That was news to me. I shook my head. So did Tess.

“Gerald never mentioned to you that he had such an allergy? And nobody else did, either?”

“As I said, we didn't know him very well,” Tess repeated. “We just played bridge with him.”

Where was she headed? I asked, “Did a food allergy have something to do with his death?”

“Yes,” Carol said. “That's why I'm going to talk to all the people who knew Gerald, especially those who were present when he died. The coroner's office did an autopsy because Dr. Wacker from our clinic found that his windpipe had closed up, a symptom often related to food allergies. His body also showed other reactions, which suggested food allergies. They brought on the heart attack that actually killed him.”

“What could cause your windpipe to close up?” Tess asked, putting her hand to her throat and making gagging noises. Tess is somewhat of a hypochondriac.

“That, of course, is the question. Lunch was served at the bridge club, as you know. Gerald's stomach contained some of the food. They analyzed the contents of the serving dish. Among other things, it contained shellfish. It appears that Gerald was highly allergic to shellfish and it caused the membrane surrounding his trachea, or windpipe, to swell, closing it off. He couldn't breathe.”

“What a horrible way to die!” Tess exclaimed.

“You say it was shellfish?” I said. “It looked and tasted like a tuna casserole to me.”

“It fooled me, too,” Tess said.

“Unfortunately, it also fooled Gerald,” Carol said.

“How do you know the shellfish got him?” I asked.

“You probably remember that when you applied to live here you had to fill out some questionnaires.”

“Reams of questionnaires,” I said. “It was almost as bad as doing income tax.”

Carol smiled. “Some of the information requested is about your medical history. And one of the questions is about allergies. Gerald stated that he was allergic to shellfish. He didn't say that it was a life-threatening allergy, but since we always have a menu for the food served in the dining room it would have been easy for him to avoid shellfish there.”