Monica touched the back of his neck.

"Hey, your fingers are wet." He wiped off the back of his neck with his palm.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I just had a coke, guess the condensation was still on my fingers. How are you?"

Matthew pulled her close. "I'm great." He kissed her neck, working his way to her lips.

Monica returned the kiss and smiled. "I have a feeling you won't be feeling so great in a minute or two," she said sweetly.

Matthew gave her a puzzled look. "Why are you wearing gloves....?" He grabbed the edge of his desk as pain shot to the top of his head. "What did you do?" He just got the words out before he fell to the floor and went into convulsions.

Monica watched him until he went still. She stepped over the body and left the way she had come.
**********

Chief of Police, Rob Mitchell's, cell phone rang.

"This is Rob."

"Hey, boss." It was Martin Robinson, his lieutenant. "We got another dead body. This one's at the herb shop on main. Matthew Whiting, the shop owner, was found dead by an employee this morning."

"Okay, Lieutenant. I'll meet you there. The body count in this town has gone up lately."

"That it has, boss."

Sarah was doing better and sleeping. He told the nurse how to get a hold of him if needed. He'd be out on a call and be back as soon as he could.

He kissed Sarah on the forehead and left.
**

"What do you know so far, lieutenant?"

"Coroner seems to think it's poison. It could be accidental. Some of the herbs here are poisonous. He's been dead about an hour."

"Anyone see anything? Anyone coming or going? Any cameras?"

"We've just started canvasing nearby shops to find out if anyone was around. There is a camera, but no video, so nothing to look at. How is Sarah?" Martin inquired.

"She's doing better. They think it could be food poisoning. She had lunch yesterday with Monica Landers, she's the Jag lady. We are supposed to go to her home for a dinner party tonight. When I told her Sarah was sick and may need to go to the ER, she asked if I could come alone. I thought that was insensitive. Who does that?"

"I've heard she is pretty self-centered. Spoiled rich. She hasn't made a great impression on most of the townsfolk."

"Well, I'm not too impressed myself."

"Speaking of Miss. Landers, I heard she was seeing Matthew. Kind of weird that Sarah had lunch with her and is sick and now Matthew may be dead of poisoning." Martin placed his hands on his hips and stared at his boss with a look that said. 'This needs looking into.'

"Maybe you better have the hospital check Sarah for poisons. Ask the Doc which kinds. I also found out that Miss. Landers was in the office of our dead guy in the park, Lonnie, several times. And the guy in the car fire, William Myers, who it turns out was shot. Seems he is connected to her too. He lost his job because of her. She seems to be involved with a lot of dead people."

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Nope, not kidding, boss."

"How did you know about the lawyer getting fired? No, don't tell me. Your cousin on the force in Bozeman."

"Comes in handy having law enforcement in the family."

Rob smiled and nodded. "Find out everything you can about Miss. Landers."

"Already on it."

Rob returned to the hospital and found Sarah feeling much better and talking to the doctor.

"Hi. The doctor is telling me I was poisoned. And not food poisoning. I'm a bit freaked out. I hope it was nothing in the bakery. Just what I'd need, to poison a bunch of townspeople."

"I don't think it's in the bakery. I was just at the herb shop. The owner was found dead this morning. It seems he was poisoned and he dated Monica Landers."

Sarah's eyes got wide. "You don't think she poisoned me? I've had the feeling she doesn't like me, but would she try to kill me? That's crazy."

"I think we may be dealing with a crazy. Every dead body in the past few weeks is in some way connected to her. Even the guy in the car fire between here and Bozeman. She got him fired from his job. Martin's cousin is on the force in Bozeman and told him."

"What is wrong with me that I seem to attact crazy people?"

Rob took her hand. "Thank God you only got sick. Martin's digging into Monica's life to see what else we find. You don't just all of a sudden start killing people."

"You need to request a raise for Martin."

Rob nodded. "Did they say when you can go home? If you have to stay another night, I'm posting a guard at the door and spending the night."