An Uncharted Corpse by Meg Wolfe

Author:Meg Wolfe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: temp
Publisher: Wolfe Johnson
Published: 2016-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHARLOTTE STOOD IN front of a water fountain in a quiet part of the Corton Inn, having an Alice moment as she looked at the pill in her hand. Okay, it’s not a random selection from a pill party bowl—it’s from Helene. And Helene never ever loses her cool. I want that cool. I need that cool.

Would the speed simply help her focus and deal with any flak—as Helene assured her it would—or would it send her, as she feared, down a rabbit-hole of frenzy, cause her to twitch or babble or sweat profusely and generally guarantee her talk would be a fiasco?

There was a time that her distrust of others would have prevented her from even considering taking any pill not specifically prescribed for her, even from Helene. But she was already a nervous wreck, well on her way to generating a fiasco all on her own.

There really wasn’t anything to lose.

Yes, there was—the principle of the thing.

She turned to go into the washroom to get rid of it, and felt her phone vibrating through the fabric of her tote bag. She quickly pulled it out and saw it was Barnes calling, which immediately worried her. He knew she was about to give the talk, so whatever he wanted, it was probably important.

“Yes, Detective?”

“Just got the toxicology results, thought it best for you to know. There was a lethal level of OxyContin in his system, plus some other unidentifiable elements.”

And there it was.

“Suicide, then?”

“Not necessarily. The most interesting finding is that he tested negative for blood alcohol—if he was acting drunk, it was from drugs, or a drug interaction. I’m hoping the autopsy will tell us more, and that report should come in this afternoon. Sorry to call in the middle of your big day, but I wanted you to be on the alert. It’s sixty-forty that it’s murder, and if it is, the odds are that the murderer is at the conference.”

She let out a breath. “Got it. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll be back in touch later.”

She tucked away the phone and looked down at her other hand. The pill had somehow remained on her open palm and was now threatening to dissolve in an anxiety-induced film of clammy sweat.

Suicide still couldn’t be ruled out, which gave her no relief. And at the same time murder couldn’t be ruled out, either. Selim was still the prime suspect. She had to keep her wits about her for herself and for Ellis.

Now or never.

She swallowed the pill with a drink of water. Went into the restroom, washed her hands, splashed a little water on her temples and stood back to take a last look at herself. Bent forward to fluff up her hair, which was showing more gray these days. There were still circles under her eyes from her binge the night before. Served her right. For some reason, she had picked out a black sweater to wear over her slim tan chinos, and it only emphasized the eye circles.

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