in her seat. "These are the latest colors. A bit bright, so I decided not to wear a hat. It stands on its own, don't you think?"
"Indeed," T.S. affirmed. "I'd say it more likely races." He greeted Herbert politely and, after the usual round of inquiring after everyone's health and settling a few matters of an ingrown toenail here and a vacation to Mexico there, they all settled into ordering a new round of drinks and letting Auntie Lil order everyone's dinner.
"We'll pretend this is a Chinese restaurant," she said. "And we'll sample each other's entrees."
"Excellent idea," Herbert Wong beamed, but he was prone to beaming at anything Auntie Lil suggested. They had become constant companions as both were infused with inexhaustible energy and insatiable appetites for new adventures and friends.
"Don't forget that we are here to work," Auntie Lil reminded them as soon as their appetizers arrived. (Appetizers always arrived shortly after Auntie Lil did.)
Lilah volunteered to begin with a report on the medical examiner's findings. It was brief. Emily had indeed been poisoned. The substance was formally identified as a nitroprusside, a form of cyanide easily accessible to photographers, jewelers, metallurgists and goldsmiths, all of whom relied on it for various chemical synthesis purposes. It could have been put in her food in either powder or liquid form; there had not been enough evidence to support a particular finding either way. Emily had been thin, even considering her age, but not ill nourished. She had not eaten much that day, which had probably contributed to an almost instantaneous reaction to the minute amount of poison that she'd had time to consume before her death. Her age was estimated at between seventy and eighty-five. It was the assistant medical examiner's opinion (Lilah did not refer to him by name, much to T.S.'s satisfaction) that Emily had borne at least one child in the past and that she had suffered from a slight bone deformity in one leg, which may have helped explain Adelle's belief that she had been a poor dancer. Her teeth were in good shape and indicated regular professional care. She had dyed her hair with a popular silver coloring agent. Finally, she had no tattoos, scars or birthmarks that might help distinguish her from a million other little old ladies. And there was no mention made of her marvelous cheekbones.
They were silent, contemplating the method of murder.
"Women are poisoners," Auntie Lil remarked darkly. "I knew a woman in Montreal once who went through four husbands before they caught her. She even tried to poison the horse of the Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman who finally apprehended her."
"Men poison, too," Herbert politely disagreed. "At home in Singapore, there was a man whose wives always mysteriously died once their bloom of youth had withered. Curiously enough, his mother-in-laws died soon after. We all suspected, but what could we do? One night he drowned off the coast and was eaten by sharks."
Well, good God. There was no way T.S. could top those two when it came to anecdotes about death. He contented himself with a small critical comment instead. "Whether it was a man or a woman, it was a good choice of method. It would almost certainly have gone undetected," he pointed out. "If the coroner had not been training a new assistant, I doubt the poison would have been found. Without an identity, there was no family to insist on an autopsy."
"Indeed," Auntie Lil agreed. "It was ingenious. Right there in a public place, with witnesses present to attest to her heart attack. No identity left on the body. But the killer obviously didn't know that she had friends there who might have been able to provide her name and address. That was a risk. He thought she was a loner."
"Which means the killer had not been stalking her long enough to know that the other actresses were her friends," Herbert added.
"That's right. Probably, he'd known her only in the last few months or so," T.S. decided. "She'd been feuding with the other actresses for about that long. Before then, I'm sure she probably sat at the same table with Adelle and the others. So you're right. He hadn't known her very long."
"He?" Lilah asked and they told her about The Eagle.
"The Eagle?" Herbert Wong repeated thoughtfully. "That's interesting. Did he mean an American Indian?" They stared at him silently and he defended himself. "A wise man covers all possibilities."
"That's right," Auntie Lil agreed, pushing her bowl away.