“Sujin has discovered that Daisy, and Sergeant Varma, both suffered from botulinum poisoning after eating some of Mrs Skinner’s hot sauce.”
Beside Keya, Aurora gasped.
“Aah” cried Doreen, sounding like a wounded animal.
The inspector pressed on. “After Sergeant Varma was admitted to hospital and her illness was diagnosed, Sujin tested everything she’d eaten, including the hot sauce in the fridge at Mill House. It tested positive for the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which produces the poisonous toxin.”
“What were you doing at Mill House?” Aurora whispered.
“My job,” Keya murmured, noting that Aurora hadn’t asked about her stint in hospital.
“But Daisy doesn’t eat hot sauce,” Ashley protested.
“What?” cried Doreen. “Then who does?”
“Me,” Theo answered quietly. Everyone sat still as they listened to him. “I’m the one who likes the sauce, and Zoe sometimes when she’s eating with us. But last Sunday I didn’t have any, because of the curry I’d eaten the night before, but Zoe and I dared Daisy to try it. And she did.” Theo gulped and blinked his eyes.
“Exactly,” Inspector Evans continued. “And I’m afraid that proved fatal.”
“But Daisy died on the summer solstice,” Dora piped up in a thin voice. “I saw her dancing round the fire the evening before and thought how carefree and happy she looked.” Dora sounded both wistful and jealous.
Sujin coughed. “If I may, Inspector?”
“Go ahead, Sujin.”
“Botulism, or botulinum poisoning, happens sometime after ingesting the toxins. On average, twenty-four to thirty-six hours after, but it can be four hours, or eight days. Indeed, there are recorded cases where the source of the poisoning can be traced back to thirty days before the symptoms became apparent.”
“Which means it is logical for Daisy to have eaten something containing the toxins on Sunday lunchtime, and to have died on Tuesday night,” considered Dr Reid.
“That’s correct,” Sujin agreed.
Next to Keya, Aurora was fidgeting. Then she blurted, “But why did you give Daisy and Theo a bottle of contaminated sauce, Doreen? And what about the others on sale at the Rollright Stores? Are they also deadly?”
Several people, including Doreen and Dora, winced.
“I did not give my own daughter a bottle of contaminated sauce. And there is nothing wrong with the ones I sell through Mrs Reid’s store. Don’t go spreading rumours that there is, Aurora. Or that I deliberately poisoned my daughter. He must have put something in the bottle. That’s why he didn’t have any,” Doreen sobbed, as she pointed a finger at Theo.
“Why do you think Theo harmed Daisy?” asked Keya in a quiet voice.
Doreen gulped back sobs. “Who else would have wanted to? He took her away from her family.”
“But that’s not true, is it, Dennis?” Keya stared at Daisy’s unkempt father. “You threw her out. Theo was the one who provided her with a place to live. Who supported her. From all that I’ve seen and heard, Theo and Daisy were about to start on a bright future together. And start a family.”
Doreen sobbed louder and Zoe cried out before curling up in a ball on her chair.
Viv placed a comforting arm around her.
Beside Keya, Aurora made a harrumphing sound before she declared, “I don’t understand about the sauce. Doreen says there was nothing wrong with it when there clearly was. I don’t suppose you can inject the poison into a bottle?”
Sujin considered the remark before replying, “I suppose you could, but not this bottle. The toxins were part of the mixture and had clearly originated with the production process.”
Aurora turned to Doreen and said, “So you did give Daisy a bottle of poisoned sauce.”
“No, I didn’t,” Doreen protested vehemently. “I’m well aware that botulism can come from improperly prepared vegetables. That’s why I threw away one mixture this year. I was bottling it and realised it was all gassy. That’s a sign something is wrong.”
Doreen turned to Dora and said, “You were with me when it happened. Don’t you remember? I was furious that I’d wasted an entire batch and I’d have to start again.”
“I’m not sure,” Dora replied, blushing and fidgeting with her hands.
“What did you do with the wasted batch?” Keya asked Doreen.
Doreen sighed. “I had to throw it all away, and empty the bottles I’d already filled …” Her voice trailed off and she screwed her face up in concentration.
“What is it?” Keya probed gently.
“I thought at the time that I was a bottle short. That I’d filled two and whilst pouring the mixture into the third, I realised it wasn’t right. But I only emptied and sterilised two bottles.”
“So what happened to the third?” Inspector Evans demanded as Keya’s attention was drawn back to Dora.
The thin, grey-haired woman, who Keya knew had a defiant, jealous side to her, had pinned her arms across her stomach. She was still flushed and looked exceedingly uncomfortable. And of course, she was there when Doreen was bottling the mixture.
“Dora,” Keya said in a clear, no-nonsense tone. “Did you take a bottle of the spoiled hot sauce?”
“Yes,” squealed Dora. “But I didn’t give it to Daisy.” Her face and her voice hardened as she admitted, “I wanted to. I thought about it. With her and Theo out of the way, I could move back to Mill House. To my beloved garden.”
“Dora!” Aurora admonished.
Dora’s voice became high pitched again as she protested, “But I didn’t. I knew it was wrong. Not Christian-like behaviour.” She used her arms to hug herself.
“But you did take a bottle?” Keya confirmed.
Dora nodded.
“So, where is it now?”
“On a shelf in the storeroom at the shop.”
Dr Reid gasped.
“I meant to throw it away,” Dora wailed. “But I didn’t get round to it. I’ll do it as soon as this meeting is over.”
Beside Inspector Evans, Dr Reid had an ashen pallor.
“What’s wrong, Dr Reid?” Keya asked.
“I picked a bottle off the storeroom shelf and gave it to Ashley after he dropped a bottle in the shop. It made a dreadful mess. Stained the floor, didn’t it Dora? I know you’ve tried several times to scrub it clean.”
Ashley’s face became as red as a bottle of the infamous hot sauce. “I did drop a bottle. But it wasn’t from the shelf. It was the one Doreen gave me to give to Daisy.”
