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Crisis & Catharsis -- Part XII Bo walked into the station, nodding to his officers as he made his way to John’s office, knocking softly on the open door. “Hey John, what’s up?”   John looked up. “Hey, Bo. Come on in. Thanks for coming down.”   Bo walked into his office. “No problem, you said it was important.”   John nodded. “It is.” He handed Bo a file. “Take a look at this.”   Bo took the file and opened it, dropping into the chair in front of John’s desk. He read it quietly before looking up at John. “Poison? Wow, that’s a new one. How did you find out?”   John looked down at his desk. “Michael brought in samples of food the patient was eating. We found traces of Hemlock when we ran the tests.”   Bo nodded. “Is this the patient Michael asked me to help with? He wasn’t supposed to get you involved.”   John smirked. “Mikey’s not too good at keeping secrets. I caught him sneaking in here last night with his bag of goodies. Why would you think I would object to helping?”   Bo looked up from the file. “I put you in charge here while I’m gone. I didn’t want you to compromise that by going around the rules. Since I’m on leave anyway, I figured it would be easier for me to help. This looks serious.”   John watched Bo carefully. “There’s something you don’t know.”   Bo closed the file. “What is it?”   “Michael’s mystery patient is Nora,” John said quietly, watching for Bo’s reaction.   Bo sat up in the chair, trying to control his emotions. “Nora?” John nodded. “Why didn’t he tell me that when he asked for my help?”   John shook his head. “Nora had made it clear to him that you were not to be privy to her medical information. Now it’s a moot point because it’s a police issue.”   Bo looked at John incredulously. “How so?” John looked down at his desk. “Say it, John.” John continued to avoid eye contact and Bo figured it out. “This is not accidental, is it?”   John shook his head. “No question it’s not.”   Bo nodded. “Someone is deliberately poisoning Nora…”   “It appears that way.” John watched him closely, allowing Bo to absorb the news. “You okay?”   Bo shook his head slowly. “I can’t believe this. Does Nora know?”   “Michael called her this morning to get her into the hospital.”   Bo nodded. “I should get over there.” He got out of his chair and turned to leave John’s office. “Thanks for the info.”   John moved to cut him off at the door. “Hold on a minute, Bo. There’s something else you should know.”   ************************   Michael saw Nora come through the doors to the ER. She rushed over to him. “Michael, what’s going on? You said you know what’s causing my dizzy spells.”   Michael took Nora’s arm and propelled her toward an exam room off to the side of the ER. “I’ll explain everything. Let’s get you in here and get started.” Michael nodded to a nurse, who followed him into the exam room, prepared to draw blood from Nora.   Nora sat on the edge of the bed while the nurse quickly and efficiently drew her blood.   “I need the results ASAP,” Michael directed the nurse. She nodded at him as she left the room. Michael turned to Nora, holding up his hands. “I know you have lots of questions. Let me tell you what I know and then you can fire away.”   *****************************   Bo looked back at John. “What is it? I need to get to the hospital.”   John nodded. “This is important. Take a look at the this.” He handed Bo a piece of paper.   Bo looked down, reading out loud. “Cause of the Hemlock poison, cookies found in the victim’s kitchen.” Bo paled. “Cookies?”   John nodded. “Nothing else in the kitchen contained the poison. Only the cookies.”   Bo shook his head. “That’s impossible. Paige baked those cookies.”   John nodded. “Michael said Nora told him that Paige made them.”   Bo continued shaking his head, not believing what he was hearing. “But that’s impossible. I’ve eaten the cookies Paige bakes. I’m fine. Matthew has access to them at Nora’s house, he’s not sick. This makes no sense.”   “I don’t have all the answers, Bo. What I know is the cookies had trace amounts of the poison and that is the cause of Nora’s ongoing problem. It was a small enough dose that it’s probably the long-term exposure that is making Nora sick. When did Paige start baking Nora cookies?”   Bo shrugged. “I have no idea but there is no way Paige would poison Nora. There has to be another explanation.”   John nodded. “How do you want me to handle this?”   “Let me call her. I’ll talk to her and we’ll go from there.”   “Whatever you say, but remember, you’re not on the force at the moment. I’ll follow your lead but you're not official right now.”   Bo nodded. “I understand perfectly. I left you in charge. I’m not looking for special treatment for Paige. It’s just hard for me to believe this.”   John took the paper back from Bo. “I understand. How do you think we should proceed?”   Bo pulled out his cell phone. “Let me call her. I’ll ask her to come in. I want to call Nora too and see what’s happening with her.”   John left the room to give Bo some privacy. He punched some numbers into his phone and got a recording. “Nora, it’s Bo. Please call me on my cell as soon as you get this message.”   Bo disconnected his call and dialed again. Paige answered on the second ring. “Paige, it’s Bo.”   Paige looked around nervously, smiling at some passersby in the park. “Bo! What a surprise. What’s up?”   “Where are you? I need to see you at the police station right away.”   Paige paled. “The police station? I thought you were on leave? What are you doing down there?”   Bo shook his head. “I’ll explain later. Just get down here as soon as you can.”   Paige looked around again. “I’m in the middle of something at the hospital,” she lied.   Bo frowned on his end. “Get someone to cover. This is urgent.”   Paige smiled on her end. “I can’t just leave my patient high and dry, Bo.”   Bo was getting exasperated. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. Find someone to cover and come to the station now, Paige.”   “I’ll do the best I can,” Paige said shortly and snapped her phone shut.   Bo stared at his phone, annoyed that she had hung up on him. He dialed another number quickly. He tapped his fingers on John’s desk as he waited. “Balsom!” he barked into the phone. “I need you to do something for me.”   Rex grinned on his end of the phone. “Commish, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. You must be a busy man. I see your lady friend is all alone waiting for you. Shame on you keeping a pretty lady waiting.”   “You saw Paige?”   Rex nodded. “Just a few minutes ago in the park.”   Bo was immediately on alert. “Where are you now?”   “I’m still in the park. I was cutting through on the way to the club.”   “Okay, I want you to find Paige and watch her. Don’t let her know you’re there, just keep an eye on her. I’ll be right there.”   Rex tried to answer but the line went dead. Bo snapped his phone shut and rushed out of John’s office. He found John in the squad room. “Paige is in the park. She lied and told me she was at the hospital. Let’s go.” Bo rushed out, followed closely by John.   ***************************** Nora stared at Michael, dumbfounded. “Poison? You think poison is what’s causing my dizzy spells?”   Michael nodded, watching her closely. “I believe it’s Hemlock but the blood I just took should give me a definitive answer. Once I get the results, I’ll know how to proceed with treatment.”   Nora let out a breath. “So this is treatable?”   “Absolutely. And now that we know where it’s coming from, you will be fine once we treat you.”   Nora looked at him cautiously. “You found something in all that food Rex took from my house last night?”   Michael nodded. “Yes. I ran tests on it last night at the police station. I got the results first thing this morning. That’s why I wanted to get you in here right away and confirm my suspicions.”   “So where did the poison come from?” Nora asked quietly.   Michael looked away. “We can discuss that later. Let’s just concentrate on getting the results and starting your treatment.”   Nora watched him closely. “Why are you being evasive? Where did the poison come from, Michael? I have a right to know.”   Michael nodded. “Yes, you do.”   ****************************** Rex peered through the bushes, watching Paige. She had been pacing back and forth since he had doubled back to watch her as Bo requested. She was obviously waiting for someone. Rex looked at his watch. Bo should be here soon, he thought. He glanced back up as someone approached Paige.   “Nice to see you’re prompt.” Spencer said as he walked up behind Paige.   She jumped slightly, turning to him with a smile. “Spencer! You shouldn’t sneak up on me like that,” Paige hissed.   Spencer grinned at her. “Jumpy today?”   Paige looked around nervously. “Let’s just get this over with.” She reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope, handing it to him.   Spencer looked at the cashier’s check inside the envelope. “There seems to be a zero missing. Are you deficient in math?”   Paige glared at him with a smile. “That’s all I could get right now. I thought you could look at is as a show of good faith.”   Spencer sneered at her. “Good faith won’t get you very far. Your boyfriend has money to burn. I suggest you figure out how to get it out of him.”   Paige shook her head. “I can’t get just keep asking Bo for money. He was already suspicious when I asked him for this.”   Spencer tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket. “I’m sure you can think of something. You’ve gotten this far with him, he seems pretty oblivious to your true nature.”   Paige was about to respond when Bo walked up, followed closely by John. “Paige, I need to speak to you.”   Paige smiled nervously. “Bo! What are you doing here?”   Bo frowned. “I told you to come to the station immediately. You said you were with a patient at the hospital and here you are at the park with Spencer?”   Spencer smiled casually at Bo. “I was just strolling along and happened upon Paige. She didn’t mention that you had asked her to be at the station. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to settle this.   As Spencer moved to brush past Bo, Rex emerged from the bushes where he had been watching the interaction between Spencer and Paige. “Don’t let him leave, Commish. She just paid him off for something. I saw an envelope that he tucked in his jacket pocket. Go ahead and look for yourself.”   Bo grabbed Spencer by the arm, stopping his retreat. “That true, Spencer?”   Spencer shook his arm free of Bo’s grasp. “I have no idea what he’s talking about. I was just taking a walk in the park and bumped into Paige. End of story.”   Bo nodded. “Then you won’t mind opening your jacket.”   Spencer smirked. “And if I don’t?”   John stepped forward. “Then we take this little circus down to the station and settle it there.”   Paige moved in front of Bo. “This is crazy. I didn’t give him anything.” She pretended to pout, smiling at Bo. “Don’t you believe me?”   Bo shook his head. “Right now I don’t know what to believe. John is in charge here, and I agree he should take this down to the station.”   Spencer turned to John. “That won’t be necessary, I’m always happy to cooperate with law enforcement.” He pulled open his jacket revealing the envelope.   Rex grinned. “Told ya, Commish.”   Paige paled. “That doesn’t mean I gave it to him,” she whined.   Bo moved and grabbed the envelope out of Spencer’s jacket pocket, opening it and sliding out the cashier’s check. Bo looked at Paige. “$20,000? The same amount you asked me for this morning for hospital equipment.”   Paige saw an opening. “That’s right,” she smiled. “Spencer was going to help me with acquiring the machine. You see, it’s all very innocent.”   John shook his head. “Nothing innocent here. Everybody comes with me down to the station.”   Rex patted Bo on the back. “Nice work, Commish. And you’re not even on the force anymore. I’ll be in touch.”   Rex started to walk away when John grabbed him by the collar. “You too, Balsom. I’ll need a statement from you about what you saw and heard. Let’s go.”   Bo walked over toward John. “You got this?” John nodded. “Good, I need to get over to the hospital to check on Nora. Get statements from Spencer and Balsom. I’ll deal with Paige.”   John nodded. “Fine by me. I’ll see what I can get out of these clowns. Give Nora my best.”   Bo shook hands quickly with John and hurried off. Paige tried to get Bo’s attention but he brushed past her without a word.   ***********************   Nora looked at Michael expectantly. “Well? Are you going to answer my question or not? What was I eating that had poison in it?”   Michael was about to answer when the door swung open and the nurse handed Michael a file. “Thank you Nancy,” Michael said as he opened the file, grateful for the respite from Nora’s questions.   Nora watched him closely as he read the report. “What does it say?”   Michael looked up. “It’s definitely Hemlock. Trace amounts, which is why you’ve been feeling dizzy but not suffering more severe symptoms.”   “What do we do now?”   Michael snapped the file closed speaking to the nurse. “Because of the potential length of contamination, I’m going to start with activated charcoal. I also want to start an IV and monitor Potassium levels.”   The nurse hurried from the room to follow through with Michael’s request.   Nora turned to Michael. “Are you saying we caught this in time?”   Michael nodded. “Yes, we did. And because you ingested small amounts, it was difficult to detect. You never were exposed to high enough doses that your symptoms were obviously coming from Hemlock. But now that we know what’s causing your problems, we can treat you and get you out of here.”   Nora looked at him closely. “You still haven’t told me where the poison came from.”   Michael nodded. “I know.”   “So?” Nora prodded. “Come on, doc, out with it. How did the poison get in my system?”   TBC