Page 21 of Savage Peril

“That sounds like the flu.”

“Yes, it does,” Lori said. “And that’s what worries me. My father had those symptoms the week before he died.”

Gunner had a bad feeling about this.

“After ingestion, a person would experience abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting,” Lori said. “Poisoning is commonly misdiagnosed, since the symptoms resemble the flu, or even food poisoning.”

“But the antidote would nullify the effects of the poison?”

“Yes, it would,” Lori said, “if it was administered quickly enough.”

Gunner waited for the punch line.

“One fact about my father’s death was quite unusual,” Lori said. “A patch of his hair had fallen out. Loss of scalp hair is a toxic effect of thallium poisoning…if the victim even lives more than a day or two.”

Gunner figured out where she was going with this line of thinking, but he preferred that she tell him.

“I’m horrified about what I’m thinking,” Lori said. “I’ve tried to be reasonable, but…” Tears filled her eyes. “If poison was involved, then my father’s death was murder.”

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