Carter had been gone for about an hour, leaving without a word, presumably to set up our meeting with Costilla. I was contemplating what I might say to one of the most powerful druglords known to man when the phone mercifully interrupted my efforts.
“Braddock.” Minton sounded irritated.
“That’s me.”
“I want the tickets delivered to the office by five tonight.”
“Done.”
“And if they are anything less than exquisite seats, you can feel free to never set foot in my office again.”
I thought of about five great things to say about his use of the word “exquisite,” but I reminded myself that I needed his help and held my tongue. “They’re great seats, I promise.”
“Death was caused by strangulation,” Minton said quickly. “Probably about twelve hours before you found her.”
Not a big surprise. I’d figured that out on my own.
“No other trauma to the body that contributed to the death,” Minton continued.
“No other bumps or bruises?” I asked.
“None,” he answered. “But the tox screen was loaded.”
I took a deep breath. “Loaded?”
“Heroin,” Minton said. “And some alcohol.”
I tried to process that. “Could she have overdosed?”
“Nope,” Minton said confidently. “Her windpipe was crushed. Lots of residual, which says to me she was an addict. She had a decent amount in her system, but my guess would be that was a regular thing. The screen showed long-term use, not a binge that would’ve killed her.”
His words felt like a hammer hitting me in the spine. The thought of Kate using drugs felt as foreign to me as her being dead.
“Needle marks?” I asked.
“Nothing fresh, but there was some scarring on the left arm and in between the toes.” Minton paused. “She wasn’t a recreational user. It was a way of life for this girl.”
My brain spun like a tornado. “You’re sure?”
“Positive,” he said. “And, Braddock? We didn’t have this conversation. I haven’t even filled out the report yet.”
“Got it.”
“Tickets by five,” he said and hung up.
I set the phone down and tried to picture Kate as a drug addict. We’d smoked a little pot in high school, but mainly for experimentation and fun. Neither of us had much of a taste for it. We drank our share, but stayed away from anything that got snorted or injected. I couldn’t imagine Kate being involved in anything worse than that.
But Minton clearly disagreed with my imagination.
Randall Tower hadn’t mentioned any drug use to me. It wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t know, though. Most people try to hide their bad habits from the ones they love, but rich people turned it into an art.
I pondered that as I called my buddy with the baseball tickets and arranged to have them delivered to Minton. He’d confused the hell out of me, but he’d earned them.
The front door opened, and Carter filled the space.
“We’re on,” he said, his face expressionless.
“When?”
Carter stepped aside, and Ramon, the nattily dressed thug from earlier in the day, stood beside him.
Ramon smiled and pointed a nasty-looking pistol at my gut. “Now.”