That could not be good. If nothing else, it meant R&R were hacking into the sheriff’s files again.
He opened up the report but talk of the short half-life of cyanide requiring toxicological detection within hours of exposure...volatility and reactivity leaving measurements highly susceptible to error...elevated blood lactate often related to myocardial infarction...left him with a headache.
His phone rang with Evie’s number, thank heavens. “Give me simple words,” he answered.
Understanding his demand, she replied, “Iddy says they waited too long to do tests, and they’re guessing based on general observation and a possible trace of almonds in the limoncello glass.” Iddy was Evie’s veterinarian cousin who knew about a lot more than dogs.
“Almonds?” His brain kicked in and he remembered almonds contained cyanide and the poison often gave off an almond smell. “You can’t poison anyone with almonds.”
“Probably not, but the almonds KK ate that night would explain any odor on her breath, had anyone detected it. But her boyfriend leapt in to give her CPR, everyone else backed off, so no one reported anything suspicious.”
Jax studied the report a little closer. “So they really don’t have proof because they waited too late to do testing. Is the sheriff following up?”
“After what Pris told him, he’s looking around, but the state cops don’t buy mind reading. They won’t help unless he comes up with motive, at least. The victim wasn’t local, and no one is screaming for justice.”
“Except us,” Jax added with a sigh. That’s how they always got mixed up in these things. People died. No one cared—except Evie, who had a bad habit of listening to ghosts. One had to wonder how many murders went undetected elsewhere. “If nothing else, we have to lay Katherine’s spirit to rest and get her out of the house. What’s with Ariel’s bankruptcy claim?”
“I’ll leave that to you. I think she’s preparing a report based on hacked bank accounts and worksheets I’m not about to look at, but it has something to do with La Bella Gente and cash flow.”
“Okay, but I can’t look into licensing laws and cyanide and bankruptcy at the same time. Leave me the licensing laws. You’re heading up another unprofitable creek with Katherine, so I’ll leave that on you.”
“We made money off Granny!” she protested, naming a former client. “Not a lot, maybe, but the feds came through with payment for Rube’s reports, and Gump paid our bill. It’s more money than I make dog walking.”
Her last few Sensible Solutions cases had made a small profit. He wanted her to be happy. “If Ariel is saying La Bella Gente is bankrupt, you might not get paid this time.”
“If nothing else, we have to get that nasty reporter off Pris and Larraine. She’ll be blowing the cyanide thing totally out of proportion. Is there a legal way to look into Jane Lawson or should I set Reuben and Roark on her?”
“I can look up court records and such. I doubt I’ll find much.” Jax already had inquiries in. The so-called reporter rubbed him the wrong way, but he preferred staying off her radar.
“I love you!” And she punched off.
Maybe he’d ask her mother if Evie would like a ring. His magic genie never wore jewelry, though, so he was guessing she would prefer a murderer wrapped up in ribbons and bows.
Or a nasty reporter hung out to dry, he thought when the phone rang again and he recognized the number.
Fourteen: Pris
Italy
Pris snatchedup the keys to the Fiat from a basket near the door. She ought to feel guilty for taking advantage of Dante’s pain and hospitality. She didn’t. She wasn’t sneaking. She’d announced where she was going.
Actually, she was doing him a favor by letting him rest while she ran back to the farm to find a way into that cavern. She’d seen an old road she could take that couldn’t be seen from the main buildings.
It wasn’t her fault that he swung after her, cursing, as soon as she opened the front door. He was getting too damned coordinated with that crutch.
She hadn’t had time to process his declaration that someone hadtouchedthe rocks in the cavern withfear or horror. His admission wasn’t as weird as it might sound to most people. She had a male cousin in Savannah who was a psychometrist. Evie trusted his observations. But for a scientist likeDanteto make that extraordinary claim...
He was probably lying to get her attention. Or distract her.
Still, when he insisted on following her out, she grudgingly waited for him to hobble down the stairs and drop into the front seat. His pain pierced her mental blocks for a moment, then cut off. Had he just shut her out?
“You’re being ridiculous,” she told him, starting the ignition.
“You don’t know those caves the way I do. What the hell do you hope to find?”
“I don’t know. I just know your friend is evasive. I want leverage to question him more.”
“It’s more likely that there was some kind of work accident that he doesn’t want us to know about. Leo doesn’t have the imagination to be more evasive than that. Tell him you can land a lucrative contract in the states, and he’ll be butter in your hand.” Dante attempted to stretch his long legs, but the car simply wasn’t large enough.
