back to Jack. “Could we do this at my kitchen table?”
“That would work better,” said Jack. “Give us a couple of minutes to talk with one of the investigators and we’ll be right in.”
“I can’t believe this happened,” said Gabriel tearfully as they walked toward the house. “They seemed like such nice men.”
“They told you they were janitors?” questioned Jack.
“Well, sort of,” she replied, while heading up the steps. “They were more to do with supplying the right chemicals to other janitorial services who did the actual cleaning.”
“I’ll talk to you later. I need to talk to the lead investigator immediately,” replied Jack abruptly as he turned and headed toward the rear of the house. Laura excused herself to Gabriel and hurried to keep up with him.
“Don’t like the sound of that,” muttered Jack.
“The chemical bit?” asked Laura. “You’re thinking — not in a daycare! They wouldn’t!”
Jack pointed to a row of rhododendron bushes planted alongside the house. They looked healthy, except for two plants in the center with leaves that were blackened and curled as if burned. “Look at that,” said Jack. “They would and they did.”
“I don’t believe it,” said Laura. “Maybe —”
“Connie!” screamed Jack, breaking into a run. “Anybody in the basement, don’t move!” He rounded the corner to the backyard within seconds.
“Hi, Jack,” said Connie, peering out from the basement door. “What the hell are you yelling about?”
“You don’t smell anything in there?” asked Jack, looking down at her from the top of the basement stairs.
“Careful you don’t step on anything,” cautioned Connie. She looked puzzled and said, “Smell anything? Well, yeah. The whole place stinks of bleach or something. The assholes used it to obliterate their tracks. Noticed it when I first came in, but most of the smell is gone now.”
“Like hell the smell is gone,” replied Jack. “The fumes erase your sense of smell. Not to mention, killing plants.”
“I don’t understand. Why were you yelling at me not to move?”
“Connie, you’re standing in a bloody meth lab,” replied Jack. “I’m sure of it. If not meth, then something else as bad. A lot of these places are booby-trapped.”
“Booby-traps? … Christ, I don’t think so. I’ve already been through it. The place has been cleaned out. But it is bloody, I’ll say that much. You can come in and see … but be careful.”
“If I’m careful,” replied Jack. He turned to Laura and said, “Wait out here.”
“You don’t have to convince me,” she replied.
The smell of chemicals assaulted Jack’s nostrils as soon as he entered. Within seconds he couldn’t smell anything as his sensory organs became temporarily incapacitated. He looked at the diluted trail of blood leading to the prone figure on the floor. The victim’s face had been literally pulverized. His silk bathrobe was halfway up his chest from being dragged inside by the ankles. A gold crucifix on a chain from his neck was resting on the floor above his head, with the chain held in place by his chin and ears.
“Wearing a bathrobe?” questioned Jack.
“They had trouble with winos sleeping under the trees in their backyard at night. Maybe he heard something and went out thinking he was rousting a wino and caught these guys instead.”
“I’d say they caught him,” replied Jack. “Nothing left of his face. Whoever did him must have a hell of a temper.”
“The perp had to be doused in blood,” commented Connie. “I’m not the blood-splatter expert, but if you noticed the splashes up the back of the house, I bet he was whacked at least half a dozen times.” She gestured to a cement construction brick lying in a puddle of bleach nearby and added, “It was nice of them to leave the murder weapon behind.”
“Wasn’t so nice that they poured bleach over it afterward,” noted Jack. “Anything in here to give us a clue who they were?”
“Not that I could see, but take a look and be my guest,” replied Connie.
“A quick look,” replied Jack. “We shouldn’t be poking around in here without wearing hazmat suits. Let’s make this quick and get out.”
Jack saw a clean, square patch on the outside of a door leading to a separate room. Connie saw what he was looking at and said, “I told you they cleaned it out. Looks like they must have had a list or a picture or something on the door.”
Inside the room were several wooden benches and shelves, all with chemical stains and circular burn marks where bottles had dripped. Jack saw where acidic fumes had blackened some of the walls and ceiling. High on one wall a small exhaust fan had been left with its frame screwed into the wall. The fan was blackened with a dark film of dirt and covered a fist-sized circular hole leading to the outside. Toxic fumes had burned the rhododendrons outside.
“I was right,” said Jack. “This was their kitchen.”
“Kitchen?” replied Connie.
“Not for making pasta,” replied Jack, slowly gazing around the room. A small eyehole screw mounted in the corner of the room close to the ceiling caught his attention. His gaze followed the same height to a similar screw stuck in the wall above the door jamb. “You see that?” asked Jack.
“Couple of screws?” asked Connie.
Jack examined the top of the door and pointed to several small holes in the wood. “They had a switch mounted here,” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Trip wire,” replied Jack. This place was booby-trapped. Pretty common with labs. Nasty surprise for anyone wanting to rip the place off.”
“What about cops?” replied Connie angrily. “I’d have walked right into it.”
“Don’t think they care about cops, either … or nosy neighbours, for that matter. Some of these idiots don’t realize they would get more time in jail for setting a booby trap than they do for the lab itself. Lucky for you they decided to take their stuff with them. Let’s get out of here. The fumes are really carcinogenic.”
“What’s the proper procedure now?” asked Connie.
“Drug Section has specially trained members to dismantle clandestine labs under the direction of a chemist. This has already been dismantled so I would call in a Health Inspector who will cordon off the building. The place may only need a really good cleaning or it could require renovations. As far as Forensics go, see what the Health Inspector says, but you may need to tell them to wear hazmat suits, as well.”
“What about the idiots making it? Don’t the bad guys —”
“Some take precautions or wear masks, but that is a far cry from the proper protection
