The Formula

by Don Viecelli

  “How come you never told me that?”

  “It was before you got here. I was just doing my job. Everybody over-reacted. It was just a shoulder wound. I’ve had closer calls back home.”

  Sam laughed. “It might have been a routine case, except the woman was the daughter of the Mayor of Marineris City. Jack doesn’t like to talk about it or take credit. I think he’s crazy. I would have milked it for all it’s worth. Come on. I’ve got another case for you to solve.”

  Sam led them out of the docking station onto the moving walkway. They soon got off and took the first elevator to the seventh floor. As they rode the elevator, Sam explained what they had found out so far.

  “We cleaned out the smoke and fumes an hour ago. One of my guards went inside to see what happened. They spotted a male body in the room. It was badly burned in the explosion. We bagged the body and saved it for you to check out. I called Captain Black as soon as we found the body. We don’t know what’s missing yet.”

  “Have you identified the body, Sam?” Jack asked.

  “It’s a research doctor named Leif Johanson. We found his ID card, wallet and smartcom on his body. We have an ID door scan and camera recording of his entry around 10 p.m.”

  “Do you know what caused the explosion?”

  “We’re not sure. Something unusual happened before the explosion. The hallway camera recorded a security guard entering the unit a few minutes before 10 p.m. Then the inside cameras went blank for about fifteen minutes.”

  “Who was the security guard?” Tom asked.

  “The entry records say it was a man named George Riley. He’s a new guard hired last week. But we don’t think it was him. We found his body in his apartment a few minutes ago. He’s dead. We think he was killed before the break-in. He was shot with a laser gun at close range. His ID card and uniform are missing. I checked with security and one of the guards said he talked to the new guy on his way to work. Swears he looked just like the dead guard. Security video confirms it. The intruder impersonated the dead guard to get by security. He was in the lab when the doctor entered, and we know by the hallway camera that he was the only one who left. The explosion occurred about five minutes after the intruder left the room.”

  “Interesting. Seems like we have a double homicide. We’ll check it out after we’re done here. I’ll inform Captain Black,” Jack said. “Do you have a description of the intruder?”

  “We have a physical profile from the video cameras. The intruder is a big guy, around six feet tall, white male with blond hair. Very similar in appearance to the dead guard, only more muscular.”

  They exited the elevator and approached the business unit where the explosion occurred. The doorway was taped off. Several security guards, two firemen and one police officer were guarding the entrance. Several reporters and media representatives were standing in front of the yellow tape. Jack recognized some of them from past crime scene investigations. When they saw Jack approach, they crowded around him and demanded more information on what happened. He promised to give a statement after he had a chance to view the crime scene. Jack noted the Unit 767 number above the door. He took a picture with his smartcom. The guards moved aside when Sam approached. “Anything new?” Sam asked one of the guards.

  “No, we’ve been waiting for you to return. One of the police officers is inside with the body,” the man said.

  Sam slid his ID card into the scanner and the door opened. They stepped inside. Jack took a quick look around. The room was a total disaster. Someone had hooked up some portable lights to see.

  The floor, walls and ceiling were all covered in a chalky white powdery substance. The fire suppression sprinkler system had turned on and extinguished the fire very rapidly. Jack could smell various chemicals, melted plastic and glass and another odor that Jack knew was from burnt flesh. The furniture and computer equipment were badly scorched, but amazingly intact. Most of the lab materials were charred, melted down or blown to pieces in the explosion.

  “We photographed and collected everything we could for examination,” Sam commented. “Any liquids or chemicals that did not vaporize in the fire were also collected for analysis.”

  “Everything should be sent to the crime lab on Mars for analysis,” Jack responded. The air was filtered, cleaned, checked for contaminates and recycled, but Jack could still smell the smoke from the fire.

  A black body bag was strapped to a gurney floating next to the door as they entered the room. A police officer was standing next to it. Jack walked over, introduced himself and showed his badge.

  “I would like to see the body.”

  “Sure.” The man unzipped the bag.

  The doctor’s face was burned beyond recognition. The skin on his face and hands were burnt to a crisp. The hair on his head was incinerated. The skull, facial bones, jaw and teeth were all visible. His clothing had melted and his whole body was covered in a white powdery film from the fire suppression system.

  “Whoever did this knew what he was doing,” Jack said, looking at all the damage. “He used enough explosive to destroy the evidence, but not enough to knock out the walls or damage the space station. He was trying to cover something up. Do you know if anything is missing?”

  “We think the intruder took whatever was in the safe.” Sam pointed to the safe between the lab bench and the desks.

  Jack looked at the safe. The door was open. He walked over and looked inside. There was a pharmaceutical tray sitting on the top self. The tray was used to hold plastic drug vials, but now it was empty. Jack noticed the hole where the door lock used to be.

  “What do you think was taken?” Tom asked, looking over Jack’s shoulder.

  Jack didn’t answer directly as he walked away from the body. “Do you know what the doctor was working on?”

  “That may be difficult to find out. He was an independent medical researcher. Everything is company confidential up here. We think he was working on drugs for the SpaceMed pharmaceutical company on Mars—nothing illegal as far as we know.”

  “My guess is the doctor surprised the intruder,” Jack speculated as he looked around the room. “We need to know who else was working with the doctor, Sam.”

  “I can check the records in my office.”

  Jack thought about what needed to be done next. “Tom, call the Crime Investigation Team and tell them we need their help on this one. I want this room thoroughly inspected for evidence. We need to find out what the doctor was working on, and what type of explosive device was used.”

  “What about the body?” Tom asked.

  “Send it to the forensic lab. Let’s confirm how he died.”

  Jack walked back to the desks where the computers were sitting. He looked closely at the two machines. They seemed to be fairly recent models with the latest technology for large-scale computing. He noticed that the memory cards that stored the computer’s main data files were missing.

  “It looks like someone took the memcards from these two machines. It probably contained the doctor’s lab records. Did you find any memcards on the doctor’s body?”

  “No, we didn’t.”

  “You said you found a smartcom on the doctor. Can I see it?”

  Sam handed the doctor’s personal effects to Jack. The smartcom was in a plastic bag. Jack opened it. The cover was partially melted in the explosion, but it protected the device from being totally destroyed. Jack opened the cover and turned it on. It still worked. The color display came alive. He found the message icon and pressed it. Jack searched for the last calls made to or from the device. He found one message received a short time before the explosion. He selected it and listened to the recorded message. It was a call from someone named Ingrid. The video picture flickered slightly, but the image of the woman’s face in the display was unmistakable. She was stunningly beautiful. She had short blond hair cut just over the ears, deep blue eyes, a small nose, thin lips and a sensual smile. She looked young, maybe in her mid-thirties. Jack wondered if i
t was the doctor’s wife. She had left the doctor a short message to call her back. She sounded concerned. The doctor did not return the message. He never would.

  Jack turned off the smartcom. He would check to see what else was on the device later. He also wanted to find out who the woman was and what she knew about the doctor’s work. Her address was probably in the contact list. He put the device back in the evidence bag and put it in his pocket.

  Jack continued to look around the room. It was obviously a working lab. The doctor was working with various chemicals to produce something. Jack wondered if it could have been illegal drugs. Maybe the doctor was mixed up in some drug deal that had gone bad. The chemical analysis at the crime lab should help determine what was being manufactured here. Finding the doctor’s work associates should also help answer that question. There was not much more he could do here.

  “Sam, let’s go back to your office and look at your records. I would also like to see the video recordings of who entered this room. We’ll need a copy.”

  “No problem. What should we do about this lab?”

  Jack turned to Tom. “Stay here and wait for the Crime Investigation Team. Make sure they examine this place from top to bottom. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find some physical evidence from the intruder. Call forensic and tell them I want the doctor’s autopsy report by morning. And see if they can determine what the doctor was making in here. I’ll return to pick you up after Sam and I look at the surveillance video.”

  Jack and Sam walked out of the room. The news media was waiting. Several reporters crowded close to Jack and started shouting questions all at once. “What happened inside the lab? Who was killed in the explosion? Are there any suspects?”

  As promised, Jack made a brief statement about what happened in the lab. “I can only comment that someone broke into the lab and a Doctor named Leif Johanson was killed in an explosion. The Mars Crime Division is investigating the circumstances. We are trying to identify the suspect now and would appreciate any information the news media or the public might have on this incident. More information will be made available after our initial investigation is completed. Thank you for your time.”

  Jack and Sam pushed their way through the reporters and got back on the moving walkway. They got off at the first elevator and took it down to Level 5 where the central security control room was located. Inside were several video-monitoring stations. Two stations were occupied by guards monitoring the security cameras. Sam led Jack into his office.

  “It’ll just take me a minute to find the records on Unit 767. You can see what was recorded on the security cameras if you sit here. Just tell the computer the floor level you need, the approximate time period and the unit number; the monitor screen will show you what was recorded. When you’re done, request a copy of the recording. While you’re doing that, I’ll see what I can find on the doctor.”

  Jack asked for the data and waited a few seconds for the video recording to begin playing on the monitor screen. He watched as a man dressed in a security guard uniform came into view at the security checkpoint. His face was visible on camera for only a few seconds as he talked to the security guard. The face matched exactly with the dead security guard’s ID card. Then the man got on the moving walkway. He carried a small duffel bag. Jack zoomed in and tried to get a closer look, but the man kept his face hidden from view, obviously on purpose. The man got off the walkway and approached the door. He did something with his hands. Jack saw that he put on synthetic gloves to prevent fingerprints and then used the ID card to open the door to the lab. The man was a pro. He entered the room and walked over to the first desk. He took something out of his bag and turned it on. Then the cameras in the lab went blank. This guy used a jamming device to kill the video cameras in the room, Jack thought.

  A few minutes later, another man dressed in a white lab coat approached the lab and opened the door. It was Doctor Johanson. Jack could see his face. He was looking at his smartcom when the door opened and he stepped inside. The door closed. The picture outside the door remained the same for about five minutes. Then the door opened again and the guard quickly stepped outside. He was carrying the duffel bag over his shoulder. He kept his face hidden from the hallway cameras. The guard stepped back on the moving walkway and disappeared around the corner. Jack entered some more data and the cameras followed the man to an elevator. Jack was able to track the man back to a shuttle-car station where he boarded the next shuttle-car to the central hub. The cameras followed the man until he got off the shuttle-car and disappeared into the crowd. Jack made a copy of the recording on a memcard and put it in his pocket. He turned to Sam.

  “Find anything yet on the doctor?”

  “Yeah, I’m making you a copy. We don’t have much information. Doctor Johanson leased the unit over a year ago. He had one assistant, a daughter named Ingrid. They were both independent researchers with Ph.D.’s. They were working on experimental drugs for SpaceMed. Everything looks to be in order. No problems or anything out of the ordinary. The doctor normally checks in by eight a.m. and leaves around six p.m. weekdays and some weekends. He has been working longer hours for the past week and a-half, but never this late before.”

  So the woman was not his wife, Jack thought. It was his daughter!

  “Do you have their addresses?”

  “Yes, it’s on the memcard. They have separate places down in Marineris City.”

  “Good. I think I better give the daughter a call before she hears about this on the media.”

  “Did you find anything useful on the security cameras?” Sam asked.

  “It shows the suspect leaving the lab and catching a shuttle-car to the central station. Then he disappeared in the crowd. Did the local police put out an all-points bulletin for him yet?”

  “Yes, they’re looking for him now. You can check with the station and see what they know.”

  “All right. I’m going back to pick up Tom. We’ll head over to the guard’s place and check it out. Then we have to head back down to headquarters. See if you can find out where this guy went on the security cameras. Call me if you find something.”

  Jack walked out of Sam’s office and headed back to the crime scene. He pulled out his smartcom and called Captain Black. Since it was almost 1:00 a.m., the captain was probably at home. Captain Black answered after two rings.

  “Hello, Captain. Sorry for the late call, but you wanted to know what happened up here.”

  “That’s okay, Jack. Did you verify who was killed in the explosion?”

  “Yeah, we’re pretty sure it was a doctor named Leif Johanson. We have his ID card and wallet. The body was badly burned. We’re sending the body down to the forensic lab. We need to do a DNA test for a positive identification and determine cause of death. We don’t know if he died in the explosion or if he was killed first.”

  “Do you know who did it?”

  “No, we’re looking for the suspect now. There’s an all-points bulletin out for his arrest. We know how the suspect gained access to the lab. It had to be an inside job. He knew all the security procedures. He probably killed the real security guard and used his ID card and uniform to gain entry. He looked just like the dead guard. He must’ve used polymorphic face technology to get by security. That takes a lot of money and planning. Tom and I will be going over to the dead guard’s place in a few minutes to check it out.”

  “Okay. Brief me in the morning at the office. Good night, Jack.”

  “Will do. Good night, Captain.” Jack put the smartcom in his pocket and proceeded to the lab to pick up Tom.

  Captain Black stared at the smartcom. He was very upset. He shook his head and muttered out loud, “Damn it! Nothing like this was supposed to happen. Two people dead? How are we going to cover this up?”

  Captain Black considered his options. Realistically, there was no turning back. The drug was worth a lot of money and he planned to keep his end of the bargain. He had no choice now but to play along. He made another ca
ll. It was time for a meeting—face to face!

  Chapter 4

  Jack and Tom spent another hour on Ares investigating the crime scene at the dead security guard’s apartment. Two members of the Crime Investigation Team had arrived and together they pieced together the details of the murder. George Riley was killed approximately one hour before the break-in at the lab. There was no evidence of a forced entry or a struggle. The guard must have opened the door and let the suspect in. Then he was shot once in the chest with a laser gun. His body was lying in the middle of the room. One of his uniforms and his ID card were missing. Jack discovered that the security camera system in his building had also been disabled. “The killer doesn’t like cameras,” Jack observed. No one in the building saw or heard anything unusual.

  “I don’t get it. Why not just tie the guy up and take what was needed?” Tom questioned as Jack took pictures of the room.

  “Somebody didn’t want him to talk.” Jack knew it wasn’t a good sign when two people were murdered within hours of each other on the same case. It usually meant there would be more murders before the case was solved.

  “Do you think this guy was in on it?”

  “Maybe. The intruder needed an ID card to get past security and open the lab door, and this guy had one. The guard could have identified him, so I’m guessing the intruder had to eliminate him.”

  “Then the guy we’re looking for is one cold-blooded killer.”

  “I agree. We better find him soon. Let’s go. I have what I need.” Jack put his smartcom in his pocket and walked to the door. The CIT members were still shifting through the evidence at both crime scenes on Ares. Jack would let them do their work and check the reports later. It was time to get back down to Mars.

  They caught the 2:00 a.m. shuttle flight to Mars. Jack was tired, but he still had things on his mind that kept him alert. For one thing, he needed a motive for the murder.

  “What did you and Sam find out about the intruder?” Tom asked as they waited for the shuttle to land at the Mars Space Depot.