Boldt 03 - No Witnesses by Ridley Pearson Read Free Book Online Page B

he reached Dr. Mann.
    “Well?”
    “You’re right: If I hadn’t done that myself, I never would have believed it.” He handed Mann the petri dish.
    Mann studied the dish, spinning it in his hand.
    “And once he has it?” Boldt asked, removing the uncomfortable lab coat, taking notes again.
    “Not much to it. He probably has some microbiology under his belt—early college level. Some agar—a petri dish containing a protein base; some broth—the book would have a recipe; an incubator—but could build something—a light box might work. Doesn’t need much, I’m afraid. It’s all pretty easy. It looks real complex and the language is fairly complex, but the actual mechanics of growing a culture are relatively simple. It’s covered in both high school and college chemistry.”
    “Anything else I should know?” Boldt tried. “Limited shelf life?”
    “Not terribly. Cholera’s a pretty good choice. Salmonella would have been obvious to whoever opened the can because of gases—bacterial odor. But cholera? No odor or gases to speak of. And if it isn’t someone at the university, someone who knows specifically about cholera-395—and there couldn’t be more than a handful who do—then this guy probably didn’t know what a powerful punch it packed. Three ninety-five is a resistant strain. Probably didn’t know what he was getting. And unless and until you do put this in the press, he may not even be aware he may kill people with it.”
    Boldt felt the wind knocked out of him. “Kill?”
    “It’s a research strain, 395. It doesn’t react to the more common antibiotics. That’s why these kids became so ill. It’s in the material,” he said, indicating Boldt’s pile of literature. “Their youth may help them—we’re lucky there.”
    “It’s lethal, and it’s just sitting in there in a refrigerator?”
    “I know. I know. But it’s true of much of what’s in there: This is Infectious Diseases. We’re working to cure people here.”
    “Am I the only one who sees irony in that?”
    “The Lowry boy went critical a couple hours ago,” Mann informed him.
    Again, Boldt couldn’t catch his breath. He could picture the boy as clear as day: the sunken eyes, the strange color to his skin. It made him sick to his stomach. He put down the tea.
    “Sorry,” Mann said.
    “I’ve got a two-year-old,” Boldt explained.
    “Me, a boy five, a girl three,” Mann said, pointing to color photographs by the computer.
    “We’re on the back side of the curve, I’m afraid, even with the research work on 395. I’d like to tell you that they will be okay, but I can’t because it isn’t necessarily true.”
    Boldt said, “The girl is doing better.”
    Mann said, “We get lucky now and then.” He hesitated, “There’s something else you should know—your lab people should be aware of this, but in case they are not: Vibrio cholerae degrades rather rapidly. At room temperature, it will die on the shelf inside these soup cans. With a high enough inoculum, there should be sufficient organisms to cause disease for the first five to seven days. After that, the organisms will die, which means they may go undetected by your lab. Just so you know.”
    “You’re telling me these are time bombs with a shelf life. We won’t be able to prove they were contaminated?”
    “Not after the first five to seven days. After that, the bug is dead and your tests will return negative.” The doctor added, “The bright side is that after a week on the shelf it won’t harm anyone.”
    Boldt was devastated by this. Providing evidence of the contamination in a court of law might prove difficult if not impossible. He thanked the man for his time and they shook hands.
    On his way out, Boldt leaned his head into the lab and looked down at the half-refrigerator, unlocked and available for the killer.
    This triggered a thought, and he returned to Mann, who hung up the phone. He said, “Will you lock that refrigerator for