Chapter 8

"Okay, let's go over this again," Lee groaned, staring at the whiteboard against the wall.

Amanda toyed with the marker in her hand as she pointed, "Two of the senators were poisoned by a new bottle of cologne or perfume. We have that confirmed. No one else in their family was exposed."

"Right, we found the bottle of perfume that poisoned Senator Christie where her husband said it would be. Now what about the others?" Lee asked with a heavy sigh.

Amanda pointed to the other names on the list, "Well, we know Cooper was home alone and he confirmed he doesn't use cologne. Senator Harrison's wife and family were away when he was poisoned and he stated he had an appointment with the heating and air conditioning company to clean his vents. He was taking a nap in his living room when he woke up and got sick."

Lee shook his head, waved the folder in his hand and sighed, "So that just leaves Senator Montgomery."

"Senator Montgomery stated she had some work done on her home the day before. She said she woke up in the middle of the night when she got sick," Amanda read from another file. She wrote on the right side of the whiteboard. "And from what I can see, the only pattern is the time span. If we take into consideration, Senator Montgomery got sick in the early morning, it appears there is a three day span between each poisoning."

Lee stood and looked at the dates Amanda carefully wrote down beside each name. "Okay, so that's the first key we have to a pattern but we still don't know how Cooper, Harrison and Montgomery were poisoned. And we still don't have any leads as to who might be behind this," Lee reasoned.

Amanda crossed her arms and leaned on the edge of her desk. She read the notes on the board over again as she thought. "What about that chemical… TM9? What do we know about it?" she asked.

"Not much," Lee admitted. Standing quickly, he said, "Hey, we have time. Let's take a ride up to Milton-Guild College where it was developed. It's only been a few years, someone's bound to still work there that knows what happened."

"You think it will help?" Amanda asked as she stood and pulled her jacket on.

"Well, it can't hurt. And on the way, we can talk out more ideas of how the poison is being introduced," Lee held the door open for Amanda as she stepped into the hall.

An hour later, Lee pulled up to the gate of the very prestigious Milton-Guild College. He pulled his badge out of his jacket and explained to the security officer at the gate he needed to speak with the director in the Chemistry department. The officer waved him through after giving him directions to the Chemistry building. Once they parked the Wagoneer, Lee and Amanda walked hand in hand into the brick building before them. With some difficulty, they found the Department Head's office where a student directed them down the hall to the lab.

A portly professor, dressed in a white lab coat, was sitting behind a desk in the corner of the science lab, grading papers. He took his reading glasses off when he heard Lee's gentle knock on the door, "Excuse me, Professor. We are looking for Dr. Durgan?"

"I'm Dr. Durgan, what can I do for you, folks?" the professor stood and met them near the center of the lab.

"I'm Lee Stetson and this is my partner, Amanda Stetson," Lee began. He didn't miss the professor's immediate reaction to Amanda's name. The professor raised an eyebrow and glanced in Amanda's direction before returning Lee's gaze. "We're here to find out more about a chemical that was discovered here a few years ago. TM9?"

Dr. Durgan folded his arms and relaxed against a nearby lab table. "What about it? The Army snatched up most of our research on it almost immediately," he stated with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Sir, can you tell us how you discovered it? And what does it do?" Amanda asked curiously.

"Well, little lady, we discovered it by accident. TM9 takes any inhalable toxin and attaches itself to it to create a new compound, allowing the toxin to linger in the air longer. Then, once inhaled, TM9 would activate the body's natural triggers, magnifying the intensity of the toxin. You can understand why the Army wanted their hands on this little gem," he explained.

Lee pulled out a small notebook and jotted down what the professor just told him. He pointed at him with his pen and asked, "Why do you say you discovered it by accident?"

"It was accidental when we inadvertently poisoned every student in the classroom for the next three hours. It was accidental when the air filtration system kicked on the second time Professor Harborne created the substance, trying to recreate what he did the first time, and he poisoned the crew that came in to clean it." Professor Durgan pushed himself off the table, took two steps toward Lee before he stated, "And it was completely accidental when he realized what he had done and managed to poison me."

"Oh!" Amanda exclaimed, her eyes open wide. She looked at the professor warily. "Is Professor Harborne here? Can we speak with him?"

"Unfortunately, Professor Harborne no longer works for this institution. He was let go last year when those bozo's in the Senate voted against state funding for Milton-Guild," Dr. Durgan announced.

Amanda's head snapped in Lee's direction at the mention of the Senate. "Did Professor Harborne show any hatred toward anyone? What I mean is, was he a violent man?" Lee asked quickly.

"Marty? Nah, Marty was a little off sometimes but he wasn't mean spirited. You should have seen how upset he was when the accidents went down," Dr. Durgan assured them.

"Have you seen him recently?" Amanda asked, her mind whirring.

Dr. Durgan shook his head, "No, not in the last month or so. Marty's been having a tough time since he got let go. He couldn't find a job at any other university nearby because of what happened here, even though he's brilliant. I tried to put in a good word with everyone I knew but, you know how that goes."

Lee nodded and with a knowing glance in Amanda's direction, offered his card to Dr. Durgan as he said, "Thank you for your time, Dr. Durgan. If you hear from Professor Harborne, would you give us a call, please? We'd really like to talk to him."

"Will do, Mr. Stetson," the professor replied. "Here, I'll show you the easiest stairwell to get outside from here. It can get confusing if you're not sure where you're going." He walked them into the hall and pointed to a door nearby, "If you follow that one down two levels, there's an outside door that will take you to the parking lot. I wish I could help you folks more but unfortunately all the research is gone as is Marty."

"If you think of anything or hear from Marty, please, give us a call. Our office number is on that card," Amanda stated as she touched his arm. Lee nodded once more then placed his hand on Amanda's lower back to guide her into the stairwell.

"Well, I think our next move is to find Marty Harborne. If he recreated it several times, who's to say he can't do it again," Lee announced as they descended the stairs. He pushed the outside door open and stepped into the sunlight, blinking rapidly to adjust his eyes. He looked at his watch and said, "We need to get on the road if we're going to make it back to pick up the boys. Joe did say he couldn't take them tonight, right?"

"Yes, he and Carrie had plans with her parents tonight. He wanted to take them but her mother isn't doing so well. Carrie mentioned she was worried about her health," Amanda replied sadly.

Lee put his arm around her waist and tucked her close to his side, "Hey, I'm sure it's nothing. Carrie mentioned they just changed her medication so maybe that's all it is. You know, side effects or something. Tell you what, why don't we take the boys out to dinner tonight?"

Amanda sighed but smiled as she said, "Why don't we order pizza and have a family game night. After the boys have finished their homework that is. We haven't done that since we've moved into the new house."

Lee kissed her temple and replied, "That sounds like the perfect night in to me." He opened her car door and before she slipped her hand from his, he brushed his lips against her fingers. He jogged around to the driver's side and got in, immediately reaching for her hand.

They drove directly to Philip's school and arrived just minutes before the bell rang. Philip sauntered outside, talking to several classmates as he crossed the lawn to where they were parked. "Hey, Mom, do we have plans for Halloween this year?" he asked as he climbed into the backseat.

Amanda furrowed her brow as she thought of all the years of Halloween parties and trick or treating nights in their old neighborhood. "Gee, sweetheart, I'm not really sure. What brought that up?"

"Um," Philip prevaricated, "Some of the kids are getting together that night…you know, just to hang out…and they invited me. But Jamie can't go, they said no little kids."

Lee chuckled as he steered the Wagoneer away from the curb, "I wouldn't exactly call Jamie a little kid. He's almost as tall as you. But let me guess, it's a party right?"

Philip immediately lifted his thumb to his mouth and began chewing on the rough nail edge without answering.

"Philip?" Amanda twisted around in her seat to look at her eldest son. "I believe Lee asked you a question."

"It's not really a party. I mean, there's just gonna be some of us hanging out, that's all. And Gracie's mother is going to be home the entire time," Philip rushed out.

"Uh-huh. And do you need a costume for this non-party party?" Amanda teased.

Lee pulled the car over in front of Jamie's school and looked at Philip in the rearview mirror. "Mom, it's not a party. We're just gonna hang out, probably play some video games or something," he insisted.

Lee was going to comment but Jamie arrived at the car and interrupted everyone. "Mom! Lee! I just found out that the portfolio I made for photography club was entered into a competition! And guess what? I get to go to Arlington Arts Center where everything will be on display and people that go there get to be the judges!" he shouted as he tossed his backpack onto the seat and climbed in.

"Wow, congratulations, Jamie, that's quite and accomplishment," Amanda smiled.

"Yeah, good job, Chief. So let's say we celebrate tonight with pizza and game night," Lee suggested, stealing Amanda's earlier idea.

"As long as I get to choose the pizza, you're on!" Jamie exclaimed. He looked over at Philip, still gnawing on his thumbnail. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Philip groaned as he sunk down in his seat and stared out of the window.

"Hey, I heard from Gracie's sister, Ashley, that she was having some kids over on Halloween. Too bad, too. This should be the best year ever for trick or treating," Jamie stated.

Philip rolled his eyes at Jamie and asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Because we don't need Mom or Grandma or anyone else following us around! Mom said it last year that we could go all by ourselves this year," Jamie reminded him.

Philip pushed himself back up and nodded, "Yeah, that's right. Mom did say that. So instead of going to Gracie's can we invite a few friends to come with us?" Philip leaned his chin onto the front seat, waiting for a response.

"We'll talk about this later, after dinner," Amanda decided.