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Twenty minutes after leaving Robie they stared down at the naked body of Stuart McClellan. Joe Kelly had joined them at the funeral home. McClellan had been professionally sliced and diced by an ME provided by the FBI. Tom Reynolds was a stern-looking gent in his late fifties with a military haircut, and his manner was no-nonsense. But there was a twinkle in his eyes that perhaps evinced theinterestingdevelopment he had mentioned in his text.
“What do you have?” said Decker.
“Death was certainly by carbon monoxide poisoning. Tissue samples presented classic microscopic hemorrhaging and dead tissue throughout. Congestion and swelling of the brain, spleen, liver, and kidneys. The skin is obviously flushed, another classic sign, and the blood was a cherry red, a further telltale sign.”
“So it was suicide then?” said Kelly.
“No, it’s not,” said Decker, as he closely eyed Reynolds. “Something that straightforward would not have prompted you to text me about some ‘interesting findings.’ ”
“Correct,” said Reynolds. “Do you know what TTX is?”
Kelly shook his head but Decker said, “Tetrodotoxin. It’s a powerful neurotoxin.”
Reynolds nodded. “Nasty stuff. It stops nerve conduction between the brain and body by, in part, shutting down sodium channels. A tiny bit paralyzes the muscles needed to breathe and the heart to keep pumping blood. It’s lethal whether ingested, inhaled, or absorbed into the skin, like through a cut. Takes about six hours to fully take effect. Once it stops the diaphragm, you’re dead. It’s one of the deadliest substances on the planet. Only seen it one other time in my career, on the other side of the world.”
“And yet here it shows up in London, North Dakota,” said Decker.
“How did you find it?” asked Jamison.
Reynolds led them over to a highly complex-looking device. “I always bring this baby with me. Never know when it might come in handy. There were certain puzzling elements that I saw in the brain, the diaphragm, and the heart that made me suspicious, made me think that something neurological was going on that could not be explained away simply by the carbon monoxide. They were slight, but I have enough experience for warning bells to go off. So I ran a test on some urine in the body. And there it was, clear as day.”
“Where the hell does someone get this TTX?” said Kelly.
“It’s found in marine life,” replied Reynolds. “Most principally in the puffer fish. The puffer fish is a Japanese delicacy. Most TTX deaths are accidental and take place because of improperly prepared puffer fish. If the organs containing the toxin are damaged or not completely removed, that dish might be the last one you ever eat. Me, I’d stick with chicken nuggets. They’ll eventually kill you, but it’ll take decades.” He grinned.
Decker did not smile back. “Was it ingested, inhaled, or absorbed?” he said.
“If I had to make an educated guess, I’d say ingested.”
“So it might have been in something he drank?”
“Yes.”
“But why poison a guy and then kill him with carbon monoxide?” asked Kelly.
“To incapacitate him and get him into the car,” replied Jamison. “That way it looks like a suicide.” She looked at the machine that Reynolds had used to find the poison. “And without that, we’d probably never have known. Walt Southern for sure would never have found it.”
“And a murder would have been missed,” added Decker. He glanced at Reynolds. “You said you’d handled a case of TTX before. Where was that, exactly?”
“The vic was found in a hotel room in Brisbane.”
“Brisbane, Australia?”
“Puffer fish are found in those waters, and those in Asia. They’re not indigenous to American waters.”
They thanked Reynolds and walked back outside.
“Australia,” said Decker again, looking thoughtful.
“What about it?” said Kelly.
“Hugh Dawson lives there part of the year, right? During the winters here?”
Kelly looked taken aback. “Okay but we already went over this. What would the motive be? He just made a ton of money off McClellan.”
“I don’t know what the motive might be. I’m just saying he had the means and the opportunity. And I don’t like coincidences. And here we have a big one.”
Jamison said, “Namely, a very rare poison that is found in fish in waters off Australia and a person here who lives there part of the time.”
