Say Goodbye

TWENTY-EIGHT

“THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF POISONOUS SPIDERS IN the United States,” USDA arachnologist Carrie Crawford-Hale was explaining. “First is the Lactrodectus mactans or black widow, known for the bright red markings on her abdomen. Only the females bite, generally only when harassed. The second poisonous spider is the Loxosceles reclusa, or brown recluse, known for the violin-shaped marking on its back. Both males and females are equally toxic. Fortunately, they’re very shy, sedentary spiders who prefer to stay tucked behind woodpiles rather than intermingle with humans. Even then, there’s at least a dozen bites reported a year, some with serious consequences.”

“Define serious,” Sal spoke up. He stood close to the door and about as far away from Crawford-Hale and her microscope as he could get. A mounted scorpion was to his right; some kind of giant black beetle with enormous claws directly above his head. The GBI special agent looked tired, haggard, and nervous as hell.

In contrast, Kimberly was trying to figure out if it was polite to ask if she could peer through the microscope. She’d never seen molted spider skin at 10x magnification before. According to Harold, it was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, Crawford-Hale’s office was roughly the size of a janitor’s closet, already overflowing with equipment, filing cabinets, and jarred and mounted specimens. Harold and her family had had to wait outside. Shame, because Quincy probably would enjoy what the arachnologist had to say.

“The venom of the Loxosceles reclusa contains an enzyme that necrotizes the flesh of the victim.” Crawford-Hale adjusted the microscope as she shifted from right to left. “To protect against the venom, the body walls off the arteries around the bite. The skin, starved of blood, begins to die, turning black and sloughing off. I’ve seen pictures of open wounds anywhere from the size of a quarter to a half dollar. In some cases, it’s a small reaction that clears up in weeks. Other times, an entire limb might swell up and it can take months, even a year, to fully recover. The variation seems to have to do more with the response from the victim’s own immune system than from the potency of the particular spider. Basically, some people are more sensitive than others.”

Sal appeared horrified. He’d already eaten this morning, judging by the smudge of ketchup on his dark gray lapel and the pervasive odor of hash browns coming from his suit. At the moment, however, it looked like breakfast wasn’t agreeing with him.

He shifted farther away from Crawford-Hale, shaking out both arms as if feeling something crawling up his skin. “How do you know how sensitive you are?”

“First time you get bit, you learn.” Crawford-Hale straightened up at the microscope. “I’m ninety percent certain this is a Loxosceles reclusa. You can still make out the upside-down violin shadowing the carapace; then there’s the light brown color, the thin, almost delicate body. A more definitive diagnostic feature is the eyes-brown recluses have a semicircular arrangement of six eyes in three groups of two, while most other spiders have eight eyes. I can’t make out that level of detail from this molting, but I’m still relatively confident in my classification.”

“Aren’t brown recluses common in Georgia?” Kimberly asked with a frown.

“Absolutely. The southern states, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma-we’re lousy with brown recluses. I got a case three months ago where a family reported an infestation. I collected three hundred specimens in the first three hours. Interestingly enough, no one in the family was ever bitten. Spiders really aren’t interested in taking on creatures that can squish them with one move of their big toe.

“Of course, then there’s Southern California, which is grappling with the Loxosceles laeta, a species of recluse that came from Chile, Peru, and Argentina. If the venom of the reclusa is a cup of tea, then the venom of the laeta is a double shot of espresso.”

“Another reason not to live in California,” Sal murmured. He’d finally spotted the scorpion mounted beside him. He turned to give it his back, only to discover the next mounted specimen-a cockroach of truly incredible size-staring at him nose to nose.

“I don’t get it.” Kimberly was still puzzling it out. “Why would a spider enthusiast collect a specimen as common as the brown recluse, especially given that it’s venomous and thus difficult to manage?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say brown recluses are difficult to manage,” Crawford-Hale corrected immediately. “They’re some of the only spiders that can be raised communally. And there’s not an aggressive instinct among them. Provide a terrarium with plenty of dark places to hide-leaves, stones, tree bark-drop in a few crickets every week, and they’d probably live quite contentedly.”

“So…spider enthusiasts do collect them?”

The arachnologist considered the matter. “Have you ever heard of the Spider Pharm?”

“Umm, no.”

“It’s a facility out in Arizona where they raise spiders to milk for venom-”

“They what?” Sal interrupted, horrified look back on his face.

“Milk them for venom,” Crawford-Hale supplied. “Think about it: The venom from a single spider can contain nearly two hundred compounds, including substances that can dissolve flesh and short-circuit the nervous system. How great would it be to be able to analyze and duplicate some of these compounds for the pharmaceutical industry? It’s cutting-edge science.”

“They milk the spiders?” Sal asked again.

“They have a special machine,” Crawford-Hale stated breezily. “I haven’t gotten to do it myself, but apparently they use tweezers wired with an electrical stimulator. A very low dose of electrical shock is transmitted to the spider, which makes its venom gland contract. A droplet forms on the spider’s fang which is caught in a glass tube. Doesn’t hurt the spider, but does generate lots of venom for study. Now, at a place like the Spider Pharm, believe me, they collect, breed, and house plenty of Loxosceles reclusa.”

“What about a more general enthusiast?” Kimberly asked. “We believe the subject has several tarantula specimens and at least one black widow.”

Crawford-Hale shrugged. “Honestly, collectors are collectors. I went to school with a guy who found a black widow outside the dorms, so he caught it and turned it into a pet. Then, to feed the black widow, he started raising crickets. Next thing he knew, the black widow died and he was the owner of two hundred crickets. So now he farms crickets for various pet stores. Maybe you and I wouldn’t do such a thing, but it works for him.”

“How would a collector get a brown recluse?” Kimberly pressed. “Is that a specimen he would buy online, like the tarantulas, or maybe a specialized market?”

“Around here?” The arachnologist arched a brow. “He could probably just go down to his basement. Or his woodpile. Or check under rocks when hiking in the woods-”

“Hiking?”

“Sure, the brown recluses live outside year round in Georgia.”

“As in the Chattahoochee National Forest?”

“I’m sure you can find them there.”

Kimberly sighed, worried her lower lip. She turned to Sal. “So the spider casting might not have anything to do with his collection at all. Might just be another bit of debris that became stuck to his boot when hiking around the Chattahoochee.”

“He could’ve picked up the spider casting from hiking in the woods,” Crawford-Hale said. She added thoughtfully, “One thing, though: Brown recluses are notoriously shy. They retreat to dark, hidden places at the best of times, let alone when they are molting, which is a time of extreme stress for a spider. Chances are, your suspect didn’t come across this casting walking along a main trail. Much more likely he was bushwhacking, someplace remote, without a lot of people.”

“Someplace you’d hide a body,” Kimberly muttered.

“That would be your expertise, not mine,” the arachnologist said. “Anything else I can do for you?”

Kimberly had to think about it. The conversation had not been as illuminating as she had hoped. Judging by the look on Sal’s face, he felt the same.

She couldn’t come up with any more questions. Instead, she stuck out her hand, thanking Crawford-Hale for her time. Sal followed suit.

“If we ever encounter a real-live brown recluse,” he asked at the last minute, “what should we do?”

“Hold very still.”

Sal shook his head. “Man, how can you do this, analyze eight-legged insects day in and day out? I’d have the creepy crawlies all of the time.”

“Oh, spiders aren’t insects,” Crawford-Hale corrected him. “Insects have six legs. Spiders have eight. Spiders eat insects. It’s a big difference.”

Not to Sal. “I don’t like spiders,” he stated flatly as he and Kimberly exited the office, then journeyed down the basement corridor, awash in buzzing fluorescent lights.

“Look on the bright side: At least they’re smaller than rattlesnakes.”

“Rattlesnakes? What were you doing with rattlesnakes?”

“Playing hopscotch,” she informed him. “Trust me, it didn’t work.”

They made it to the end, climbing up the stairs, then finally pushing through the glass door into the blinding sunlight. Harold, Quincy, and Rainie were waiting patiently in the parking lot, Harold’s lanky frame folded cross-legged on the hood of Kimberly’s car, Quincy and Rainie standing beside him.

“Good news?” Harold spoke up hopefully.

Kimberly shrugged. “The casting belongs to a brown recluse, which around here isn’t much different than finding a ladybug. Whoop-de-doo.”

Her father arched a brow.

“It’s a technical term,” she assured him.

“What are you going to do?” he asked quietly.

Kimberly looked at Sal. “Still no sign of Ginny Jones?” she asked.

He checked his cell phone for messages. “Nope.”

Kimberly had gone straight to Ginny’s address after receiving Sal’s call. She concurred with his initial assessment: no evidence of breaking and entering, no sign of a violent struggle. The tiny apartment appeared to have been quickly and crudely packed up, dusty imprints indicating where precious items once had been, everything else left behind.

In the bedroom, half under the bed, Kimberly had found a copy of Good Housekeeping’s Guide to Pregnancy. One more little detail to torture her late at night.

A BOLO had been issued for Ginny and her vehicle, while pictures of her and Dinchara were being circulated among the uniformed officers. Eight hours later and still counting, it was a waiting game.

“And still no task force,” Kimberly supplied with a sigh, before adding drily, “Though my supe is encouraging us to cooperate with Alpharetta on the matter of Tommy Mark Evans’s murder.”

“Have you spoken to the lead investigator?” Quincy spoke up.

“Not yet. Been kind of busy, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“It would be interesting to know if they recovered any shoe impressions from the crime scene,” Quincy commented.

“Oh, to be so lucky,” she agreed.

“And in the meanwhile?” her father prodded.

Kimberly shrugged, regarding Sal again with his rumpled suit and sallow, sleep-deprived features. If he found this killer, would that allow him to finally forgive himself for standing by helplessly while his father beat his mother? And if she helped him, would that make it easier for her to visit Arlington and place flowers on her mother’s and sister’s graves?

They were both chasing the impossible. And even knowing it, they couldn’t stop.

“We have another lead,” she said.

“What?”

“The gold on Dinchara’s boot. According to Harold, it probably came from the Dahlonega area. We could take a little field trip, circulate our composite sketch of Mr. Dinchara. If he’s an avid hiker who spends a lot of time in that area, maybe someone will recognize him.”

Sal brightened immediately. “Let’s do it!”

And her father said, without missing a beat, “Naturally, we’ll join you.”