This and That

It took me a long time to discover what I wanted to do when I grew up. It wasn't until I retired and began to do what I love most that I found writing had been waiting in the wings all along. I am a Christian writer - more about that if you visit my website "Ecclesia!"and blog "Road to Emmaus" at http://susanledoux.net. Here at Wordspinner I just write about this and that. Hope you enjoy.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Accidents Will Happen

 
 
 
Chapter 10
 
 
 
Bucci scanned the laboratory and reached for his cell phone. As he waited for the crime lab to answer, the detective opened the top drawer of the one desk in the room and pawed through its contents. Pulling up a plastic employee ID card, Bucci recognized the balding man who had given them directions to the lab. Next to the ID tag, sat a silver key.
            “Henderson, run down and see if you can grab the guy we met on the way in.”
            “On it.” Henderson replied, flinging open the lab door.
            Bucci picked up the key and found it opened the lower left drawer. Under a pile of files, Bucci’s thumb scraped against a small latch. Pulling up on the metal edge revealed a hidden compartment in which sat a lone USP flash drive. Suddenly Bucci heard the lab director’s voice on his phone.
            “Yeah, Gene. We need some of your eggheads pronto. I’m in the University chem lab and have no idea what to look for that would tell me anything about that designer drug you guys identified.”
            By the time the CSI team arrived, Bucci had the flash drive inserted in one of the lab computers and was staring at formulations that looked like cuneiform scratchings.   As he scrolled down, a list of Middle East embassy names and numbers appeared. Whatever Leere was working on was international in scope and deadly in plan. His next calls were to Homeland Security and Officer Henderson.
             Agent Denis of Homeland Security followed Lieutenant Henderson as he boarded the 747. Having found the door to Leere’s apartment open and the rooms torn apart as if the tenant had been in a rush, Henderson had ascertained the nervous man at the University was on the lamb. When he spoke to Bucci, his friend directed him to the county airport.
The two government men walked slowly down the center aisle and stopped at 22c. Without a word, a balding man rose from his seat and allowed the cuffs to clamp shut over his wrists.
Three hours later, Agent Denis and Detective Bucci sat in a back booth in Salty’s Bar.
“When we re-interviewed Trevellian’s wife, she remembered she had gone into the kitchen to cut a few more, what she called, “sausage thingyies” but she dropped the knife and put it in the dishwasher. Turns out that was the prop knife but she didn’t know that.  She left the real knife she used to cut the sausages on the counter. Apparently, Trevellian used that for his rehearsal, thinking it was the prop.”
“So how did that lead you to Leere?” The agent took a sip from his lager.
“Trevellian’s latest “protégé” had been an unwitting guinea pig for Leere. What she thought was a love potion was really the designer drug. When we raided his lab we found the evidence that he was planning on selling his formula to the highest bidder.”
“Terrorist, you mean.”  Denis thought for a moment. “In other words, the death of the Professor led to the discovery of the plan to sell LSD that is 40 times more powerful and modified to be mixed in the public water supply.”
Bucci nodded. “And it wasn’t murder or suicide so the grieving widow gets 5 million bucks of comfort. Who knows, maybe for a nice honeymoon with Conan Farrell after a suitable mourning period, of course. 
“Whew! All because of a misplaced prop knife… I guess accidents will happen!”  
THE END
 
Meet the author of this chapter: 
Gene LeDoux, a retired CSI chemist, has been a model railroad buff since his teen years when he wrote several articles for Model Trains magazine.  Writing about his favorite hobby led to writing scientific articles and professional reports throughout his forty years in the Monroe County Crime Lab.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment