by Don Viecelli
“Hello, Ted. It’s Jack. Did you find anything from the lab explosion?”
“We’re still working on it, Jack. But I did get the analysis back on the air and chemical samples we took. We found traces of various enzymes and amino acids from the chemical samples.”
“What are they used for?” Jack asked, trying to remember their use from old chemistry classes in high school.
“They drive the growth process in cells. Enzymes are made from amino acids. The body breaks down protein from food into amino acid molecules so they can enter the bloodstream. Cells use the amino acids to build enzymes. Enzymes produce chemical reactions that allow the cells to grow and divide.”
“What about the other chemicals?” Jack asked.
“They were mostly liquid protein mixtures. We sent samples out to another lab for further analysis to make sure we didn’t miss anything.”
“Did you identify the type of explosive device used?”
“Yes, we did. We analyzed the gases and residue samples from the explosion and found traces of nitroglycerin, nitrates and calcium carbonate. It’s a highly explosive powder; very powerful in small doses. It’s only used by the military as far as I know. It’s very expensive and illegal to possess.”
“How about the security guard’s place? Any prints?”
“Sorry, Jack, no prints. We’re still looking for DNA evidence, but we haven’t found anything yet. Maybe Doctor Zheng will find something in her autopsy.”
“Okay, Ted. I’ve got another job for you. We need someone to dust the doctor’s home. Someone broke in and searched the place before we got here. It may have been the same person who killed the doctor.”
“I’ll send someone over right away. Give me the address and I’ll take care of it.”
Jack told him the address. “Thanks, Ted. We’ll wait here until he arrives. Talk to you later.” Jack ended the call and put his smartcom away.
“They find anything?” Tom asked.
“The killer may have been an ex-military man who was familiar with explosives. That might help narrow down the number of suspects once we get the profile list from Sam.” Jack thought it was a long shot, but it was better than nothing.
Thirty minutes later, after the CIT member arrived, Jack and Tom left the building. They caught the next train to the far side of the city where Ingrid lived. They rode the train for 10 minutes and got off at the last stop. It was a short walk to the condo.
Jack walked up to the police officer standing on watch in front of the building. He knew the officer. Jack shook his hand and introduced Tom. They exchanged pleasantries.
“Anyone at home, Bob?” Jack asked the police officer.
“Not as far as I know. I haven’t seen or heard anybody inside since I’ve been here.”
“All right then. Let’s take a look inside. We have a search warrant.” The officer moved away from the door. Jack and Tom put on their gloves and told the officer not to touch anything once inside. Jack knocked first and pushed the doorbell. No one answered. Jack took out his key card and inserted it into the keypad. The lock clicked and the door slid open. They all stepped inside. The lights turned on automatically and the door slid shut. Jack called out “Police!” to announce their presence. No answer.
Jack took a quick look around on the first floor. Tom followed. The police officer stayed by the door and waited. There were no dishes of food out in the kitchen or in the dining room. The place looked clean and well kept. It did not look like the woman had been home for a while. Jack continued his search on the first floor. The furniture and décor were more contemporary and elegant. The place looked lived in and comfortable. It reminded him of his old home on Earth when his wife was alive. The memory was sudden, almost painful. He dismissed it and brought his mind back to the present.
Tom went upstairs to check out the bedrooms. There were two of them. No one was in the master bedroom or in the second bedroom. Nothing looked out of place. Everything was tidy and neat. Tom searched the rooms, came back downstairs and entered the living room.
Jack was sitting at a desk in the study. He had found a work area with a computer system. Jack looked around. The woman was very organized. Everything was in its place, no papers or files scattered about. There were pictures everywhere, on the desk and on the walls. There were several family photos. She must like to take photographs, Jack thought. He looked at the computer. The memcard compartment was closed. They were in luck. Maybe now they would find something.
“Computer on,” Jack said hoping for the best. The screen blinked on. “Access files.” He tried to open the memcard. Then his hope died when the computer said, “Security Code Please”.
“You need any help?” Tom asked when he heard the computer voice.
“The memcard is security coded,” Jack stared at the monitor screen.
“We’re going to have to take the memcard back to the office to break the code.” Tom said as he approached the desk.
“How long will that take?” Jack searched through all the drawers for something useful.
“An hour or two depending on the encryption program used. We could work on it here, but it would be quicker at the office,” Tom replied, knowing from experience how complicated some of the new encryption programs were.
“You’re probably right. Did you find anything upstairs?”
“Nothing. It doesn’t look like the woman has been here recently. Do you think she heard about her father?”
“Maybe,” Jack answered, getting up from the desk. “She could’ve heard something on the news. It might have scared her.”
“Do you think she ran?”
“She may be hiding,” Jack stated seriously. He hoped they could find her before somebody else did.
“Do you want me to take the memcard to the office?”
“Yeah. Take the other cards in the drawer, too. We need to look at all of them.”
Jack walked back into the kitchen. He saw the deskcom on the counter. The message light was blinking. Jack hit the play button. There was one message. It was from Jack a couple of hours ago asking Ingrid to call him right away about her father. There were no other messages. Jack knew the daughter had called her father just before he died. The doctor never returned the call. Jack wondered what she wanted to tell her father when she left her message. It sounded important at the time.
Tom entered the kitchen. “You ready to leave? I’ve got everything I could find.”
“Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go back to headquarters and see if we can track this woman down.” Just then, Jack’s smartcom buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered, “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Detective Helms?” It was a woman’s voice.
“Yes, it is. Who is this?” Jack asked.
“My name is Doctor Ingrid Johanson. You left me a message to call you.”
“Yes, I did, Doctor Johanson. Thank you for returning my call. I know it’s late, but it’s very important that we talk. It’s about your father,” Jack said, listening very closely to her voice.
“I heard about the explosion on the news. I know my father was killed,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
“I’m sorry you had to find out from the news media, Doctor Johanson. We don’t think it was an accident,” Jack said carefully. “We need to talk to you about the circumstances. Where are you?”
“I’m at the Mars Space Depot in the coffee shop. I needed some time to think about what happened. Where do you want to meet?”
“I’ll meet you there, Doctor Johanson. Don’t leave the coffee shop until I arrive. I’ll be there shortly.”
“All right, I’ll be waiting for you.” Ingrid hung up.
Jack looked at Tom. “That was the woman. She’s at the space depot in the coffee shop. I told her to wait for us. Let’s go.”
“Did she know about her father?” Tom asked as they started to leave the building.
“Yeah. She heard it on the news. She sounded scared. We better hurry.” The police off
icer was still standing in the hallway by the front door looking bored. Jack told him to stay in the building until he was relieved. Then they exited the condo.
Jack and Tom hurriedly walked back to the train station. They did not notice a third man following in the darkness behind them. They boarded the next train traveling to the space depot in the center of the city. Wolfgang got on the same train two cars down and made sure he was not noticed.
Chapter 7
Doctor Ingrid Johanson put the smartcom in her purse at the coffee shop. She looked worried. Ingrid took another sip of coffee and thought about what happened. She had been busy at home working on a research paper around 11:00 p.m. last evening, getting it ready for publication, when she heard on the news that a doctor had died in a lab explosion on Ares. She immediately knew from the location of the lab that it was her father. He had decided to work late again. Frantically, she tried calling her father on his smartcom, but there was no answer. She wondered how this could have happened. No one else had access to the lab. It was a secured facility. She was shocked, then saddened. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to call the police for more information, but she couldn’t, at least not yet.
Ingrid searched the news channels for more information. Finally, a few hours later, there was another news report about the break-in. A police detective gave a brief statement saying someone had broken into the lab before the explosion. He identified her father as the person who had died. The police were treating the case as a homicide and were conducting an investigation. Ingrid wondered who would want to kill her father. Then she knew.
Her father had been acting strange lately. Two days ago, he had given her a memcard filled with information from the lab, and a copy of the partnership agreement with Ivan Hellstrom. The memcard also contained the latest change in the formula for the anti-aging drug they were producing in the lab. They were looking for ways to increase the production process and he was testing a solution. Her father was excited about the latest results and was running a new batch of the drug. She had called him just a few hours ago and left a message. He did not return her call. She knew she would never hear from him again. Tears filled her eyes. She tried to remain calm and think.
They were in the final testing phase of the drug and everything looked promising. They even had gone one step further in the last two months. Both she and her father had taken the drug and had recorded the results. Ingrid was preparing their findings to be published in an exclusive medical magazine called the ‘Scientific Discovery Journal’. They were close to announcing the greatest discovery since the dawn of medical science.
Instead of being happy, Ingrid’s father had seemed moody and distant these past few days. She had asked him more than once if anything was wrong. He had answered, “No”; he was just absorbed in finishing the work. Ingrid knew her father was hiding something, that he would tell her what was wrong eventually. They never kept secrets from each another for very long. She had worked by his side for over thirty years, ever since her mother had died. She loved her father and wanted him to be happy.
Now this! She knew it had to involve Ivan Hellstrom. Her father had met with Ivan recently and they had argued; something to do with the drugs Ivan had received for the trials. Ivan had demanded a change in the agreement, more conditions than was originally agreed to. Her father had denied his request; said it was impossible. Their agreement was just to complete the trials. Then they would renegotiate the terms. Ingrid wondered if there was more to it. Her father seemed to be very upset with Ivan for some reason, and more worried than usual. Then her father gave her the items to safeguard. He wanted her to put them in a lockbox. He told her, “Take these items and leave Mars immediately if anything happens to me.” He wouldn’t elaborate. Ingrid took the items to a secure lockbox facility in the Mars Space Depot center and locked them away. Only she had access. She wanted to tell her father they were safe when she had called him earlier.
Ingrid was distressed. She remembered what her father had told her to do and thought again about calling the police, but she was worried. She knew that Ivan had close ties with the police and other government officials. If this wasn’t an accident—if someone was after the discovery—then she too was in danger.
Ingrid decided to pack a few things in a travel bag and leave the house. She needed time to think. She took the train downtown and walked around for hours trying to decide what to do. Ingrid knew the discovery would be momentous. Maybe she should leave Mars for a while like her father suggested? She would go to the Space Depot Center and retrieve the items her father had given her to safeguard.
Ingrid checked her messages on the train. There was a message from a Detective Jack Helms. She recognized the name from the news media clip. He said it was urgent and wanted to meet with her. Would she please call him back? Ingrid thought for a moment and decided to talk to him. It was the right thing to do. She wanted to find the person who killed her father.
She would make the call at the space depot. If things didn’t feel safe, she would get the items out of the lockbox and leave on the next space flight for Earth. She made the call just as the sun came up. Now she was waiting for Detective Helms to arrive.
*****
The underground train sped swiftly along its track to the space depot. It made two stops along the way. The morning commuters were crowding their way onto the train. It looked like the start of another normal workday on Mars. Jack and Tom got off at the next stop. They walked to the escalators that led to the main lobby. A translucent dome made of nearly unbreakable glass produced from silica minerals found and manufactured right on Mars covered the space depot. It was getting lighter outside. The early morning sun broke out behind the mountains in the distance. Jack could see clouds of rose-colored dust and ice crystals swirling in the distance from the wind. It looked like a storm was coming.
“There’s the coffee shop,” Tom pointed out to Jack with a slight movement of his head. People were entering and leaving the shop in a steady stream. The aroma from exotic coffees imported from Earth filled the air.
“I see it. Let’s go.” They walked towards the coffee shop.
“Do you know what she looks like?” Tom asked as they stepped inside the shop.
“She may look a lot younger than this picture I found on-line.” Jack was looking at the picture in his hand that showed an older woman in her late fifties, wearing nice clothes and still looking very attractive for her age. He folded the picture and put it back in his overcoat.
Jack looked around the room. Sitting alone in a corner booth was a well-dressed woman in a dark blazer, white satin blouse, gray slacks and black shoes. She was wearing a wide brimmed hat that hid her eyes, but still showed short blond hair that just covered her ears. She was sipping her coffee when she glanced up and noticed Jack staring at her. She set her coffee down and studied him. Jack recognized her from the video message he found on the doctor’s smartcom. Her face looked even more beautiful in person. Jack walked over to her. Tom followed. Jack noticed the suitcase in the corner.
“Are you Doctor Ingrid Johanson?” Jack noticed her blue eyes and red lipstick. She looked very composed.
“Yes I am. And you must be Detective Helms. I recognize your face from the news.” She smiled just enough to be friendly.
“Yes, I’m Chief Detective Jack Helms.” Jack offered his hand and she shook it. He pulled out his ID badge and showed it to her. “This is my partner, Detective Tom Wilkerson. May we sit down?”
“Please do. Would you like something to drink? The coffee is very good here.” Ingrid motioned to the waiter.
“We could use some. Tom and I have been up all night.” The waiter came over and poured two fresh cups of coffee. Jack added some cream and stirred his coffee while he waited for the waiter to leave.
“I suppose you know why we want to talk to you,” Jack said, politely looking at her. He wasn’t sure how much she knew.
“I know my father was killed in an explosion last night.
I saw your statement on the news. I’m sorry I didn’t return your call sooner. I didn’t check my messages until just before I called you. I would like to know what happened to my father.”
“We’re investigating the incident. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to talk to you. I’m sorry you had to learn about your father on the news. I tried to reach you as soon as I could. Tom and I were searching your home when you called me. We need to ask you some questions, but not here. We should go to police headquarters next door.”
“Do I need a lawyer, Detective Helms?” Ingrid asked, looking Jack in the eyes.
“Please, call me Jack. May I call you, Ingrid?”
“Yes, you may.”
“Thank you, Ingrid. You can call a lawyer at any time. We’re not charging you with anything.”
“I’ll answer your questions, Jack, but I would like to know how my father died first,” Ingrid said, dreading the answer.
“Someone broke into the lab, killed your father and blew up the lab. We don’t know why or who yet, but we’ll find the person responsible,” Jack answered quietly.
Ingrid looked at Jack. She tried to absorb the truth without showing any emotion, but she couldn’t. She fought hard to control her tears. She pulled a tissue out of her bag and wiped her eyes.
“If you don’t mind, Ingrid, I would like to ask you a personal question. You look much younger in person than the pictures we have in our files. How is that possible?”
Ingrid smiled softly. “That’s something you may find hard to believe, even after I tell you.”
“You may be right. I think we better go. Are you finished with your coffee?”
Ingrid nodded yes. Jack paid for the coffee and they all got up to leave. Jack escorted Ingrid out the door with Tom following close behind pulling Ingrid’s suitcase.
Mars Crime Division was at the other end of the space depot center lobby, outside of the dome through a walkway. It only took a few minutes to walk the short distance to the police headquarter building. They did not notice the man in dark clothes watching them enter the elevator.