The Price of Innocence Read Online Free PDF Page B

explosive.’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘Couldn’t be done.’
    Theresa said, ‘Do we care?
Something
blew up the Bingham building. Whether it was this or something else, what difference does it make, unless it can tell us who did it, why and what they’re planning to do next?’
    Oliver and Leo glanced at her, then back at the armored vehicle, now closing its doors. Slowly.
    ‘It only has two ingredients,’ Oliver said for the third time.
    ‘Which can be more or less easily obtained,’ Leo added. ‘From any chemical supply company, even a school lab—’
    ‘It’s not like plutonium or something. Then, they only need to be mixed, and passed through any all-purpose filter paper. You wind up with an explosive that can be carted around or used without any special equipment. Other than a death wish, I mean.’
    ‘Just one problem,’ Leo said. ‘It’s not possible.’
    Oliver ignored him. ‘Nor will it show up on a metal detector.’
    Theresa said, ‘But wouldn’t airport “sniffers” pick up the nitrogen?’ Sniffers looked for residues from explosive compounds on people and luggage, and most such residues were nitrogen based.
    ‘Nitrogen
compounds
. Nitrogen triiodide decomposes into nitrogen gas, which is already present in the air.’
    Leo apparently thought, considered and rejected. ‘It’s impossible. It might be a similar compound, I don’t know, probably detonated with an electrical charge.’
    All three fell silent as the bomb squad vehicle left the parking lot and the bomb squad. An errant beam of sunshine lit the area and warmed the bomb squad members until they pulled off helmets and gloves and guards. The sudden brightness didn’t cheer anyone, however, and the M.E. staff waited in a somber silence to see what would happen next.
    The bomb squad commander said something to the M.E., and Theresa pressed forward to listen in.
    ‘So it is an explosive?’ Stone asked.
    ‘Oh yeah. If your chemist decided to start his analysis by chipping off a piece, well, it might not take out the wall but it would have broken a window or two, and put a hole in your counter. And killed him.’
    Theresa shuddered, long and hard. Behind her, Leo harrumphed.
    ‘Having the compressed gas tanks right next to it might not have turned out so cool either.’
    ‘It’s nitrogen triiodide?’ she asked.
    He had black skin and caramel eyes and seemed rather young for a commander. ‘We’ll test it to make sure, but it looks and smells like it. I haven’t seen it for about ten years, not since some kid at West Tech made a mess of his chemistry lab. You see similar compounds in meth labs, but crystals like that are, well, rare.’
    ‘Is it the same stuff as what blew up the Bingham building?’
    ‘Ye—’ he began to say, and then stopped himself with a wry frown. ‘I don’t know. There’s no official report out yet. You’ll have to ask Homeland freakin’ Security.’
    ‘But you’ve heard rumors?’ she guessed.
    Again, the frown. ‘There’s always rumors.’
    ‘Were they really after the Lambert place?’ Oliver asked, letting his supercilious persona slip for one unguarded moment to admit there was something he didn’t know. ‘The Channel 15 anchor seems to think they were.’
    ‘Well, I’m sure he’d know,’ the commander said, with wry and admirable restraint. Then focused on Theresa. ‘That’s the only amount brought back from the site, isn’t it? There isn’t any more on the premises?’
    ‘No,’ she assured him, wondering if there could be crumbs in the pocket of her windbreaker. But if it had broken, it would have detonated, right? And probably cut her body in half.
    The M.E. thanked the commander. ‘This is why we need a new building,’ he added to no one in particular, no doubt writing the press release in his head as he spoke. ‘No more off-site storage. Every piece of paper, evidence and samples need to be under our roof at all times.’
    The commander nodded politely and left. The M.E.