“When I was in the hospital, after I ...did what I did.They didn’t know whether I was going to recover or not.There were tests, blood and urine, but they were clean.No drugs.No alcohol.But Ally, always suspicious and protective, went one step further.She had my hair tested.”
“Your hair?”
Chad nodded.“She wanted to know whether I had been under the influence of something when I did what I did.Drugs don’t last long in your blood or urine, but they can be found in your hair days and weeks after consumption.They found two substance traces in my hair.The same two that were picked up in the second, more thorough, autopsy on Alexandra.”
“And what were they?”
“Zolpidem and lysergicaciddiethylamide, more commonly known asLSD.”
Romeo gaped, doing his best to recover his voice.“I don’t understand?”
“Zolpidem is used for insomnia, it slows down the brain, and LSD stimulates the brain.”Chad bit his lip.“Two opposing drugs.”
“Did you—”
“No,” Chad interrupted.“I didn’t take them.I’m certain of that.But they got in my system somehow.They last mere hours in the urine and blood, but for up to ninety days in hair.”
“So, in the last ninety days someone has slipped you these substances?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Chad recoiled.“Because I didn’t know.”
“I meant since you’ve been back.You had these tests at the hospital, knew you had shit in your system but didn’t say anything.”
“Up until a few days ago I strongly believed you hated me, and would continue to hate me until I died, most likely at your hand, besides...”He sighed.“It didn’t mean anything.These drugs, they’re in my hair, but they’re long out of my system.They would have had no effect on me or the decision I made that day.It didn’t seem relevant but now ...now there are two of us.”
Chad tapped his phone, frowning in concentration.He pressed it to his ear.
“Josh, I need you to come over.Bring Ally.I’ll explain when you get here.”
He ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket.
“The capsules?”Romeo asked.He glared at the box.“Whoever gave them to you, could also have given some to Alexandra?”
Chad retrieved them from the drawer.“I’ll ask Josh to send them for testing.”
“Those substances no longer would’ve had an effect on you or Alexandra, you said so yourself.”
“But it’s a hell of a coincidence, don’t you think?You need to tell me everything that happened in the weeks before our vacation.Where I went, who I spoke to, my behavior,” he frowned, “whether there were any instances where you tried to call me and that I didn’t answer or didn’t explain where I had been.We need to work out where I got those capsules from.”His eyes tracked back and forth as he thought.“We’ll never know if Thomas had a trace of these drugs in his system, too, but maybe there are others.”
“Others?”
“Suicides with a thorough autopsy that may’ve picked up on these substances.”
“Why did you call Josh?”
“Because,” Chad shot Romeo a smile, “the best way to distract a detective is by giving him another case.”
****
In the weeks beforetheir vacation, Chad had been withdrawn, quiet.
He’d been back and forth to the station with meetings with his DI, the chief of police, and god knows who else Chad had to be shamed in front of.They demanded his badge, and his handcuffs, and left Chad with a stark warning to watch his back.
He’d told Romeo Lucinda Hasting’s son, Andrew, had pinned him to a wall and yelled in his face about murdering his mother.
