The Prodigal Son Read Online Free PDF Page A

your morgue doors, and the faster you can screen for tetrodotoxin, the better your chances of finding it. In fact, why don’t you tell Paul you’re running a little unofficial test to keep your technicians on their toes? Tell him they’re to look for abstruse neurotoxins like tetrodotoxin. It won’t fool Paul, but your technicians are used to your — er — unofficial exams. Let Paul in on it, he’s no gossip, Patsy.”

    “Well, I have to keep my technicians on their toes now my lab is the major one in the state. I’ll look, Carmine — and look hard.” His face puckered; he fought for control and found it. “This isn’t fair! Millie doesn’t need extra grief.”
    “She did exactly the right thing in reporting her loss,” Carmine said, voice level. “Had she concealed the theft, you might easily have missed a tetrodotoxin death at P.M. If the thief’s motive was nefarious, he was looking for a rare and undetectable poison. And that means he’s knowledgeable. A biochemist or biologist, or maybe a doctor.” Carmine frowned, toyed with his spoon. “Given Jim’s relationship to Millie, he’s out of the picture, and that means someone else knew about the tetrodotoxin.”
    Patrick shivered. “Carmine, don’t! You’re talking as if the thief really does have murder in mind. I mean, this is all pure hypothesis! A bottle washer does her glassware once a week, there are electricians and plumbers — Millie doesn’t work in a vacuum.”
    “Calm down, cuz, of course it’s hypothesis. We’ll cross the bridges as we come to them, but it never hurts to be fully prepared. I can already note that Dr. Millicent Hunter informed the Medical Examiner and the police that she found six hundred milligrams of tetrodotoxin missing from her laboratory refrigerator — what else could she have done? The substance wasn’t named, though it bore a generic poisons sticker — that really is suspicious, Patsy. She’s sure nothing else went missing — hang on.” Carmine slid out of the booth. “I’ll be back in a minute — and lunch is on me.”

    Patrick watched his cousin say something to Luigi, who pushed a phone across the counter. Carmine made a couple of calls, the second one the longer of the two, then returned.
    “Nothing else is missing, even sterile water. The substance in question was coded — no indication of its real identity.”
    “So she can’t be blamed? Ought it to have been locked up?”
    “Given that she locked her lab door even if she was only going to the bathroom, Judge Thwaites would probably rule that the circumstances of Millie’s research routine made locking it up unnecessary, given its anonymity. A white powder in a glass ampoule — it could be anything from cocaine to flour. Honest, Patsy, Millie’s okay.”
    Carmine gave his cousin a look that held as much love as exasperation; one’s children caused torments and apprehensions just not possible in any lesser beings. Patrick was caught in the web of his fear for this most worrisome daughter.
    “You know, I don’t label my stuff poison,” Patrick said.
    “You don’t have to. Your lab is off-limits to those who don’t have clearance, especially now there’s a viewing room two floors up for identification,” Carmine said comfortably. “All it took was the installation of an elevator shaft between your floor and ours.”
    “I keep all the known poisons in a safe, of course,” Patrick went on, grappling the problem like a dog with an old and meatless bone. “Trouble is, there are so many toxic ways to die, from Drano to household bleach. It used to be much easier when people just used rat or wasp poison — Carmine, don’t let life hurt my Millie yet again!”

    “I’ll give it my best shot, I promise. How long have they been together now?”
    “Eighteen years last September. They’re thirty-two.”
    “What drew them together, Patsy?”
    “I asked Millie that a long time ago, before they went to Columbia. All she said was