Bolt From the Blue by Kerry J Charles

Author:Kerry J Charles [Charles, Kerry J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary mystery, coastal setting, romance, literary fiction, New England, clean book
ISBN: 9780999741023
Publisher: Kerry J Charles
Published: 2021-12-30T05:00:00+00:00

Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.

To such an extent indeed that one day,

finding myself at the deathbed of a woman

who had been and still was very dear to me,

I caught myself in the act of focusing on

her temples and automatically analyzing

the succession of appropriately graded

colors which death was imposing

on her motionless face.

~ Claude Monet

Chapter Eight

“Preliminary forensic report is in,” announced Johnson. His desk and Nick’s faced each other in the busy police office, enabling easier communication within the sometimes noisy space. Typically police staff were coming and going through the room, talking on phones, or having extended conversations about the quality of the coffee, or lack thereof.

Nick had just eased into his desk chair and rolled forward to access his computer as Johnson spoke. He stopped midway, hands hovering over the keyboard. “And?” he queried.

“It’s good,” Johnson said without looking up.

Nick sighed and dropped his hands down onto the desk. “Good meaning case closed, or good meaning we’ve got work to do?”

Johnson wiggled his eyebrows. “Think you know the answer to that,” he replied.

“All right, lay it on me,” Nick said.

Johnson adjusted his reading glasses and squinted slightly at the computer screen in front of him. His ancient office chair squeaked as he leaned forward in it as much as the girth of his midsection would allow. “Cause of death was asphyxiation cause by anaphylactic shock brought on by an allergen. Swelling in the throat, mouth, face. Rash on the chest area.”

“So far that sounds like what we already know, or could easily guess,” Nick interrupted.

“Ah yes, but here’s where it gets interesting,” Johnson continued. “Stomach contents consisted of an apple and some champagne. That’s it. No nuts.”

“Huh,” Nick muttered. “Anything else?”

Johnson scanned the rest of the report. “Some bruising on the leg…injection sites for both EpiPens located, appears they were used correctly…some bruising around the mouth…that’s pretty much it for now. The usual ‘more tests to follow’ so we’ll see what else those can tell us.”

“So she died of a nut allergy with no nuts?” Nick mused.

“Well, she died of some kind of allergy. Maybe an insect bite or a sting?” Johnson said.

“Any mention of something like that on her skin?” Nick asked.

Johnson peered at the screen again, scrolling back up to the top of the report. “Nope. Only thing close is a couple of pricks on one finger, but not deep. Consistent with a sewing needle. Probably an occupational hazard,” he said.

Nick remembered the costume fitting with Antonio that Bella had left abruptly. If she had been trying to work quickly in an uncomfortable situation, she could easily have poked herself with the needle. “Think a toxin could have been introduced through the needle?” he asked Johnson.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, but I don’t think so. It was hours later when she collapsed. Usually an allergic reaction happens pretty quickly,” he replied.

“Still, we should get a toxicology report on tissue around the pricked areas,” Nick said. “And have forensics check again for insect bites.

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