Corrupted Souls by Lynn-Steven Johanson

Author:Lynn-Steven Johanson [Lynn-Steven Johanson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Level Best Books
Published: 2022-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

The next day was a Friday, July 2nd, the beginning of the Independence Day weekend. Things were about to get crazy. They always did on holidays. At mid-morning, Joe received a text from Kendra. “Tox report back. Call me.” He had been anxious for the report, so he called her right away.

“So, what did the tox screen reveal?” asked Joe.

“Well…Devon Schmidt had three times the normal amount of diphenhydramine in his blood.”

“Diphenhy-what?” asked Joe.

“Diphenhydramine. Better known as Benadryl,” clarified Kendra. “With that much in his system, there’s no way he would have been conscious when he was killed.”

“So, would you say it’s possible someone sedated him and then shot him.”

“That could be a possible scenario.”

“Exactly how could that much Benadryl be given to him without him noticing?” asked Joe.

“Benadryl comes in three forms: liquid, caplets, and liquid-gels. Now the liquid is bubblegum flavored, so he would notice if it was put in something unless it was sweet like birthday cake or pie. We didn’t find anything like that in his stomach contents. But the caplets could be ground into a powder, and gels could be squeezed into something. It would take less to knock him out, especially since he’d been drinking.”

“How much alcohol was in his system?”

“His blood alcohol content was .07, so he wasn’t legally intoxicated. But alcohol combined with the diphenhydramine would have intensified the effect of the drug.”

“How many Benadryl caplets or gels would it have taken to knock him out?”

“Oh…six maybe. The recommended adult dose is one to two caplets.”

“If he was given that kind of dose, how long would he be unconscious?”

“A minimum of three hours.”

“Would either of the pills have a noticeable taste?”

“Negligible if it was put in a beer.”

“Wine?”

“Given the smaller amount of liquid in a glass, it might be noticeable.”

“Interesting. You said his stomach contents included beer, right.”

“That’s right.”

“But there were no empty beer bottles or cans found on his tables. Yet, we found a wine bottle and two empty wine glasses.”

“I can’t comment on that. But I can confirm the last thing he drank was beer.”

“That’s odd. Any other things crop up in the lab reports?”

“The red smears on his inner thighs and lower abdomen were definitely from lipstick. The lab was able to get DNA from the swabs if you want to try matching it to someone.”

“We’ve identified a person who admitted to having sex with the deceased on the night of his death, so unless she becomes a suspect in his death, I think we can assume the DNA belongs to her. Anything else?”

“That’s pretty much it. I’ll send over the report.”

“Thanks, Kendra.”

Joe walked to Sam’s desk and let him know about Schmidt’s drugging. The revelation took Sam by surprise, and his suspicions immediately focused on Roselyn Bertrand as the person who could have slipped Schmidt the Benadryl cocktail.

“I don’t think so,” said Joe. “If she was going to kill him, why’d she leave her fingerprints and DNA behind to incriminate herself? If she administered the Benadryl and left by eight, there would’ve been wine in Schmidt’s stomach contents.

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