‘Right,’ shouted Noah. ‘You choose.’
Harold locked his eyes on Noah and picked one of the cookies that hadn’t fallen on to the carpet. ‘Here you go.’
Everyone watched as Noah polished off the cookie in three bites, opening his mouth to show that it had all been swallowed. Midge was surprised at the amount of fillings he had for someone so meticulous.
‘Could have taken an antidote, of course,’ said Harold.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Noah. ‘Where would I get my hands on arsenic, let alone an antidote?’
‘It’s far more common than you think,’ shrugged Rona. ‘In medicines, household cleaning items, even in those mines out there.’
Midge stared at Noah, who was showing a distinct lack of poisoning symptoms. He was the one who had been adamant all weekend that he wanted to see the experience through to the end. And he certainly had motive enough to recreate the ghost story. But still, something else felt out of place.
‘You said that someone could have been administered arsenic over a period of time, and then it could just take one small dose to kill them?’
Rona nodded.
‘Small like a pill?’ said Midge, a slow feeling of dread inside her. ‘Perhaps a pill that they think is a sleeping pill?’
They all stared at her.
‘Oh my God,’ said Rona, her face white. ‘Gloria!’
Chapter65
They found her sitting up in her bed, just as she was reaching out to take another pill from the small table beside her.
‘Don’t touch it, Gloria!’ shouted Noah, leaping over the bedframe to knock the pill from her hand.
‘What?’ she mumbled, her face grey and clammy. ‘What’s going on?’
‘How many pills have you taken?’ asked Rona, pointing to the remaining white tablets.
‘Mmmf...’ Gloria swayed slightly and held her head, her fringe sticking to the skin. ‘I don’t feel... what is... why are you all here?’
‘Gloria.’ Noah shook her slightly. ‘It’s important. Did you just take another pill before that one?’
Gloria nodded, wincing and putting her hand up to her forehead. ‘My head... it hurts so much.’
‘We need to empty her stomach out,’ said Rona.
The room was hot and humid and filled with the acrid smell of fire embers.
‘How the hell are we going to do that?’ asked Noah.
‘Harold, get some salt,’ said Rona, pointing at him. ‘As much as you can, and pour it into a big beaker of water.’
‘Righto,’ said Harold, sprinting from the room.
‘Sit her up, Midge, if you can.’ Rona grabbed the metal bin from beside the chest of drawers and pulled it over to the bed, where Midge was already struggling to prop up a very unwilling Gloria. She groaned and pulled at her stomach as she resisted the movement.
‘What are you going to do?’ asked Noah when Harold had finally reappeared, out of breath but thankfully with a large glass full of cloudy water in his hand.
‘This isn’t going to be pleasant, Gloria,’ warned Rona. ‘Hold her nose closed, Midge.’
Midge obediently pinched Gloria’s nose, who immediately thrashed about in protest. For such a slight woman, she was certainly stronger than she looked. Hoping that she would be forgiven, Midge used the full force of her weight to pin her legs down. Grabbing Gloria’s chin and pulling her mouth open, Rona began to pour the salty liquid into her throat, holding her mouth closed until she was forced to swallow. Despite Gloria’s squirming, Rona managed to keep it going until the entire glass was empty.
‘What now?’ asked Noah.
