Blood Quantum

"Very well," Stilton said. "I suppose there's not much we could do to stop you, even if we had something to hide."

"Which we don't," Helena added.

McCa

"You wait here, Helena," Stilton said. "Dustin, stay with her. I'm sure we won't be long."

Helena and Goltlieb stayed put, while Catherine and Sam accompanied McCa

McCa

"The guns are back here," he said.

A short, wide hallway separated his living area from his bedroom. One wall of the hallway had been fitted out as a gun cabinet – long guns on racks chest high and above, handguns below, and closed cabinets that probably contained supplies and ammunition below that. It wasn't locked, but then he probably rarely had children in there, if ever, and he was no doubt fairly confident about the estate's security.

"That's everything," he said. "If I knew what you were looking for, maybe I could help."

"If it's here, we'll find it," Sam said. "Why don't you two sit down while we look?"

"We'll stay right here," McCa

"As long as you're out of the way," Sam said.

Catherine had pulled on latex gloves and was already looking at the handguns. McCa

"Some of the pieces I inherited from my father," McCa

Sam pointed at one of the older revolvers, a.45 with a wooden grip. "That's a beauty," he said.

"That's one of my first pistols," McCa

"Smith and Wesson," Sam said.

"That's right."

"What do you think?" Sam asked Catherine.

"Looks like the best bet," she said.

"It's loaded," Sam noted.

"Of course," McCa

Catherine gingerly took the gun from the rack and deposited it in a plastic evidence bag. "For ballistics testing," she said.

"Testing for what?"

"To see if this is the weapon that killed Bix Cameron and wounded Troy Cameron."

McCa

"Still, we have to check it out," she said. "It's old enough, it's on the premises -"

"Which means nothing," Stilton broke in. "Bix Cameron was shot by some Vegas mobster trying to muscle in on his casinos. Everyone knows that."

"Everyone theorizes that," Catherine corrected. "If we knew who did it, that would be different."

Sam was still searching the cabinet, opening drawers and doors.

"Now what?" McCa

"Gun bluing," Catherine said. "Got any?"

"Of course," McCa

"Where is it then?"

McCa

Catherine opened it and found his cleaning supplies and bluing kit. She picked up the bottle of bluing, shook it. "You're almost out," she said.

"I shouldn't be. I just bought it last year."

She unscrewed the plastic cap and looked inside. The bottle was nearly empty. She showed McCa

"That doesn't make any sense."

"You said you lake good care of your guns. It shows. There's nothing I see that needs bluing."

"That's right. I just told you I bought that bottle last year. I used it on a few pieces that had oxidized a little, had a couple of rust spots. But I didn't use that much."

"I'm really not surprised." Catherine capped the bottle again.

"I don't see what you're getting at," Stilton said.

"Are you a shooter, Mr. Stilton?"

"I have shot, on occasion. Drake and I have been hunting, in fact, but not for, what, several years anyway."

"And we used to go out with Bix sometimes," McCa

"So you're familiar with the use of gun bluing."

"It protects the steel from rusting, I believe."

"That's right," Catherine said, inspecting the bottle's label. "And one of the active ingredients in many types of gun bluing, including this brand, is selenium dioxide."

"So?"

"So, Helena and Daria Cameron's condition is the result of selenium poisoning. Probably small doses, administered over a period of time. The selenium could have come from this bottle."

"That's insane!" McCa

"No one has accused you of anything. Mr. McCa

"We just need to test this bottle, to see if it's where the poison came from."

Stilton pulled a phone from his pocket. "Keep quiet, Drake. I'm calling Marvin," he said. "If you people are going to make rash accusations, he needs to be here."

"Go ahead, call him," Sam said.

"And I'll make sure that on his way over, he calls the mayor and the chief of police. You people are way out of line here."

"We're only looking for the truth, Mr. Stilton," Catherine said.

"I think you're on a witch hunt."

"Not at all."

Stilton pressed a button on his phone, and Coatsworth answered almost immediately. The two had a hurried conversation, after which Stilton brandished the phone like a knife before pocketing it again. "He's on his way. I think we should go back into the house and wait."

"Whatever you like," Sam said.

Catherine put the bluing into another evidence bag. "Before we rejoin Mrs. Cameron, there's one more thing I'd like to say."

"What's that?" Stilton asked.

"Helena Cameron's finances are in pretty dire shape, I understand."

Stilton raised his head, jutting his chin toward her. "Okay, now you're really out of line. I completely resent that. I know exactly what's going on with every dime she has."

"I'm sure you do," Catherine said. "Your financial situation, by contrast, has never looked better. Mr. McCa

McCa

"You're lucky your paychecks aren't bouncing. But Mr. Stilton here has been buying up luxury properties around the country, taking advantage of short sales and foreclosure deals. Plus, his stock portfolio is extremely healthy."

"That's all privileged and confidential information," Stilton declared. His face was flushed now, while McCa