Hearing this, Jonah Sutton smiled. "Mr. Winslow can't eat spicy food, so he never touches these things."
"He can't eat spicy food?" Shalma Hughes asked in surprise. "Why not?"
"Mr. Winslow has gastritis. He gets a fever whenever he eats anything spicy, so his diet has always been very bland," Jonah replied.
It was then that it dawned on Shalma. She remembered that time in Eldoria, at Miss Laura's house. That night, she had left her room to grab a bite from the kitchen and ran into him. He was running a fever that very night... Her thoughts continued to rewind.
She remembered acting on a whim to help Miss Laura cook, ending up with a completely unrecognizable plate of fish-flavored shredded pork. Although she had polished off most of it herself, he had taken a few bites as well...
She had always loved spicy food, so against Miss Laura's advice, she had dumped a heavy handful of chili peppers into the dish.
So, she was the culprit behind his fever that night.
