‘That was the thioridazine?’
Mrs Knight nodded. ‘Yes, and we’d tried a sedative as well but nothing worked.’
‘It was the thioridazine that went missing?’ I asked.
‘Sorry?’ She looked shocked.
‘Miss Donlan said there’s been a row about missing tablets. Dr Goulden as good as accused her of stealing them.’
‘I think there’s been a misunderstanding,’ she said. ‘Dr Goulden was a little brusque. We have to account carefully for all the drugs here and he felt there’d been some laxity. Neither of us realised it at the time but they’d been returned by one of the care assistants.’
She was a lousy liar. A muscle twitched in her cheek and she couldn’t meet my eye.
‘Then why couldn’t Dr Goulden find them on the Tuesday when Miss Donlan was here?’
‘The silly girl had put them on the wrong shelf,’ she replied.
‘Is it common practice to allow all the staff access to the medicine store?’
She swallowed. ‘No, but there are occasions when we may have to do that, When other priorities take precedence.’
Before I could quiz her any more there was a tapping sound at the door and it opened.
‘Mrs Valley-Brown,’ said Mrs Knight, ‘this is…I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?’
‘Kilkenny,’ I said, ‘Sal Kilkenny.’
‘We’ve been having a chat about Mrs Palmer.’
‘Hello.’ She came further into the room. She wore a cherry-red wool suit, matching lipstick and piles of jewellery. Her hair was streaked a dozen different shades and gently curled. She was probably in her fifties though it was hard to tell. Her face was plastered with thick orange foundation though she wore only a trace of eye make-up. No one on earth had ever had skin that colour. It looked like jaundice mixed with sunburn. ‘How is Mrs Palmer?’ She smiled. The red lipstick gave her teeth a yellow cast.
‘Quite subdued,’ I said.
‘They’ll do their very best for her there,’ she said. ‘Dr Montgomery is excellent, isn’t he, Gail?’
Mrs Knight nodded.
‘It was all so quick,’ I began. Hoping to plant a few doubts in one of their minds.
‘It may seem like that,’ said Mrs Knight, ‘but the dementia may have been developing for many months before she came to us.’
I’d been here before. ‘It was more sudden than most, though, wasn’t it? She was only here a few weeks and now she’s in hospital.’
‘We are dealing with people here,’ said Mrs Valley-Brown, ‘such a variety. You know yourself how a common cold can lay one person low but only give another a sniffle. I think in a case like this we must remember to look at the individual, not just the illness.’ She smiled, tilting her head on one side in an attempt to look sympathetic, I think. So where did the platitudes get me? Yes, it was a bit quick but c’est la vie!