'No apologies needed, Lieutenant. It's been a while since the police have contacted me. I'm happy to know the search is still on.'
She spoke in the singsong voice that people used when reading to children. I suppose that being around five- year-olds all the time made it hard to switch off. We followed her to the living room, where she sat us on a sofa in front of a dusty table and waddled off to the kitchen, insisting on getting us coffee.
Herb nudged me quietly. 'That's a whole lot of woman.'
'Spoken by a man with a forty-six-inch waist.'
'Are you referring to my washboard stomach?'
'Don't you mean washtub stomach? Shh, she's bringing doughnuts.'
Melissa Booster returned, carrying two mugs of coffee on top of a Dunkin' Donuts box.
'I hope I'm not offending you.' She handed me a cup.
'Miss?'
'With the cop/doughnut thing. I don't want to play on a stereotype.'
'No offense at all.' I smiled.
'Got any jellies?' Benedict reached for the box. He fished out something sticky and emitted a satisfied grunt. Other people would be wary of food after taking a bite out of an X-Acto knife blade, but not Herb.
'I'm sorry about the house.' Melissa plopped her bulk down on the love seat opposite us. The framework screamed in protest. 'The maid never came back after finding Dad dead, and things have gotten dusty. This is the first time I've been back myself. I guess enough time has passed, but I've kept putting it off. Any new news?'
'Possibly. We're following a lead on another case that may be related. Did your father ever fill out prescriptions off duty?'
'Sure. Whenever there was a family get-together he brought his prescription pad with him. Half the hypochondriacs in Illinois are related to me. That's probably why Dad became a doctor.'
'What did he prescribe for family members?'
'The usual. Painkillers, sleeping pills, laxatives, cold medication, acne cream, birth control, all the standards. The current hot ones were Propecia and Viagra. He didn't seem to mind the family doing it to him. Both my grandmothers thought he was a saint.'
Benedict finished enough of his doughnut to aid in the inquiries.
'Did he ever prescribe injectionals?'
'You mean like for diabetics?'
'Any at all.'
'Not to my family. Most of my relatives would faint at the thought of getting a shot.'
I sneezed thoughtfully, if such a thing is possible.
'How about Seconal?' I asked. 'It's a powerful sedative, like Valium.'
'Not to our family. Not that I know of.'
'We believe your father may have written a very large prescription for Seconal the night he died, possibly for someone who knew him. Do you know anyone named Charles or Chuck?'
'Sorry, no.'
'Any relative with that name, or friend of your father's?'
'No. Not that I know of.'
'Ms. Booster...'
'Melissa.'
'Melissa, this is a hard question, but do you think there was any chance that your dad may have been selling prescriptions?'
She shook her head, as if saying no to a child. 'Dad? No way. Look around you. It's a nice house, but not extravagant. My father made good money, but it's all accounted for. He lived within his means. Besides, Dad just wasn't like that. I had it drilled into my head from a baby on that medication and drugs were very serious and dangerous.'
She reached into the doughnut box and removed a powdered, biting into it gently.
'Would he have had a prescription pad in the house?'
'Probably. His desk is in the den. Would you like to see it?'
'Please.'
Melissa placed the doughnut on the table and rocked twice on the sofa, pulling up her considerable body on the third try. We followed as she waddled to the den, down a hallway, and into a room the size of a large closet.
'Actually, this is just a large closet,' Melissa said. 'Dad put a desk in here and it became the den.'
She didn't enter, probably because if she did, she wouldn't have room to turn around. I thanked her and went in alone, leaving Herb behind to small talk.
The desk was old and bore the traits of many years of faithful use. It was a rolltop, with five drawers and half a dozen cubbyholes to squirrel away bills or mail. I gave it a quick toss, finding a lot of junk for my efforts, but no
