Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(55)
“Yes, please. Half cup. Cream and heavy sugar.”
Cowan sat down with a sigh of relief and then got straight to the point.
“First, OxyContin and Ambien both were present in Billy Nix’s bloodstream. Amounts will come later.”
“Good,” Josie said. It was no surprise, but the confirmation was necessary.
“Now, on to Ferris Sinclair. Dental records confirmed the burn victim is indeed Ferris. I also initiated an HIV antibody test which came back positive. To confirm, I used the more reliable Western blot test, which also came back positive. Ferris Sinclair was without a doubt HIV positive.”
“Can you tell how much virus was in his body?” she asked, handing him his coffee.
Cowan gave her a look like he didn’t understand the question.
“I used to hear people refer to someone as having full-blown AIDS. Those people you could look at and know they had the virus. I want to know, can you tell if it would have been obvious to others that Ferris was HIV positive?”
“Ah, I see. HIV is the virus that attacks a person’s immune system,” Cowan said. “A person can have HIV and show no outward symptoms. AIDS occurs when your immune system is severely compromised and it can take years to develop. It’s the final stage of the disease after the immune system is too weak to deal with all of the other infections. I believe what you’re asking is, was Ferris Sinclair’s immune system compromised to the point that others would know that he had the disease.”
“That’s exactly what I want to know,” she said.
“With the body as severely burned as it was, there’s no way at this time for me to know what kind of infections he might have been fighting. In short, I can’t answer your question.”
Josie nodded, frustrated with the answer.
“I’ll run the same tests on Billy Nix and let you know ASAP.”
Otto seemed to be mulling the conversation over. He finally said, “Maybe Ferris came right out and told Billy. Maybe he thought it would buy him some sympathy. Get him more attention.”
“Would a diagnosis of HIV give Billy Nix the motive to kill Ferris?” Cowan asked.
“Maybe,” Josie said. “Trouble is, Billy was two hours away when the fire was started at his home. Billy didn’t kill Ferris, and neither did Brenda.”
“I’ll tell you what’s troubling me,” Otto said. “It’s not the idea that Billy would commit suicide, but rather how he did it. If Brenda is right, and he didn’t have the pills with him, who brought them to him? If someone brought him a deadly combination of prescription pills, knowing that he was already drunk, then did Billy Nix commit suicide, or was he murdered?”
“Ahhh.” Cowan took a sip of his coffee and smiled. “The conundrum. Is the gun seller who provides a man the gun that the man uses to murder his wife culpable?”
“He is if the gun seller tells the guy to go home and kill his wife,” Josie said.
“What about all the Internet sites that explain how to commit suicide? They provide instructions for how to end your life. If you follow those instructions and end your life, are the people on the Internet culpable in your murder?” Cowan smiled again, apparently enjoying the debate.
Otto looked annoyed. “So what are you getting at? If someone gave Billy those pills and said take these, they’re culpable in his murder?”
“I’m saying no such thing. I’m simply suggesting that you have a mess on your hands.”
Otto stood and said, “Okay. Thanks for bringing the information, Cowan. It was much appreciated. We’re headed back to the crime scene.”
Cowan took the cue and stood himself, taking several gulps to finish his coffee. Once he had left the office Josie gave Otto a look. “We’re going to the crime scene?”
“I couldn’t take any more theorizing. We have a murder to solve. I just said that to get him out of here.”
Josie grinned and walked to the whiteboard at the front of the office. “I don’t know why you have to give him such a hard time.”
Otto ignored her comment. “What if we have two suicides? Ferris confesses to Billy and Brenda he’s HIV positive. Billy shuns him so he stays at their house and commits suicide.”
“Who used the stun gun on him then?”
“Damn.”
“Susan, the deputy from Presidio County, called Ferris promiscuous. Juan called him a whore dog, and Dave agreed. Maybe someone else found out Ferris had HIV and feared he infected them. That person could have killed him too.”
Otto nodded. “But it had to be somebody who knew Billy and Brenda were leaving. Their house would have been the perfect place to commit murder. The murderer would have assumed it was in the line of fire so it would cover up any evidence. They lure Ferris to Billy’s place, stun him, and kill him.”
“That means we’ve narrowed the killer down to someone who knew the Nixes. Who knew the inside of their house well enough to know there was a stun gun in a box in the bedroom.” Josie pointed a finger at Otto. “Know who was in their house just a few months ago? And told me he was at the Hell-Bent during the evacuation, so he knew when the Nixes left town?”
Otto looked at her.
“Mick Sinner.”
*
Josie and Otto hit the jackpot. In calling around to track down Mick, they discovered from Vicki that he was at the Hell-Bent practicing with the band for a performance later that night. Josie drove and Otto rode passenger. She followed two other cars down the road, both of which turned down the lane for the Hell-Bent. The parking lot was packed.