by Ellen Clary
The woman, who was just a little shorter than Amy, but with much darker walnut brunette hair and a concerned expression, said, “I’m Carolyn, his wife.” She started to carefully examine his pockets, her hands moving in a well-practiced, familiar fashion. She embodied that competence that longtime partners have around each other.
Amy watched her, wondering what it was like having someone you love slip away from you. The drugs for disorientation were way better than they used to be, but the early onset cases were the most stubborn, though there had been miraculous reversals.
Carolyn said, “He’s missing his wallet, but I don’t know if that means anything. I give him some cash and a credit card with a set limit. He can’t remember ID numbers so he doesn’t get a debit card. I haven’t switched him over to the fingerprint authentication as they don’t have a way to limit how much someone can have yet.”
Amy examined Herman’s hand closely. “Carolyn, there is some fluid underneath Herman’s fingernails. May I run a scan on it?”
Carolyn consented and Amy took her handheld a little closer.
“Supplemental recording of an interview of Herman McConnell: this is Amy Callahan with Herman and his wife Carolyn.”
“Herman, I just want to take a look at your fingernails. It won’t hurt.”
Herman looked hesitant, but then relaxed a little.
Amy swiped her fingers a few times over the screen and brought the edge right up to his index finger. After a moment it beeped and she repeated the process for his thumb. Another beep and she gave him back his hand. She stared at the screen for a while with a thoughtful expression.
Carolyn said, “What is it?”
Amy replied, “It is telling me it’s fingerprint solution. Unusual because it’s not usually needed unless you want to get the maximum quality contact between the finger and the handheld screen.”
“Well, that’s kind of left field, isn’t it?”
“My thought, too.”
Amy cleared the screen and picked it up, looking back at Herman.
“Herman, did you see anyone when you were on that road before you went to the cave?”
“Oh no, I was on my way to our meeting. I did stumble on a branch on the way.”
Amy paused a moment, considering. She picked up his hand again and brought the handheld over.
“Did anyone do this?” She took his thumb and pressed it onto the handheld like she was taking a thumbprint.
Herman’s eyes widened and he breathed in suddenly. “Yes …”
“Can you describe them? How many people?”
“Three, but there was one in particular.”
“A man?”
“Yeah.”
“What did he look like? Was he tall, short?”
“They were all tall, but they were standing over me.”
“What color was his skin?”
“Oh, you know, tan, but a little pale.”
“What color was his hair?”
“Kinda brown. Real short hair.”
“Was he fat?”
“No, he was thin.”
“What did he sound like?”
“Kinda like everyone else, but he was bossy and he did sound like he was from somewhere else, but not that far away.”
“Did they get out of a car?”
“Don’t know, they just appeared.”
“A van or a truck?”
“Oh wait, there was a white van.”
“Where they in a hurry?”
“Oh yes, they didn’t want to even chat or say hello. I thought it was the Payton boys down the road, but I didn’t recognize them and they were too big.”
“Were they rough?”
He seemed to hesitate. “Kinda.”
“Did they hit you?”
Herman looked a little blank.
Amy looked at Carolyn and said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone: “Don’t panic.” She stood up over Herman and raised her arm, hand in a fist about to strike.
“NO! No, don’t do that again please. What do you want?”
Amy dropped to the ground in front of him, her hands flat and on his arms.
Carolyn rushed in, too.
“Is that what those men did?” Amy asked.
“Yes.” Herman was gasping and he shook.
Carolyn got a hold of his shoulders. “They did that? They hit you?”
“Yes.”
Amy asked, “What happened after that?”
“I don’t remember. Next thing I remember is the cave.”
While Carolyn was rubbing Herman’s shoulder, Amy asked her, “What did he do for a living?”
“He was a scientist at Nanology,” she said, referring to a biotech firm known for creating extremely small, smart medical devices that acted like biological repair robots.
“Do you know what he did?”
“He said it was mostly what he called ‘peaceful plowshares’ stuff, but there was some hush-hush stuff that he didn’t discuss.”
“Something where knowing someone’s fingerprints might be useful?”
“I don’t know,” she replied.
Amy made a note on her handheld and said, “Well, thank you both, you’ve been very helpful and we need to get a medic to treat that gash. It’s going to bruise and could get infected.”
“Thank you, too,” Carolyn said.
“Give me your messaging address and I’ll send you our contact info and the case number for this.”
She did and they finished up. Amy sent the data back to Central. Amy radioed for a medic. Lars got some final pets from Herman and she and Lars headed off.
CHAPTER 2:
Second Scent
AMY HEADED back to the area that she had asked to be cordoned off.
A uniformed police officer was just finishing the taping.
“Hi, I’m Agent Amy Callahan and it’s my fault that you’re out here tromping around in the woods.”
She replied, “It’s okay, some nice fresh air, no mutilated body. Works for me.”
Amy said, “Just a little blood, but no mutilation fortunately.” Holding up her handheld she said, “Hello, Central. I’m back at the cordoned-off area and we’re going to see if there’s any evidence to collect.”
“Roger,” came the reply.
Amy looked at the scene again. They needed to find a human scent that was different from Herman or herself. This was going to be a challenge. She and Lars had been spending time working on the concept of different, but it was pretty abstract.
Looking over at the kelpie, Amy said, “Lars, I want you to find human scents that you haven’t found before.”
Lars looked at her and inclined his head in that ‘Really?’ expression.
“Lars, do you remember when we were working on same and different? These four blocks are the same and this ball is different?”
Lars didn’t say anything but she could see recognition in his eyes.
“Now this is harder. We’re looking for a different smell than Herman’s but I don’t know what it is to begin with. I have Herman’s smell here in the sniff-o-meter, but we’re wondering if a different person was chasing him.”
/We chase him./
“I know, but someone else. Do you know what that means?” She realized that this was going to be a stretch for his understanding.
Lars had that noncommittal look. Amy reminded herself that they had nothing to lose by being out here and that if it didn’t work they would still be fine.
He put his nose to the ground and after a few moments said, /Here./
Amy held the sniff-o-meter, which they used to record synthetic approximations of scents, over the spot. “That’s Herman. That’s the guy you already found. Are there other scents?”
Looking at the ground, he said, /Rabbit./
“You probably meant squirrel. I’m interested in human smells.”
Lars started to walk in an S pattern, going back and forth along Herman’s path.
He stopped, drilling his nose
into the earth.
“Don’t go too far away.”
Lars pulled up an acorn that a squirrel had probably buried.
“I’m so sorry, but those are poisonous to you. Here, trade me.” Lars brought over the acorn and Amy gave him a chicken dog treat, which he happily gulped down. Amy tossed the acorn into the woods. “You know the squirrels bury these to find later when there aren’t a lot of acorns around.” She decided not to bother mentioning that he would have to eat several of them to get sick.
Lars shrugged in a way that only a kelpie could do.
“You’re so sensitive to the needs of squirrels.”
/Huh?/
“Never mind. I’m not going to explain sarcasm.”
/Sar—/
“Sar-nothing, keep searching.” Amy could see the officer trying not to laugh.
Amy realized there was a breeze, which could easily move the scent around. She wished she could just wave the sniff-o-meter scent storage device around and find things, but it was pretty useless without a specific location to check. Using an expert like a dog was the best way to pinpoint things, even with the communication barrier.
Lars swung his head around and pointed out a different spot. After checking, she laughed. “That’s my scent, silly. Was there anyone else?
He went wider and said, /Here./
Amy, with low expectation that it was going to be anything different, headed over to the spot. It was different. Likely human. Lars followed the track back to the road and she found a better sample. There were prints, too. “Central, Lars has found evidence of one assailant. We’re going to check Herman’s path before hitting the road to see if there was a different pursuer.”
There was. Now she had evidence and a theory. One person had chased Herman to the road, where another person assaulted and thumb-printed him. What a lot of trouble to go through, she thought as they walked back to their vehicle.
CHAPTER 3:
Back at the Office
AMY AND Lars wandered back into Central. Amy tossed her bag down on her desk. Lars flopped down on his dog bed, underneath her desk on the right-hand side.
“Harris, do you have a second?”
He swung around in his chair. “For you, I have two, maybe even three.”
“What do you know about nanoelectronics?”
Harris laughed, which lit up his olive-skinned face. He had chin-length, dark brown, straight hair which was at a length to be constantly getting in his face. He kept threatening to cut it, but wanted to go back to having a ponytail again. “Of all the things you could have asked me, that is not what I was expecting.”
“Sorry.”
“No, no problem, it’s just so off the wall.”
“That it is. Anyway, this guy Herman—the one with disorientation that we chased down today. Well, he was a scientist who worked in nanoelectronics, and today he was mugged. They took his thumbprint and roughed him up some.”
Harris leaned his head forward, looking intrigued. “His thumbprint?”
“Yeah, I verified that he had the solution under his fingernails, the stuff that’s used to get an accurate scan. Plus, he was able to recognize the motion when I held his hand.”
Steve, who had been half-listening, piped up, “Aww, you were holding hands.”
Amy said, “Steve, don’t you have a rhinoceros you need to go carry off somewhere?”
Steve, at six feet with a medium-heavy build and in excellent shape, could lift most anything. “I’m just jealous, that’s all. I always fingerprint the people I mug.”
Harris looked at him thoughtfully, with one hand holding an errant lock of hair. “Good point, the mugging was probably just for show.”
Amy added, “He was also chased to a spot where his assailants were waiting.”
“Oh, this is getting even better,” Harris said. “This is weird, no one uses solution anymore unless it’s for …” He trailed off, looking into the distance. “ … extremely accurate prints that go beyond just using them for ID.”
“Lost me there,” Amy said.
Harris looked at his own thumb. “Think of writing instead of reading. Like if you wanted to create a hand.”
Steve held out his own hand. “I think you’re reaching.”
Amy groaned. “Rhinoceros, Steve, a rhino has to be just outside waiting for your reaching arms.”
Steve stood up with both hands reaching out at Harris.
Harris said to Steve’s dog, “Pearl, help, help. Your person is losing his mind. Go see Steve.”
Both Pearl, Steve’s yellow Labrador retriever, and Boomer, Harris’s Portuguese water dog, leapt up and ran over to Steve to see what the game was. Petting both dogs and looking over at Harris, Steve said, “I will get you some day, you know?”
“Contrary to common belief, I am fully capable of running away.”
“You’re going to sic that fake hawk on me that you keep trying to build, aren’t you?”
“It’s a spy pigeon that listens and records, and he’s just going to learn enough to blackmail you.”
Steve waved his hand dismissively. “As if. We work with dogs here remember?”
“Do you pay attention to pigeons?” Harris said.
“No, but you can’t blackmail me since I have nothing to hide.” He blew a kiss at him and Harris looked at the ceiling.
Amy cleared her throat. “Um, boys, I thought we were talking about fake hands and fingers.”
“Pigeons don’t have fingers,” Steve said.
Amy flung a dog toy at him, sending all three dogs scurrying.
Looking at Steve, she asked, “What could someone do with a physicist’s fingerprints?”
“Sounds like identity theft.”
“Well, his only credit card is a physical card with a small, set limit. It doesn’t use bioidentity.”
“Maybe open a new account?”
“Aren’t there checks for that?”
“Yeah, there was a lot of that sort of theft going around, so you have to be physically present in some way or at least have a verifiable video connection or have a notary present, but with the right connections they could still pull it off.”
Amy said, “Sounds like a lot of trouble and I don’t think this was a coincidence.”
“You think he was tracked?”
“I’m starting to wonder that.”
“Maybe take the sniff-o-meter and Lars back out there.”
“I already entered Herman’s general smell and his footprint smell, so I could rule out duplicates.”
“Assuming you didn’t go running by any spice mixes that can really confuse it.”
Amy smiled, remembering. “Yeah, what was that case? We were trailing a cook who had spilled curry powder mix on herself and then went through her garden. We couldn’t get a solid read on anything. We had to go to the other side of the garden, and start from there.”
“Poor sniff-o-meter.”
“Harris, what’s a sniff-o-meter really called?”
Looking up from his scheduling, Harris said, “Olfactory reflectometer.”
Steve and Amy looked at each other and, at the same time, said, “Sniff-o-meter.”
Harris looked back at his work. “Suit yourself. The search engine will hate you.”
“Technology hates me anyway,” Steve replied.
Amy retreated into one of the shared private offices that was on edge of the common area to dictate her report.
“Lars, you said something about Herman smelling strange?”
/Weird smell./
“Who taught you the word ‘weird’?” Opening the door, she called out, “Who taught my dog the word ‘weird’?”
Steve called out, “Oh, that was me.”
Amy looked at him, a little startled.
He continued, “All out loud, no voodoo. I was just talking to him and was telling him that cats are weird. Delivery people in funny uniforms are weird. Flowers can smell weird.”
Amy, still looking at him, said, “That’
s quite a leap you’re describing. Dogs generalize poorly. I could make this my Senior Project if I didn’t already have one.”
Steve said, “I tried with some smells, but he likes smells that we think are weird. I tried my feet, but he liked my feet as far as I could tell by how deeply he was breathing in.”
“You’re better off with lilies; I know he doesn’t much like them.”
She shut the door of the office and continued her report.
CHAPTER 4:
Beth Speaks with Amy
AMY WAS back at her usual LAI desk when her handheld buzzed. It was Beth Hanscom, the detective looking into Herman’s case. Beth appeared on the screen. “Hi, Amy.”
“Hi, Beth.” Beth’s sweet, cherubic, welcoming face did a nice job of covering her raw determination in solving cases. She did not give up easily. While she wasn’t in the same excellent physical shape as her more active peers, she still managed to get herself where she needed to go, and to get others to go with her as well.
“I’ve been going over the Herman McConnell case and I’m thinking I’d like you and Lars to go visit the other affected person.” She paused and Amy could see her looking at some notes on the monitor. “Lincoln DeLaVitt is his name.”
Puzzled, Amy asked, “Um, sure, but how come?
Beth continued, “Early-onset disorientation is relatively rare. The odds of two coworkers getting it is a little off the charts, which is prompting further investigation. The Center for Disease Tracking is interested, but they’re letting us do the legwork for right now.”
Amy just looked back at her, waiting for the other paw to drop, giving her that ‘And?’ look.
Beth said, “We need to chase down every lead that we have.”
Amy continued to stare, a very slight frown appearing on her brow.
Beth looked up, catching her expression, and smiled. “You’re wondering why I’m talking to you, in particular, aren’t you?”
“Er, yes, I feel like I’m missing something obvious.”
“Well, you should ask your dog.”
“What?”
“Because you reported that he said that Herman smelled funny.”
“Yeeesss,” she said slowly.
“I want him to meet Lincoln, too.”