Lucas trailed off and Sherrill said, What? Again? Something else?
Yeah. What if Helen wasnt here to defend herself?
HELEN WAS WORKING AT THE AUTO PARTS PLACE. LUCASfound the name in the Yellow Pages, called her. Youve got to take time off, and meet us at your house, Lucas said. Im sorry, but this is critical for both you and Connie. Ill talk to your boss if you want.
Lucas took the Porsche. Sherrill, getting the go-ahead from Frank Lester, trailed in a city car. The bomb squad was ten minutes behind her, a crime scene crew a few minutes behind that.
Lucas thought of the lie that Audrey had told during the interrogation, how harsh, straightforward, howhonestit seemed. But not unrehearsed. And there was a smugness about her when they came to take her away. She must have known that whatever case she could make against Helen would be denied by Helen, and that Helens denials might even be provable in some cases. She may have understood that Helen was simply more believable than she was. She might even have understood that finding a hank of hair with arsenic in it didnt mean much unless Helen was there to swear that the hair had been taken from her mother
…
She must have deduced that the police case rested squarely on Helen; and that if Helen was dead, Audrey had all kinds of defenses available.
And that little spark in her eyes, that smugness at the very end.
She thought Helen was out of it. How would she do it? Shed used firebombs, guns, and poison. Guns were out, because she couldnt have known that shed be free. Some kind of bomb was possible. Some kind of poison.
HELEN ARRIVED: RESISTED. I KNOW AUDREY. SHE would never do anything like this. Never. Weve been together since we were children.
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 pill: 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 Sherrill: 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.
