“You’re my first amatoxin poisoning, but from what I’ve read, it’s normal and will probably last for a few days.”
“Oh, joy.”
“I’m going to go ahead and call this in. If you need anything, let me or one of the nurses know,” he said.
“I think I’m okay for right now, but maybe I could get something for nausea before you and Gabby leave.”
“Oh, I’m not leaving,” Patch said. “Gabby went home a little while ago, but I’m spending the night in the call room. It’s been enough time since your last dose, so you can have it whenever you’re ready.”
“Thank you,” Daphne said and raised her hand to wipe tears from her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she sniffled. “I tend to get weepy when I don’t feel good. It’s incredibly annoying, but it’s nothing to worry about.”
“All right, I’ll be back in a bit,” Patch said and left the room.
Daphne continued to sniffle, so I handed her a tissue. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. I just hate being sick, and this feels awful.”
“Take the medicine when you can. Maybe you can sleep through most of it.”
“That is a brilliant idea.”
“Do you want me to ask Patch to get you some now?”
“No, I want to be awake when the police get here. I’ll ask for some after they leave.”
“Are you sure? It might take a while for them to get here?”
Someone knocked on the door before she had a chance to answer.
“Come in,” I said and was surprised to see the sheriff enter the room.
“Chuck,” I said and walked over to shake his hand. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“After the fire, I left specific instructions for any calls regarding Daphne to come straight to me,” he said and turned his attention to Daphne. “Hi, I’m Chuck Turner. I didn’t get a chance to meet you during the arson call, and I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances.”
“Daphne Clark,” she said and shook his hand.
“He’s the sheriff,” I added.
“Either this is really bad, or I’m getting special treatment,” Daphne said.
“It’s a little of both,” Chuck replied kindly. “Phoenix is a good friend of mine, and this is a complex case.”
“I appreciate you handling this yourself. I’m sorry you were called out at such a late hour.”
“No need to apologize. Now, tell me what happened.”
He listened intently and jotted a few notes while Daphne told him what happened.
“I know you’ll have to speak to the Potters about this, but please tell them I know they didn’t send the cookies. They’vebeen my favorite clients so far, and I don’t want to offend them or hurt their feelings.”
“You’re sure it’s not them?”
“Absolutely. It didn’t occur to me earlier, but they’d already sent me a thank you gift. It was a bottle of my favorite wine. Plus, the recent series of unfortunate events started before I met the Potters,” she explained.