The Lure of the Lie: A Modern Detective Anthology (*On Hold*)

4 Breathe

"Pulmonary Edema."

Dr. Portia Warner was succinct in her proclamation and took no pains to further explain herself, instead clutching the file to her chest as we stood over the body of a sixteen year old girl, and staring at us as we processed the news. She was very pretty, Dr. Warner, with the standard long blonde hair and hourglass figure that every man drooled over. Her lips were glossed pink and pouty and her heels clicked against the floor when she'd approached us. She didn't appear to be the type of person one would find in the cold basement of the laboratory morgue but I had to admit her presence did manage to liven up the place, if only a little.

"So... not murder," Special Agent Parker said simply.

"I wouldn't be so sure," she replied with a smile. She set the file down on the end of the table and walked around the body so that we were standing on opposite sides of it. "Sixteen year old girls don't just drop dead of pulmonary edemas with no history of any sort of lung disease. And with no noticeable trauma to any of the cardiac components or-"

"English please, Dr. Warner," Parker interrupted and she smiled up at us.

"Chelsea Lucas died from excess fluid build up in the lungs."

"Like pneumonia?"

"Not quite. This wasn't a slow build up over time. This was a rapid development over the course of a few hours. Not to mention the ligature marks our tech found in the field-"

"So someone killed her by... filling up her lungs with fluid."

"There are several chemicals that can harm your lungs," I told him then, utilizing my PhD in Chemistry to its full capacity. "Some of them are even household chemicals. Sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia. Even aspirin or chlorine."

"Rat poison?" Special Agent Parker asked.

"Perhaps if directly ingested," I answered and then looked to Dr. Warner. "But that would have shown up on the tox screen. I'm guessing it didn't?"

She smiled at me before answering, "No. It didn't. But something caused the pulmonary edema. We're still working on what that might have been. You said she was a drug user? Heroin and cocaine have both been known to cause pulmonary edemas in cases of overdose."

"Weed," I answered. "She smoked weed."

Dr. Warner nodded knowing that wouldn't have done it. She looked back down at the body as if staring at it would get the victim to reveal the secrets of her murder.

"Well," Special Agent Parker started then, putting his hand on my back and pushing me toward the door. "You'll keep us updated on anything you find?"

"Of course, Jake."

"Thank you, Portia."

I glanced between them as Special Agent Parker led me out of the basement of the laboratory, which he had informed me they lovingly called 'The Crypt' and down the hall toward the stairs.

"Of course, Jake? Thank you, Portia?" I repeated, raising a brow in challenge. He glanced my way with a frown.

"I'm starving," he said. "Are you hungry?"

Having forgotten to eat lunch, I couldn't disagree. So he took me back to the car and drove off toward a bar and grill he swore by, avoiding the topic of Portia the whole way. But I was a psychologist and his avoidance of the subject matter told me more than anything he could possibly say about it so, by the time we reached the restaurant, I'd decided to let it go. For now.

We took our seats at the bar and the bartender greeted Special Agent Parker with a nod and a signal that he'd swing by soon. It wasn't an impressive place from the looks of it. The tables were dingy, the bar was dented and peeled, and the whole room was poorly lit. But it seemed that Parker was a regular here. He did not even glance at the menu while I opened mine to peruse. He placed a hand on the centerfold and pushed it down while I was trying to read the options.