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  “Alard Associates,” Brixton said.

  “Evidently so,” Mac said. “Speaking of Alard Associates, the Justice Department, working in conjunction with the local police, has brought criminal charges against Alard Associates and its namesake, George Alard. He was taken into custody yesterday. They’re charging him in the Morrison murder. The hit man who knocked out Robert and used his gun to kill Morrison has been apprehended and confessed, and has implicated Alard as the person who ordered the hit.”

  The conversation shifted subjects as Annabel and Mac laid out the brunch spread—salmon with capers and onion, bagels, cold cuts, with cups of lobster bisque as a starter. It was over dessert that Eugene Waksit was again mentioned.

  “You said earlier that you’d spoken with Eugene’s attorney here in D.C.,” Jayla said to Mac.

  “That’s right. He’s been charged with attempted murder, physical assault, and a variety of other things connected with having held you and Flo at knifepoint.”

  “He’s sick,” Jalya said.

  “That gives him a pass,” Brixton said. “We’re too quick to label bad people as sick. Dr. Fowler says that—”

  “Who?” Annabel asked.

  “Just a friend of mine,” Brixton quickly said. “He agrees with me. Besides, the people back in Papua New Guinea don’t know for sure that this Underwood character killed your father. “It still might have been Waksit.”

  “He admitted that he stole my father’s research,” Jayla said, “but he swears he didn’t commit murder.”

  “That’s right,” Mac said. “According to his attorney Waksit claims that he came into your father’s lab minutes after he’d been stabbed to death, and that his arrival scared off the killer before he could steal anything. Waksit also says that he tried to help your father but that he died almost immediately.”

  “A nice story,” Brixton said.

  “One that I tend to believe,” said Jayla. “I don’t carry any brief for Eugene, but I don’t think he’s a murderer.”

  “What about what he almost did to you and Flo?” Brixton asked.

  “I think he panicked,” Jayla said, “that’s all. I don’t think he intended to do us any harm. All he wanted was that ridiculous letter he had me type. My father never willed him the research. That was his fantasy, part of his mental illness.”

  “If you say so,” Brixton said.

  “What about your father’s research?” Annabel asked. “Now that you’re leaving your present job will you be taking it with you to wherever you land a new one?”

  Jayla looked to Cousins to respond.

  “I’ve just signed up a new pharmaceutical client that’s interested in what Jayla’s father managed to come up with in his lab. I’ve discussed with them carrying that research to its next level, and I think they’ll agree to that, along with hiring Jayla to spearhead the research.”

  “I’ve already spoken with Mac about drafting an employment agreement giving me a fair share of the profits from whatever commercially viable painkiller comes out of it,” Jayla said. “It may not amount to anything but it will be exciting to be furthering what my dad had accomplished before he died.”

  Because it was Washington, D.C., talk eventually turned to politics.

  “What do you think of the news about Senator Gillespie?” Flo asked.

  “No surprise,” Brixton said. “His run for reelection was dead in the water before it ever started.”

  “I mean about him joining that K Street lobbying group,” Flo added.

  “At least it wasn’t Morrison’s,” Mac said.

  “Business as usual in our nation’s capital,” Brixton grumbled.

  “Robert should go to work for the Chamber of Commerce,” Flo said, and they all laughed.

  An hour later, after everyone had left, Mac and Annabel enjoyed an hour of solitude on their balcony.

  “Robert’s been seeing a psychologist,” Mac said casually.

  “Really? It doesn’t seem to have changed him. He’s still as cynical as ever.”

  “No, I see some subtle changes in him. I hope he continues seeing whoever it is. He’s been through a lot the past couple of years. I think seeing a shrink is a good decision.”

  Annabel agreed, then said, “I’m pleased for Jayla and Nate. They make a nice couple.” She laughed. “Do you think that if Robert continues to see this psychologist he’ll pop the question to Flo?”

  “They make a nice couple, too,” was Mac’s answer. “So do we.”

  * * *

  “Are you and Flo still talking about getting married?” Dr. John Bradford Fowler asked Brixton weeks later when Brixton sat in his office.

  “Yeah, now and then,” Brixton said. “Do you think we should?”

  Fowler laughed. “That’s not for me to say, Robert. It’s just that you’ve been saying especially nice things about her lately.”

  “Like I said, I’ve been thinking about it.”

  “Life is short, Robert,” Fowler said.

  They spent the rest of the session discussing Brixton’s feelings about marrying Flo and about marriage in general. When time was up, Brixton made another appointment before leaving, stopped at a florist and bought bouquets for Flo and Mrs. Warden, delivered Flo’s flowers to Flo’s Fashions, and went to his office, where he handed the other bouquet to Mrs. Warden.

  “That is so sweet,” she said, getting up from her desk chair and kissing his cheek.

  “Yeah, well, life is short, Mrs. Warden. We have to remember that.”

  BY MARGARET TRUMAN

  Souvenir

  White House Pets

  Harry S. Truman

  Women of Courage

  Letters from Father: The Truman Family’s Personal Correspondence

  Bess W. Truman

  Where the Buck Stops: The Personal and Private Writings of Harry S. Truman

  First Ladies

  The President’s House: A First Daughter Shares the History and Secrets of the World’s Most Famous Home

  THE CAPITAL CRIMES SERIES

  Murder in the White House

  Murder at the Watergate

  Murder on Capitol Hill

  Murder at the Library of Congress

  Murder in the Supreme Court

  Murder in Foggy Bottom

  Murder in the Smithsonian

  Murder in Havana

  Murder on Embassy Row

  Murder at Ford’s Theatre

  Murder at the FBI

  Murder at Union Station

  Murder in Georgetown

  Murder at The Washington Tribune

  Murder in the CIA

  Murder at the Opera

  Murder at the Kennedy Center

  Murder on K Street

  Murder at the National Cathedral

  Murder Inside the Beltway

  Murder at the Pentagon

  Monument to Murder

  Murder on the Potomac

  Experiment in Murder

  Murder at the National Gallery

  Undiplomatic Murder

  Murder in the House

  Internship in Murder

  Deadly Medicine

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  MARGARET TRUMAN won faithful readers with her works of biography and fiction, particularly her Capital Crimes mysteries. Her novels let readers into the corridors of power and privilege, and poverty and pageantry, in the nation’s capital. You can sign up for email updates here.

  DONALD BAIN, the author of more than 115 books, including 40 of the bestselling Murder, She Wrote novels, was a longtime friend of Margaret Truman. He worked closely with her on her novels, and more than anyone understood the spirit and substance of her books. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  By Margaret Truman

  About the Authors

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  MARGARET TRUMAN’S DEADLY MEDICINE: A CAPITAL CRIMES NOVEL

  Copyright © 2016 by Estate of Margaret Truman

  All rights reserved.

  Cover photographs by Getty Images

  A Forge Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

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  New York, NY 10010

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  Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-7988-7 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-7063-5 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9781466870635

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  First Edition: June 2016