Hard Line - Pamela Clare Page 0,37
room. There’s a test I want to try. Do you have a lighter?”
“No, but I can borrow one.”
They carried their trays from the conference room to the dish pit. Samantha grabbed a soup spoon from the galley while Thor stopped in the kitchen to borrow a lighter. Then they made their way to Samantha’s room in silence.
Thor closed her door behind him. “What kind of test is this?”
“This is the box of stuff I set aside for her shrine.” She pulled out the empty wine bottle, shook it, relieved that there was still a little left in the bottom. “I’m going to pour the dregs into the spoon. You light it on fire. If it’s ethanol—regular wine—it will burn blue. If it burns yellow, it’s contaminated by methanol.”
She poured the last of the wine into the soup spoon, held it steady while Thor flicked the lighter.
The alcohol went up in a bright yellow flame.
“Oh, my God.” Samantha stared, chills skittering along her spine. She hadn’t wanted to believe it, but it was true. Someone had poisoned Patty. “But why am I still alive? Why are Lance and Kristi alive? We all drank this same wine.”
“Maybe the methanol was added later—or maybe it’s a different bottle with an identical label.”
The flame sputtered out, but not before Thor snapped a photo of it with his phone. Then he grabbed a tissue from her desk and took the bottle from her. “Don’t touch this. It’s now evidence—our only evidence. I’ll put it in a safe place.”
But Samantha was still reeling. The thought that someone Patty had trusted had given her poisoned wine made Samantha sick. Death in the guise of friendship.
It was too hideous to contemplate.
“Do you know anyone on station with the computer skills needed to hack a military satellite?”
Samantha gaped at Thor. “You think her murder had something to do with that?”
“The time range for when she ingested the methanol overlaps with the time the satellite was hacked.”
“Oh, God.” This was all too surreal, too terrible. “Lance is our IT guy. Patty started in computer science. But I don’t know the others’ backgrounds. You’d have to look at personnel records.”
“We’re working on that.” Thor moved toward the door, the bottle still in hand. “I’d like your help in the staff meeting here in a few minutes.”
“Of course.”
“Watch people’s expressions. See how they react to the news that Patty was murdered. Jones, Segal, and I will be watching, too, but you know the people here better than we do. Until now, the killer might have hoped or believed they’d gotten away with this. This announcement is going to make someone very nervous.”
“I’ll do my best.” She walked with Thor to the B1 Lounge, unable to shake a sense of dread.
Until yesterday, the station had felt like home, an oasis of warmth and life at the bottom of the world. But Patty’s murder had shattered her sense of safety.
She sat toward the front of the room, Thor standing behind her, Malik and Lev beside him. People drifted in, cups of coffee or tea in their hands, curiosity on their faces.
Lance sat beside Samantha, stubble on his jaw, his salt-and-pepper hair damp from a shower. “Any idea what this is about?”
Samantha was still irritated about his actions last night. “It’s about Patty.”
“Sorry about last night.” He held up Patty’s ring. “I shouldn’t have grabbed this, and I shouldn’t have tried to take her journal from you.”
“I appreciate the apology. Keep the ring. She cared about you.”
Lance closed his fist around it. “Thanks.”
Vasily and his crew drifted in, looking like they’d had too much to drink and too little sleep. He went to stand at the back and waved to her.
She had a hard time waving back. If they were involved in hacking the satellite, that would make them partly culpable for Patty’s murder.
“That’s everyone.” Hardin walked to the front of the room. “Yesterday, we got word that the medical examiner ruled Patty’s death a homicide. Methanol poisoning.”
Gasps. Shocked faces. Whispers.
Samantha’s gaze moved over the faces, saw nothing but shock. Kazem. Charli. Jason. Ryan. Decker. Wei. The metal-working guys.
Kristi stared wide-eyed at Samantha. “Oh, my God!”
Lance leaned closer. “Did you know? Is this why Kristi gave you a sedative?”
Samantha ignored his question. “Shh. I’m listening.”
“In response, the NSF and the US Marshal Service have asked our security friends from Cobra to investigate. I’ve assured them they’ll get your full cooperation. This morning, they were deputized by the Special Deputy US Marshal at McMurdo. This gives