“Well like most poisons—and keep in mind, most poisonous plants have a good side along with their negative—they’re used to make lots of medications that treat all kinds of routine health issues from nausea to asthma to cardiac problems. But an overdose of medications made from nightshades creates something called anticholinergic toxidrome. Ingesting the plant mimics an overdose of any of these medications. And let me tell you, an overdose on the medications themselves is so common, there’s a mnemonic that ER doctors use to remember the symptoms… blind as a bat, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone, mad as a hatter, bowel and bladder lose their tone…”

“And the heart races on alone,” Val finished. “I remember that from my dental school pharmacology course. The mnemonic defines…” she fished through her memory, using each part of the mnemonic as a guide, “an inability to focus on near objects plus a sensitivity to light because of the dilated pupils, flushed skin, elevated temperature, dry mouth and skin, hallucinations, delirium slurred speech, confusion, urinary retention, and a racing heartbeat.”

“Sounds lovely,” Gwen said.

“Um, and, Val,” Zoe interrupted, “the psychosis produced by this poison—the mad as a hatter part—can be profound. Plus, it can intensify existing mental issues.”

Holy crap, Val saw the significance of what Zoe was saying. Gabrielle was reported to be bipolar. “How does one ingest it? Do they eat the flowers?” Val’s mind circled back to Gabrielle’s cancer. She was eating something contaminated. If she didn’t do this herself, someone gave it to her.

“You can, but tea can be made from the roots and seeds of the plant, that’s probably the easiest way.”

“Did Gabrielle have this poison in her system?” Gwen asked.

Zoe pointed at Gwen with index fingers from both hands. “And there’s the problem. No, Gabrielle did not die from this kind of poison. There’s none of the alkaloids, namely, atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine, in any of her tissues.”

Val narrowed her eyes. “No yew poison, and now no nightshade alkaloids. Yet Gabrielle was holding yew branches, had seeds in her mouth, and the nanny happens to have these toxic flowers in her room?”

“Val, Gabrielle was poisoned with something, just not either yew or nightshade,” Zoe said. “I’m still trying to find out what that something was. But just because a nightshade poison didn’t kill her doesn’t mean that she never ingested one.”

Val crossed her arms. “You know, with all of those non-specific symptoms Gabrielle reported to her doctor… I wonder if she suspected she was being poisoned. Maybe she was trying to find out if she was, by getting corroboration from her doctor.”

“What are the other symptoms Gabrielle complained of?” Zoe asked.

Val recited what Dr. Quinlan told her; diarrhea, nausea, tingling in her feet, chills…