Permed to Death by Nancy J. Cohen

Author:Nancy J. Cohen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: ereads.com
Published: 1999-05-04T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Marla’s mind shifted into overdrive. Carlos was dead. Did he die of natural causes? Where had his body been found? Were there any clues to Bertha’s murder aboard his boat?

En route to Zack Greenfield’s office on Monday morning, she barely focused on the road ahead. Her brain filtered through the information from yesterday. Dalton Vail had dashed off, leaving her with dozens of unanswered questions. She’d spent a restless night pondering their conversation and the new possibilities that Carlos’s death presented. Damn, why hadn’t Dalton called her? Didn’t he believe she had a right to know what was going on?

Of course not, you idiot. He still considers you a suspect. Under the circumstances, she shouldn’t expect him to share information with her. Having hoped to gain his trust, she felt a stab of disappointment slash through her. Maybe he liked her, but he wasn’t the type of man to let his emotions outweigh his sense of logic. Trusting her was not something a person in his position could afford.

An alternative explanation arose that chilled her blood. Since she hadn’t heard from Wendy regarding the envelope, it was possible Vail possessed the photographs contained therein. That might explain the mixed signals he generated in her presence. On the other hand, she’d have sensed it if he’d discovered her secrets. Usually she was a pretty good reader of nonverbal cues, and his behavior didn’t suggest any inner certainty on his part that he’d caught her. But even if he realized that motive and opportunity were hers, he still needed to prove she had the means to conjure up an exotic mixture of poison.

What was monkshood, anyway? Some obscure herb? And who would know about such a thing, much less how to turn it into a powdered form not easily discernible? Cyanide was the main ingredient, she recalled. Maybe you could buy it as rat poison, or was that arsenic? Perhaps she should look them both up later, either at the library or on the Internet if such references existed. Any knowledge would be helpful, although she shuddered as an image of Bertha’s death grimace returned to haunt her.

Letting her optimism surface, she thought maybe Wendy had found the envelope but just didn’t have time to phone her. She’d ask Zack about it this morning.

At least traffic heading downtown on Broward Boulevard was light by ten o’clock. She’d figured it would be better to avoid the rush hour. The rest of the ride went smoothly, and soon she was turning into a parking garage.

As she ascended the elevator to the fourteenth floor of a tall office building, Marla reviewed her plan. She’d pretend ignorance about financial matters, which shouldn’t be too hard, considering how she’d learned about the subject in the first place. She’d gleaned her knowledge from whatever pearls of wisdom Stan had condescendingly dropped her way, then continued her education by reading financial magazines until she got too depressed by all of the self-made millionaires interviewed in their articles. Her main investments consisted of mutual funds, bank CDs, and a few individual stocks.

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