by Amy Briggs
In the shower, he thought about the case, and how things were starting to add up from his perspective from the very beginning. It all started with the first fire and the magnesium strips; an unusual way to accelerate a fire, but not a difficult item to find. They are sold at any home improvement or camping store, even automotive stores carry them; hell, you can buy them in hundred foot rolls dirt cheap. So, if you wanted to start a fire, and make sure it kept burning for an extended period of time, it’s a great way to do it.
The murder inside of that fire was strange from the beginning as well. Obviously we had figured out there were no real bullets used, but we hadn’t figured it out until much later in the investigation. It was pretty clear the fire was meant to cover up the murder; there weren’t really any questions there. The second fire and murder had the exact same M.O. it was practically identical in the way it all happened except they were able to put the fire out much earlier, and collect more evidence, including some magnesium strips that hadn’t yet burned. It had been placed in several areas that it was meant to burn, but hadn’t ignited. I just can’t figure out how it all ties together.
So then we found out that the bullets or projectiles were made of blood. I still can’t believe how creepy and bizarre that sounded. It feels like total science fiction to me, but that’s what the evidence said, and if I knew one thing, it was to trust the evidence. Whether it be for an arson investigation, or a murder investigation, evidence always tells the story.
Scott got dressed, continuing to recap the case to himself as he got ready. The blood in the swatch of carpet that had been found at the last scene contained an abnormal, inhuman amount of Iron. That had to make it magnetic to some degree he thought. There was no evidence of a regular gun being used, and with what he’d learned from Matt’s suggestion, Scott was confident that a railgun was a likely candidate for the murder weapon. He shook his head, finding much of the case unbelieveable, and in fact, diabolical.
Heading out to the precinct, Scott was eager to tell Clayton about the railgun and hoped this would bring them one step closer to closing this case before another crime happened.
20
Per Dani’s recommendation, Scott stopped to grab coffee for himself and Clayton before getting himself to the precinct to go over everything. Matt’s insight on the railgun was an exciting potential break in the case, and Scott hoped that Clayton would have some kind of knowledge that would bring it all together.
“Hey man, I brought coffee,” Scott announced himself at Clayton’s office doorway.
Used to the solitude of the mornings in his office, Clayton flinched. “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me. You must be a morning person,” he replied sarcastically.
“Hey, you’re up just as early as me,” Scott laughed, handing him a coffee. “It’s black. I didn’t know how you liked it, but I figured cops had plenty of cream and sugar on hand here.” He couldn’t resist the playful jab at cop’s love of coffee, and kind of wished he’d brought a donut too, just for fun.
“Oh, you’re a comedian in the mornings too?” Clayton chuckled, taking the coffee. “Thanks for the coffee. And in all fairness, you’re totally right, we have plenty of cream and sugar here.”
“I’m always hysterical, a fun fact you didn’t know about me,” Scott teased. He was in a particularly good mood after leaving Dani’s, and with the railgun bomb he was about to drop on Clayton, he was feeling good.
“Good to know,” Clayton rolled his eyes. “Follow me, we’ll talk while we walk. I need cream and sugar.” He waved Scott to join him, smirking at their exchange. He liked Scott, and knowing that a chill guy like that was spending time with his sister pleased him. “So, what brings you downtown at the literal crack of dawn today?”
“I talked to my buddy Matt, the gun guy. He had an interesting theory that I didn’t want to text, but I’m pretty sure could be a game changer for us.”
Just as Clayton was about to inquire what the big news was, Seth Lane walked up to get himself some coffee as well.
“Morning gentlemen,” Seth said. “I’m Detective Seth Lane,” he reached out to shake Scott’s hand.
“Morning detective, I’m Scott Walker. The county arson investigator,” Scott replied.
“Ahh, nice to meet you Scott. You’re working with Moore here on the murders?” He nodded in Clayton’s direction.
“Yes sir, sure am. Hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of it before we have another one,” Scott replied.
“So, tell me what you’ve got,” Clayton interjected. He wasn’t much for formalities, and would have preferred the quiet of his office to the coffee counter chat they were having.
“Oh, right. So, my buddy Matt. He thinks our weapon might be a railgun,” Scott replied.
“A what?” Clayton asked. “What the fuck is a railgun?”
“I might be able to help you here,” Seth jumped in, having used a railgun system himself before.
“Okay, wait. What’s a railgun first? And second, why does Matt think that’s our weapon?” Clayton asked.
“Well maybe Detective Lane can tell us more about what railguns are, but my buddy says that they work using magnets, and the Iron levels in the blood sample we found could be explained if they were being deployed from a gun that utilized magnets as opposed to a traditional ‘explosion’ like a regular firearm would,” Scott replied. With what little he knew about railguns and how they operated, he thought that was a solid explanation.
“Okay, that’s interesting. Lane? Thoughts?” Clayton turned to Seth.
“I don’t know a whole lot about how they’re constructed, but I have used one once before in the military, and Walker here is right. They propel their projectile or bullet, let’s say, using the force of magnets, which would keep a fragile bullet, for example, in tact as it’s propelled from the weapon to it’s target. I know of a guy who is an expert, you should go talk to him, and see if it’s your weapon for sure,” Seth replied.
“That would be great, what’s this guy’s name? How do you know him?” Clayton asked.
“Dean Reyes. He’s some kind of weapons development expert working in the private sector. He used to be in the marines, but he’s civilian now. I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard of him. Let me find his information for you, maybe he can be an expert witness at the very least.” Seth walked off to his office to look for Reyes’ contact information, leaving Clayton and Scott.
“Fantastic,” Clayton replied. Turning to Scott, he said, “this could be our big break kid. Nice work..”
“Happy I could help, hopefully this ends up being just what we’ve been waiting for,” Scott replied.
“I think it is. I’m going to stop by and see this guy today and I’ll let you know how it goes afterwards. What have you got going on today?”
“I’m not sure. I have a bit of paperwork to do for some other small cases, but then I’m free. So I’ll probably see what Dani is up to,” he grinned.
“Ahh, see what my sister is up to eh? You two are spending a lot of time together,” Clayton replied with a joking tone. It didn’t bother him at all, and while he wanted to play the big brother role, he also wanted to imply that he was cool with the budding relationship.
“Yea, we are. I really like her,” Scott confessed. He tried to express his sincerity in his tone.
“Well, here’s a little insider tip for you,” Scott’s eyebrows rose, eager for a tip to winning over Dani further. “She absolutely loves the aquarium.”
“The aquarium?” Scott asked, surprised. That’s awfully cute, he thought.
“Yep. The aquarium. When we were kids, she used to beg our parents to go every single weekend. No joke. Every. Weekend. It was kind of annoying, but it’s her thing. We all thought she’d become a marine biologist or something,” Clayton mused at the nostalgic thought.
“That’s awesome man, thanks. I think I’ll surprise her with a little day trip then,” Scott replied, smiling. “I haven’t been since I was a kid either, tha
t sounds fun.”
“My work here is done, you kids have fun. I’ll hit you up later after I talk to this ‘expert’ later today,” Clayton waved Scott off with a smirk.
“Thanks again,” Scott mock saluted as he made his way out of the precinct, already pulling up his phone to get aquarium tickets for that afternoon. He texted Dani as well, letting her know he had a surprise afternoon in store and she should be ready to be picked up by noon.
21
Scott left the precinct to hammer out a little work at his office so he could take the afternoon to spend with Dani. Meanwhile, Clayton collected the contact information for Dean Reyes from Seth and set out to talk to this guy at his place of employment. Even though Reyes wasn’t a suspect, Clayton preferred catching witnesses of all kinds at work, because they were eager to talk so that he would leave. Nobody ever wanted their co-workers to see them talking to the cops, and that was something that he always found amusing.
Reyes worked for a private firm across town, so it was about a twenty minute ride in traffic to get there. When Clayton pulled up, he noticed how little signage was present; these people definitely didn’t want to be bothered at work. Too bad for them he thought as he finally figured out where the entrance was.
The receptionist who greeted him rose her eyebrows in surprise as Clayton entered. “Can I help you?” She asked, leaning forward, showing him just a peek at her cleavage poking out of the top of her white button down shirt.
“I’m sure you can, I’m looking for a Dean Reyes?” Clayton leaned over the reception desk, taking another peek, and noticing how her skirt had risen up mid-thigh. She was too sexy to be stuck in this stuffy ass office.
“Can you tell me what this is in regards to? I’ll need you to sign in as well,” she pointed to the clipboard atop her desk that Clayton was leaning over.
Righting himself and taking out his badge, he said, “this is official police business miss. I’m Detective Clayton Moore.”
Stiffening her posture, she tilted her head to the side. “That’s fine, Detective, I still need you to sign in,” she replied curtly.
Annoyed, Clayton signed the sheet the receptionist pointed to. He didn’t like going to government facilities, there was always jurisdictional arguments over the dumbest shit. As if signing in was going to turn him away. “Are you going to call him to come out, or are you taking me back to him?” Clayton returned her tone. If that’s how it was going to be, he could be just as big of a dick as the next guy.
“I’ll take you back, just have a seat for a moment please while I let him know you’re here,” she pointed to the two waiting room chairs.
“Yes ma’am,” he smirked at her. She was a sassy little thing, he could tell. He thought about how he’d like to show her what she could do with that sass when she got off work, but he was there on official business, so he did what she asked.
He watched as she made a phone call he couldn’t hear, likely announcing to Reyes that he was there to talk. After she hung up, she stood up and motioned for him to follow her. “Come with me, I’ll take you to his office, he’ll be expecting you now.” She said without emotion.
As she opened the door to the main building using a badge, Clayton’s eyes were glued to her long legs attached to stilletto heels. Pretty sexy for the stale office setting he observed. Following her tight ass down the hallway, he tried to take in the surroundings, but kept coming back to her hips as they swayed with each step they took down the hallway. They came to another locked door that she opened with her badge at which point, she motioned for him to go ahead of her to his dismay. He was enjoying the view.
She stopped in front of the first office on the right, and poked her head in, “Mr. Reyes, Detective Moore is here to see you.”
“Thanks Candi,” a gruff voice replied.
She smiled and nodded to Clayton as she left him there. “Thanks Candi,” he said taking in one more glance of her round little ass as she walked away.
“Officer, please come in,” the gruff voice called out.
“Reyes. I’m Detective Clayton Moore. I’d like to ask you a few questions in regards to an investigation I’m working on,” he walked in and extended his hand to Reyes.
“An investigation?” Reyes returned the handshake with a perplexed look. “How can I be of assistance?”
“May I sit?” Clayton sat without waiting for a reply. “I understand you’re an expert in railgun systems. Is that true?”
“That is an accurate statement, yes,” Reyes replied. His lanky frame leaning back in his chair.
“I believe a railgun system may have been used to commit a crime I’m investigating, and I’d like to get some more information from you on how they work so I can rule it out if need be.”
“Okay, but why would you come all the way down here? These are things you can look up on the internet, Detective,” Reyes’ eyes narrowed as he watched Clayton carefully.
“I’d rather get my information from an actual expert,” Clayton attempted to flatter Reyes, noticing the reluctance to cut to the chase.
“Fair enough,” Reyes chuckled. “What would you like to know?”
Relaxing a bit, Clayton explained, “I would like you to explain how a railgun is constructed, how it operates, and if it is something a layperson could construct on their own without the expertise that you have.” He figured that was a sufficient start.
Taking in a breath to think about his response, Reyes leaned over his desk casually. “Well, let’s begin at the beginning. A railgun is basically an electromagnetic projectile launcher. The way it works, is with ‘conductors’ that are parallel to each other; these are the rails. The north and south magnet ends are facing the same direction, and a pulsating current power supply is used to generate the electromagnetism, which is what replaces the traditional chemical propellent, like gunpowder. So, the bottom line is that it doesn’t use explosives or chemical propellants of any kind, it instead uses electromagnetic force to impart kinetic energy that propels the projectile.”
“Okay, how about you explain that in laymen’s terms now,” Clayton replied with glassy eyes. That was far too technical of an explanation for him to even conceptualize what the fuck he was talking about.
“More or less, magnetic pull shoots the object down the rails. It has the same power and velocity of a traditional gun, but doesn’t require gunpowder or an explosion. Does that help?” Reyes summarized.
“Yes, it does. Why would anyone want to use this type of a weapon?”
“Well, from a government manufacturing perspective, the absence of explosive propellants lowers the cost of production. You don’t have to generate or produce specific rounds or anything, and you don’t have to deal with gunpowder and the chemical reactions required to shoot a traditional gun. A soldier on the battlefield could carry more ammunition, because it’s lighter, and less costly,” he concluded. “What I do here, is design railgun systems, which can be done in a variety of ways using a variety of conductive metals to see what we can recommend as the next best weapon for our soldiers.”
“That’s pretty interesting; I’d never heard of such a thing. So can anyone make these?” Clayton asked.
“Technically, yes. The internet does have a lot of useful tips of the trade even though railguns aren’t mainstream. The materials used to manufacture them are easy to get, and cheap, so anyone with a propensity for science could very well make their own,” Reyes replied.
“Are these handheld, or more long distance weapons?”
“It could be either, however they’re much more effective for short range. The maximum effective range is determined by the length of the rails and the weight of the projectile. What we’ve determined here thus far, is that mid to short range has greater target accuracy like most weapons. To answer your question about handheld or more of a rifle type length, which I think is what you’re asking, handheld is more effective on the battleground, which is what my specialty is. I wouldn’t know it’s effectiveness in oth
er scenarios,” Reyes explained.
“This has been extremely helpful,” Clayton stood up. “I don’t want to take up any more of your time, but I’d like to reach out directly later if more questions arise?” Clayton handed over his business card, prompting Reyes to hand one of his over in return.
Standing up as well, Reyes replied, “Of course. Anything I can do to help in your investigation.” Pausing, he asked, “Do you think that railguns were used to commit a crime of some kind?”
“I do, but I’m not at liberty to discuss the specifics,” Clayton replied.
“Understood, Detective,” Reyes extended his hand. “If I can be of any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.”
Shaking his hand, Clayton backed out toward the door. “I’ll see myself out. Thanks again.”
Mulling over everything he had learned, Clayton walked down the long hallway toward the exit. While he was confident they’d definitely determined their murder weapon, they weren’t any closer to finding a suspect, which was troubling. As he found his way to the lobby, he gave Candi the once over one last time and headed back to the precinct to do some thinking.
22
While Clayton was off interviewing the expert, Scott was preparing for the surprise date at the aquarium. After a few hours of work, Scott headed back over to Dani’s house to pick her up for the surprise; he didn’t tell her what they were doing, just that he had an afternoon planned for them. He loved how easy going she was, she simply said that it sounded great, and she was happy to hear from him.