The Fluorine Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

image of Little Boy; a fiery mushroom cloud.
    Most striking was a series of time-lapse
images of test houses at the Nevada Proving Ground. Several
operations during the era of above-ground testing consisted of
building houses at different distances from ground zero and blowing
them up to test their responses. The set of pictures on Carson's
wall showed six shots of one house, from standing upright to
collapsing in a surge of flames, in less than three seconds.
    I felt a shiver as it dawned on me how Carson
Little's hobby was woven into his approach to his research.
    I walked back toward our meeting room knowing
all I needed to know about the fires.
    ****
    Matt and the fluorine team seemed to have
taken a break at the same time that I did. I wondered if Teresa had
looked for me in the women's room.
    Now Matt was ready to resume. He pulled four
copies of a photo from a folder and placed one in front of each
chemist. He folded his hands and watched their expressions, like a
macabre Nevada blackjack dealer: Hit or no hit?
    Not only the chemists gasped at the sight of
the charred body, face down, surrounded by a thick layer of debris.
So did I. Up to now, I'd seen only the cleaned up image of her
tattoo. I couldn't help staring at this image, making out a human
form that was as black as carbon and so thin in places that I knew
it could be pulled apart with very little force. I was grateful
that I hadn't eaten yet.
    " Is this the woman who died in the
fire?" Peter asked.
    "Not in the fire," Matt said. "Someone
murdered her first."
    Teresa shivered. "Why are you showing us
these? Are we supposed to recognize her?"
    I knew better. Matt was trying to shake loose
a telltale reaction—a show of remorse, a slip of the tongue, an
uncontainable need to confess.
    No such thing happened, however. Instead,
everyone looked ill; they drew back from the table and now all arms
were folded across chests.
    "Can you tell me a little about your work
here?" Matt asked. He smiled and added, "In layman's terms,
please."
    Teresa volunteered. "Sure, I'll explain what
we do. We're investigating various flame retardant coatings."
    "Coatings for … ?" Matt asked.
    "Anything," Carson said. "Once we figure out
the process, we'll be able to use the coating for leather, glass,
ceramic, plastic, wood … you name it."
    As the other members of the team pitched in
to inform us of the value of their research, I got a chance to slip
Matt a hastily written note that read TATTOO IS DANIELLE. He nodded
and paused.
    "You have quite a testing facility here." I
said.
    "Sure do," Peter said. "We have all the
standard stuff."
    "But there's nothing like testing in the
laboratory of real life, is there?" I asked. "It reminds me of the
model town built at the Nevada Proving Grounds in the fifties." I
turned to Matt, as the one who might need an explanation. "The
government built houses of every kind of material, furnished them,
and then blew them up and studied the results."
    "Is that what you're doing?" Matt asked,
looking from one chemist to the other.
    Stan stood up, kicking his chair behind him.
"Absolutely not," he said. "Is that why you're really here? To
accuse us of setting the fires in town?"
    "Just so we can do research on the ashes?"
Teresa gave me a look that was part sad, part disappointed, mostly
angry.
    "It beats your plan, which is to wait around
forever," Carson blurted.
    "What are you talking about?" Teresa asked
him.
    "You guys may have all the time in the world,
but that's not what I signed up for." Carson unleashed his
frustration in a loud blast of words, then stretched his arms out
on the table and put his head down.
    Stan took his seat again. He put his hand on
Carson's arm and shook it. "What's this about? Is everything
okay?"
    "Nothing's okay. Nothing will ever be okay
again," Carson said, his voice soft.
    "Carson? You did this? You set the fires?"
Teresa's face had fallen, making her seem almost as old as
Stan.
    "I'd do it again," he said. "Except