Final Act (15 page)

“I understand what you’re saying but if you let me in, believe me, Camira isn’t going to complain. 
And if you don’t let me in, then I’ll have to go higher up the authority chain,
understand
?
”

She watched the battle of indecision on his face and said nothing.
“Okay
Reverend.   I’ll just change and grab the key.  Won’t be a minute
.
”

No invitation to wait inside
,
but
then that’s probably a good thing.

He emerged dressed in torn jeans and a dirty t-shirt
,
mumbled all the way up in the elevator about how he shouldn’t be doing this and it would be on her head if Camira freaked out. 

“I mean there are all kinds of things she could be doing in there Rev
erend, if you know what I mean.”

“I get your meaning; just open the door Jimmy and then you can go back to bed.” 

Jimmy did just that, not bothering to say good night.

Hanya walked down the hallway into the living room.  The TV was muted but not turned off.  She saw Camira’s half filled cup of tea sitting on the small table by the recliner
,
bent down
and
still warm.
 
Wondering what would have made her
cousin
so quickly
skip
out on her,
Hanya
decided to use the facilities, buzz home and have a
firm
word with
Camira
in the morning.  As she headed towards the bathroom, she noticed light spilling on the carpet from be
neath
the closed door of the master bedroom.  She
knocked
on the closed door
and called her name
.
 

No response. 
S
he opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief
. 
Camira
was
lying on top of the bed
,
sound asleep. 
She
took a step closer.

Just like I thought, she’s taken some sleeping pills; no waking her now
. 
Even in her sleep, s
he
looks like she’s
posing for a photo shoot
in that w
hite silk
negligee
, trimmed in black lace,
and
spread out around her long lean body
;
her long dark ha
ir splayed across the pillow. 
Maggie
the
C
at
patiently waiting for
her
Rick
to come home
. 

Picking up the bl
anket at the bottom of the bed
, she went to cover her. 
That’s when she saw the
empty syringe l
ay
ing
next to
her
cousin’s outstretched
arm.  Fear and dread squeezed
Hanya’s
heart and rooted her to the spot.  She wasn’t sure how long she had stood
there before feeling for a pulse.
None
. Her
body
, like the teacup, was
still warm
to the touch. 

Hanya
made the sign of the cross, said prayers over the body, called 911 and, breaking all rules, laid next to her cousin,
her
arm encircling her waist; tears
running down
her cheeks.  

Chapter 6

“What time does the meeting start
?”
 

“Not soon enough”, Kate said
.

“So you don’t know either.”

“
I’m not your bloody time keeper
, Roger
.
”

“
Shit, Kate, did a stray panther piss in your purse?”

“
Ok. 
Thirty minutes.” 

Kate
threw him
the
evil eye but he wasn’t looking. 
She
opened the desk drawer and took out a handful of jelly beans.
I hate this room.  It’s like being in kindergarten, two desks butted up against each other, two students
,
without the benefit of a teacher
referee, sniping
at each other.

“Glare at your
damned
computer, not me.”

“Shut up.”

“Your left eye is starting to twitch.”

“They’ll be more than my eye twitching if we have to spend months in here.”

“
Met
hink
s I see paid stress leave and mountains of
sympathy
coming your way because of
all th
e
ticks and tremors
that will spread over your body.  End of the love life. 
Wait a minute,
big
mistake;
you don’t have a love life.”

The truth hit
her
.
 
She
was slipping away
from friends and colleagues like melting butter.  Alexis and Susan had more joie de vivre
in their menopause minds and bodies than she did in her ‘finely tuned ones’. 
Worse case disaster, she was heading for disaster, least case, heading for a crash.  Her gut told her it was more than relationship problems.  Her
phone call cancelling
the
weekend didn’t go over well
with David and the conversation had turned into
pissing
contest
with neither side winning.  The last thing she heard was a dial tone.

“Sorry for my shitty mood
, I had trouble sleeping last night.”
 

“
For Christ’s sake, you call that
a
shitty
mood; it
s foreplay
where I come from
. 
You know Kate, it mightn’t be a bad idea to
drop the morning run and take up yoga.”

A knock on the door cut Kate’s response. 

“Time to go
, folks”,
Shirley said
.

***

Gordon nodded
grunted a good morning to
the team members assembled around the conference table.  Kate and Roger
exchanged a glance
at the
look on
his
face. 
Whatever
was on the table,
it
wasn’t going to be good.     

“
Glad you’re all sitting down cause if you
weren’t
the news I have
to tell you
would knock you down. 
Two detectives from our Bedford precinct were called to an apartment in Pine Crest Hills around 1
0
:00pm
.  They were met by a woman who led them into a bedroom where a young female body lay dead on the bed.”
 

“
What’s that got to do with us?  It’s not even in our jurisdiction.”

“Showing off your law school smarts, again Kate?  Of course it’s not.  Can you refrain from questions until I finish.
 
The
two officers thought it looked like a simple case of a drug overdose but bless their brains; they erred on the side of caution and treated it as a crime scene. 
T
he deceased is Camira Paul
,
one of the
actor
s
we interviewed yesterday.”

“Camira
?  Murdered?
 

“
L
ike I said,
Kate, no one’s sure
yet if it is murder. 
But yes, the deceased is Camira.”

Kate, too stunned to speak, lowered her head
and thought of Hanya
.

“
When
the
Officer in Charge of Bedford’s substation was briefed by his constables this
morning, he made the
theatre
connection and sent me the info. 
It’s early times yet but I’d
bet a share of my pension
her death is related to Jeffrey Stone’s. 
An empty syringe was found by the body.
”

“From what I know of the deceased, I don’t buy suicide”, Kate said. 

“
Maybe not”, Gordon said.  “
Didn’t know you were chummy with her, Kate.”

“She’s the cousin of a friend of mine.  I met her six months ago.  A focused young woman, intent on building her career, didn’t drink, and I don’t believe she used drugs.”

“Remains to be seen, doesn’t it? 
You interviewed her Roger. What’s your take?”

“
Cooperative but nervous.  Held it in check though and was able to answer questions.  Confirmed
the
stories about tantrums.  She didn’t want to admit it, but
she
had been a target of his outbursts. 
She said she kne
w about his over active
libido
but
had no
firsthand experience
of it
. 
She s
tumbled though when I asked
her if she noticed anything unusual
over the last couple of
days -
people hanging around the theatre, that sort of thing. 
Sh
e said no but I didn’t buy it. The question spooked her.  I t
ried my damndest to get her to open up but she wouldn’t.”

“Never ceases to amaze me
how people
treat us as if we’re the enemy”,
Gordon said. 
He turned to Shirley.

“I want you to do background checks on the deceased
,
interview
he
r cousin and
the doorman
,
or whoever passes for security at the apartment
building.”

Shirley nodded.

Kate opened her mouth to protest but Gordon
cut her off.

“And now for the latest on Jeffrey Stone’s murder.”

He opened his blue book and took out some papers, turned to the last page and paraphrased the pathologist’s summary of the autopsy findings on Jeffrey Stone. 

“
58 year old white male, well nourished, major organs healthy, long life expectancy.  D
eath caused by ingestion of Hydrogen Cyanide, commonly known as Prussic Acid
-
a bluish white liquid with bitter almond odour. 
Anyone wants to read about its
genetic makeup, its uses, and applications, let me know
and I’ll have my P.A. copy the full report
.
”

No requests came from the gathered group. 

“
Bottom line,
h
ydrogen cyanide
can
cause rapid death in humans due to metabolic asphyxiation.  Death can occur within seconds or minutes of ingestion of high concentration
-
in this case 10%. 
E
xposure can result in weakness, headache, confusion, vertigo, fatigue, anxiety, nausea and vomiting.
”

“No one interviewed mentioned any signs the victim was suffering from headache or fatigue”, Shirley said.

“
No, and that doesn’t surprise me.  He
showed all the symptoms of ingestion of a lar
ge amount of cyanide
;
his
collapse
was
instantaneous, followed by unconsciousness, convulsions and immediate death.”

“It doesn’t make sense Gordon.  Why would Jeffrey down a drink containing a
light c
oloured liquid smelling like almonds?” Roger asked.

“
Good question.  Two reasons.  According to the report f
ood dye
matching the amber colour of whiskey
and
the victim
’s
major sinus infection
.”