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Authors: Patricia Cornwell
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put me on. I can rappel, sniper-shoot and scuba-dive. More important, I can take it when they act like assholes. You know, not all of them are exactly happy to have me around."
I had no doubt of that. Lucy had always been an extremely polarizing human being, because she was brilliant and could be so difficult. She was also beautiful in a sharpfeatured, strong way, and I frankly wondered how she survived at all on a special forces team of fifty men, not one of whom she would ever date.
"How is Janet?" I asked.
"They transferred her out to the Washington Field Office to do white-collar crime. So at least she's not far away."
"This must have been recent." I was puzzled.
"Real recent." Lucy rested her forearms on her knees.
"And where is she tonight?"
"Her family's got a condo in Aspen."
My silence asked the question, and her voice was irritated as she answered it. "No, I wasn't invited. And not just because Janet and I aren't getting along. It just wasn't a good idea."
"I see." I hesitated before adding, "Then her parents still don't know."
"Hell, who does know? You think we don't hide it at work? So we go to things together and each of us gets to watch the other being hit on by men. That's a special pleasure," she bitterly said.
"I know what it's like at work," I said. "It's no different than I told you it would be. What I'm more interested in is Janet's family."
Lucy stared at her hands. "It's mostly her mom. To tell you the truth, I don't think her dad would care. He's not going to assume it's because of something he did wrong, like my mother assumes. Only she assumes it's because of something you did wrong since you pretty much raised me and are my mother, according to her."
There was little point in my defending myself against the ignorant notions of my only sister, Dorothy, who unfortunately happened to be Lucy's parent.
"And Mother has another theory now, too. She says you're the first woman I fell in love with, and somehow that explains everything," Lucy went on in an ironic tone.
"Never mind that this would be called incest or that you're straight. Remember, she writes these insightful children's books, so she's an expert in psychology and apparently is a sex therapist, too.
"I'm sorry you have to go through all this on top of everything else," I said with feeling. I never knew quite what to do when we had these conversations. They were still new to me, and in some ways scary.
"Look"-she got up as Marino walked into the living room--some things you just live with."
"Well, I got news for you," Marino announced, "the weather forecast is that this crap is going to melt. So come tomorrow morning, all of us should be able to get out of here."
"Tomorrow's New Year's Day," Lucy said. "For the sake of argument, why should we get out of here?"
"Because I need to take your aunt to Eddings' crib." He paused before adding, "And Benton needs to get his ass there, too."
I did not visibly react. Benton Wesley was the unit chief of the Bureau's Criminal Investigative Analysis program, and I had hoped I would not have to see him during the holidays.
"What are you telling me?" I quietly said.
He sat down on the sofa and regarded me thoughtfully for a pause. Then he answered my question with one of his own, "I'm curious about something, Doc. How would you poison someone underwater?"
"Maybe it didn't happen underwater," Lucy suggested.
"Maybe he swallowed cyanide before he went diving."
"No. That's not what happened," I said. "Cyanide is very corrosive, and had he taken it orally, I would have seen extensive damage to his stomach. Probably to his esophagus and mouth, as well."
"So what could have happened?" Marino asked.
"I think he inhaled cyanide gas."
He looked baffled. "How? Through the compressor?"
"it draws air through an intake valve that's covered with a filter," I reminded him. "What someone could have done was simply mix a little hydrochloric acid with a cyanide tablet and hold the vial close enough
I had no doubt of that. Lucy had always been an extremely polarizing human being, because she was brilliant and could be so difficult. She was also beautiful in a sharpfeatured, strong way, and I frankly wondered how she survived at all on a special forces team of fifty men, not one of whom she would ever date.
"How is Janet?" I asked.
"They transferred her out to the Washington Field Office to do white-collar crime. So at least she's not far away."
"This must have been recent." I was puzzled.
"Real recent." Lucy rested her forearms on her knees.
"And where is she tonight?"
"Her family's got a condo in Aspen."
My silence asked the question, and her voice was irritated as she answered it. "No, I wasn't invited. And not just because Janet and I aren't getting along. It just wasn't a good idea."
"I see." I hesitated before adding, "Then her parents still don't know."
"Hell, who does know? You think we don't hide it at work? So we go to things together and each of us gets to watch the other being hit on by men. That's a special pleasure," she bitterly said.
"I know what it's like at work," I said. "It's no different than I told you it would be. What I'm more interested in is Janet's family."
Lucy stared at her hands. "It's mostly her mom. To tell you the truth, I don't think her dad would care. He's not going to assume it's because of something he did wrong, like my mother assumes. Only she assumes it's because of something you did wrong since you pretty much raised me and are my mother, according to her."
There was little point in my defending myself against the ignorant notions of my only sister, Dorothy, who unfortunately happened to be Lucy's parent.
"And Mother has another theory now, too. She says you're the first woman I fell in love with, and somehow that explains everything," Lucy went on in an ironic tone.
"Never mind that this would be called incest or that you're straight. Remember, she writes these insightful children's books, so she's an expert in psychology and apparently is a sex therapist, too.
"I'm sorry you have to go through all this on top of everything else," I said with feeling. I never knew quite what to do when we had these conversations. They were still new to me, and in some ways scary.
"Look"-she got up as Marino walked into the living room--some things you just live with."
"Well, I got news for you," Marino announced, "the weather forecast is that this crap is going to melt. So come tomorrow morning, all of us should be able to get out of here."
"Tomorrow's New Year's Day," Lucy said. "For the sake of argument, why should we get out of here?"
"Because I need to take your aunt to Eddings' crib." He paused before adding, "And Benton needs to get his ass there, too."
I did not visibly react. Benton Wesley was the unit chief of the Bureau's Criminal Investigative Analysis program, and I had hoped I would not have to see him during the holidays.
"What are you telling me?" I quietly said.
He sat down on the sofa and regarded me thoughtfully for a pause. Then he answered my question with one of his own, "I'm curious about something, Doc. How would you poison someone underwater?"
"Maybe it didn't happen underwater," Lucy suggested.
"Maybe he swallowed cyanide before he went diving."
"No. That's not what happened," I said. "Cyanide is very corrosive, and had he taken it orally, I would have seen extensive damage to his stomach. Probably to his esophagus and mouth, as well."
"So what could have happened?" Marino asked.
"I think he inhaled cyanide gas."
He looked baffled. "How? Through the compressor?"
"it draws air through an intake valve that's covered with a filter," I reminded him. "What someone could have done was simply mix a little hydrochloric acid with a cyanide tablet and hold the vial close enough
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