Ice Cold: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

defrosted, it started to release gases. Dr. Gruber probably sped up the process when he sliced it open, exposing body fluids and internal organs. He wouldn’t be the first doctor to fall ill from exposure to toxins in a patient.”
    “Wait. This is starting to sound familiar,” said Jane. “Wasn’t there a case like this out in California?”
    “I think you’re referring to the Gloria Ramirez case, in the mid-1990s,” said Maura. “That was discussed quite a bit at forensic pathology conferences.”
    “What happened in that case?” asked Pasternak.
    “Gloria Ramirez was a cancer patient who came into the emergency room complaining of stomach pains. She suffered a cardiac arrest. As the medical team worked on her, they began to feel ill, and several of them collapsed.”
    “Was it due to this same pesticide?”
    “That was the theory at the time,” said Maura. “When they performed the autopsy, the pathologists donned full protective gear. They never did identify the toxin. But here’s the interesting detail: The medical personnel who collapsed while treating her were successfully resuscitated with intravenous atropine.”
    “The same drug used to save Gruber.”
    “That’s right.”
    Pasternak said, “How sure are you that this organophosphate stuff is what we’re dealing with?”
    “It will need to be confirmed by the tox report. But the clinical picture is classic. Gruber responded to atropine. And a STAT blood test showed a significant drop in cholinesterase activity. Again, that’s something you’d find with organophosphate poisoning.”
    “Is that enough to say it’s a slam dunk?”
    “It’s pretty damn close to one.” Maura looked at the faces around the table and wondered how many of these people, aside from Jane, were ready to trust her. Only days ago, she had been a possible suspect in the shooting of Deputy Martineau. Surely doubts about her still lingered in their minds, even if no one voiced them aloud. “The people who lived in Kingdom Come were most likely poisoned by an organophosphate pesticide,” she said. “The question is, was it mass suicide? Homicide? Or an accident?”
    That was met with a sound of disbelief from Cathy Weiss. The social worker had been sitting in the corner as if aware she was not fully accepted as a member of this team, although Detective Pasternak had invited her to attend the briefing.
    “An accident?” Cathy said. “Forty-one people are dead becausethey were
ordered
to drink pesticide. When the Prophet tells his followers to jump, their only possible response is to ask
how high, sir?”
    “Or someone could have dumped it in their well water,” said Dr. Draper. “Which makes it homicide.”
    “Whether it’s homicide or mass suicide, I have no doubt it was the Prophet’s decision,” Cathy said.
    “Anyone could have poisoned the water,” pointed out Fahey. “It could have been a disgruntled follower. Hell, it could have been that Perkins boy.”
    “He’d never do that,” said Maura.
    “They kicked him out of the valley, didn’t they? He had every reason to get back at them.”
    “Oh right,” said Cathy, not bothering to hide her disdain of Fahey. “And then that lone sixteen-year-old boy single-handedly drags forty-one bodies into the field and buries them with a bulldozer?” She laughed.
    Fahey looked back and forth at Maura and Cathy, and he gave a dismissive snort. “You ladies obviously don’t know what sixteen-year-old boys are capable of.”
    “I know what Jeremiah Goode is capable of,” Cathy shot back.
    Pasternak’s ringing cell phone cut off the conversation. He glanced at the number and quickly rose from his chair. “Excuse me,” he said, and left the room.
    For a moment there was silence, the tension from the last exchange still hanging in the air.
    Then Jane said, “Whoever did it needed access to the pesticide. There must be a record of its purchase. Especially since we’re talking about a large enough supply to kill an entire community.”
    “The Plain of Angels compound in Idaho grows its own food,” said Cathy. “They’re a completely self-sustaining community. It’s likely they’d keep this pesticide on hand for farming.”
    “Doesn’t prove they’re guilty,” said Fahey.
    “They have the poison. They have access to Kingdom Come and its water supply.”
    “I’m still not hearing a motive. No reason why Jeremiah Goode would want forty-one of his own followers dead.”
    “For a motive,