Corpus Corpus (27 page)

"You were right on that score," Dane said.

"Except for the fact that Newport didn't kill Janus. While he was plotting his revenge, someone else had murder in mind, but with the distinct advantage of being able to get close enough to Janus to slip a little poison into him."

Goldstein said, "He certainly ate a great deal, but we all ate the same food."

"Maybe the poison was in a drink. There wasn't a moment when Janus didn't have a glass in his hand, or within easy reach."

"I recall one moment," Dane said. "He bumped into a waiter and dropped his glass."

"That's just great," Bogdanovic said as he returned to his chair. "The butler did it."

"No need for sarcasm, Sergeant," Goldstein snapped. "Maggie is on our side."

"What about you, sir? Did you by chance see anyone who might have slipped a fatal Mickey into Janus's glass?"

After pondering a moment, Goldstein answered. "There was a young woman who asked him to autograph a book. She could easily have dropped something into Janus's martini."

"Did you notice if she happened to be wearing a ring that might have had a hallowed-out compartment for a dose of poison?"

"The chief and I share your frustration, Johnny," Dane said, sympathetically. "But we have no evidence that Theo was poisoned at the Black Orchid dinner. It could have happened much earlier. There are slow-acting poisons."

 WEDNESDAY MORNING, WITH a feeling of satisfaction, Bogdanovic sat at his desk and again read the thrilling front-page headline of the Graphic:

JANUS MURDER CASE SENSATION! 

POLICE SAY YOUTH THREATENED, 

STALKED FAMED DEFENSE LAWYER

Charge Is Attempted Homicide

While Investigation Continues

An hour earlier he had stopped at a newsstand, bought the paper, read the headline, and turned to the story on page three to read:

Less than three days after famed defense lawyer Theodore R. Janus's body was found with a single, fatal gunshot wound in the head as he sat in the front seat of his Rolls-Royce on posh Gramercy Park East, police sources report that a suspect, William Newport, a teacher of photography, is being held on a charge of attempted murder, pending further investigation.

"We have no doubt that charges against Newport will be amended to conform to the true nature of his crime," said Chief of Detectives Harvey Goldstein in a statement released late yesterday. "In the meantime, our investigation continues."

Now, as Dane entered his office carrying the newspaper, Bogdanovic sat with the Graphic in his lap and his feet crossed at the ankles on his desk. Beaming with delight, he said, "Maggie, my boss is the master of obfuscation." He opened the paper to page three and read aloud, " 'We have no doubt that charges against Newport will be amended to conform to the true nature of his crime.' Is that brilliant, or what? There's not so much as a hint that Janus was not shot to death and that the continuation of the investigation depends on what turns up in a toxicology report. I can hardly wait till the chief gets into the office so I can congratulate him."

"Harvey's not here? I thought you two were inseparable."

"He called me late last night to tell me there was to be a big meeting-last minute, very urgent, and only the top brass-at seven this morning in Vanderhoff’s office about the Mancuso fiasco. Rather than have me pick him up, he grabbed a cab. He said, and these are his exact words, 'No use you sitting on your ass at One Hogan Place when you should be sitting on your ass at One Police Plaza, in case the written toxicology report comes in.' "

Dane dropped a large handbag on a chair and sat in another. "A sound management decision. But obviously, you have not gotten Awini's report."

He removed his feet from the desk. "No, but I've been giving a lot of thought to Awini's preliminary opinion that the cause of death was poisoning. If that's true, we have an entirely new ball game. To poison someone, you have to be close to the victim."

"Poisoning would certainly narrow the circle of suspects."

"Do you buy the old saw that poison is a woman's weapon?"

"Like everything else that's been said to put women down," Dane answered, "that slur has to have been coined by a man."

"Really? Look at history! The wife of Caesar Augustus, the amazing Livia. And what about Lucrezia Borgia? And there was a delightful English dame in India who got tired of her husband and said in her confession that the only way out was to put poison in the soup. The pages of encyclopedias of crime are crammed with members of the fair sex who murdered with poison, like the dizzy old sisters in
Arsenic and Old Lace
."

"I can name outstanding poisoners of the masculine gender."

"Even Marian Pickering Henry admits that females are more likely to use poison than men. What did she say to me at the Wolfe Pack dinner? Something to the effect that with poison, a woman doesn't have to mop up the blood. She even showed me how easily she could have slipped a something lethal into me."

"So could any of the men at our table. For instance, Nicky Stamos. Anyone who has ever heard of Aristotle knows Greek men knew all about hemlock. Then there's the lovely Ariadne. She is from the Balkans, a very poisonous region. Oscar Pendelton knows about poisons by virtue of publishing the doyenne of the dollop of cyanide. What about our purveyor of crime books, Wiggins? Or members of the steering committee who were against Theo's getting the Nero Wolfe Award? And there's me, of course."

"What possible motive could you have?"

"As with every possible suspect I've named, and those I have overlooked, it's for me to know and you to find out, Detective."

He leaned back as if to study her and said, "You don't look like a poisoner to me."

"What does a poisoner look like?"

"She looks like the hag with the apple in 'Snow White.' The wicked witch in
The Wizard of Oz
." The phone rang.

Dr. Hassan Awini demanded, "Put Harvey on, Sergeant."

"He's involved in a powwow at the DA's office. Won't I do?"

Awini sighed. "Very well. I will summarize the toxicological report. Take notes. You will have it in writing as soon as I can round up a messenger."

Grabbing a pen, Bogdanovic also put the call on the speakerphone. "Ready to copy, Hassan."

"If this is on the speaker, I must know who is with you."

Dane answered, "Maggie Dane. I can leave, Doctor."

"Not necessary. Toxicological tests revealed the presence of a substance that is a derivative of the yellow oleander, a tropical plant. It is a cardiac glycoside."

Bogdanovic asked, "How do you spell it and what is it?"

"I assume you can spell cardiac. Glycoside is g-l-y-c-o—."

"I follow you. Glycocide as in homicide."

"Exactly. In laymen's terms, it triggers a heart attack. The inner portion of yellow oleander fruit contains two kernels. Five or six yield enough thevetin to kill within twenty-four hours."

"So Janus could have gotten the cardiac glycoside into him as long as a day before he died?"

"I said it could kill within that time. But if it was administered to someone with advanced heart disease, as in Mr. Janus's case, the effects would be felt much quicker. But there is more to this, Sergeant. The toxicologist also reports the presence of taxine. Shall I spell it?"

"No need. Does that mean Janus had two poisons in him?"

"Taxine derives from the taxus plant, better known as the yew tree, or the ground hemlock. It is found in almost all areas of the United States. The bark, needles, and seeds contain large amounts of alkaloid taxine. The symptoms of taxine poisoning include muscular weakness."