by Elaine Viets
Fat – the deadliest insult in the female teen world. Now I understood those tears Juliet supposedly shed at the party.
“Mummy told Juliet she had a fat ass.”
Daisy brayed a harsh laugh. “Your mom said that? About Juliet? Has she looked at her own ass? She’s like what, a sixteen?”
“She’s a size fourteen,” Bella said. “But that’s bad enough. Most stores here don’t even carry fourteens. She’d have to buy clothes that big in Toonerville, and she won’t shop there. Mummy special orders her clothes from a catalogue cause she’s so fat.”
I dragged the subject back to Juliet. “So your mother’s remarks about Juliet upset her?”
“Upset? Juliet was in hysterics. I was glad the music was so loud no one could hear her. Mummy was downstairs in the kitchen, stuffing her face again. She said if Juliet would calm down, she could fix the problem.”
“What did your mother do?” I was determined to get this story.
“She has this fat-busting supplement from her trainer. Mummy’s definitely a chunkster and this stuff is supposed to help her lose weight.”
“Does it?” Daisy asked.
“Who knows? Mummy talks about losing weight, but she goes on a diet for like two days and then eats a box of chocolate truffles.”
I was desperate for this information. “So your mother has a fat-busting supplement.”
“A whole tub of it. She gave Juliet a lot in a big plastic bag and told her to drink six scoops a day in cold water and she’d lose that weight in a week or two – and if that didn’t work, she’d give Juliet more.”
“What color is the supplement?”
“White.”
“What’s it called?” I asked.
I saw movement in the rear view mirror. Bella shrugged. “I don’t know. She keeps it in the kitchen.”
We were at the Olive Garden exit now, and I put on my blinker.
“When will you pick us up?” Bella asked.
“Text me when you’re ready,” I said. “Do you want to go tomorrow, too?”
“Yes!” the girls said together, as I pulled in front of the restaurant.
“Then text me the name of that fat-burning supplement. That’s your ticket for tomorrow’s ride.”
CHAPTER 16
Thursday, December 29, 4:45 p.m.
The text was five words, Rad Rip Pre-Workout Performance Supplement.
It wasn’t signed, but I knew it came from Bella. I’d taken Daisy home, then dropped Bella at her house about half an hour ago. She’d promised to text me “as soon as I can look in the kitchen cabinets without Mummy watching me.”
Bella’s text launched a flurry of my own. I texted Katie and Jace, The bag of white powder may be a weight loss supplement called Rad Rip Pre-Workout Performance Supplement. Lydia Du Pres made Juliet cry at the party when she called her fat. She gave the Rad Rip to the girl for her “weight problem.” Those are probably Lydia’s prints on the bag.
Then I started my own Internet search. At first, I saw effusive praise for Rad Rip. Dozens of muscle heads declared the pre-workout powder “really makes me feel amped up.” “Rad Rip gives me more pumps.” One poet wrote, “The fat melts away and I’m amped for the day.”
Scientists and investigative journalists explained why the bodybuilders were rarin’ to go. Researchers in both US and Europe had tested the powder and discovered Rad Rip contained “amphetamine-like compounds.” Those in the scientific know declared it was “highly dangerous.”
Rad Rip’s manufacturer swore the popular weight loss powder was perfectly safe, but stores and gyms pulled it off their shelves and refused to carry it. I suspected anything was sold in the wild outposts of the World Wide Web. Sure enough, I discovered Rad Rip tubs with “40 servings” were on sale for $34.95. The fine print warned the powder had a high caffeine content, but there was no mention that users would be amped on amphetamines.
What if Juliet had taken this dangerous powder?
I called Katie at the medical examiner’s office. “I got your text,” she said. “You’ve saved us a lot of work on that powder.”
“Did you get a chance to research Rad Rip?” I asked.
“Not yet, I had to post that poor bastard who drove into a tree.”
“I’ll show you what I found. That stuff is scary.”
“Come on over,” she said.
I gathered the printouts about Rad Rip, slipped into my coat, and carefully made my way to my car. The snow was melting just enough to be slippery. By nightfall, when the temperature dropped back into the twenties, it would refreeze.
I was in a hurry to show Katie my Rad Rip research and wanted to floor the gas pedal, but I couldn’t risk an accident. Traffic was light and I was at the ME’s office behind SOS Hospital in ten minutes.
I found Katie in her closet-sized office, frowning at her computer keyboard, her brown hair oily and her suit rumpled. “You look tired,” I said. “You getting any sleep?”
“Not really. I’m still checking the girl every two hours. I packed a bag and I shower and sleep at the hospital.”
“Wait till you see this,” I said. “You won’t believe what’s in that Rad Rip.” I told her Bella’s story and showed her the stack of printouts.
Katie paged through them. “I’ve heard about this stuff. A bunch of pre-workout powders have similar ingredients. One nearly ended the career of a star athlete. He tested positive for amphetamine use and they weren’t going to let him compete. He swore up and down he’d never touched the stuff. His coach backed him up and said something must be giving a false positive result.”
“A likely story.”
“No, some foods will do that. If you eat a poppy seed bagel a day or two before a drug test, you might test positive for morphine or codeine. They did an investigation into everything the star ate and drank. Turned out he was using one of these weight-loss powders to boost his performance and that’s why he tested positive for amphetamines. He had no idea. The label said it was full of caffeine, but never mentioned the other stuff. That shit is addictive and similar to meth.”
“What would it do to Juliet? Lydia Du Pres told her to take six scoops a day.”
Katie frowned. “Are you sure she said that? Two scoops are about seven and a half grams. That’s more than enough for a muscle-bound man. Six could seriously sicken a slim girl like Juliet, maybe even kill her. At the very least, she could become addicted. Why was Lydia Du Pres pushing this junk on Juliet?”
“Because she wanted her own daughter, Bella, to be DV Queen. She was jealous of Juliet’s beauty and told her she had a fat rear end.”
“You’re shitting me. Lydia’s ass is six ax handles wide. Juliet actually believed that malicious old bat?”
“Juliet was sixteen and trusting. Lydia was her aunt and her best friend’s mother. I don’t think Juliet had the kind of mind that would understand someone as devious as Lydia. You know how body conscious teen girls are. Juliet was beautiful, but she had a young girl’s insecurity. Lydia used the ultimate F-word – fat – and Juliet was in tears. Bella said Juliet starting crying so hard, Lydia had trouble calming her down until she said she had the solution to Juliet’s so-called problem – the Rad Rip weight loss powder.”
Katie looked furious. “What a fucking waste. She wanted to kill that beautiful girl so her homely daughter could be a DV Queen.”
“I wouldn’t call Bella homely,” I said, “but she’s not in Juliet’s league. She’s the kind of girl who’s good at field hockey and soccer. Lydia wanted a blonde princess who’d look pretty in white satin and heels.”
“I’m not from here, Angela, but I don’t get this DV Ball shit,” Katie said. “I’ve never been to one – and I probably never will. But Evarts goes. He tells me a fat old rich guy dresses up like an Arabian king and then the Queen and the Maids bow down to him. I know the Forest lives in the past, but rich young women aren’t presented to society and auctioned off to the highest bidder any more. Is that shit taken seri
ously in this day and age?”
“It is. By some of the parents,” I said. “Most of the girls hate the whole deb scene, but their parents make them do it. The daughters are the pawns in this ‘mine’s bigger’ game. The DV Ball would be laughable if the poor girls weren’t so miserable.”
“And you actually think Lydia would kill Juliet so her daughter could be Queen of the DV Ball. That’s a little extreme.”
“Remember the Texas mother who got nabbed for trying to hire a hit man to kill her daughter’s rival? That was for a junior high cheerleading contest. The way Bella’s mother sees it, spending another twenty thou so her daughter will be set for life is an investment in her future. What’s a little murder when Lydia’s already spending gobs of money and donating her own time at the Savant Shop? You ask me, Lydia killed Juliet.”
Katie leaned back in her chair. “Whoa, that’s serious shit. I won’t have the tox screen back until tomorrow. Jace told me the victim’s prints and an unknown person’s prints were found on that bag with the unknown substance.”
“It’s not an unknown powder. It’s Rad Rip, Katie. And those are Lydia’s prints. I know it.”
“You know it, but I need to prove it. We need to know whose prints are on that bag.”
“What about the water bottle?”
“Just Juliet’s prints, and it contained vodka, not water.”
“Could Jace get a warrant to search Bella’s house for the Rad Rip and also get her mother’s prints?”
Katie laughed. “Not a chance. What judge – much less a Forest judge – would give a cop a warrant based on an unsigned text and your speculation?”
“The text is from Lydia’s daughter.”
“But the judge won’t know that. You’re using Bella to implicate her mother in a murder. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Not really. It’s the only way to find out who killed Juliet. Besides, I’m helping Bella.”
“How? I wanna hear this.” Katie folded her arms and waited for my explanation.
“Bella’s being blackmailed to go along with her mother’s DV Queen plan. Lydia took away the girl’s car until the committee okays Bella for Queen. She’s trapped and I’m helping her out of it.”
“That poor deprived child.” Katie’s sarcasm was thick as maple syrup. “Did it ever occur to you that Bella could live without having her own car? If she sucked it up and grew a backbone, she wouldn’t have to be Queen. She could even get a part-time job flipping burgers and buy her own wheels.”
“Her parents would never let her work with the Toonerville peasants. When this story gets out, that’s the end of any chance Bella will have to be DV Queen. She’ll be free. And Lydia will be drummed out of the Chouteau Forest Women’s Club.”
“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” Katie said.
“Exactly. But I know how to get Lydia’s fingerprints.”
Katie sighed. “If you do anything illegal and lose your job, I’ll kick your ass from one end of Gravois to the other.”
“What I’m going to do is perfectly legal.”
“Would Jace do it?”
“No. It’s not legal for him, but it is for me.”
“Don’t talk in riddles, Angela.”
“I know how to get Lydia’s prints legally,” I said. “It would save Jace time and trouble.”
“Okay, just watch yourself.” She looked at her watch. “I have to go check on that poor girl again, and I don’t have much patience.”
“When can you autopsy her?”
“Tomorrow morning, I hope.”
“By the time you have the results, I’ll have her killer’s prints. And I won’t break a single law.”
CHAPTER 17
Thursday, December 29, 7:30 p.m. and Friday morning, December 30
Jace stopped me in the SOS parking lot as I was heading for my car.
“Do you know where Katie is? She’s not in her office.”
“It’s time for the next two-hour check on Juliet,” I said.
“She’s still doing that?”
“The poor girl’s still frozen. Katie’s been sleeping in the SOS doctors lounge and living at the office since they brought her in.”
“I’ll say one thing, Katie’s dedicated.”
Katie wasn’t the only one. I noticed how tired the big detective looked. His sad eyes were sunk into dark baggy bruises, and he needed a shave. This case was taking its toll on him.
“When is Katie doing the autopsy?”
“Tomorrow morning, I think. I have something that could be a lead.”
“Let’s talk about it in the cafeteria over bad coffee,” he said.
“Too sensitive.” I checked to make sure no one was within earshot. Way across the lot, I saw a nurse helping a shaky older woman into a wheelchair, while a gray-haired man tried to help. Otherwise, the lot was deserted.
“What the hell, Angela. Is the CIA following you or what?”
“I’m being extra cautious because I think one of the Forest’s big guns killed Juliet.” I lowered my voice. “Lydia Du Pres.”
“Bella’s mother?”
“Yeah. Bella told me something weird happened at the party. Her mother gave Juliet a weight loss powder.”
“Girls always take that stuff.”
“But this is different. Rad Rip is laced with amphetamines. Lydia told the girl she was fat.”
Jace’s eyes widened. “Juliet? That skinny little girl? Lydia called her fat?”
“The biggest F-word.” I spilled the story of how Lydia had tormented Juliet and told her to take six times the normal dose to lose fat she didn’t have, while Jace said, “She did?” and “You’re joking” and “I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it,” I finished. “She killed that poor girl so her own daughter could be DV Queen. That’s why Lydia wouldn’t let you talk to Bella. The kid has the key to Juliet’s murder.”
“Wait a minute,” Jace said. “Did Lydia know her daughter was watching when she gave that girl a dangerous powder?”
“I don’t think so.” Actually, I didn’t know. I’d never bothered to ask.
“How does Bella fit in? Was she really Juliet’s friend, or was she jealous?” Jace asked. “Maybe she’s the one who wanted to be Queen.”
“No way. She was crying when she told me now that Juliet’s dead, her parents are forcing her to be a DV Queen. She didn’t even want to be a Maid.”
“I thought girls like to dress up and stuff.”
“They do, but the smart ones think the DV Ball is ridiculous and outdated. Something from another century. Lydia’s hell-bent on her daughter being Queen. She’s convinced that Bella will meet Mr. Right and her future will be set.”
“Doesn’t Lydia want her daughter to go to college? Have a career?” Jace was scratching his head. “Excuse all the questions, but I’m not from here. Sometimes, I don’t get this place.”
I laughed. “You’re not alone. Of course Bella will go to college. Probably the Vernet Academy and get a degree in advanced tea pouring and flower arranging.”
“That doesn’t sound very challenging.”
“It isn’t. In the old days, people used to say girls went to Vernet to get their MRS, and well-bred Forest girls are still expected to marry well. To someone like Lydia, who doesn’t work outside the home, a rich marriage is more important than a career. The DV Ball was how Lydia snagged a Du Pres. She wants the same life for her daughter, never mind what Bella wants.
“It costs money to be a Maid at the DV Ball, and being Queen is even more expensive and time-consuming. Lydia talked Curtiss into giving the committee an extra twenty thou so their girl would be in the running for Queen.”
Jace whistled. “I could send my kid to college for that.”
“Bella rebelled and her mother cracked down on her. She took away Bella’s wheels. That’s a major punishment for a Forest kid. She won’t get her car back unless she’s nice to the old trouts on the DV Selection Committee. Lydia also bribed Be
lla with a new phone to play along.”
“It’s that important?”
“Her daughter’s future is a matter of life and death. Lydia almost got away with murder. She gave that Rad Rip to her daughter’s rival. It’s murder, Jace, and it’s quick and clean. No messy stabbing, no bloody shooting. Nothing to clean up. No body to hide.
“At the party, Lydia gave a drunk teenager a big bag of amphetamine-laced powder. The kid takes some Rad Rip at the party. Now she’s drunk and high. On the ride home, Juliet had a fight with her boyfriend, jumped out of his car and ran into the woods where she froze to death. Officially, her death is a tragic accident. There’s no way to connect it to Lydia.
“Better yet, if Juliet survived the trip home, she had a big bag of amphetamine powder – enough to kill herself five or six times.”
I stood there, waiting for Jace to pat me on the back. I’d solved the case. I was disappointed by his answer.
“Whoa, there, Angela, you’ve convicted Lydia before Katie’s even autopsied the girl. All we have is Bella’s word that her mother gave Juliet that bag of powder – the word of a teen who’s pissed at her mother. We can’t trust what Bella says.”
“We don’t have to. We have the evidence. The tech found the humongous bag at the scene with Juliet’s clothes. The lab says there are unknown fingerprints on the bag. Those prints belong to Lydia.”
“You think the prints belong to Lydia. We can’t do anything until after the autopsy is done and the tox screens are back. If we have evidence that Juliet died of an amphetamine overdose, then I can investigate your claim. Right now, no judge is going to give me a search warrant or let me take Lydia’s prints.”
“That’s what Katie said.” I had a hard time hiding my disappointment.
“I don’t want to pour cold water over your theory.” I winced at Jace’s poor choice of words. “We don’t know what killed Juliet. She could have died of exposure. Or alcohol poisoning. She could have been attacked by someone in the woods. Or fell on those rocks by the creek and broken her neck. We can’t go attacking anyone, much less a Forest bigwig, without proof.”