Final Option

It caused him to have blackouts.”
    “I knew he was taking medication for a heart condition, yes.”
    “He was taking a new drug called Ventrinome. People with Hexter’s kind of history used to have to have a mechanical device called a defibrillator implanted in their chests. Ventrinome’s a relatively new drug that makes that unnecessary.”
    “That’s very interesting, Miss Millholland. So what?“
    “The only drawback with Ventrinome,” I pressed on, “is that the body becomes dependent on it. If you have a history like Hexter’s, and you stop using it, chances are close to one hundred percent that you’ll experience a fatal episode of ventricular tachycardia. Did you know that Ventrinome is dispensed in the form of a plain white pill—like an aspirin or a vitamin pill?”
    “So?”
    “So why would Pamela Hexter shoot her husband, risk discovery, and certainly endure the publicity surrounding his murder, when all she had to do was replace his heart medication with vitamins and wait for him to have a fatal heart attack?”
    “You’re assuming that shooting Hexter was a coldblooded premeditated act. It didn’t go down that way. Two days before he was killed he walked into Tiffany’s and dropped eighty thousand dollars on an engagement ring. He asked a twenty-four-year-old runner at Hexter Commodities if she’d become the second Mrs. Hexter. Problem was, Mrs. Hexter number one wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. It doesn’t take a criminal genius to figure out what happened next. He tells her. She gets mad. She cools him. A plus B equals C.”
    “Husbands leave their wives all the time,” I countered. “If they all got shot, there’d be a lot more faithful husbands.”
    “Unhappy people shoot their spouses every day. People get mad, and they get even. Just because Pamela is loaded doesn’t make her any different.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong,” I insisted. “Pamela is different. She’s never been inside a grocery store or scrubbed a toilet or been in a situation where she’s felt her back against the wall. All her life she’s solved problems with money. Why on earth would she start trying to solve them with guns?”
    “Money is just money,” protested Ruskowski. “Inside Pamela is just your average woman scorned.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong,” I said flatly. “Pamela Hexter has about as much in common with the average woman as a Bushman from Borneo.”
     
    When Elliott called to say he wanted to see me, I told him to come to my office with some misgivings. I was still embarrassed about what had passed between us the other night and was unsure how to handle it. To fill the time while I waited I called Barton Jr., who agreed to see me the following morning at the offices of Hexter Commodities.
    Elliott arrived wearing a blue blazer, jeans, and a white T-shirt. In one hand he had a bunch of scarlet tulips. In the other, a bag of oranges.
    “These are for you,” he said, laying both offerings on my desk. “I stopped at Treasure Island to buy you flowers, but these oranges looked really good, too. I bet you don’t eat enough fruit.”
    “Thank you,” I replied, somewhat nonplussed.
    “I wanted to apologize for the other night.”
    “It wasn’t just you,” I said carefully.
    “I know you’re involved with someone else. I just got carried away. I’m sorry.”
    I wanted to say that I wasn’t sure I was involved with someone else, that I wasn’t sure of anything these days, but the words got stuck somewhere between my throat and my lips.
    “Apology accepted,” was all I was able to manage. “Do you have a second? I’ve just spent the weekend checking up on Hexter’s kids. It’s a very interesting family that you’ve hooked up with.”
    “So what did you find out?”
    “First of all, Barton has no alibi for the murder. His wife was up in Wisconsin visiting her parents. She took the children and the au pair with her. He was alone in the house. The first time his mother called to tell him about the shooting she got the answering machine. He said he was in the shower, but who knows? He certainly had time to get to Lake Forest and back.”
    “I can’t believe it was Barton.”
    “He’s the person who gains the most from Hexter’s death. He’s inherited millions.”
    “You don’t know Barton. He doesn’t want millions. His whole world has been turned upside down by this— for Barton and his wife this has meant nothing but