“I’ll find out,” I say. “That’s one option. Another. Could she have eaten something that caused this?”
“If there was something in her food, I’d think she’d know it, she’d bite down on it,” she replies, “but certainly I’m looking at all possibilities.”
She’s right. We chew our food or those of us that don’t, act like the animals do. She would have felt the crunch of a sharp object. I’m back to the ibuprofen. A gel tablet maybe, which drives my next question. “Could a gel tablet be used to hide a sharp object?”
“In theory, it would be possible. I still need to open her up and take a look inside her throat and stomach. I didn’t want to do that until you saw the cuts. But that’s when I’ll know exactly what she swallowed.”
My brows dip. “How would you get something inside a pill large enough to cut her inside out and her not know it was there?”
“Believe it or not because of how stupid I sounded over the toxicology report—you make me a little nervous—I thought the same thing.” She fidgets slightly. I do make her nervous. Good. Maybe she’ll tell me who sent her here because it wasn’t organic. “But then,” she continues, “I thought I, now we, could be overthinking this. In theory inserting sharp objects into a pill is easy. What’s not as easy is inserting enough sharp objects to kill someone while making those pills appear untouched. Furthermore, why did whatever this was, cut her throat? If the sharp object was embedded in the pill it would have landed in her stomach. Which would also be deadly, but something just doesn’t add up.”
“And of course, how does the killer know the person is going to take the exact medication or even a food that has the sharp objects? They’d have to be close to the person, very close.”
“But isn’t that the case with food as well?” She asks but she doesn’t wait for an answer. “Pills make more sense than food. And she had the ibuprofen in her system.”
“In other words, we need an expert in pharmaceuticals to walk us through the mechanics, equipment needed, and so on.”
She holds up a gloved finger. “Which is why I have a call into an old college friend. Her father is CEO of a drug company. I’ll find out what we need to know.”
“Well then, DD the model, I’m slightly impressed.”
“How impressed do you have to be to call me Danica?”
“More than humanly possible,” I assure her. “I still don’t trust you.”
“At least you’re honest. I’d rather you say it to my face than behind my back.”
“Well as long as you’re pleased, DD,” I say sarcastically, but really, truly for me, that’s kind of nice. “When are you opening her up?”
“I have to deal with an incoming. It’s going to be a while, but you’re welcome to stick around.”
I might be able to stab monsters to death, but I can do without the rest of this process. “Just call me after. Unless you have more for me now, I’m done here.” I’m already headed toward the door.
I pass through the lobby and step into the hallway, replaying the crime scene in my head. Emma Wells. The dress. The bottle of water. Fake Naomi at our house. Too easily she was in our house and her connection to us originated with Kane. I snag my phone and punch his auto-dial. He doesn’t answer. “Damn it,” I murmur, “not now, Kane.” I shoot him a text message: Emma Wells ingested something that cut her from the inside out. We don’t know how or what yet, but I don’t like how easily Fake Naomi got to us. I also don’t like that it came through your contacts. Be careful.
By the time I’m in the elevator, he hasn’t answered.
I rejoin Jay in the Escalade and still, Kane hasn’t answered.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Worry is a poison. It gets you nowhere but insanity. I’ve got enough to push my boundaries on the sanity issue. I’m not adding a worthless emotion.
Jay pulls us onto the highway on our way to the airport and I dial Kane again. He doesn’t answer. Now I’m worried. “Damn you, Kane,” I murmur, and glance at Jay. “Have you talked to Kane?”
“Not since we dropped him off,” he says. “Is there a problem?”
“I just need him. Drive. I want to go by his office before the precinct.”
I dial Andrew, who thankfully answers my call. I quickly recap what I know so far and then ask, “Did we find ibuprofen?”
Papers shuffle and then he says, “Nothing on the list, but in light of this development, I’m going to send North back to look for any kind of drugs. We’ll bag them all and get them to the lab.”
“Take a look at the food as well. I don’t think that is a likely option for this kind of attack, but look anyway.”