would be intense shivering. By the time it drops to ninety-three the tremors would be severe, other abnormal body reactions would also set in-hallucinations, delirium. Look at him, totally relaxed, hands in his lap. He was deeply unconscious when all the bodily reactions normally start. Perhaps he was dead before he was put in the freezer.”
Cody said, “That was Si’s guess.”
The Wolf turned to Simon. “Based on what?” he asked.
“Hunch.”
“You mean the idea just floated into his head?” Wolf said with a grin.
“Well, look at the set up. I don’t think this was a revenge killing or some impulsive thing. It’s just weird. So, I’m guessing it’s Androg’s work and if it is, the obvious cause of death will not be what killed him.”
Wolf looked back at the body which was slowly beginning to roll on its face.
“Good guess,” Wolf said, turning his attention to Annie Rothschild. “You ready for the toxicology tests?”
“Uh huh. I’m doing an analysis of the wine while we wait for blood samples and stomach contents. I think it was spiked.”
“How come?”
“I think that’s why the bottle and glass were next to the body. Like Si said, sooner or later Androg’s going to start bragging. Smell the bottle.”
Wolf picked it up, looked at the label. “Nobile di Montepulciano, 1986. Good year.” He took a sniff, lowered the bottle for a second, then took another. “It’s very faint.”
“Yeah. I didn’t notice anything until I started setting up the test sample.”
Wolf handed Cody the bottle.
“Take a whiff.”
Cody held it a few inches from his nose and moved it slowly back and forth, then leaned close and took a hefty smell.
“Chlorine, maybe?”
“Hardly discernible.”
“But it’s there,” Annie said and Wolf nodded agreement.
“So you’re guessing what? Chloral hydrate?” Cody said.
“Good old-fashioned knockout drops,” Wolf nodded. “If so, our killer slipped Uncle Tony a pretty strong mickey. It kicked in when he started eating and he fell face forward right into his dinner. Make that number one on the toxicology list, Annie.”
“Already have,” she answered.
“So the immediate cause of death was freezing,” Wolf said. “We’re looking for the proximate cause-what really killed him. I’m guessing we’ll find that in the blood sample.”
“And it won’t be drugs or thermal,” said Cody.
Annie nodded agreement. “Too obvious,” she said.
Cody thought for a moment and then pressed the button on his headset. “Hue?”
“Right here.”
“How’re you doing?”
“Ready for you.”
“Good. We’ll be over in a few minutes. Bring up Wolf’s list on the big board.”
“Gotcha.”
31
Sunday, October 28
Lou Stinelli was finishing his first cup of coffee and perusing the Sunday Times obits when he stopped at a headline.
“I’ll be damned,” he said.
“What is it?” Valerie asked, as she refilled his cup and doctored it with the usual three sugars and a generous dose of heavy cream.
“Remember Steamroller Jackson?”
She rolled her eyes. “Steamroller Jackson! How could I ever forget Steamroller Jackson, your old high school buddy? Our second date and almost our last, Mister Macho. I hated prizefighting then and I still hate it.”
Stinelli laughed, recalling the disastrous evening.
“Steamroller decked Jersey Kaminsky in the first round. You could hear that right connect in Albany and old Jersey went straight to the canvas…limp as a bag of marbles, and you…”
“Don’t start…”
“… almost fainted. I had to put your head down around your knees…”
“I said…”
“Okay, okay, darlin’.” He raised his hands in surrender. “Christ, that was over thirty years ago. You got a memory like an elephant.”
“Are you kidding, Louis? That’s one night I’ll never forget.”
“Well, you can forget old Steamroller. Poor guy died late Friday night. Found in an alley yesterday morning, slumped against a brick wall. Apparent heart attack. Says he probably o.d.’d on cocaine or alcohol. He was only sixty-one.”
“Oh!” She said, covering her lips with her fingertips. The private phone line rang, interrupting any further conversation. Stinelli scowled at it.
“Damn it,” he said, “it’s Sunday morning. I haven’t finished the God damn paper yet. Take a number. Tell whoever it is I’m in the shower or something.”
“You’d have me lie my soul into hell just so you can finish the paper,” she said sternly as she lifted the receiver.
“Hello,” she said sweetly.
“Good morning, Mizz Stinelli, this is…”
“I’d know that voice in my sleep, Micah. He says to tell you he’s in the shower-or something.”
“I’m sorry, Val, but it’s important.”
She looked over at Stinelli. “Is it going to ruin his day of rest?” Cody hesitated a second and said, “Just tell him I said Androg.”
“Androg?”
Stinelli looked up sharply. He jumped up and took the receiver.
“Micah?”
“Good morning, chief. Sorry to…”
“What about Androg?”
“He hit again.”
“How do you know it’s Androg?”
“Cause of death disguised. But that’s not the really bad news, Lou. The victim is Tony Crosetti.”
“Uncle Tony? My God what happened? When?”
“About one-thirty or two yesterday morning. Jimmy Farrell and I found him at about eight. Mama Crosetti called Jim because Crosetti didn’t come home Friday night. I happened to jog by Venezia while Jim was sitting there so we made a crime scene entry. We found Tony in the meat freezer. He was naked, sitting in a chair, frozen solid as an iceberg.”
“Oh, my God! Where are you?”
“At the Loft. Wolf’s doing the autopsy. So far it’s a state secret. We got him out of there fast. There aren’t many people around there at that time of day. The sign in the window of the restaurant says it’s closed due to illness in the family.”
“Christ, Cody, you can’t keep this quiet.”
“Jimmy’s going to front it. I expect the autopsy shortly but Farrell will make a prelim report that the cause of
