And at the bottom of the note, shed left all the fragments of sentences that shed pushed while editing: I fearedilling heraaacidentkill treeting Wil; slonMisterKresgeWithout money I got from Audrey.
It would, she hoped, look like a practice note; she was especially proud of all the exclamation points. Helen used them everywhere, as though they were periods.
She closed the file, shut down the machine, put the disk in her purse, and headed for the bedroom. Helen carried a pill case with a chiming clock to remind her to take the pills; she took one at noon every day. The Prozac bottle itself she kept in the bedroom, in her bureau drawer. Audrey found the bottle, unscrewed the top, looked inside. A dozen pills. Carefully unwrapping the cyanide pill in the napkin, she let it drop on top of the pills in the bottle, and replaced the bottle, shut the drawer.
Out of the house: shed been inside no more than ten minutes, she thought. As she drove away, she moved in the car seat and felt the cyanide bottle in her pocket. She should ditch it somewhere, she thought. But she liked the idea of it. A bottle of death. She thought about it for a while, then stopped in a park, where a thin shell of woods surrounded a small drainage lake. She stepped just inside the tree line, picked out a good-sized oak, walked over to it and sat down. Probed the ground with her car key: Damn. Frozen.
She looked around, spotted a culvert protruding from the edge of an embankment. She walked over to it, pushed the bottle well under the culvert. The bottle should be safe for years, she thought. Did cold weather affect cyanide? She had no idea.
Now, she thought, standing up.
Where are you, Davenport?
THIRTY-TWO
TWO UNIFORMED COPS WITH A WARRANT STOPPED by the McDonald house at four oclock, and found it empty. Audrey McDonalds car license-plate number was put on the air, along with a description. She was eating at Bakers Square Restaurant, having waited impatiently all afternoon. Two cops went by while she was inside, but she missed them all going back home. At seven, the uniformed cops swung by her house again, and saw lights.
Audrey McDonald came to the door.
SHERRILL CALLED: WERE SUPPOSED TO GO OUT TOdinner tonight.
Damn it, Im sorrybut were busting Audrey Mc-Donald right now, Lucas said.
All right. Tomorrow for sure.
Tomorrow.
AUDREY WAS PROCESSED THROUGHTHE COUNTYJAIL, then taken to an interview room to wait for her attorney.
J. B. Glass arrived a half hour later, a little white wine under his belt. He found Lucas waiting outside the interview room with Sloan, and said, What the hell happened?
Your clients a serial killer, Sloan said laconically.
What, Sugar Pops or shredded wheat? Glass said.
Her mother and father for starters, Lucas said.
Yourereallytelling me Ive got a millionaire client who might be a serial killer? Glass asked in a hushed voice. He rolled his eyes to the heavens, the view toward which extended twenty-eight inches to the basement ceiling. I dont want to seem cynical, but… thank you, Jesus.
Then he was all business: I want privacy with my client.
Shes in the room, Lucas said.
Have you talked to her?
Nobodys talked to her, Lucas said. She opened the door to her house and said, I want my attorney. Nobodys said a word to her since, except Stand up, sit down, turn to the right.
Good. Glass nodded. Ill tell you, though, its gonna be a while before you can see her.
We can wait, Lucas said.
THEY WAITED. GLASS TALKED TO HER FOR A HALF-hour, asked Lucas if he could get a couple of cans of Diet Pepsi for them. Lucas walked through the dark hallways to a Pepsi machine, got two cans, walked back, passed them through the door.
Thanks, Glass said, as he shut the door.
Another twenty minutes passed, and then Glass opened the door and said, Come in.
Sloan led the way, carrying a portable tape recorder. Lucas nodded at Audrey. She fixed him for a moment with her cobra eyes, then broke off and looked down at the table. When Sloan was ready, and had a cassette running, he said, This is a preliminary interview with Mrs. Audrey Mc-Donald, in the presence of her attorney, Jason Glass, conducted by Detectives Sloan and Davenport.
He ran the machine back to make sure it was working, replayed the statement, pushed record again, added the time and date, and turned to McDonald.
Mrs. McDonald, you have been rearrested after the revocation of your bail granted after the killing of your husband, Wilson McDonald. .. The bail revocation, however, is based on what we believe was the murder of your mother, Amelia Lamb.
I did no such thing. I loved my mother, she said, calmly.
Mrs. McDonald, did you know that your sister saved a lock of your mothers hair after she died?
Yes, I knew that.
We had the hair sample analyzed by the state crime laboratory, Mrs. McDonald, and the hair was found to contain amounts of arsenic which would be lethal to a human being.
I dont know anything about that, she said.
Um, do you know where she livedMrs. Lambat the time she died? Glass asked Lucas.
In Lakeville.
Have the police inspected the house they lived in?
Not yet.
It was a very old houseyou find arsenic all over the place in those old houses. Its in the wallpaper, the paint, people used it all the time to spray for bugs. Mrs. Lamb may have had arsenic in her hair, but theres no reason to think that my client put it there. In fact, she did not.
Did you get large insurance payments from both the death of your father and your mother, Mrs. McDonald? Sloan asked.
She wont answer that, Glass said. He looked down at Audrey. Thats something weve got to look into ourselves, before we start discussing it.
Did you use the insurance payments to put yourself through St. Annes, where you met Sister Mary Joseph? Lucas asked.
Glass shook his head: Well refuse to answer that.
We have gray duct tape from your house with only oneset of fingerprints on it, said Sloan. The adhesive on the duct tape matches exactly adhesive taken off the door locks outside Susan ODells apartment. Did you put that tape there, Mrs. McDonald?
No, I did not.
The questioning went on for half an hour, Audrey growing more and more angry. Finally, she turned to Glass and said, How much longer do we have to do this?
You want to stop now?
Yes.
Then were done, Glass said. To Sloan, No more questions. Sloan looked at Lucas, reached out to the recorder. Before he could turn it off, Audrey hissed at Lucas. You think youre so smart, but you just dont understand anything.
Sloan froze, then, as unobtrusively as possible, let his arm slide sideways and rest on the table next to the recorder. Sometimes you got the best stuff after the formal questioning was done.
I think I do, Lucas said. Ive talked to your friends, Ive talked to your sister. We dont have every piece, because you got rid of some of them. But theres enough left to hang you, Audrey.
So dumb, she said. She stood up, and turned toward Glass. Will there be another bond hearing?
Yes, tomorrow morning.
Gonna cost you a little more, this time, Lucas said. And when we finish all the paper on your mother, well just pick you up again. Itd be easier just to stay put. Mr. Glass could arrange for your sister to watch your house.
My sister… my sister, she said. She pushed her hands up through her hair, as though she were about to tear it out. My sister gave you a lock of Mothers hair?