“Arsenic is used medicinally?” Jamie sounded surprised.
“Not now, but it used to be considered to be a great therapeutic drug. It's very close to gold on the periodic table of elements, and back in the days of alchemy, gold was considered to be a panacea. The closer an element was to gold, the greater its curative powers.” I said.
“And today, is it still in medicines?”
“No, they found that even external contact causes skin disorders and cancers. In some countries where it’s still used as a pesticide on crops, the workers frequently develop problems.”
“What about acute poisoning?”
“In acute poisoning, there is dramatic abdominal pain, sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, and then cardiac failure. On x-rays, the metal will show up inside the intestines just like a barium study would.”
“The pathologist didn’t do x-rays did he?” He flipped back through the legal pad.
“Not that I know of. He drew blood levels and checked hair and nail samples.” I watched Jamie’s expressive mouth as he frowned at his notes. Missy was right about him. He was beautiful.
“What does that tell you?” Jamie looked back up.
I started and glanced away, embarrassed that I was caught admiring him, and in such a situation. What kind of idiot moons over her lawyer when he’s there to help her with murder charges, of all things? Jamie cleared his throat, and I flushed, realizing he’d been waiting for an answer for several seconds. I shook my head. Get it together.
“It tells me things about how much arsenic was in her system at the time. How long she had been exposed to it. He said that it looked like she had been ingesting it for a long time, but what killed her was a high dose at the end, the acute poisoning.”
“These results aren’t back yet are they?”
“Not that I’ve heard, but his description of the autopsy finding was pathognomonic.”
“What?”
“The physical findings are consistent only with arsenic poisoning.” I explained the term. I had forgotten that I was not discussing this with a colleague. Jamie was easy to talk to.
“So the tests aren’t really necessary?”
“No, they’re really just verification,” I said.
“And you have a license to use arsenic, right?”
I sighed, “Yes. That seems to be what got me into this mess.”
“I see.” Jamie wrote on his pad. “Why do you have a license for arsenic?”
“I make jewelry. The gold plating is dissolved in an arsenate solution.
Jamie scribbled again on the pad. “Tell me about the burglary you had six months ago.”
“There was some jewelry stolen at that time, just a few pieces. Mostly, the burglar took a big box of the gold solution. The container of loose stones wasn’t taken. I also seem to be missing a few of my tools.”
“Why weren’t the stones taken?”
“I have no idea. Maybe the container wasn’t out where it was obvious. Things weren’t tumbled around. I think they just grabbed what they could.”
“Just luck that it was the arsenic?”
“Well, it is gold that’s dissolved in there, it’s pretty expensive. Detective Chapman came by my house the other day and looked around. He seemed to think at the time that the thieves had something to do with the case. But that’s ridiculous.” Or not, I frowned to myself, thinking again that Fiona Crawford could have known about my jewelry-making through Reid.
Jamie nodded. “There was a witness to the burglary right?”
“Yes, named Dylan Jones. He lives up the street with his parents. He’s in and out of trouble a lot. He cuts school sometimes to skateboard, and that’s how he ended up watching that day. He said that he saw someone, but they didn’t get any further ID.” It could have been Crawford.
Jamie scratched on his pad. “I’ll need to talk with him. Did you have any social contacts with Ms. Summers?”
I made a face, “It seems I shared my husband with her. Detective Chapman said that she was the one, you know?” My insides curled up into a tight, angry ball at the thought.
“The one?”
“The one that Steve was with.” I flapped my hands awkwardly. I wasn’t sure how to say it, or even if I believed that Sarah, this woman who had eagerly absorbed everything that I said, could have been capable of sleeping with my husband. Sarah’s personality was dependent, almost puppy-like, not scheming or duplicitous. I couldn't wrap my brain around it.
“You didn’t know about that?”
“No, several months ago, I received an anonymous telephone call saying that Steve was seeing another woman. When I confronted him, he admitted to the affair, but he never told me who it was. ”
Jamie shook his head with disbelief. “You know I can’t see how he could do that to you. Don’t take this wrong, but you’re a beautiful woman.”
My hand went self-consciously to my unkempt hair.
Jamie cleared his throat. “Well, that gives us a reason for why you continued to see Sarah as a patient after you threw Steve out, but it will be hard to get anyone to believe that you didn’t know about that. I need you to remember, though, that if the prosecution proves that his affair was with her, then that gives you motive. You need to avoid that subject as much as possible.”
I nodded, and my jaw knotted as I tried to remain composed.
“Have you ever had any other contact with her, meeting for lunch, parties, and et cetera?”
“No. I already told you that I hadn’t.” I felt my reserve breaking down again. This man didn’t believe me. He was searching for guilt everywhere.
Apparently he picked up on my increasing agitation. “This is just to cover potential questions from the prosecution.” He came around the table and knelt down, rocking on the balls of his feet. He was eye to eye with me, and I read the concern in his eyes. “I’m not trying to upset you. I know that these are hard questions, but I have to know all of the details so that we don’t get caught off guard.”
“Is this going to be all right?” My calm façade had entirely disappeared. My eyes were red, and my throat felt tight.
“Of course it is.” Jamie stood back up. “Like I said yesterday, they cannot convict for first degree murder, and they can’t convict for anything if we can introduce enough doubt, which I feel sure that we can. My priority is just to convince them of that next week, so that we don’t have to proceed with a potentially damaging trial.”
“What’s going to happen to my practice? Everything that I’ve worked for?” I asked.
Jamie contemplated my scared face. He was grave as he said, “That’s going to take a hit. No matter how this comes out, word will get around that you were accused, and in the minds of many that is synonymous with guilt no matter what the courts decide. Some people will stop coming to see you, but I don’t think that you will lose your practice. At least not if we can get this thrown out of court soon.”
“Do you believe that I am innocent?”
“I believe that you are innocent until proven guilty.”
“Do you really believe that I am innocent?” I persisted. I couldn’t trust my life in the hands of someone who didn’t believe me. Especially not now when they were separating me from my friend.
“It isn’t my job to determine that. It’s my job to represent your case in court.”
“Jamie, I didn’t kill her. I couldn’t kill her. I was trying to help her. She was important to me. I don’t know.” I shook my head not sure how to explain. “She was one of my first patients. I thought that I could help her. She had so many strikes against her.” I waved a hand helplessly. “I thought I could help her.”
“We’ll take care of it.”
“I don’t want things taken care of. I don’t want to get off on a technicality. I want to be proven innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt. I want to be believed when I tell people that I didn’t do it. That I didn’t murder my own patient.”
“Ok, I believe you.” His face relaxed a notch.
“And I’ll do my best to make sure the world does too. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now can you tell me anything that we could use for your defense?”
I stared at an old cabinet in the corner of the room as I tried to think. “I never knew that she was involved with my husband. I couldn’t have been vengeful. Besides, I would never do anything like that.”
“What else can you think of?” Jamie prodded.
I thought about Krauss’ advice, but I didn't know how pollution could be linked at this point. Jamie would dismiss that immediately. I chewed on the inside corner of my mouth. Should I tell him my suspicions about the insurance agent?
Jamie watched my expressions change as one thought chased another. He said, “There’s a lot going through your head. Remember, you don’t have to be afraid to tell me anything. I’m on your side. Right now, I’m the best ally you’ll ever have. No matter what you tell me, I’ll still do everything in my power to defend you.”
I eyed him slowly. “Most cases of arsenic poisoning are related to food contamination. Maybe evidence will turn up pointing to that.”
Jamie nodded. “Okay. Can you think of anything else?”
I shook my head.
“I have to go now, but I’ll be back,” he paused. “Will you be okay?”
“Yes.” I smoothed my face into its smooth mask of invulnerability. I had learned that external control while coming up through medical school and residency where fear and sadness were marks of inferiority, and women were always a bit suspect.
“You sure?” Jamie asked. "I have to say that I'm impressed by your perfect composure. I'm sure that I couldn't manage the same thing under similar circumstances."
“Yes.” I looked around and said lightly. “It’s not much different here from the state hospital. Same smells, same yells.”
Jamie shook his head. “Okay, call if you need anything or if there is anything else you can tell me that might help our defense.” He rang the bell. A guard came to escort me back to my cell as Jamie watched. “If you need anything, tell them you need to speak with your lawyer. They’ll let me know.”
I lay back down on the cot in my cell, and stared at the low ceiling. I felt claustrophobic, yet completely exposed and vulnerable at the same time. I pulled my blanket up around my neck, but didn't sleep. I needed to figure out what to do now.
Jacqueline arrived several hours later, with a guard who mumbled under his breath something about ‘anybody ever having so many lawyers’. Jacqueline’s hair was perfectly coifed in a French twist with pieces swept by each ear. Her makeup was immaculate but barely visible. She was wearing a sleeveless black pant suit and sling-back shoes. I was pale and my hair hung in limp, straggly, brown hanks. I looked at Jacqueline, and craved a hot bath.
“Hello, Nic, how are you doing? I’ve been so worried about you that I couldn’t sleep. Are you holding up okay?” She dusted at her clothes with her palms, and gave a baleful glance at the sleeping form in the bed over my head.
“I’m holding up, but I'm ready to go home.” I was so glad to see her. I reached up to hug her, then dropped my arms, and glanced down at the floor for a moment to collect myself. Jamie said she wasn’t supposed to come around. I didn’t want to send her away though. I was just lucky that her attorney status got her in here. I suspected that most people didn’t have their best friends popping in to see them in jail.
Jacqueline continued arranging her clothes. It finally registered that she was still fidgeting. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“This is so terrible. I promise that we’ll get you out of here as soon as possible. I never expected that you would be here.”
“What are you doing?” I repeated, scrunching up my face at her.
Jacqueline sat down beside me. “Oh. I’m sorry. I just came through a gauntlet of reporters. I got jostled around a little. I guess I’m just a little discombobulated.”
“What are the reporters doing?”
“Waiting on word about you. You knew they would come.”
I nodded. “But so soon?”
“There was a picture of you being booked in the paper this morning.”
I remembered the exiting photographer. He had been waiting around just hoping that something newsworthy would come up. I bet he had been thrilled when he found out what he had just stumbled onto.
“They’ll be around for a while, but if you don’t mind being in the spotlight, sometimes the media can be a powerful ally,” said Jacqueline.
“Except I do mind being in the spotlight. The more people who know about this whole thing, the worse for my future practice.”
“Not if someone takes your side, and they might after they learn enough about you.”
“Maybe.” I looked doubtful. “So how did the office feel about you cutting out from work early yesterday?”
“They weren’t pleased when I told them it was to visit you. They relaxed after we agreed that I will sit out of any discussions related to your case.”
“Will this affect your standing in the office?”
“No. I won’t miss out on any other case discussions. Besides, I'm not involved in every case there. This will just be one that I am not involved in.”
“I mean that you are friends with a potential convict.”
“What are you saying? You’re no murderer.” Then she smiled. “Nic, I’ve come up with a good strategy for your defense.”
“Are you sure you should be doing that?” I looked at her warily. “Jamie says that you shouldn’t be involved."
“You’ll have to talk it over with him of course, but I don’t think that he’ll have any objections. After all, if a prosecutor doesn’t see any holes in it, then it’s probably gonna be good.” She smiled at her little bit of humor. “There are means and motive for Steve as well as you.”
“Steve? But you don’t think that he did it?”
“He could have. How many people could have had a reason to kill her? She didn’t seem to know that many people. In any case, it isn’t really any of our concern whether or not he did it. If we can show that he could have done it, then, without any hard evidence, the case will become too tenuous to try. They'll have to dismiss your charges because there’s nowhere to go with that.”
“But that doesn’t prove that I didn’t do it,” I said.
“Nic, there is no other evidence, for you or against you. You can’t be proven innocent. We can believe it, but we can’t prove it in a court of law. The only one who would really know died that night, and she took her secrets with her.”
I pondered this. Then said, “But I was in my office all day on the day that she died. I had just arrived at the hospital when she coded.”
“Did someone come with you from the office to the hospital?”
“No.”
“Then who can say that you didn’t slip up to her room ten minutes before she died and give her that extra dose of arsenic? Your timing would have been perfect. The fact that you were in the hospital at the time only demonstrates opportunity,” said Jacqueline.
“So, no alibi.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“That’s right.”
“And no way to prove that I’m totally innocent.”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“You’re the lawyer. I’ll have to take your word for it.” I must have looked worse than I realized because Jacqueline changed her tone.
She watched me for a moment, then sat up straighter on the bunk, and looked down her nose at me prissily, “That’s right, I am the lawyer.”
I gave a small chuckle. Then I said wistfully, “Do you remember all the fun we used to have when we were in college? When adulthood just meant freedom.”
“Yes, those were great days.” Jacqueline agreed. “Do you remember Raleigh?”
“That jock you were dating?” I was eager to think about anything not involving this jail cell.
“Yes.” Jacqueline replied.
“Remember the day we saw him w
ith that girl from the house across the row and you were so upset? Then he came over and instead of apologizing, he started going on about how there was enough of him to go around for three or four girls, and how you couldn’t expect a stud like him to limit himself to one woman. You laughed at him, and you laughed so hard that he grabbed up his jacket and left.”
“Uh-huh, I remember. He actually said that I couldn’t recognize the presence of greatness when it sat down beside me,” said Jacqueline.
I choked out a tiny laugh.
“And then you dumped a vase of water over his head out the upstairs window as he walked out the front door. I’ll never forget that.” Jacqueline nearly laughed aloud again at the memory.
“Yeah, you should have seen the look on his face.” I smiled slightly in nostalgia.
Jacqueline pursued the subject. “Do you remember the time at that fraternity party where Annie from down the hall got so drunk that she got up on the table and started dancing? Everyone was laughing until you climbed up and started to dance with her, sober as a stone. All of a sudden everyone was dancing on the furniture.”
“That was a great night. I haven’t danced so hard since.” I finally smiled for real.
“I was proud of you that night.”
“Really? For what?” I gave her a quizzical look.
“Yes. You always reach out for the underdog." She grasped my hand. "Your patients know that you take up for people when they’re down. There are plenty of people who’ll believe us when we say that you’re innocent. We’ll win this thing.”
“Thanks.” The college memories had warmed me, and Jacqueline’s support really did make me feel like everything would be all right. Jacqueline would never let me remain in jail.
I stood up and we hugged. Jacqueline backed toward the door and motioned for a guard. “I’ll be back soon, take care.”
“I will, but Jackie,” I paused, “Jamie said that I should spend less time with you, that your association with the DA could threaten the integrity of my case.”
“You mean if you get off, someone might think that it was because I called in a favor from the judge or something?”
“Something like that.”
Treating Murder: Book One of the Veronica Lane, M.D. series (medical thriller) Page 15
