Secret Prey

I…

Believe what you want, Sherrill said gently. But just let us look. If were wrong, no harm has been done.

The bomb squad went in with sniffer equipment, found nothing. They checked the furnace and gas water heater for tampering or gas leaks. Nothing there either.

Pills, Lucas said. What kind of pills do you take? Aspirin? Something in capsules, I think…

Prozac, she said. I take Prozac.

Where do you keep it? Sherrill asked.

In my bedroom.

She got the bottle of Prozac and they poured the pills out on a clean garbage bag on the kitchen table. One of the crime scene techs had a hand glass, and Lucas used it to look at the capsules. After a minute, he shook his head. I dont see anything.

We do have aspirin, she said. Not in capsules, though.

We could take a look, Lucas said.

And Ive got some antibiotics left over from a cold last winter. And therere some of those timed cold pills; now those are capsules, I think.

Well take them all, Lucas said. The problem is, we dont want anything Connie would take. How about food? Is there any food that is absolutely yours, that Connie wouldnt eat?

Ive got some of that diet drink, but the cans are sealed…

We better take a look, Lucas said.

Look: Ive got to get back to work, she said. Since its not a bomb, maybe we could do it this evening?

I suppose, Lucas said. Jesus: its gotta be something.

Unless youre wrong about her.

Im not wrong, Lucas said. Ive got…

He heard the tinny music in the back of his head, but didnt react until he noticed Helen looking at her purse, a peculiar expression on her face. What? he asked.

Thats my pillbox, she said. I keep a pillbox in my purse, its got a little alarm clock so I always take my pill at the same time every day. I just filled it up this morning.

Lucas picked up the purse, clicked it open, found the pillbox. The box was playing My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.

Push the button to stop it, Helen said, as the two guys from the crime scene crew stepped up to Lucas to look at the box. Lucas carried it into the kitchen, dumped it on the garbage bag.

Gimme the glass, he said.

He spotted the pill in a half-second: Got it.

No. Helen didnt believe it.

That goddamn pill has been messed with, Lucas said. He handed the glass to the crime scene man. What do you think?

The crime scene man squinted through the glass: And guess what? Theres nothing better in the world than gelatin for picking up a fingerprint.

Theres a print? Lucas asked.

A piece of one, anyway, the crime scene man said. Gimme a Ziploc, somebody.

No, Helen said. No.

They pulled the capsule apart with forks, avoiding what appeared to be a fingerprint smudge. White powder spilled out. Lucas pulled apart one of the Prozac capsules from the bottle. Its different stuff, he said.

The lead crime scene tech got down close to the table, an inch from the white powder, barely inhaled, then straightened up, wiping his nose.

What? asked Lucas.

Almonds, the tech said. That stuff is cyanide.