Ask Not For Whom The Panther Prowls Read Online Free PDF

he wasn't there to enjoy the glory,
such as it was. His body was, but it was a bit of a toss up whether
he comprehended anything said around him. He was found in his
office, shaking and dribbling, and rushed to the emergency room. A
week later he was moved from Grady to long-term care.
    My student
Tom and I met with Dr. Cleo and his group to see if our spectral
sensors could be combined with their work biological chemistry. It
could be useful to detect small concentrations of unusual molecules
and possibly aid in the remote automated diagnosis of diseases. It
would be nice to screen for the next outbreak of SARS or influenza
automatically in an airport before many people were ill from the
next pandemic. After an hour or so of scientific discussion our
talk inevitably turned to Dr. Rogers.
    “ Pity about
him, going like that.”
    “ True, he
could be a real douche-bag at times, but no one deserves what
happened to him.”
    “ What did
happen to him?”
    “ We think it
was a stroke, there isn't much else that fits.”
    “ Damn, I
guess none of us are getting any younger. Any word of when they'll
start the job search for his replacement?”
    “ It's
already started, they're trying to find another micro-encapsulation
guy.”
    “ Really?”
    “ Yes, his
patents could be very lucrative. Could fund the department for
years. He was working on time delay dosing. Imagine taking one pill
a month instead of every few hours.”
    “ Why would
that be important?” Not being a biochemist, this seemed a little
excessive.
    “ Things like
antibiotic resistance. If the patient skips pills or only takes
them when they feel sick then the bugs get resistant
quickly.”
    “ Oh. Had he
any luck?”
    “ Yes, he
could slow things down for a day or so.”
    “ Things like
toxins?”
    “ Don't know
about that, but at the last faculty meeting he joked about a
super-LSD that could make a trip last for three weeks.”
    2
    I finally
decided to check up on Dr. John Craft. Arthur did a quick criminal
background check and he was clean or at least as clean as a public
database would show. I spent a few hours on pub-med reading on his
research. It was mostly about the transmission of neural impulses
in invertebrates with the occasional foray into behavioral
speculations. In other words, he seemed as normal as any other
neurobiologist.
    I gave him a call and we agreed to meet.
    “ So Will?
What's this about? You're not planning on joining the Neurobiology
Institute are you?”
    “ No such
luck.” I showed him my license and card from Argus. “It's my other
professional responsibility. I need to ask you about
poisons.”
    “ Why
me?”
    “ I was told
to ask your advisor, Dr. Martin Shelby. Unfortunately he was not
available.”
    “ Yeah right.
I spoke at his funeral. What the fuck are you about
Will?”
    “ Seriously,
I'm trying to understand why the student teacher in my stepson's
kindergarten was almost killed with something that looked like a
heart attack.”
    “ That
all?”
    “ There was
another in 'Physics for Poets', one of his best friends helped with
the CPR. It didn't work that time.”
    “ Sounds like
you have a good reason. How can I help?”
    “ Is there
something that can give an otherwise healthy young man a heart
attack?”
    “ Lots of
things. Can you be a bit more specific?”
    “ It would
have to be unnoticeable, and with a delay of a few
hours.”
    “ Heart
attack, no. Something that looks like one, there is a whole family
of related toxins. Channel blockers from shellfish, red algae
really. Saxitoxin is the most common. There are several other
derivatives that can be used.”
    “ Saxitoxin?”
    “ Small
molecule, it only takes a half milligram to kill a human, less if
you directly inject it, then it takes maybe fifty micrograms. The
CIA used it for suicide devices. It would only take a scratch and
you would stop breathing. Gary Powers had some, didn't use
it.”
    “ How easy is
it to get?”
    “ Aldrich
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