Toni Petti - Horse Girl Homicide

Chapter Fourteen

At the supper table, Clara's homecooked meal is followed by fresh baked apple pie, still warm from the oven. Can anyone resist such tasty pastry? Yes. Bernard doesn't stay for dessert. He takes his dirty plate to the kitchen and then yawns rather theatrically before heading upstairs. What kind of man doesn't eat apple pie? That's a clue.

After dinner, out by the pool, Monica plops into a recliner and sparks a five-inch cigarette. She has refreshed her wine glass and now looks very comfortable. Dr. Swansea sits beside her in a matching lounger and flips through a three-ring binder like what I saw earlier. A page falls from the folio and I pick it up. It reads State Farm Insurance - General Coverage Policy.

"When did Terrence take out the insurance on Cortes?" I scan the contract and can find no mention of any horses' names.

"January 2020, is when we put him on the farm policy." Jon takes the paper back, "it's only a modest payout, less than a third of what that stallion cost in Kentucky."

"The farm policy?"

"Yeah, there's coverage on Scissor King and Prince Tut too. That's likely the risk being measured tomorrow."

"By the insurance man?"

"The risk assessment manager," Jon corrects and clips the sheet back in the binder, "it's a buddy system. The guy's an old friend of Mr. Brummel."

"...And probably just as crooked," Monica giggles over her wine glass.

"Moni. Come on now." Jonathan sends her a dirty look.

"I'm just kidding."

"But Antonia doesn't know that."

Jonathan seems annoyed with her. Sufficiently chastened, Monica scrolls through her phone in silence, its blue glow lights her face. I pull-up a lawn chair so I can learn more details. I've listened to them banter for hours, and now it's time to ask some real questions.

"Jon. Why'd you give Prince Tut a needle today?"

Dr. Swansea looks up at me and ponders the question. He shakes his head no. He's not going to discuss the company's business out here by the pool. Monica smirks at his discomfort.

"You'll have to ask Terrence that. Or Teo." Jon packs up and shakes his head at me. He's probably just overtired because it has been a very stressful day for him. He leaves us alone by the pool to enter his little shack and switch-on a desk lamp.

"You're really good at getting their secrets," Monica says sarcastically. "You could have just asked me."

"Is it a secret?"

"It's definitely something they won't be sharing with the insurance man."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing. It's a blue pill... You take my meaning?"

"Not really."

"Have you never been with an older man?"

"Are you telling me they give the horse... Hard-on medication?"

"Close. It's ADHD meds. It's for his libido. It's to increase sperm count and sex drive..." Monica lowers her voice, "I know more."

"What?"

"They just give a tiny amount because.."

"Why?"

"It's deadly toxin." Monica says, "and in my opinion..."

"Yes?"

"It doesn't work."

I lay back in the lounger and digest the new information. I want to ask if the drug could kill Cortes, but I feel like I already know the answer, and Monica is not qualified to opine.