Baldwin’s eyes were closed when she came back in the room. She thought maybe he’d gone to sleep, but jumped when his deep voice softly rumbled, “Thanks.”
“Sure.” She got the feeling he was thanking her for more than the painkiller. She handed them to him and backed away again, stationing herself against the mantle of the fireplace.
“Have you ever been in a place, Taylor, where the only thing good that you can feel is being out of it?”
“Yes, I have.”
Baldwin’s eyes shot open, and he saw her staring at the marble inlay at the base of the hearth. He felt the sadness radiate from her. He started to ask, stopped himself. He didn’t like to talk about his demons; he couldn’t imagine she would either. He was surprised when she answered the unspoken question.
“I shot a fellow detective a few months ago. Killed him. Let’s leave it at that for now, okay? So yeah, I’ve been there. It’s not a nice place to be. Besides, I don’t think talking about my problems will help you right now.”
Baldwin was intrigued, but didn’t push it. His natural inclination was to fall back onto his training and try to draw her out, but he laughed instead.
“Sure thing. Neutral ground then. What was so important to bring you over here at midnight to interrupt all my grand plans?”
Taylor was suddenly serious, all business. A spark flashed in her eyes, and she grinned.
“Aconite.”
Twenty-Eight
Baldwin sat up in surprise, wincing as the ice pack smacked hard against his cheek. He leaned back slowly. “Aconite? They were poisoned with aconite?”
Taylor was happy to see she’d capture his interest, the investigator in him coming to life. At least for the time being.
“Yep. Sam noticed that the panels for both girls showed a high level of alkaloids in both the kidneys and liver. She had her buddy test for poisons, and aconite showed up in lethal doses. Some way to go, huh?”
“What exactly does aconite do to the system?”
“That’s the bad part. According to Sam’s crash course, it’s a central nervous system depressant. Vomiting, flushing, blurred vision, dry mouth, lowered body temperature. Severe burning sensation in her mouth—tongue, lips and throat. Also causes paralysis and intense pain. Could have taken up to six hours to die. It’s not a pleasant death.
“Sam also confirmed Jordan had the same herbs scattered on her body as Shelby and got an ID on the them. It’s a real mishmash.” Taylor pulled her notebook out of her coat pocket.
Baldwin realized she still wore her suede coat, and figured she must be getting hot. “Take off your coat and stay awhile?”
“Ha.” She hesitated a moment, then shrugged out of the coat, tossed it on the back of the chair and sat down, reading off the list.
“Rosemary, sage, sandalwood, basil, pennyroyal, bay, white sage, anise, chamomile, clove, fennel and lavender. All can be grown in the garden, or bought in a million places.”
“And the aconite? Can it be grown or bought?”
“Both. Sam had one of her guys pull it up on the Internet. There are a billion websites that sell it, and it can be grown in someone’s back yard.”
“So we’re dealing with a gardener of some sort.”
“Sam also found that there are specific uses for all of these herbs. The Wicca websites give a lot of information on what to use when, for ceremonies, celebrations, holidays, burials.” Taylor used the last word lightly.
Baldwin raised an eyebrow. “Wiccan burial rites, huh? Could be some kind of cult, too. Herbs and poisons. Think finding the girl at the Parthenon has anything to do with this?”
“Oh yeah, definitely. We’re going to have to do some in-depth research on the uses of the poison, see if there’s anything that ties it to the locale. I don’t know what the relationship is, but it’s too kooky not to be a part of the pattern.”
“And Jordan had the poison in her system too?”
“Yes. Her COD was the stab wounds to her heart, but she’d ingested the aconite prior to the kill shot.”
“Maybe it didn’t work quickly enough and he stabbed her to finish her off?”
“Could be.”
“So where do you go from here?”
Taylor eyed him coolly. “I don’t know, Baldwin. That’s why I came over here tonight. I thought maybe you’d seen this kind of stuff before, because I sure haven’t. Thought maybe you’d like to help us find out what it all means. Help us find this asshole before he kills another girl.”
Baldwin was looking into space. “Sacrificing. Not killing. He’s sacrificing them. The question is, why?”
Ah, she had him. She knew that look. Anyone who got a theory, a glimmer of an idea got that spaced out look of being lost in his or her own mind. She’d been like it enough times herself to recognize the cause. She decided to take the chance.
“So, are you in?”
Baldwin shook his head. “Huh?”