Page 136 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Airtight

“But that wasn’t the end of it. If I wouldn’t do Semotech’s
bidding, then she said they would find a way to expose my
connection with them at some point during the confinement which
would cause maximum damage to the project. I agonized over it, and
finally decided that the best way to handle it would be to pretend to
acquiesce to their demand, and then do nothing. They would have no
way of knowing whether or not I had been a good little saboteur until
the year was up, and then there would be nothing to find. What could
they do to me? It was a bit of a strain going through the experiment
with you, mindful constantly of the duplicity in which I was
involved.”
Larry Kapil shook his head. “You poor kid. What an awful burden
to bear. And yet you remained loyal to us.”
She lifted her head. “Yes, I did. I’m glad I did, and I don’t care
who knows the truth now.”
“You mean, like that lady detective out there?”
“Yes, she knows everything. I thought she was just going to
question me about food preparation in the Anthropod kitchen; that
was one of my jobs, after all, and the poison was in Laurel’s beverage.
I explained that all of us had access to the supply room—not to pass
the blame, of course, but Laurel did prepare her own cup of Ovaltine.
Others will attest to that, of course.” She looked around the room
hopefully.
“I can,” said Toro Batrakian. “I saw her spoon the stuff into her
mug and add the hot water.”
“Oh, thank you, Toro,” said Blanche, gazing at him with her great
big moony eyes. Was she falling for him? The dumb guy virtually
oozed sex appeal. I had pegged her for a career-girl misanthropist,
certainly not a potential victim of schoolgirl crushes.
Waldo was unimpressed. “How did the detective find out about
you?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe just digging into my sordid past. Or it could
be a tip from the Semotech people. The news is probably out on Dr.
Reath’s death, by now. Semotech might be worried I assassinated her
at their behest; if that were the case, they would want to deny it as
quickly as possible.”

135