After the Vows

Jim Beckett's Journal

Chapter 5

Dear Johanna,

The kids have taken off for Arizona. I don't expect to hear from them. Actually, I hope I won't hear from them. They deserve some time alone, even if they are working.

I do have some news about Joe Pulgatti's death and it is not what I had hoped. Had the case never gone to Dr. Murray, it might very well have been ruled death by causes unknown. If the implications were not so unfortunate, it is something that Rick would most likely love to use in a book. Pulgatti died of thallium poisoning. From what Murray was able to determine, it was administered slowly. When given this way, the only obvious effect is loss of hair. Bulgatti was going bald anyway, so there was nothing for anyone, including Bulgatti, to notice. Thallium is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It could have been easily slipped into anything Bulgatti ate or drank.

I read up on thallium after hearing Murray's results. There are no characteristic giveaways for this type of poisoning. In some cases there have been signs of clotting in the blood vessels, fatty degeneration of the heart and kidneys, congestion in the lungs, or excess blood in the brain. Any of these things might happen naturally from disease of some sort. In some cases there is not much that appears to be out of the ordinary at all.

Murray saw just enough to make him suspicious and did what he called spectrographic analysis. That revealed the presence of thallium. It is not that difficult to obtain. It was used as a rat poison in this country, but was banned for that purpose in 1972, to prevent accidental poisonings. Many other countries followed suit. It is still used industrially in optics and electronics. If someone, especially someone with considerable resources, wanted to get their hands on some, they could have done so easily. It could then have been slipped to a prisoner or even a guard.

Here is my worry. Before Katie put Bracken behind bars he was preparing for a presidential run. He was eliminating anyone who might have posed a threat to his ambitions. That included the murder of Vulcan Simmons for which he tried to frame Katie. He spent decades building his organization. There could be many threads left that would lead back to him or his people. It is possible that the elimination of a number of those threads was put in motion before Katie arrested Bracken. Bulgatti may have been one of those eliminations. Who knows how many others may be out there?

There is one thing that I know. When Katie finds out, and she will, because even if I don't say anything, Murray's findings would be available to Lanie who would tell Katie, she will want to investigate Bracken's entire web of destruction and uncover every evil operation he's ever had a hand in. That could consume her. It could also put her in danger from anyone still involved in those operations.

I know that Rick will do his best to keep her from getting obsessed with that investigation. I'm sure that Captain Gates will also have many other things for her to do. She has tried very hard to keep Katie away from anything in which she has a deep emotional involvement, both because she cares and because it is good police procedure. But my love, we both know if Katie gets it into her head to do something, there is nothing and no one on Earth that will keep her from it. The most that Rick and her friends can do is support her and try to keep her from getting herself killed. I'm sure they will be there for her, as will I.

There is a piece of good fortune for one of the members of the 12th. There is going to be an influx of investigative money, not for the project of clearing innocent prisoners but for my class action suit. The trustees of the estate of a prominent female author have directed funds toward the project to be used as I see fit. I have asked Ryan if he would like to participate in conducting interviews and wading through paperwork. He was delighted. I don't know if he will cut back his hours as a bouncer or be able to eliminate that job entirely, but he was very pleased. He told me he thought Jenny would be pleased as well. No surprise there. What woman would want her husband standing between near naked men and lust-filled women?

Alexis is not aware that Pulgatti's death was a murder. I imagine that she will probably find out when Katie returns, but at present all she knows is that he is no longer my case. I have invited her to volunteer some time on my suit. She said she'd think about it. I suspect she has something else on her mind, beside her continuing over-concern for her father. There may be a new love interest.

I don't remember if I've ever mentioned it before, but Alexis is quite an accomplished violinist. She started lessons when she was quite young, and kept it up through high school. From what Katie told me, Alexis had an extremely talented young man named Dylan as her teacher, who was much too attractive for Rick's peace of mind. Alexis joined an informal string quartet at Columbia and kept up her lessons. She just got a new teacher, one of the music students at Columbia. Coincidentally, that student is Dylan's younger brother Declan. Alexis and I had lunch and she only mentioned him as her teacher, but when she did, her eyes lit up, much the way Katie's did when she first told me about Rick. She has talked about spending more time with him to prepare for a performance by her quartet. It was wonderful to see the joy in her face.

I know you've always thought me resistant to change, but someone brought a new coffee blend to a meeting last night. It was actually named after a detective show on television. I expected it to be sludge, but it was really pretty good. You'd be proud. I tracked it down online and ordered some. Can you believe they had books and trading cards about the show too? I always thought trading cards were for baseball. Well I haven't changed that much. I still have my collection for the game and I still add to it. I'm not getting cards for a TV show. The coffee is enough and I'm still drinking it black. The most important thing that will never change, is how I feel about you.

Forever love,

JB

A/N Thank you to The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum for the information on the use of thallium in murders. Don't try this at home, kids.