oblivious to Eddie’s threatening tone. “At first it seemed like a typical death of natural causes. We see it all the time here. Just a peaceful passing. But when I began examining her I smelled it.”
Chapter 13
“Two smells really,” Dr. Bondy went on. “The first was hydrocyanic acid coming from her mouth. But it was the other smell that really clued me to the cause of death.”
“Other smell?” Zach asked.
“The smell of almonds.”
The strange looks staring back at him jolted Dr. Bondy to explain, but he kept his methodical pace. “My grandfather served in World War II and worked at the camps that were used to house the German war criminals after the war ended. These cowards often sneaked cyanide in with them. It was stored in glass vials the Germans called Zyankali, which they often hid in their buttocks—not a pretty image, I know. My grandfather used to tell me about the smell of almonds coming from the ones who were able to commit suicide. He wouldn’t even let my grandmother cook anything with almonds because he associated it with the stench of death.”
“So, you’re saying that Ellen committed suicide by taking a cyanide capsule?” Zach asked.
Before the doctor could even answer, Eddie jumped in, “That’s ludicrous—where the hell would a woman in her nineties get her hands on cyanide!?”
The question seemed logical, even if its messenger appeared anything but. The doctor moved to Ellen’s body and proceeded to pry open up her mouth like a dentist. As disgusting as it was, human nature made them take a whiff of the almond smell.
“My theory is that she placed the capsule in this bridge,” he pointed to Ellen’s extensive dental work. “Then she said her prayers and goodbyes, or whatever her last thoughts pertained to, and chomped down. At least that’s how the Nazis used to do it. It’s the way Himmler killed himself.”
There’s that name again, Veronica thought. She caught a glance of Youkelstein, who had penned a book about Himmler surviving the war. So maybe he didn’t take the easy way out after all. This was all very confusing.
Dr. Bondy continued, “Once she bit into the capsule it wouldn’t take long. Just a slow series of strenuous breaths, maybe for thirty seconds or so, and a pulse for another minute. She definitely didn’t suffer.”
Eddie was pacing the room like a psychotic lion. “I think you’ve been watching too much CSI! I’m interested in the truth, not theories from some hack who works in an old folks home.”
Bondy shrugged. “I’m not saying this as fact. We’ll have to wait for the pathology tests to come back, which might be a few weeks. Along with testing these,” the doctor held out his palm, revealing a couple of small tablets. “They were found in her bridgework. My guess is that tests will show them to be cyanide.”
Zach seemed focused more on the ‘how’ than the ‘if.’ “Someone must have smuggled them in—do you have a list of all visitors?”
Veronica had a crazy thought about Maggie, but quickly dismissed it. She would never do something like that, even if Ellen pushed her for it. And how would she get her hands on something like that?
Mrs. Rhodes called on her assistant to get the records of Ellen’s visitors. She would leave no stone unturned in trying to avoid a lawsuit.
Eddie wanted to settle out of court—as in right here, right now. “And I’m going to have to talk to the person who worked the front desk last night to see if there were any suspicious visitors.”
“Ellen revealed certain secrets today, that in context, make her death suspicious,” Zach added.
Eddie flashed him a look to kill. He’d been filled in on the details of the Heritage Paper presentation prior to the trip over, and didn’t take it well.
“I don’t know what these secrets are,” Mrs. Rhodes said, for the first time appearing flustered. “But Ellen was not of sound mind, and tended to make up grand stories—like the aliens. It’s very natural when the mind begins to slip.”
Eddie wasn’t listening, “I’m also going to need to see the security tape.”
The assistant returned with the list of visitors. Eddie ripped the paper from her hand and began examining it. Two obvious names—Eddie and Maggie—dominated the list. They were the only visitors besides Veronica in the last month … except one.
Aligor Sterling.
“That’s an interesting piece of information that Mr. Sterling forgot to mention this morning,” Zach said. “And what makes it more interesting, is if Sterling