Free Relentless Pursuit: A Novel (Secrets of Roux River Bayou) by Kathy Herman Page A

in what appears to be denim shorts and a white collared shirt, walked up to the end of the food bar, his back to the camera. We couldn’t tell what he was doing, but twenty-three seconds later, he picked up a big spoon and stirred what we now know is the chocolate pudding that was poisoned. The suspect walked away a few seconds later, his back still to the camera. We enhanced the image of the man from behind, but truthfully, it shows little detail. The man appears to be either Hispanic or Caucasian, dark hair, medium height and build. Pretty generic.”
    Oliver sighed. “That’s it?”
    Jude nodded. “So far. We’ve questioned the three female workers at Marcotte’s food bar. None of them remembers seeing the man in the tape. They seem devastated, especially the older lady who set the pudding out. We can’t yet eliminate them as persons of interest, but my gut tells me they weren’t involved.” Jude looked over at the official from DHH. “Dr. Jensen, would you give us your thoughts?”
    The sixtysomething man with gray hair and a beard coughed and then tented his fingers. “Since no cyanide was found in any of the other food-bar selections—or in the covered tub of chocolate pudding in Marcotte’s kitchen—we can conclude that cyanide was added either just before or right after the pudding was set out. From what I observed on the security tape, it’s very plausible that this man dumped a vial of cyanide into the pudding and stirred it in. Law enforcement searched the trash receptacles inside the store, including the restrooms, and outside the store—but found no empty vial. He could have concealed it as he left the market.
    “Another interesting fact—” Dr. Jensen continued, “the bottled water taken into evidence contained ten times the lethal dose of potassium cyanide for an adult male, while the pudding had only about one half the lethal dose. We can only speculate about why the perp did that. Perhaps he decided after he poisoned the water to add the last of the cyanide to the pudding, and there just wasn’t enough to do a lot of harm. But I will say that unless he knew the exact size of the stainless steel tubs used on the food bar, he would be guessing how much cyanide to add to make a portion of pudding lethal. Not so with the cyanide injected into the bottled water, since he knew each contained sixteen fluid ounces. He could easily determine what would be a lethal dose after drinking just a few ounces. My opinion is that these were random acts of malice intended to harm or kill as many people as possible—and not directed at a specific victim or victims. But I’ll leave that judgment to law enforcement.”
    Jude nodded. “I’m inclined to agree, but I’ve got a lot more investigating to do before I come to that conclusion.”
    “Same here,” Chief Norman said. “We need to question every male who handled the bottled water from the warehouse to the stockroom, and every employee who had access to the kitchen. Since we can’t identify the man in the security tapes, he could be an employee.”

     

    Sax strolled through the flower garden at Langley Manor, his hands in his pockets, and then walked up on the wood bridge that spanned the pond and relaxed for a moment in the shade of a live oak that was probably older than he was.
    He leaned on the railing, looking out across the sprawling green lawns dotted with dogwoods, magnolias, and weeping willows, to the manor house standing as tall and elegant as it had been since before the Civil War. It was tranquil out here—serene and natural. So why couldn’t he just relax and enjoy it and think positive thoughts? He was already preparing himself for the possibility that Adele Woodmore wouldn’t agree to contact Shelby. He had sensed the woman’s disgust that he had abandoned his little sister when she needed him most. What if Mrs. Woodmore simply said no ? It wasn’t as though he could force her to divulge Shelby’s whereabouts.
    Maybe it was