“And what reason do you have to believe that?”
“Warren Keating is a chemist; his brother died under mysterious circumstances; Warren stood to gain from his death.”
“Don’t you think the police have already figured out that much?
In addition, they’ve probably searched Warren’s house, garage and toolshed for ant poison, or whatever the hell is poisonous these days, a
nd they surely took fluid and tissue samples from the corpse.”
“Then why haven’t they arrested Warren?”
“Maybe because toxicology screens seem to take one hell of a long time to come back, especially in small towns like— Where is it Warren and Harry live?”
“Torrington, Connecticut.”
“Like Torrington, Connecticut.”
“Yeah,” Eggers said, “and did I mention that Harry’s body was cremated?”
10 2
L o i t e r i n g w i t h I n t e n t
“Before or after they took samples?”
“I’m not sure. Can a crime lab get toxicology reports from ashes, or whatever’s left after a cremation?”
“Maybe, in the case of heavy metals, like arsenic, but if Warren is a chemist I should think he’d use something more sophisticated than arsenic.”
“Like ant poison?”
“Some of those insecticides have cyanide in them—at least I think that’s the case; I’m not an expert on poisoning. Somebody once told me that there are two common household fluids that, when mixed, form a poison that can’t be analyzed.”
“I didn’t know there was anything that can’t be analyzed.”
“I’m not a chemist, Bill. Did Harry have any family other than Warren, Eli and Evan?”
“No, he was a lifelong bachelor, didn’t even have a girlfriend,”
Eggers said.
“Then has it occurred to you that Evan’s share of the proceeds of the sale would be even larger with Harry’s death?”
“I suppose so. Warren’s, too.”
“And Bill, has it occurred to you that the remaining split would be larger still if Eli kicked off?”
“You mean …”
“That maybe dutiful son Warren, when visiting his father, might bring along a treat like a box of chocolates or a bottle of Scotch?”
“Oh, my God.” Eggers groaned.
“Maybe you ought to have a chat with the Torrington police after all,” Stone said.
“I’m Warren’s lawyer, Stone, and so are you.”
“You have a point.”