
"Not at all," she responded and walked away.
"Mr. Grant, I've learned from Sir Anthony that there was a water problem just as everyone had begun eating. Am I correct?"
"Yes there was."
"Sir Anthony told me that as soon as he learned of it, he ran