The Ginseng Conspiracy (A Kay Driscoll Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

discuss.
    Titled The Agricultural History of Sudbury Falls , Professor Walters' book focused on ginseng, the main cash crop in the region and the mainstay of Sudbury Falls’ economy. He sent crop samples that he had taken to bioengineering laboratories that dealt with genetically engineered crops. Walters read the old county records to better understand the nature of the ginseng and interviewed the landowners about their crops. At first, the landowners cooperated with him on his research, but lately one landowner in particular had acted outright hostile in response to his inquires. In the last two weeks, Professor Walters discovered some alarming findings in the analysis of ginseng samples. He hoped tonight things would be made clearer.
    “Dr. Anders had to choose the farthest bar to meet in,” Professor Walters muttered as he approached Sonnie's Bar, short of breath and twenty minutes late. “And what a dump!”
    Professor Walters climbed the stairs to Sonnie's bar, which was at the end of the business district on Main Street. He peered through the window of the pub and saw Dr. Anders waiting in the last booth with his back to the wall, looking at the door.
    The professor entered the poorly lit pub. Two solitary drinkers were sitting at the bar.
    “Gimme another Bud,” one man said to the bartender.
    The professor walked to the back. “Good evening, Dr. Anders. I'm sorry I'm late. Thank you for waiting.”
    They shook hands. Dr. Anders' charcoal striped suit jacket hung on the hook on the side of the booth. His top shirt button was undone, his tie loosened around his neck, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up. Dr. Anders looked haggard and worn out look, as if he'd had a hard day. His gaunt face had a gray tinge to it.
    “No problem. Nice to meet you, Professor Walters. Please have a seat.”
    Overheated from his walk, the professor removed his camel-colored coat and hung it on the hook on his side of the booth. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his handkerchief. As he returned his handkerchief to his shirt pocket, Walters noticed a circular barbecue stain on his shirt from the chicken sandwich he had for lunch. Damn! As he slid into the narrow booth, his pants caught on the ripped vinyl seat and dragged white stuffing through the fissures.
    “Professor Walters, I've heard about your research and was curious about your phone call asking to meet with me. How can I help you?”
    The professor, still trying to catch his breath, paused a few moments before he spoke. “For the past year, I've been writing a book about the agriculture of Sudbury Falls. It specifically deals with the ginseng farms outside of town. Part of my routine has been collecting soil and crop samples from the surrounding four farms and sending them to labs for analysis. One report from Ag-Lab in St. Paul stated that a few of the crop samples from one of the farms, the Stewart farm, seem to have been genetically altered. The 16S rRNA gene sequence contains some biosynthetic capacity abnormalities.”
    Dr. Anders glanced toward the stain on the professor's shirt and looked up. “Interesting findings, but what did you want to see me about?”
    “I spoke informally with Dr. Robert Kessler from Ag-Lab, and he shed some more light on the gene manipulation in the ginseng crop sample. He said the genetic anomaly looks similar to the sequence seen in poppies, which, as you know, are where the active and addictive ingredients in opiates are derived from. He wanted to know more about the origin of the samples. I wasn’t ready to reveal their source. I said they were from an associate in the UK.”
    “Why come to me? Have you gone to the FDA with your findings? Why not go there?”
    “I haven't because not all of the crop samples have shown this. The crops from the other three farms didn't have the anomaly. I want to gather more information before I go to the federal government with this. I've taken some of these same samples, the ones that were