Tessa straightened in her chair. “We don’t get a lot of poisonings in Raleigh.”
“We don’t. But this particular ME remembers a similar situation. Two years ago.”
“How similar?” Tessa’s mind raced with possibilities.
“Similar stomach contents. Otherwise healthy woman. Dead of what turned out to be strychnine poisoning.”
“Strychnine? What is this, an Agatha Christie novel?”
Morris snorted. “That’s what made the ME take notice. Because that first death was never solved. There was no doubt that the strychnine killed her, and that was listed as her cause of death. But no one could confirm whether she died by suicide or ingested the pills under false pretenses.”
“So someone is running around Raleigh putting strychnine in slow-release capsules and killing people with it? How do they get them to take the pills in the first place?”
“That’s where I come in, Special Agent Reed.” Morris could be a dog with a bone when something didn’t make sense to him. “Tox is being rushed, but it’ll be a few weeks at best before we know for sure if it’s the same MO. But I’ve already requested the case files on the death the ME told me about. There’s something here. I can feel it.”
Morris was a curmudgeon 98 percent of the time. But he was an excellent detective 100 percent of the time. He would run this down.
“Bottom line for now is that they sent this guy to kill me and planned to kill him regardless.”
“Close. They hadalreadykilled him before they sent him after you. He just wasn’t dead yet.”
“DID YOU KILL HIM?”
The Fixer wasn’t surprised by the anger in the voice. The question, however, was unusual. This client had never appreciated that the work done on his behalf was often messy. He never got his hands dirty, and he lived in blissful oblivion. He never wanted to know. Plausible deniability was the name of the game.
How he’d become so powerful and influential remained a mystery.
Or maybe not. When all your problems magically disappeared, climbing the social and political ladders was easy.
“You and I have an agreement. You give me the jobs. I do them the way I see fit. You stay out of it. Are you interested in renegotiating our business relationship?”
“Of course not. But ifI’mwondering if you killed him, then others are too.”
“No, they aren’t.” The sound of liquid splashed over ice, and the cubes clinked against crystal. “No one in Raleigh knows about me. That’s why I’m so good at what I do.”
“But—”
“Everyone else is trying to solve a puzzle without having a clue what the final image will be. We are the only two people who have the whole picture.” At least that was true as far as this client knew. Others had a vested interest in this mess, but the Fixer had no plans to share that information. Ever.
The client moaned. “She could ruin everything.”
Yes, she could. But taking her out directly was too big a risk and one the Fixer would attempt only if there was no other option. “I didn’t get where I am by making foolish mistakes or taking unnecessary risks. I’m covered. You’re covered. She’ll be out of the picture soon.”
“Before Friday.”
“That’s the plan. Stick to it. Continue your normal activities. You’ve done nothing wrong.” Lately. “You know nothing about the threats made against her or the attacks that have been dogging her steps.”
“That’s true.”
“And if someone should speak to you about it, you’re not thekind of man to take issue with a woman in a position of power. You have daughters. You can’t imagine why anyone would quibble about a female agent.”
“Exactly.”
“I trust you can run with that?”
“Yes.”
“One more thing. Stop calling. I’ll call you the next time we need to chat.”
