track
her and then kill her. Nice and neat. Someone is trying to cut off
any investigation before it starts.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t
you think?”
“It would be, Tommy, except, and I may have
forgotten to mention this before, someone cut the brakes on my car
right after I hit town.”
“No shit?”
“None at all. I almost bought it Friday night
up on Mulholland Drive.”
“What were you doing up there?”
“Beating the bushes at the governor’s
private party. I am thinking there is a connection. The whole thing
has the feel of PR damage control. For what, I don’t know. Now
there are two dead bodies. I’m thinking we ought to find out
why.”
“Okay, I’m interested. But we don’t
yet have proof of one murder, much less two.”
“We will as soon as Dr. Becker gets here.”
“Where is she?” asked Rafferty. “She
should be here by now.”
“I sent Vinny over to her office with the new
evidence from Hope’s boat. She may be doing tests.”
“What about this one?” Rafferty pointed
to the dead girl.
“There are two bottles of wine in the kitchen,
but no glasses. You should find evidence of her being forced to drink
the wine. The rest was poured into the sink. The scene was staged to
look like an overdose.”
Detective Rafferty marveled at Raja’s
intuitive confidence. “How could you know all that?”
“It’s a gift. I call it connect the
dots. Something I’ve always been able to do. I’m a big
fan of Ockham’s razor.”
“I use a Norelco tripleheader myself.”
“Ockham’s razor is a method of
philosophic logic.”
“Yawn.”
“If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck … ” Raja paused.
“I see. Why didn’t you just say so?”
Raja’s phone rang. It was Vinny. “I’m
at the lab. Dr. Becker didn’t want to take a chance on losing
the sample, so she had me hand deliver it and wait for results. We
got what we needed,” Vinny said triumphantly. “Hope was
murdered. The tox panel showed a potent compound on the cap that
could easily have killed Randall Hope. The doc can tell you more
about it. She’s on the way to you now.”
“Good work, Vinny. Why don’t you go back
to Studio City. I’ll meet you there later.” Raja ended
the call.
“It’s official,” he said to
Detective Rafferty. “That was Vinny at the lab. They found a
drug that killed Randall Hope. He was murdered.”
“Are you sure?” asked Rafferty.
“Yes, he’s sure,” said a confident
female voice.
Both men turned to see Dr. Becker walking through
the apartment door.
“I told Vinny to call you with the news. After
all, she was the one who found the evidence at the crime scene.”
Dr. Becker gave Rafferty a disapproving look. “The compound
contains tyramine, which in large enough dose causes an adrenergic
storm.”
“A what?” asked Rafferty.
“It spikes blood pressure and heart rate.
Tyramine has been used to temporarily increase blood pressure in
emergency blood-loss patients. The amount Randall Hope ingested would
kill a healthy man, yet look like a stroke from an aneurism.”
“Sharon, good work,” said Raja. “I
think we have another related murder here.” He pointed to the
girl’s body.
“Could we at least let the doc decide?”
asked Rafferty.
Dr. Becker examined the body. “The pills on
the table and smell of alcohol would make toxic overdose the obvious
COD.” She looked at the back of the girl’s arms and
inside her mouth. “However, there is perimortem bruising
evident in several places. This girl was in a physical struggle with
someone right before she died. Based on my preliminary observation, I
think you can assume foul play.”
“Now we’ve got two murders, Tommy,”
said Raja.
“Don’t sound so damn happy,” said
Rafferty.
Chapter Nine: Loose Lips
After Rafferty dropped Raja at the Studio City
building, Raja stepped into the elevator and used his key to unlock
and activate the 4th floor button. That took him to the private
her and then kill her. Nice and neat. Someone is trying to cut off
any investigation before it starts.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t
you think?”
“It would be, Tommy, except, and I may have
forgotten to mention this before, someone cut the brakes on my car
right after I hit town.”
“No shit?”
“None at all. I almost bought it Friday night
up on Mulholland Drive.”
“What were you doing up there?”
“Beating the bushes at the governor’s
private party. I am thinking there is a connection. The whole thing
has the feel of PR damage control. For what, I don’t know. Now
there are two dead bodies. I’m thinking we ought to find out
why.”
“Okay, I’m interested. But we don’t
yet have proof of one murder, much less two.”
“We will as soon as Dr. Becker gets here.”
“Where is she?” asked Rafferty. “She
should be here by now.”
“I sent Vinny over to her office with the new
evidence from Hope’s boat. She may be doing tests.”
“What about this one?” Rafferty pointed
to the dead girl.
“There are two bottles of wine in the kitchen,
but no glasses. You should find evidence of her being forced to drink
the wine. The rest was poured into the sink. The scene was staged to
look like an overdose.”
Detective Rafferty marveled at Raja’s
intuitive confidence. “How could you know all that?”
“It’s a gift. I call it connect the
dots. Something I’ve always been able to do. I’m a big
fan of Ockham’s razor.”
“I use a Norelco tripleheader myself.”
“Ockham’s razor is a method of
philosophic logic.”
“Yawn.”
“If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck … ” Raja paused.
“I see. Why didn’t you just say so?”
Raja’s phone rang. It was Vinny. “I’m
at the lab. Dr. Becker didn’t want to take a chance on losing
the sample, so she had me hand deliver it and wait for results. We
got what we needed,” Vinny said triumphantly. “Hope was
murdered. The tox panel showed a potent compound on the cap that
could easily have killed Randall Hope. The doc can tell you more
about it. She’s on the way to you now.”
“Good work, Vinny. Why don’t you go back
to Studio City. I’ll meet you there later.” Raja ended
the call.
“It’s official,” he said to
Detective Rafferty. “That was Vinny at the lab. They found a
drug that killed Randall Hope. He was murdered.”
“Are you sure?” asked Rafferty.
“Yes, he’s sure,” said a confident
female voice.
Both men turned to see Dr. Becker walking through
the apartment door.
“I told Vinny to call you with the news. After
all, she was the one who found the evidence at the crime scene.”
Dr. Becker gave Rafferty a disapproving look. “The compound
contains tyramine, which in large enough dose causes an adrenergic
storm.”
“A what?” asked Rafferty.
“It spikes blood pressure and heart rate.
Tyramine has been used to temporarily increase blood pressure in
emergency blood-loss patients. The amount Randall Hope ingested would
kill a healthy man, yet look like a stroke from an aneurism.”
“Sharon, good work,” said Raja. “I
think we have another related murder here.” He pointed to the
girl’s body.
“Could we at least let the doc decide?”
asked Rafferty.
Dr. Becker examined the body. “The pills on
the table and smell of alcohol would make toxic overdose the obvious
COD.” She looked at the back of the girl’s arms and
inside her mouth. “However, there is perimortem bruising
evident in several places. This girl was in a physical struggle with
someone right before she died. Based on my preliminary observation, I
think you can assume foul play.”
“Now we’ve got two murders, Tommy,”
said Raja.
“Don’t sound so damn happy,” said
Rafferty.
Chapter Nine: Loose Lips
After Rafferty dropped Raja at the Studio City
building, Raja stepped into the elevator and used his key to unlock
and activate the 4th floor button. That took him to the private
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