that you're an expert on exotic poisons. One of the victims had traces of scopolamine, atropine, and—" She consulted her notes. "Hyoscamine in her blood. Do you have any idea why?"
" Datura is most likely, in the form of a plant commonly called jimsonweed."
"Is it fatal?"
"In high enough concentrations, it could be. It acts upon the central nervous system."
"Why would someone take jimsonweed?" Jace wrinkled up her forehead. "Don't I remember that cowboys had to keep their horses from eating it?"
"Yes, but it's hallucinogenic and was once commonly used in rituals, as well as for pleasure."
"Pleasure?"
"Scopolamine has a marked aphrodisiac effect on some people."
Aphrodisiac . Her pulse picked up. "How?"
"It disconnects the central nervous system from the autonomic nervous system. For example, in the past it was used in cesarean deliveries. The mother stayed awake but couldn't feel the pain, nor could she remember it later. It also had a notable side effect. Doctors sometimes experienced women on the delivery table making lewd suggestions to them, often very proper women who would never dream of behaving that way in daily life, yet under the influence of scopolamine, they would be utterly abandoned in their comportment. After the drug disappeared from their systems, the women would recall nothing. Their doctors often thought it kinder not to tell them."
A thought struck her. "So this drug could resemble rohypnol?"
"In what way?"
"Rendering a woman unable to remember having been raped?"
"Perhaps, but the dosage is quite difficult to calibrate with alkaloids unless they're distilled or synthesized under laboratory conditions."
"How would datura be given?"
"A variety of ways exist. The roots can be dried and ground into powder, then made into a tea. The seeds also can be dried and ground. Either can be made into a paste and applied to the skin, sniffed, or mixed into food."
"How does it taste? Would someone know they'd ingested it?"
"Most such powders can be mixed with other substances to make them palatable, say, fruit juices or tea laced with honey."
"How hard is it to obtain?"
"Not at all. One finds the plant throughout the Americas and in some parts of Europe. There is a particularly potent species called Datura metel found in India. The secret society called Thugees once used it to drug wayfarers before they robbed and strangled them in sacrifice to the goddess Kali."
He really did study this stuff. The history lesson was interesting, but she was only concerned with the practical. "So you're telling me that the victim could have ingested or snorted the substance, but if ingested, she might not have detected its presence."
"That's correct."
"So as with rohypnol, the only way to be certain is to neither eat nor drink anything."
"Not necessarily. There's one other method of delivery, though it would hardly be fatal."
"What's that?"
"Incense. Burned, it would serve to incapacitate the victim somewhat, as well as to wield some of its hallucinogenic impact."
Uneasily, Jace recalled the smoke at The Club. How dizzy she'd felt, how out of control. "What about its other effects?"
"Other?" One brow lifted.
"The...aphrodisiac." Unaccustomed heat stained her cheeks.
"Ah." He nodded, a faint curve to his lips. "Yes, that's also possible."
She ignored his amusement. "How would you sample smoke to test it?"
"Do you believe this to have been done?"
She stared at him, attempting to superimpose his image on the man last night whose hair had been unbound. Whose impact she still couldn't shake, damn it.
But he showed absolutely no sign of recognizing her. There were the masks to consider, however. She looked at the ornate silver ring again, its design intricate and unclear from this distance.
Memory slammed into her. Hands sliding over her breasts, fingers trailing up her thighs...
"Detective?"
Jesus . "What?"
Still he appeared only bored and slightly impatient. "Is there anything else?"
Jace gathered her
" Datura is most likely, in the form of a plant commonly called jimsonweed."
"Is it fatal?"
"In high enough concentrations, it could be. It acts upon the central nervous system."
"Why would someone take jimsonweed?" Jace wrinkled up her forehead. "Don't I remember that cowboys had to keep their horses from eating it?"
"Yes, but it's hallucinogenic and was once commonly used in rituals, as well as for pleasure."
"Pleasure?"
"Scopolamine has a marked aphrodisiac effect on some people."
Aphrodisiac . Her pulse picked up. "How?"
"It disconnects the central nervous system from the autonomic nervous system. For example, in the past it was used in cesarean deliveries. The mother stayed awake but couldn't feel the pain, nor could she remember it later. It also had a notable side effect. Doctors sometimes experienced women on the delivery table making lewd suggestions to them, often very proper women who would never dream of behaving that way in daily life, yet under the influence of scopolamine, they would be utterly abandoned in their comportment. After the drug disappeared from their systems, the women would recall nothing. Their doctors often thought it kinder not to tell them."
A thought struck her. "So this drug could resemble rohypnol?"
"In what way?"
"Rendering a woman unable to remember having been raped?"
"Perhaps, but the dosage is quite difficult to calibrate with alkaloids unless they're distilled or synthesized under laboratory conditions."
"How would datura be given?"
"A variety of ways exist. The roots can be dried and ground into powder, then made into a tea. The seeds also can be dried and ground. Either can be made into a paste and applied to the skin, sniffed, or mixed into food."
"How does it taste? Would someone know they'd ingested it?"
"Most such powders can be mixed with other substances to make them palatable, say, fruit juices or tea laced with honey."
"How hard is it to obtain?"
"Not at all. One finds the plant throughout the Americas and in some parts of Europe. There is a particularly potent species called Datura metel found in India. The secret society called Thugees once used it to drug wayfarers before they robbed and strangled them in sacrifice to the goddess Kali."
He really did study this stuff. The history lesson was interesting, but she was only concerned with the practical. "So you're telling me that the victim could have ingested or snorted the substance, but if ingested, she might not have detected its presence."
"That's correct."
"So as with rohypnol, the only way to be certain is to neither eat nor drink anything."
"Not necessarily. There's one other method of delivery, though it would hardly be fatal."
"What's that?"
"Incense. Burned, it would serve to incapacitate the victim somewhat, as well as to wield some of its hallucinogenic impact."
Uneasily, Jace recalled the smoke at The Club. How dizzy she'd felt, how out of control. "What about its other effects?"
"Other?" One brow lifted.
"The...aphrodisiac." Unaccustomed heat stained her cheeks.
"Ah." He nodded, a faint curve to his lips. "Yes, that's also possible."
She ignored his amusement. "How would you sample smoke to test it?"
"Do you believe this to have been done?"
She stared at him, attempting to superimpose his image on the man last night whose hair had been unbound. Whose impact she still couldn't shake, damn it.
But he showed absolutely no sign of recognizing her. There were the masks to consider, however. She looked at the ornate silver ring again, its design intricate and unclear from this distance.
Memory slammed into her. Hands sliding over her breasts, fingers trailing up her thighs...
"Detective?"
Jesus . "What?"
Still he appeared only bored and slightly impatient. "Is there anything else?"
Jace gathered her
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