ChapterTwenty-Five
The following morning, Jeremiah woke to an email from forensics expert Eleanor Dobbins with the subject lineLab Results.
He opened the email’s attachment and found he couldn’t interpret Eleanor’s scientific terms. In the body of the email, she’d suggested that he call when he had the report open in front of him.
He did so, listening to it ring.
He’d burned the past hour sitting here in his home office, watching snowflakes fall to earth outside, consumed with thoughts of Remy. He missed her so much he ached with it.
“This is Eleanor Dobbins.”
“Eleanor, this is Jeremiah Camden. I’m calling to get your take on the lab results you sent.”
“Certainly. After analyzing the samples, I pinpointed two substances that are likely the most relevant.”
“Go on.”
“If you recall, a bottle of Native Vitality energy drink had spilled on the carpet of your boat.”
“I remember.”
“The stain contained the components used to make Native Vitality. It also contained potassium chloride.”
“Which is?”
“Poison.”
He sat more upright. “Someone put poison in my energy drink?”
“That’s my conclusion, yes. Had you consumed the entire bottle, you’d likely be dead.”
“Is it possible to add poison to a closed bottle?”
“In this case, I found a hole almost too small to detect with the naked eye near the screw-top of the bottle. I believe that hole was left by the needle used to puncture the bottle and inject poison into the liquid. When you unscrewed the cap, it would have behaved exactly as expected because the screw-top was not tampered with.”
“I see.”
“If you were drinking the energy drink while in the kitchen preparing food, and began to feel the effects of potassium chloride, that might explain why you dropped the bottle and abandoned food preparation midway through.”
For the first time, he vaguely recalled setting off from Groomsport’s harbor the morning of the trip. As if recalling shreds of a dream, he visualized himself going below deck for lunch. Opening an energy drink. Sliding bread into the toaster. Then . . .
Dizziness.
Jeremiah grimaced, trying to find more images in the fog.
He’d braced a hand against the wall and watched everything revolve. Fear and confusion had penetrated. He’d staggered upstairs for fresh air. The world had been swirling. Sea and sky. Sea and sky. The wrong one up, the wrong one down.
“Mr. Camden?” Eleanor asked with her flat voice.
“I’m here.” He ran a hand over his mouth and jaw.
“This particular poison can be challenging to detect. Had you died on your boat that day it might have been quite some time before your body was recovered. By then, the likelihood of identifying potassium chloride would have been low.”
“You mentioned that you found two substances that might be relevant. What’s the other one?”
“I confirmed that the smear on the outer portion of the doorframe on the upper deck is blood. Your blood.”
Think, Jeremiah. When you made it to the deck, what happened?
