Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: COFFEE BREAK / TEA BREAK (03/01/18)
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TITLE: No Party | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
03/04/18 -
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The other pair of lights pounced like hound dogs on the shattered pieces huddled in the glare. The blue-turbaned Sikh instinctively raised his hand to fend off the light. “Teacup. Bone China. Royal Albert. Lavender Rose. My mother had a set.”
I scanned the floor with my own light and carefully stepped forward to avoid contaminating the scene. When I squatted beside the white-coated Singh he was rubbing his chin through his generous black beard. The evidence in the room was sparse for the accusations being made. “This all we got?”
The Sikh flashed his light around. “There’s another cup on the table. Empty. An open Bible.”
“Don’t suppose this tea party included a Bible study,” I muttered.
Camera flashes captured the damage. When they kept up I finally barked, “Cohen, that’s enough. We got it.”
Another masked member of our forensics team knelt and extended a forceps to capture the pieces. I guided her. “Lenski, there’s another piece by the chair leg. Get all of this liquid if it’s what they say it is.”
Singh mused. “Carson, those Swiss may be overreaching. What were his symptoms again?”
I unbent my six-foot frame, rotated my shoulder blades and pushed my hair back over my ears. “Same as Yasser Arafat, same as Alexander Litvinenko. Organ failure, nausea, throat swelling.”
Cohen added. “Litvinenko also had hair loss. He got a good dose. Those alpha radiation particles are deadly.”
“They found it on Arafat’s toothbrush and headscarf,” Lenski offered.
Lenski finished swabbing the floor with her solutions. “Check the toilet” I order. “Once this gets into the organs, marrow and intestines it’ll show up in the urine, bile, sweat. Check for diarrhea or vomiting. Bag clothing and his toothbrush. This is one tea party someone knew he wouldn’t walk away from.”
I tapped Singh on the shoulder and he joined me near the entertainment unit in the small apartment. “Find out how often he’s had medical care. Has he had infections, transfusions, gastric aspiration, chelation therapy? Anything unusual in his care?”
Singh glanced at Cohen packing up his camera bag near the refrigerator. “Word is the target is with Mossad. Could be payback.”
“One bit of that silver powder is lethal. The size of a salt crystal is enough. Check spoons, milk, sugar.”
Singh moved to the fridge and waited for Cohen to clear his bag. Over his shoulder, he said, “You realize that Marie Curie discovered Polonium and her own daughter, Irene died after accidental exposure. The Israelis lost several scientists back in ’57 after a leak in a lab. We need to call in the professionals.”
The sensation, like a tarantula crawling up my spine and under my ponytail, intensified. I’d worked hard for this position against all odds. Singh was one of those who I was chosen over. His constant directives rankled me. My teeth clenched as I glared at his back. ‘If only he wasn’t right so often’.
Lenski closed up her sample bags in specialized zip-lock evidence bags and then removed her gloves. I noticed her wedding ring sparkle in the beam of her flashlight. “We done here?” she asked.
I turned toward Singh who stood with his hand on the fridge door. “Call in Hazardous Materials for pick up and clean up.” He nodded and pulled out his cell.
By the time the place was scrubbed clean, and almost stripped bare, I stood by the table staring at the open Bible which had been left behind. It was my first exposure to Polonium poisoning and wrenching a deathbed confession from a victim trained in espionage had taken all my wit and energy. “Where was God at a time like this?”
Now, I had to get home and organize a birthday party for my three-year-old daughter. She had six of her friends coming over and I had promised her a theme party from Frozen.
My husband was frantic in his calls as I collected the last of the treasures and snacks. “Where are you?” he yowled. “I’ve got parents glaring at me, wondering what I’m doing with all these little girls they brought over. What have you been doing?”
I grinned at the image. “Let’s just say that I haven’t exactly been having a tea party.”
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