Secret Prey

arsenic in hair. Hair.
    She punched the off button on the computer, and the computer’s fan moaned as it closed down. The computer didn’t like that, she thought. Didn’t like to be up and running, and then cut off.
    Fuck the computer.
    Arsenic and hair. She had to do something, and do it quickly.

THIRTY-ONE

    LUCAS WENT TO LUNCH WITH DEL, WHOSAID, ‘‘I CAN’T shake free of this opium thing. A couple of the old ladies have been calling every day, wanting to know what we’re gonna do.’’
    ‘‘That’s your problem, thank God,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘Go over and talk to Towson or one of his guys, see what they want to do.’’
    ‘‘They want it to go away,’’ Del said. ‘‘So does Rose Marie. Nobody wants to deal with it. I don’t want to deal with it anymore. Hell, I’m going on vacation in two weeks. I’m finally getting my shot at Cancu
    ´n. But now these old ladies, they want something done.’’
    ‘‘Why? Tell them to keep their mouths shut, and everybody’ll forget it,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘They’re not thinking that way. They’ve all been getting together in these fuckin’ . . . covens. They think they’ve got to pay their debt to society,’’ Del said morosely.
    ‘‘Jesus. Well, you asked for it,’’ Lucas said brightly. ‘‘I feel for you, pal. But when that doc told you about it, you coulda walked away.’’
    ‘‘Ah, man, you gotta find a way to help.’’
    ‘‘Not me.’’ Lucas laughed, and thought, My God, I think I just chortled . ‘‘I’m not Narcotics. Go talk to the guys down there.’’
    ‘‘They treat me like I got the plague . . .’’
    ‘‘That’s ’cause you got the plague,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘I don’t want to hear about it.’’
    ‘‘Fuck me,’’ Del said, moodily. ‘‘I wasn’t cut out for this.’’
    Lucas laughed again, said, ‘‘Nobody is. Sixty old ladies? Is that what it is? You poor fuck. You’re dead meat.’’
    Del looked at his watch. ‘‘That lab report is about due.’’
    ‘‘Let’s get back,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘You think you got her?’’
    ‘‘It’s almost too much to hope for,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘When Helen said she had a hair sample, my teeth almost fell out.’’
    LUCAS HAD A MESSAGE WHEN HE GOT BACK: ‘‘CALL DAVIS.’’ Davis Ericson worked in the state crime lab. He punched in the number, and Ericson picked up.
    ‘‘What’d you get?’’
    ‘‘Lucas. Tell you what, I’ve never seen this before. Not in real life.’’
    ‘‘What? You got arsenic?’’
    ‘‘The hair is stiff with it,’’ Ericson said. ‘‘She must’ve been eating it for a month before she croaked.’’
    ‘‘Goddamnit, Davis.’’
    LUCAS PUNCHED IN THE COUNTY ATTORNEY’S NUMBER, waited for three minutes, and Kirk, the chief of the criminal division, picked up. Lucas explained about the lock of hair.
    ‘‘If Helen can swear that it came from her mother, then that might do it,’’ Kirk said.
    ‘‘That’s where Helen says it comes from.’’
    ‘‘Give me her name and address. We’ll set up an appointment for a deposition.’’
    ‘‘What about Audrey?’’
    ‘‘Easiest way to do it is, we’ll talk to the judge, and have bail revoked on the killing of her husband. And then before tomorrow’s bail hearing, we’d get an arrest affidavit put together on her mother, and arrest her on that. Maybe boost the charge on her husband to first degree.’’
    ‘‘So how long is that gonna take? The bail revocation?’’
    ‘‘Mmm . . . we’ll have to get some stuff in writing. If you’ll set out the circumstances of obtaining the hair sample, and describe the lab test—just in general terms—and walk it over here, I’ll have a secretary put together an affidavit and we’ll have the judge sign it this afternoon. If you can get your memo over here in an hour, we’ll have it done by the end of the day.’’
    ‘‘And then we pick her up.’’
    ‘‘Yup. We could have her inside for supper.’’
    ‘‘Excellent,’’ Lucas said.
    AUDREY HAD BEEN UP MOST OF THE NIGHT, PACKING. She wanted to have it done in case she was rearrested, so that Wilson’s clothing wouldn’t still be hanging in the closets when she got back. She was eradicating the sight of him.
    And she would probably be rearrested, she thought. If Davenport really had that hair, he would probably be coming for her in the next day or two. How long would a lab take? She had no idea. But she was certain it couldn’t