If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [136]
“But how?” asked Grace.
When Trevor didn’t answer, Lucy did. “We don’t know.”
Trevor rocked Vanessa’s body in his arms. “I don’t understand. Why would she do this?”
“What happened?” Grace repeated.
“It could have been an accidental overdose,” said Lucy. “We don’t know how many pills were in the bottle. It’s an older prescription.”
Grace frowned. “But—she took pills, right?”
Lucy couldn’t say. On the surface it looked like Vanessa had taken sleeping pills—but there was no suicide note, no indication that she’d intended to harm herself. But if she wanted to take an afternoon nap, why take Seconal, which came with the warning to take only if you could sleep for eight hours because of possible side effects? Not that people followed the rules of their medications, but if Vanessa had been taking the drug for a while, she’d know its potential dangers.
That there was a nearly empty glass of wine was also disturbing, because anyone who regularly took sleeping pills knew alcohol enhanced the effect of the drugs, even within normal dosage.
Alan Larson popped his head into the room and Lucy said to Grace, “Get everyone out of here. Please.”
She wasn’t a cop, but she’d been at enough crime scenes to know that contamination was a big problem. Not that this was a crime scene; it was technically an unattended death, but Lucy felt compelled to protect the body and the scene as much as possible before the police arrived.
Grace walked over to the guests and said, “Please go downstairs. Give us a moment.” She closed the door over concerned protests.
“Trevor,” Lucy said firmly, but with great deliberation and calm. “Trevor.” She waited until he looked at her before she continued. “You need to put your wife down.”
Trevor stared at her. “Who are you?”
“Lucy Kincaid. We met last night, remember? At dinner, with my brother Patrick. You talked to him about how you grew up in Laguna Niguel. We’re from San Diego originally. Do you remember?”
Trevor nodded. “Can you help Vanessa?”
“Trevor, Vanessa is dead. You need to put her down.”
He blinked rapidly, then he looked at his wife as if he hadn’t realized he was still holding her in his arms. He stared at his dead wife for several moments. Grace tried to talk, but Lucy silenced her.
“Oh, dear Lord.” Trevor layed Vanessa’s body back on the bed. He stood and looked at her lifeless body, finally understanding there was no bringing her back.
“Grace, please take Trevor downstairs,” Lucy said.
“You need to come, too,” Grace said.
“I will. I want to cover the body.” That wasn’t the complete truth.
“We can wait.”
“Trevor should go now.” She looked at Grace pointedly, and she didn’t know if the hostess understood, but she did walk Trevor out of the room.
“Let’s get a cup of tea, all right?” Grace said as she led Trevor out to the hall. She shot Lucy a scowl, but didn’t insist she join them.
Kyle DeWitt was still hanging out in the hall. Lucy said to him, “Please go to the barn and get my brother.”
“Can he do anything?”
“He was a cop for nearly ten years; he’ll know what we need to do since I don’t think the police or an ambulance will be able to reach us tonight.” Lucy also knew they had limited options—they had to get the body someplace cold to slow decomposition. Otherwise, as the gases and bacteria broke down, there would be a horrid stench, especially in the warm lodge. If the authorities couldn’t reach them by morning, they would have no choice but to move the body.
After Kyle left, Lucy closed the door and locked it before going back to Vanessa’s body. Six years ago she couldn’t have imagined viewing a dead body much less touching one, but between the Sheriff’s Department and the morgue, Lucy had lost any squeamishness she might have had.
She hesitated before touching anything else in the room. She saw a pair of leather gloves on the dresser, which she remembered Vanessa had been wearing that morning. Lucy put them on, then inspected Vanessa’s body. Touching her skin, she realized that rigor wasn’t well developed. Lucy would guess from the facial muscles and thin, cloudy