The House on Timber Lane by Robert F. Clifton (classic romance novels TXT) 📕

“Correct.”

“Do you have such a case?”

“Maybe yes. Maybe no.”

“Meaning in the first case any evidence has been destroyed”, Wallace continued.

“And, in the second case?”, asked the doctor.

“It hasn’t happened yet. In fact, it might not happen at all. Right now I just want to know how someone can kill in the way I described”, Wallace answered.

“Very well. The easiest manner in which to kill someone and leave no trace of the obvious crime having been committed,, would be to cause a heart attack by using chemical substances that break down as naturally occurring compounds that would normally be found in anyone’s body. The process is relatively simple to anyone with knowledge of medicine and procedures involving those medicines.”

“Alright, how do they do this?”, asked Wallace. “Well, one would look at two substances that would break down into ordinary bodily chemicals. Of course, these are prescription drugs, and the only barrier preventing such a crime is gaining access to a doctor’s prescription pad. Once that relatively minor detail has been worked out, the commission of the crime is contingent upon getting the drugs into the victim's body. Two particular chemicals come to mind. Two that could be used to create a heart attack is Potassium Chloride and Calcium Gluconate”, said Doctor Edwards as he brought the golf cart to a stop next to Wallace’s golf ball.

“What happens?” asked Wallace.

“Suppose you take your second shot and remember this is a par four”, Edwards replied.

Wallace removed a four iron from his bag, approached his lie, looked towards the flag on the first green, swung the club, hit the ball and watched it land fifty feet short of the green.

“Should have used the three iron”, Edwards said. After the doctor took his second shot that landed on the green, he climbed back into the cart and started towards the green. “What was I talking about?”, he asked.

“Chemicals”, Wallace answered.

“Oh, yes. You see Potassium Chloride is in many prescription drugs. When it breaks down it turns into both of its individual components, potassium, and chlorine. Both are found in the human body and the presence of either or both of these will not raise suspicion by either the attending physician or the medical examiner who will carry out the autopsy.”, Edwards explained.

Doctor Edwards stopped the cart and after Wallace selected a nine iron watched as the police captain sent his golf ball over the green. “Son of a bitch!”, said Wallace.

“You should have used the pitching wedge”, said Edwards.

“Yeah, yeah, how does death occur?”

“The compound breaks down into both potassium and chlorine. What happens then is the chlorine binds to the human body’s naturally occurring sodium to create sodium chloride. To you, that’s common table salt. The result is a heart attack that is found to have no known cause. This is because all that is found in the body is a slightly elevated level of sodium chloride. However, too much potassium in the body causes what we call tachycardia. That is a fast heart rate. This then leads to something known as ventricular fibrillation, which is one of many types of cardiac arrest.”

Doctor Edwards stepped out of the cart, walked up on to the green lined up his putt and Wallace watched the ball travel eighteen feet, stopping next to the hole.

“That’s a gimme”, said Wallace as he picked up his ball. For the rest of the morning, the two men continued their game. Wallace ended up with a score of one hundred and nine, while doctor Edwards shot an eighty-two.

After registering his score with the club pro the doctor led Wallace into the men’s restroom where they washed their hands and faces. Then they left and went into the dining room. Seated at the table Wallace examined the menu handed to him by a waiter. Doctor Edwards did the same.

“Hell, I don’t know what I want. I guess I’ll go with the cheeseburger”, said Wallace.

“Something that one could purchase at McDonald's”, replied the doctor.

“Then what would you suggest?”, asked Wallace.

“I’m having the conch chowder, grilled shrimp, and a salad”, Edwards answered.

“I have never had conk of any kind.”

“Then you’re in for a treat. The chef here is originally from Florida...he brought the recipe with him. I think you will enjoy it.”

“Sounds good”, Wallace responded.

“By the way Robert, you owe me four dollars and fifty cents. Our bet was for twenty- five cents a hole and I kicked your ass for eighteen holes straight.”

“I might need the money to pay for my lunch.”

“You can’t pay for your lunch. Only members of the club are billed. A member of the country club is required to spend a certain amount of money here in the restaurant. So, it’s my treat.”

“Then, I’ll leave the tip.”

“Once again, The gratuity is included in the bill."

“The club thinks of everything doesn’t it?”

“Yes, due to the fact that a lot of the members are a bunch of cheap bastards.”

The waiter arrived with two cold bottles of beer and two glasses. As Robert Wallace poured his drink he looked at Doctor Edwards and said, “It seems to me that you haven’t told me about, what was it?… Calcium gluconate something?”

“Ah yes. Calcium Gluconate and how it causes a heart attack. Well, let’s see now. Calcium gluconate is available in a ten percent intravenous solution which simply means that the concentration is higher than what normally appears in the human body. The process by which this works is known as osmosis. The solution removes the water and glucose from the body’s cells replacing it with Calcium Gluconate. The calcium and the glucose are deposited in the body to be used as energy, or fuel if you will. The glucose is used for fuel, while the calcium remains in the body.”

“O.K.. but how does it kill?”, asked Wallace.

“The Calcium Gluconate removes chlorine and replaces it with calcium. This creates an electrolytic imbalance. Three compounds that become imbalanced are sodium, potassium, and chlorine. This imbalance then interferes with the normal heartbeat impulse. The heartbeat impulse can then be regulated, either too fast, or too slow, creating a heart attack.” Doctor Edwards stopped talking as the waiter arrived with the two cups of conch chowder.

Wallace took a taste. “Damn that’s good”, he said.

“What did I tell you?”

“Now, it seems to me that anyone who wanted to use Calcium Gluconate as a murder device would have to be either a physician, nurse or someone familiar in how to use it”, Wallace mentioned.

Doctor Edwards wiped his mouth with his napkin and answered, “More than likely…do you have someone in mind?”

“Only someone who bears watching from now into the future.”

“You only asked me about chemical compounds that can be used to commit a homicide and go undetected. There is another way, a third completely undetectable manner by which to murder someone by a forced heart attack. A direct injection of sixty milliliters of air in a syringe into any vein causes the chambers of the heart to fill with air, which causes a heart attack. This type of attack is known as Pulse-less Electrical Activity. Here the problem is from leaving a needle mark on the skin. Nonetheless, with a little creativity, a vein in an unusual body location will do the trick. If a small enough gauge needle is used, the associated needle mark would be barely noticeable. If the coroner or medical examiner are not as careful as they should be, the tiny needle mark could avoid detection. A tuberculin needle or an insulin needle could do the job.”

“And once again the use of those needles points to someone familiar with medical science”, said Wallace.

“True, but how many amateurs’s out there read medical books and conduct experiments, say experiments on animals until they perfect the desired results?”

“I don’t know doc. I do know that the individual that I have in mind is no amateur that needs to experiment.”

“Can you tell me who?”

“Not yet doc, but you’ll be the first to know if and when the time comes.”

**********************

The rest of the weekend Wallace spent time at his desk at home writing, putting down notes and information that he had ascertained from Doctor Edwards. When he wasn’t writing, he read. He studied. Although he concentrated on heart attacks he was still familiar with the fact that Lillian Gray had spent several hours in a coma, something that did not seem to coincide with a heart attack. Nonetheless, it could have been the cause of death. A death that the cause of went undetected. Vernon Gray was a physician. He could have caused a heart attack that killed his wife with a simple I.V. using Calcium Gluconate while she was in a coma.

He was about ready to close a reference book when he noticed a paragraph. Potassium chloride is a “salt substitute” available in any supermarket and calcium gluconate is available as a dietary supplement at health stores. “Damn, this means he didn’t have to use an I.V in the hospital. He could have purchased the ingredients that he needed and killed her at home. So much for the hospital chemical compound theory ”, he thought to himself.

He shut off his tape recorder than placed his handwritten notes in a folder. He was placing the folder in the filing cabinet when the telephone rang. He answered it. “Hello?”

“Hello, your self. What are you doing?”, asked Elaine.

“Just doing some writing.”

“Am I interrupting you?”, she asked.

“Actually, I just finished.”

“I have some news.”

“And it is?”

“Vernon Gray called me yesterday at the office.”

“And?”

“He wants to put the house on Timber Lane on the market and he wants me to handle the sale.”

“Interesting…Will it be multiple listing or exclusive?”

“Exclusive.”

“What is his asking price?”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“Is it worth it?”

“No, of course not that house was constructed in 1948.”

“Can you sell it?”

“Certainly.”

“Do you have the key?”

“I’ve always had the key. Lillian asked me to keep a check on the place.”

“Good…I want to go inside. I’m looking for something.”

“What?”

“If I told you, you’d pester the shit out of me. Just unlock the door and let me in.”

“You don’t have to be profane.”

“And you don’t have to be a pain in the ass. Do you want me to investigate Lillian's death or don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then let me do my job and just do what I ask you.”

“Fine…When do you want to go in?”

“Tomorrow, Monday, when he’s having office hours.”

“Let’s make it ten in the morning. I’ll call his office and make sure he’s seeing patients. Then I’ll call you.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll be parked in your driveway.”

************************

At ten o’clock the next morning while seated in his private automobile Wallace watched Elaine leave her house and after walking up to where he sat she said, ”Vernon is having office hours. You won’t be disturbed by him this morning.”

Wallace exited the car and asked, “Do you keep a list of people you show these homes to, maybe a journal of sorts?”

“Not, actually, however, I do keep a list of those that show potential. For instance, if they turn down a purchase of one home, I can then notify them later if I have something else available.”

“Good. List me as a potential buyer.”

“Why?”

“I’m looking for something that might be in that house across the street. I don’t have a search warrant. If I find what I’m looking for I need an excuse to say I found it either in plain view or while I was examining a future purchase of the house.”

“I’m telling you right now, there is nothing there. It is bare wall to wall.”

“I still want to look inside.”

“Alright let’s go.”

Together, they walked across the street to 357 Timber Lane. When they got there Wallace waited patiently while Elaine unlocked the door. As they entered he looked around, saw where the kitchen was located, walked to it and began opening and closing cabinet doors and drawers. He found nothing. As a result, he turned to Elaine and asked, “How many bathrooms?”

“Two, one off of the master bedroom and one at the