blowing up.”
“About what?"
"Fertilizer. Er . . . manure. You know, fertilizer."
"Oh." There was silence on Hart's end.
Elizabeth waited. Then she said, "I assure you, Agent Hart, this isn't a—"
"I know," he said. "I was just thinking. What's the LEAA computer code designation?"
"Seven nine dash eight four seven seven."
"I'll take a look at it and call you back. What's your extension?"
"Two one two one. But does that happen? Have you heard of it before?"
"I'm not sure what we're talking about yet," said Hart. "I'll call you back in a few minutes." He hung up and Elizabeth said "Good-bye" into a dead phone.
She looked up and saw Padgett dash by with a cup of coffee in one hand and an open file in the other. Just then a loose sheet in the file peeled itself off in the breeze and wafted to the floor. He stopped and looked back at it in remorse.
"Got it," said Elizabeth, and sprang up to retrieve it for him.
"Thanks," said Padgett. "Too many things at once."
"Are your friends having a nice time out west?"
"Much better than I am," he said. "We've got to get a few investigators out there today before anything has a chance to happen, and I don't know 10
where we're going to get them."
"You mean it might be something?"
"Probably not," he said, "but you never know. You can't take a chance of missing another Apalachin just because somebody's got the damned flu and somebody else is at an airport that's fogged in."
"How about holding the fort with technicians until the cavalry arrives?
Locals even? Wiretaps and so on."
"You know what that mess is these days," said Padgett. "And we don't even have probable cause. Just four men we can't even prove know each other taking winter vacations within a couple hundred miles of each other. Want to go in front of a judge with that one? I don't, and I've been there."
"Well, good luck with it," said Elizabeth, not knowing what else to say.
The telephone on her desk rang, and she answered it with relief. "Justice, Elizabeth Waring."
"Hart here," came the voice.
"Good," said Elizabeth . "What can you tell me?"
"It's pretty much what I figured," he said. "It's the fertilizer all right."
"You mean manure blows up?" she asked, a little louder than she had intended. She looked up and noticed that Richardson was watching her with a smirk on his face.
"No," Hart said. "Fertilizer. The kind they make in factories and sell in stores. A couple of the nitrate fertilizers are chemically similar to dynamite. If you know how to detonate them you can use them the same way. They're cheaper and you don't have to have a license to use them. If you run out you can go down to the store and buy all you want."
"That's incredible," said Elizabeth . "Do people know about this?"
"Sure," said Hart. "A lot of construction companies use fertilizer all the time. Been doing it for years."
"Then my case is closed, I guess," said Elizabeth . "The poor man probably just blew himself up by accident. But somebody ought to sue whoever makes that fertilizer. It could happen to anybody."
"No it couldn't," said Hart. "It doesn't blow up by accident. You have to use blasting caps and an electric charge. Theoretically the gasoline in Veasy's pickup truck is more dangerous than the fertilizer. More explosive power and easier to set off."
"So you think it was murder?"
"Or suicide. I haven't seen enough to tell, really, but I don't think it's likely he bought a bag of fertilizer for his garden and it just went off. I suppose if he was carrying blasting caps or shotgun shells or something, and the conditions were right, maybe. But the report says he was just sitting in a parking lot, not jolting along a country road, and something would have to set off whatever served as the detonator."
"So it is murder."
"I don't know. But if this is a case you're interested in I wouldn't write it 11
off yet. I'd at least find out what he was carrying around in the bed of his pickup, and
“About what?"
"Fertilizer. Er . . . manure. You know, fertilizer."
"Oh." There was silence on Hart's end.
Elizabeth waited. Then she said, "I assure you, Agent Hart, this isn't a—"
"I know," he said. "I was just thinking. What's the LEAA computer code designation?"
"Seven nine dash eight four seven seven."
"I'll take a look at it and call you back. What's your extension?"
"Two one two one. But does that happen? Have you heard of it before?"
"I'm not sure what we're talking about yet," said Hart. "I'll call you back in a few minutes." He hung up and Elizabeth said "Good-bye" into a dead phone.
She looked up and saw Padgett dash by with a cup of coffee in one hand and an open file in the other. Just then a loose sheet in the file peeled itself off in the breeze and wafted to the floor. He stopped and looked back at it in remorse.
"Got it," said Elizabeth, and sprang up to retrieve it for him.
"Thanks," said Padgett. "Too many things at once."
"Are your friends having a nice time out west?"
"Much better than I am," he said. "We've got to get a few investigators out there today before anything has a chance to happen, and I don't know 10
where we're going to get them."
"You mean it might be something?"
"Probably not," he said, "but you never know. You can't take a chance of missing another Apalachin just because somebody's got the damned flu and somebody else is at an airport that's fogged in."
"How about holding the fort with technicians until the cavalry arrives?
Locals even? Wiretaps and so on."
"You know what that mess is these days," said Padgett. "And we don't even have probable cause. Just four men we can't even prove know each other taking winter vacations within a couple hundred miles of each other. Want to go in front of a judge with that one? I don't, and I've been there."
"Well, good luck with it," said Elizabeth, not knowing what else to say.
The telephone on her desk rang, and she answered it with relief. "Justice, Elizabeth Waring."
"Hart here," came the voice.
"Good," said Elizabeth . "What can you tell me?"
"It's pretty much what I figured," he said. "It's the fertilizer all right."
"You mean manure blows up?" she asked, a little louder than she had intended. She looked up and noticed that Richardson was watching her with a smirk on his face.
"No," Hart said. "Fertilizer. The kind they make in factories and sell in stores. A couple of the nitrate fertilizers are chemically similar to dynamite. If you know how to detonate them you can use them the same way. They're cheaper and you don't have to have a license to use them. If you run out you can go down to the store and buy all you want."
"That's incredible," said Elizabeth . "Do people know about this?"
"Sure," said Hart. "A lot of construction companies use fertilizer all the time. Been doing it for years."
"Then my case is closed, I guess," said Elizabeth . "The poor man probably just blew himself up by accident. But somebody ought to sue whoever makes that fertilizer. It could happen to anybody."
"No it couldn't," said Hart. "It doesn't blow up by accident. You have to use blasting caps and an electric charge. Theoretically the gasoline in Veasy's pickup truck is more dangerous than the fertilizer. More explosive power and easier to set off."
"So you think it was murder?"
"Or suicide. I haven't seen enough to tell, really, but I don't think it's likely he bought a bag of fertilizer for his garden and it just went off. I suppose if he was carrying blasting caps or shotgun shells or something, and the conditions were right, maybe. But the report says he was just sitting in a parking lot, not jolting along a country road, and something would have to set off whatever served as the detonator."
"So it is murder."
"I don't know. But if this is a case you're interested in I wouldn't write it 11
off yet. I'd at least find out what he was carrying around in the bed of his pickup, and
Similar Books
Casca 13: The Assassin
Barry Sadler
Bob The Zombie
Jaime Johnesee
Phoenix Program
Douglas Valentine
Duty and Devotion
Tere Michaels
Red Ink
Julie Mayhew
The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids
Michael McClung
Second Hope Cowboy
Rhonda Lee Carver
Aimee and the Heartthrob
Ophelia London
Leaving Fishers
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Night's Mistress (Children of the Night)
Amanda Ashley