I do not own any characters or ideas created by Eoin Colfer
A/N Howdy folks! I'm making up this chapter as I go along, soooo; forgive me for this next chapter. Thank you to all of my reviewers. This chapter is short!Enjoy!
Chapter 5- The Coming of the Toxic
Crane Korinn wasn't feeling well. He was out of work particularly early today. He had been at work in his office filing out the culprits in jail as usual. A dwarf named Kloro Vanga was supposed to be freed the next day. But he hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days. Now he felt even worse. Crane coughed for three minutes straight.
"I need a doctor," he mumbled to himself. Crane took a shortcut through an alleyway to get him home faster. Cough. He continued down the alleyway. Cough. He was almost at the end. Cough. He couldn't take it anymore. He coughed in the alleyway. That damn sickness overtook him and his knees turned to water. He toppled and crouched while coughing. His lungs felt like they were going to blow. He needed air but he couldn't find any. Crane took a big gulp of air and immediately the coughing became worse. He coughed out blood and made a small puddle of it. He was on his hands and feet now, dying. He became weaker and weaker and finally his elbows and knees gave out. Crane fell onto the floor. Pain filled him and his lungs. Then slowly, his pulse began to falter. Slowly his pulse became less frequent. Until finally it stopped completely and he died in the small alleyway.
Foaly was baffled. The photos in front of him showed three normal people on the floor. They were dead. Each and every one of the five citizens died in different parts of the city. One of them was a fellow student from his graduating school. An elf named Lino Kitoro. Another was a married pixie named Crane Korinn. A dwarf named Ran Golo was another. Another pixie that was unemployed named Tnobo Shigo. A fellow primary student that was also a centaur, (he used to have a crush on her) Tala Sif. Foaly had first run primary searches on the unlucky five. They didn't have anything in common. He ran a more advanced search and still didn't find anything. Now he was searching everything about them on his computer. From the very moment of birth to their time of death. Messages, bills, files, friends, schools, clubs, certificates. He searched everything they had. Yet he still found nothing in common between them. So now he sat in his chair in front of his computer. There was only one lousy thing he had found that they had in common. In their health files and some messages sent by their moms to other friends was that they were fragile. They got sick easily. Well, considering they died from a kind of sickness, that piece of information doesn't help. Foaly got up, got permission to leave from the LEP building in order to investigate (which was the only reason Sool let him leave) and hurried to an address on a piece of paper that he had printed out of his research. He first went to Lino's old house. An old, tired looking elf answered the door.
"What the ruddy hell do you want?" he asked grumpily.
"I'm an LEPrecon officer," Foaly responded while he flashed him his badge, " and I want to question you about Lino." Mr. Kitoro moved away from the door to let the officer pass. Foaly realized at once that they weren't exactly wealthy. They weren't the modern day family in the cash category at all. It was a small house. It had a small living room that had four walls and left of the doorway a small hallway that led to three rooms.
"Can you show me the house?" Foaly asked.
"Sure" Mr. Kitoro mumbled grumpily. He led Foaly into the first room on their right of the hall.
"Tis' was Lino's room," he said hurriedly as he beckoned to it. Foaly noticed that everything was probably the same way Lino had left it the day he died. Which was two weeks ago. They continued down the hall and stopped at the next door that was also on their right.
"Tis' is the quarters," he said. By "quarters" he meant bathroom. It was a small smelly, dingy washroom with a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. They stopped at the last room
"Tis' is my room," he told Foaly. It was also a small room with a tiny TV, a bed, and a bedside table. On the table was a picture of a female elf.
"That's ma' wife, Launa," he said when he saw Foaly look at the picture. "Died in the B'wa Kell (A/N I think that's how you spell it) rebellion." His eyes were filling with tears. Foaly than asked him some questions about Lino. When he was finished, he left. Foaly put together all the information he had gathered and set out to some places Lino might have hung out in. He was correct on some of his hunches. His friends in late nightclubs always said the same thing for something different about Lino. He got sick easily. It was late now and Foaly was getting sleepy. He went back and had some sleep.
The next day, Foaly went to investigate on Crane Korinn. In a span of five days, Foaly had investigated them all. Foaly had found no connections between the five. Not even a connection with their friends. Foaly decided to go to the hospital. At the reception desk, he flashed his badge again and went to the third floor. He met with Dr. Vagan's secretary and asked where he could find him.
"He is busy at the moment," said the occupied pixie, "Maybe if you made an appointment"- she was cut off by Foaly.
"Where can I find him ma'am?" when he saw that this didn't satisfy her, he said, "I'm an LEPrecon officer." In about a minute, Foaly was standing in front of a doorway that read- Operation In Process. Do Not Disturb. Foaly was in the suit needed for an operation room, so he walked in.
"Dr. Vagan?" he asked into the light.
"Can't you read! I'm not to be distu"- he stopped once he saw Foaly. He said a quick apology and led him to Crane's body. Foaly almost puked. Crane Korinn's torso was split open.
"I was about to call the LEP! I have discovered something! In his lungs, there is…"
Sool was sitting on his chair behind his desk. He was reading the report Foaly had given him on the five deceased. Suddenly, Foaly burst through the door.
"Don't you know how to knock, donkey?" Sool said over the top of the report.
"Sir, Dr. Vagan just told me something very interesting! He found a gas in the lungs! Yes, of each of the five. It was hard to find because of its mixture of chemicals!" Foaly was glad to make a breakthrough. Sool could see it written all over his face. But suddenly Foaly went quiet.
"It's gas?" Sool said. He understood the look of worry on Foaly's face. "But they could have been kidnapped and put into a room full of gas. Then the murderers could have placed them in different parts of the city. Then, then" but Sool couldn't find an explanation.
"No sir. Crane had just gotten out of work five minutes before his estimated death. Plus, everyone loved them. No one had any rivalries against them. Sooo, the gas… is a public thing. It's all over Haven, sir." Sool had been afraid of this.
"One more thing sir. The chemicals in the gas, the toxic… it's not very fairy-like. The chemicals are human chemicals. We've found out that the gas is mud man made."
A/N To tell you the truth, I found it kind of relaxing not to write about Artemis in this one. He's going through dark times. I hope you enjoyed my nice little chapter. Things are going to get good. Trust me on that! REVIEW!