HULL CLEAN, not Drano

First, and most important: In spite of their 'planning' beforehand, it is not Drano that JD and Veronica use to kill Heather. It is 'Hull Clean'. Hull Clean, we can assume, is a product to clean boat hulls. Since it is in such a tiny bottle, we can also assume that it is highly concentrated, since generally you use a pressure washer to wash your hull, which sprays water mixed with your concentrate. Almost all hull cleaners (which are formulated to combat rust and intense buildup) contain hydrofluoric acid, which is extremely dangerous and definitely lethal in the way Heather consumed it. Hydrofluoric acid is extremely potent and dangerous. It can penetrate thick, calloused skin and even fingernails, causing extensive skin burns and scarring. A major exposure to concentrated HF can bind the body's calcium stores from the bones, causing seizures, bone destruction and death. And that's from the outside. Inhaling HF fumes can lead to pneumonia. A splash of HF in the eyes can cause destruction of the eye tissues and blindness. Even exposure through faulty gloves can cause terrible symptoms. If you throw back a shot of hydrofluoric acid, within a few moments you won't have much throat left, or any other tissue that was touched.\r\rSecond: Heather does not, as you say 'just drop dead'. She kicks back the drink, then starts reacting, feeling it, grabbing her throat, eyes bulging, shaking, trying to talk (as her vocal cords are no doubt being burned away) for a good 25 seconds. And there's no guarantee that she's dead right when she falls, either! They leave her like that. They do not check her and determine she is dead. They've done this, they know it, so they're not going to try to get her help. It could have taken her several hours to die, but we don't know, we aren't told.\r\rThird: Drano could have indeed killed her, given the scenario explained just above. It is an alkaline corrosive. Unlike acids, which burn the top layers of skin, alkaline corrosives continue to penetrate. So it stilll would have been wreaking havoc on her internally even if she was unconscious or near-dead on the floor. Caustics can burn and destroy the vocal cords and esophagus (the tube from the mouth to the stomach). Extensive surgical repair involving numerous operations over a period of years is frequently required if someone survives ingestion of a caustic agent. Even so, the victim may never talk or swallow solid food again. That is with immediate emergency medical treatment. Without, well, you would probably end up a lot like Heather, even though she was poisoned with Hull Clean.\r