Un-Fur-tunate Events (Vanessa Abbot Cat Cozy Mystery Series Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

report.”

    Vanessa handed a glass of water to Pete.
“I can’t wait to hear all about it. You think Andrea might have had something
to do with Jerry’s death?”

    Vanessa raised a wooden spoon to her
mouth to taste the marinara sauce. She then sprinkled oregano over the saucepan.

    “By the way, Andrea was having an
affair with Jerry.” Vanessa announced.

    “Wait. Slow down. I just arrived.” Pete
chuckled.

    Vanessa made her way around Pete as he
washed his hands in the sink. She stood over the stove and stirred the sauce.
Pete dried his hands and sat down at the kitchen table.

    “What can I help you with?” Pete asked.

    “Why don’t you prepare the salad?”
Vanessa brought over a head of lettuce and some tomatoes. “Tell me more about
this toxicology report.”

    “I was right. Jerry was poisoned. It was
a pharmaceutical-grade vasoconstrictor called Prohiborol . The sandwiches had trace amounts of the drug.” Pete
spoke as he sliced through the tomatoes.

    “Vaso-what?” She asked.

    Pete laughed. “Vasoconstrictor. That’s
a drug that causes your veins to narrow and constrict blood flow. With a high
enough dose, it would force blood back to your lungs and heart, flooding the
air sacs in your lungs. You would essentially drown in your own blood, and if
you foamed at the mouth, the foam would turn pink like when Jerry was on the
ground.”

    Vanessa turned away. “This case is so
strange.”

     “It’s
very strange. Prohiborol is a very
mild vasoconstrictor. It isn’t strong enough on its own to cause the kind of
lung congestion and death you saw in Jerry.”

    “Then it couldn’t have kill him,”
Vanessa pointed out. “Something else must have killed him.”

    “No, it did,” Pete replied. “According
to the autopsy, it reacted to another medication Jerry was taking. You remember
when I said he wouldn’t have fallen down like that and died of a seizure
without warning? It turns out Jerry was an epileptic after all.”

    “What?” Vanessa cried.

    “That’s right,” Pete continued. “He was
taking an anti-seizure medication called Nevasprohil .
It reacted with the Prohiborol .
That’s what killed him. The combination of the two drugs caused a massive
seizure and also caused blood and fluid to back up into his lungs. He died of
asphyxiation.”

    “How awful.” Vanessa remarked.

    “We have the same problem with this
case that we have with every other murder case involved with poison,” Pete told
her. “How could the killer slip the poison into the food Jerry would eat?”

    “Andrea told me that Steve made all the
food from scratch.” Vanessa remarked.

    “That would make it easy enough. Prohiborol isn’t strong enough to kill
on its own,” Pete added. “The killer could have known Jerry’s medical history. Perhaps
they added enough of the drug to cause a fatal reaction to his medication but
it wouldn’t harm anyone else at the picnic. Then they wouldn’t have to worry
about adding it to one person’s food and not another.”

    AngelPie appeared in the door and
twitched her nose in approval of the aroma that filled the kitchen. She strode
across the kitchen floor and sat at Vanessa’s feet.   

    “Did Andrea tell you the name of the
medication she lost?” Pete asked.

    “No.” Vanessa replied. “I didn’t bother
to ask. Do you suspect her?”

    “Everyone is a suspect at this point. Perhaps
Andrea was lying to you about losing her medication,” Pete told her. “She might
have tossed the bottle when she saw the police show up.”

    “Andrea seemed shocked when I told her
that Jerry might have been murdered. I found her by the side of the road pretty
broken up about it.” Vanessa took the chopped salad and placed it into a bowl.

    “Is that when she told you about their
relationship?” Pete inquired, “if our friend Jerry had an affair with the
boss’s wife. Frank must have known and wanted revenge, but he didn’t want to
harm the reputation of his