Chapter 7

Neither man broke his stare for at least a full minute.

Suddenly Ironside leaned back. "Okay my friend, tell me the whole story. From the beginning."

Ed needed a moment to adjust to the new situation: Ironside had merely wanted to make sure that he really trusted the boy. At the bottom of his heart he had to admit that the whole matter did sound unbelievable and idealistic.

He gave the Chief a full report.

Of course Ironside wanted to see Andrew too. Ed had left him downstairs.

The Chief scrutinized the boy, and he liked what he saw. On the other hand he sensed the tension between him and his Sergeant.

"Ed, go downstairs and get me the Fuller file, will you? There might be a connection."

Obediently Ed stood up. It wasn't the first time the Chief sent him 'to get the Fuller file'. It was an absolutely uninteresting case with no possible connection to their present problem. Ironside simply wanted to talk to Andrew alone.

Chief Robert T. Ironside happened to be quite well-known, not only in the underworld, but also among people reading the newspapers.

For Andrew police officers were tools of a state which persecuted people like Christians in Romania, for instance. But this man was different: The boy knew his reputation. He was handicapped – not as badly as his little brother, but heavily enough – and he kept his chin up. That was awe-inspiring. And now that he was standing in front of him, eyeball-to-eyeball – he was willing to trust him.

"Andrew, what's the problem between you and Sgt. Brown?"

The boy looked away. Then he plucked up courage to face the man who exuded so much sincerity and strength.
"He is like two persons: Mr. Grey, a wonderful teacher; his tutoring is very catching for the good students, but he also knows how to explain things to those who have difficulties. He can even handle the bullies in class and outside. And then I learned that he has lied to us all along: He is a policeman. He fought in Vietnam. He doesn't care if people die because of the 'Agent Orange' they use, or if newborns have birth defects."

"How do you know that he doesn't care?" countered the Chief.

"He doesn't even believe me."

"Yes, he does." Ironside turned his chair a little in order to face the youngster. His voice was very serious when he went on:
"Eighteen months ago Sgt. Brown investigated a company which produced 'Agent Orange' and the like. He prevented them from selling something even more poisonous to the army*. We almost lost him then. Believe me, he cares! His work as a teacher at your school is called 'undercover work'. Actually it was me who sent him there. He had to find out who sabotaged the refuse incinerator and why. Then he walked in here and risked a scolding because he believed you. Don't you think you could trust him?"

Ironside could not be quite sure, but to him it looked as if Andrew was extremely relieved that he did not have to hate Ed anymore.

Right then Brown entered. He had not even bothered to bring along a folder to fool the boy. He made the detour to the stove and filled two cups with coffee, setting one in front of Andrew and keeping the other for himself. The Chief was probably drinking his third one already.

"Andrew, do you have any proof for the promise of installing the new cleaning system?" Ironside wanted to know.

"Yessir, there are even some layouts of it. I kept all the newspaper articles I could find at the time. This was when Tommy should have started walking and we were all shocked when we understood how badly he was handicapped, that's why I was so preoccupied with the plant. I thought from the beginning that it had something to do with the off-gas, because I had read about certain chemicals causing such symptoms."

"Will you entrust me with these newspaper clippings? I promise you to give them back."

Andrew nodded, surprised. The way the famous detective handled this case was completely different from what he had expected. Instead of being put into prison it looked like he would be helped in his fight against the plant.

As if Ironside could read his mind he smiled friendly at him, then he addressed his Sergeant: "Ed, I want you to take Andrew home and bring these articles here. In the meantime I will think about how to use them in the best possible manner."


For a minute Ironside just sat there, considering what he had learned. In a way Andrew's suspicions made sense. Ironside didn't believe in coincidence. As soon as Eve would come in he would send her to try and verify if there was a significant increase in the rate of birth defects and cancer in San Rafael – or in a part of the town.

On the other hand he had never heard of a problem with dioxin within the U.S. since the case with 'Bonsanto Chemicals'*, and he had sure kept his eyes and ears open, and so had Ed. Actually – if dioxin was the cause of the diseases, then this meant that the refuse incinerator was most probably not the cause of it. But then – herbicides containing dioxin were perhaps being used excessively in agriculture, but not in a town. He wondered if there was another substance which could cause similar symptoms – a substance connected to incinerating refuse.

After Eve had left with her new assignment he dialed the number of the chemical laboratory. He hoped that Roberts, the chemistry genius, would be available now. He was, and he was always willing to drop everything and come up to Ironside's office to discuss some really difficult problems with him. Both of them appreciated the other man's skills.

"A substance causing similar symptoms as dioxin? We are not even sure what symptoms dioxin causes. Oh, we are sure about 'chloracne' of course. Personally I believe the reports we get from Vietnam about an increase of birth defects, but our government doesn't; otherwise they would stop the use of 'Agent Orange'.
Something with similar properties however would be furan. Dibenzofuran is a heterocyclic organic compound. It has two benzene rings fused to one furan ring in the middle. All of the numbered carbon atoms have a hydrogen atom bonded to each of them. Dibenzofuran is an aromatic ether…"

Ironside interrupted him: "Give me a break! As much as I admire your knowledge, this goes too much into detail. The suspicion arose that the substance in question could come from a refuse incineration plant. Could this happen with dibenzofuran?"

"Sure. It builds up for instance when PVC is burnt. And since more and more PVC is being used, there will be more of the stuff thrown away, causing an increasing amount of dibenzofuran. The disposal can be done, yet it is difficult and expensive."

"And it could cause cancer and birth defects?"

"I have no proof, but in my opinion – yes. It's the equivalent of dioxin."


Ed brought the newspaper clippings. They matched Andrew's assertions.

The Chief's voice sounded sad when he stated: "The boy was right about the increase of birth defects in that area and a high number of cancer cases too. There is no official statistic, but Eve's researches confirmed his suspicions. Unfortunately we will never be able to prove a link between these cases in general – or any single one – to the refuse incineration plant."
The sound of his voice changed slightly. Frustration and suppressed fury let him add: "But I will not allow them to go on like this. We will stop them."

Visibly the Chief was mulling over how to solve the problem.

Ed and Mark knew better than to disturb him. Then, out of the blue, a dimpled grin spread over his face.

"Okay boys, let's do a boys' prank…"


*ff-story "The Color of Death"