Mrs. Bellwere pretty sure she killed your mother and father…
She says she didnt, Bell said stubbornly.
We think she did. And if you dont think theres any chance, why did you give us that lock of hair?
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.
THIRTY-THREE
LUCAS CALLED THE COUNTY ATTORNEY FROM HELEN Bells house, told him about the pilclass="underline" All right, thats it, Towson said. Pick her up. Well put her away this time. No bail. No nothing.
Lucas hung up and nodded to Sherrilclass="underline" Were gonna go get her. Want to follow me over?
Ill ride with you, she said. You can always drop me back here to get the car.
Lets go, he said. Well get a squad to meet us there.
Four miles out, Dispatch called and said a man from AT amp;T Wireless was on the phone.
Patch him through, Lucas said.
Therere dozens of calls from that account in the past week, the AT amp;T man said. What was the time and date?
Lucas gave it to him and said, Look for a 699 prefix.
After a moments wait: Here it is. Here it is, by gosh.
AUDREY WAS TALKING TO A FIDELITY ACCOUNT MANAGERwhen the phone rang in her purse. I better take that, she said, pleasantly. She was wearing her best, acting the bankers wife: she wanted to get the money out of Fidelitybefore some legalism held it up. If she could get the cash and stash it somewhere, she would be good for at least a few years, no matter what else happened.
Let me get the rest of these numbers, the manager said. She was a young woman dressed in a nice Ann Taylor suit, with a pretty silk scarf, nothing flashy, nothing too expensive. Audrey approved; maybe Fidelity wasnt throwing her money away on exorbitant salaries.
Audrey answered the phone on the third ring and Helen said to her, Did you do it?
And Audrey could hear Connie in the background, saying, urgently, Mom, hang up. Hang up.
Do what? Audrey said calmly, though she knew.
Youd know, if you did it.
That Davenports been there again, hasnt he? Audrey asked. May I speak to him?
Hes gone, Helen said. She choked on the words, and Audrey heard Connie say, Mom, Im gonna hang this up. You shouldnt
And the connection was gone. Audrey looked at the phone for a moment, then punched the power button and turned it off. Davenport had found the pill. She wouldnt need to talk to Helen again.
As she walked out through the Fidelity office, she met the young manager on her way back: Im sorry, Audrey said. Ive got something of a family emergency. I have to go home.
She drove back toward her house on remote control. She didnt have access to any serious money, so running was not a possibility. And with Helen alive, she didnt really have many options left. She could think of precisely one.
I can die, she said to the car. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness, not for herself, but for the world. Shed be gone. The world wouldnt have her anymore. But theyll see then, she told the car. Thats when theyll see.
The car seemed to steer itself, but she knew where it was going: North Woods Arms, in Wayzata. The gun shop wasa small place, a door beside a picture window, the window laced over with security bars disguised as wrought-iron curlicues. The area beside the door and around the window had weathered-wood siding, to simulate a North Woods cabin; small Christmas lights blinked in the window, around a festive display of nine-millimeter pistols.
A bell rang above the door as she walked in, and the owner looked up from a magazine. Hello.
Hello, Audrey said, glancing around at the rack of long guns. Im looking for a gun for my husband for Christmas.
Youve come to the right place, the owner said pleasantly. Do you know what youre looking for, or
Yes. Audrey unfolded a piece of yellow notebook paper. Shed thought that would be a nice touch. A Remington 870 Wingmaster twelve-gauge shotgun.
No problem, the owner said enthusiastically. You know what hes going to use it for?
Ducks, I guess. He mostly hunts ducks. And geese.
No problem…
She took the 870 along with two boxes of No. 2 shells. The store owner took her check, carried the boxes out to the car, and said, Tell your husband I said, Good hunting.
When I see him, she said, and got in the car. The store owner thought that was an odd thing to say; he would mention it to his wife that night.
LUCAS AND SHERRILL HAD GOTTEN TO THE McDonald house before Audrey, and a minute before two patrol cops in a squad car. Lucas knocked on the front door, got no response, and while the uniforms waited in front, they walked together once around the house. Nobody. Peering through the deck windows, they saw no sign of movement or light. Back in front, Sherrill rang the doorbell again. Lucas said, looking up at the bedroom windows, Nobodys home. Feels too quiet. I hope shes not running.
They were standing in the L made by the front of the house, the living wing to the front, extending to the left, the three-car garage swinging off to the right. Maybe put out a call on her. Or we could just wait, Sherrill said. The uniforms were leaning on the front fender of their squad car, chatting.