MURDER IN RETROSPECT (Allie Griffin Mysteries Book 5) by Leslie Leigh Read Free Book Online

switch?"
                  "Well, they don’t sell them at the local Walgreens. There's a manufacturer up in Maine. The only manufacturer of semiconductors in the Northeast. MTS. Morley, I think. Morley Technology Solutions."
                  "Semiconductors."
                  "Mm hmm," said the boy into his soda.
                  "Is that the same thing as a transfer switch?"
                  He wiped the corner of his mouth on his sleeve. "The types of switches you'd find in a hospital's generator are the static types that use power semiconductors."
                  Allie nodded.
                  Jimmy smiled.
                  "What?" she said.
                  "We're on a date. Like, out in public."
                  "Get over yourself, Jimmy."
                  "And I'm talking about semiconductors. You're in your own personal hell right now."
                  "I'm doing ok, thank you very much. How's your soda?"
                  "It's perfect."
                  "You know anyone who works at that place? MTS?"
                  Jimmy shook his head. "I knew a couple of guys but not personally."
                  "Do you know if the manufacturing plants have quality control?"
                  "They'd better. A lot of these places have military contracts. But I’ve heard from people that military brass aren’t electronics geeks, and they're easy to double-talk. I heard a story about a military inspector doing the quality control thing and he's walking around, asking stupid questions about the process. And this guy, this geek engineer, suddenly says, 'Lieutenant, we get a multisecond pulse of sixty picofarad carbonite coming in at a rate that substantiates the metallic load necessary to placate a trans-coordinate hyposurge.'"
                  "Wow."
                  "I know, sounds great, but it's complete gibberish."
                  "Get out."
                  "Totally serious. All made up. So he says this and the Lieutenant says, 'Outstanding, carry on.'"
                  Allie erupted into laughter. There was a hidden wealth of charm inside Jimmy Welles. She was sad more people didn’t see it.
                  "These guys can be geniuses, but they're not infallible. And quality control can slip by the wayside if a guy gets lazy. And as I just explained, it can be glossed over pretty easily. These guys are doing the Lord's work. Ain't nobody gonna tell them their jobs."
                  "Jimmy, why are you telling me all this?"
                  "I'm just saying this is how something can go terribly wrong in a hospital generator. You get a guy who's lazy, get him to screw up a line of semiconductors, maybe add a questionable ethic or two, and that guy will ship those puppies out without even bothering to care about where they end up. Don’t forget, these parts often go through middlemen—wholesalers who deal in these things and sell to independent contractors. No one knows if they’re going to wind up in a hospital or some guy's home project. A faulty part can end up in a hospital. It's not against the laws of nature. It shouldn’t happen, but that's one way that it can."
                  "Jimmy?"
                  "Yes, Allie."
                  "Why is it that every time I talk with you, I get a lesson in life that makes me feel incredibly anxious and paranoid?"
                  "Just remember there are good people out there doing good work. The bad ones are few and far between. Anyway, makes the good ones extra nice to be around, wouldn’t you say?"
                  "You're a treasure, Jimmy Welles."
                  "I know. So is this soda."

7
     
                  She met