Erik and Alex had broken, but if it was hotel property, they better offer to pay for it.
“The ME completed the autopsy in record time,” Etienne continued, “but his initial analysis has caused a headache for Officer Bean. Apparently, Dolly died from a condition the ME has never had occasion to see before.”
A chill darted up my spine and shot tingling sensations all the way to my fingertips.
“Her stomach appears to have exploded.”
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Do the police know about Isobel’s exploding stomach?”
“They do now. Provincial labs might not boast cutting-edge technology, but they have an outstanding computer system with an easily accessible data base. Bean was all over it.”
“What does that mean for Nana? Oh God. They can’t be thinking she’s responsible for two deaths, can they?”
“Let’s just say, Bean isn’t about to let her slip through his fingers.”
“But she has no motive!”
“The contest,” he said flatly. “He floated a theory that your grandmother wanted to slow Dolly’s team down in order to give her own team a chance to catch up, so she slipped a debilitating substance to Dolly, all dressed up as a dietary supplement. Regrettably, it not only slowed her down; it ended up killing her.”
“But that’s ridiculous! Nana doesn’t need to win our contest to finance her next trip. She’s a bazillionaire. She can afford to go anywhere she wants without having to knock off the competition. And furthermore, his theory is totally warped. Isobel died when Team Five was at the back of the pack, not the front, so why would Nana feel compelled to kill a woman who wasn’t even a contender at the time?”
He hesitated, lowering his voice to a seductive whisper. “Have I ever told you how irresistible you are when you’re railing against injustice?”
“Etienne! This is serious!”
“I know it is, bella. I’m sorry. It’s just that … I miss you.” With a sigh of resignation, he continued. “Officer Bean has also made some cryptic references to clan Maccoull and their legendary penchant for savagery and revenge. Do you have any idea what he’s referring to?”
I rolled my eyes. “More nonsense. Nana can explain, if they’ll let you talk to her. Is she nearby? Any chance I can talk to her for a few—”
“They’re giving me the signal, so I need to hang up.”
“Are you coming back to the hotel tonight or—”
“I’d prefer not to leave your grandmother alone, so I’ve requested a cot, and they’re amenable to my spending the night. I’ll call you tomorrow. Early. Ti amo, bella.”
“I love you, too.” The line went dead.
I placed the receiver back on the hook, my hand trembling with cold, my mind racing to make sense of the new information.
Two women. Two horrific deaths. Two identical pathologies pointing to a cause of death so violently lethal and rare, that it was unfamiliar to two separate medical examiners.
So what was the thread that connected the two deaths? Isobel and Dolly had obviously engaged in some activity or event that had condemned them to share the same fate. But what was it? Were they taking similar medications that might have been either contaminated or recalled?
Nope. Isobel had been packing an epinephrine pen; Dolly had been packing baby aspirin.
Did they share a genetic abnormality that might have manifested itself at the same time?
What were the chances? They weren’t related. Isobel had been a Campbell; Dolly had been a MacDonald. How could they share similar genes?
In fact, the only bond the women seemed to have had in common was that they belonged to the same team and despised each other.
And lest I forget, they were both thieves.
As the disturbance next door escalated to a shouting match, I walked to the foot of the bed to stare at Hamish Maccoull’s knife.
Isobel had told us why she’d stolen the dirk, but why in the world had Dolly? Had she intended to pawn it? Keep it? Use it? If she’d known about the curse beforehand, would she have stolen it anyway, or would she have been too superstitious to go near the thing?
I guess we’d never know now. But there were several indisputable facts we did know.
Isobel had stolen Hamish Maccoull’s dirk and suffered a gruesome death.
Dolly had stolen the dirk and suffered an equally gruesome death.
Their autopsies revealed their deaths were eerily similar … yet inexplicable.
So the question to resolve was, what would cause two human stomachs to disintegrate in exactly the same way, in a manner so alien to medical science, that it completely confounded local experts?
I hugged