C.: Hey, d.c. What are you doing? Are you okay?
d.: I’m fine Cal.E. Whyd o you ask?
C.; Because you have not been to work in a couple of days. I was just checking to see how you were doing.
d.: Yes. I suppose that an explanation is in order. I have been working on my third book in “The Magruder Mysteries” series. I am up against a tight timeline, because I have the attention of an agent now, with one of my books in review. I wanted to finish the first ten pages of this one in case she asks to see more of my work. I took a couple of days off to finish the first part of the book
C.: Can I read it?
d.: Sure. Just be aware that I have changed several things about it, including the name.
C.: Okay, email it to me, and I will give you my critique tomorrow.
d.c. scot presents
THE MAGRUDER MYSTERIES’
MURDER 8
THE INERT INGREDIENT
(THE PREQUEL TO “PRECISION”)
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all the brave men and women in the United States armed services who give up their time, freedom, and, sometimes, their lives so that the rest of us can be free to live a life filled with liberty and devoid of fear.
— d.c. scot
INAUGURATION
Almost everything has an inert ingredient. Even the air we breathe is 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen. That leaves a full 1 percent of the air as inert ingredients.
The most prevalent inert ingredient in the air is argon gas. Although in minute quantities this gas is harmless, in larger quantities, it can be fatal. The same is true of carbon dioxide, the second most prevalent inert ingredient in air. Both can cost someone his or her life if enough of either of these gasses is inhaled. Each gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Consequently, neither is easily detected. Some other inert ingredients are also dangerous enough to cost someone his or her life, even in minute quantities. Many are practically impossible to detect…
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PROLEGOMENON
Jay Magruder looked at his bag phone in disbelief. It was his friend from the Harris County Morgue. He knew Magruder had just worked twenty straight days. Why was he calling his friend on his day off, Magruder wondered. He quickly found out the reason. “Magruder, I’m just calling to inform you that Professor James just brought in his clinical class to try to identify causes of death. I know there is one cadaver you are particularly interested in. You may want to come and observe the class in case the clinical instructor chooses that cadaver to inspect.”
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In 1999, a bag phone would seem to be out of date. Third-grade detective James David Magruder was glad to have something, anything, with which to communicate with the outside world, though. Most shunned the bulky battery-powered communication devices when lighter, smaller phones that were more easily transported came into being. Magruder was not one of those people.
Even a promotion from the plain clothes division would not afford the young cop anything more than the bag phone his department supplied him with, or so it seemed to his friends and coworkers. However, there was another reason why Magruder chose this mode of communication as his one and only way to connect with others outside of his immediate vicinity. He could not get his provider to agree to let him keep the same number with a smaller, lighter cell phone. So, Magruder always kept his bag phone with him.
Magruder was not anxious to be easy to locate. That could lead to his ultimate and painful demise, if the wrong people were able to find him when he was not working and, thus, not protected by his coworkers. It could also be detrimental to his young friend; one Magruder felt was not deserving of such a fate.
He made the decision after he moved across the sprawling metropolis of Houston, Texas, to be harder to find for those who meant to harm him and his young friend.
Jay listened carefully to what his friend a coworker had to say on his antiquated equipment. As he hung up his bag phone, he knew what he must do. He must protect the truth about how the Houston Police Department’s most recent murder victim died. He had no choice. So, Magruder put his nine-millimeter pistol in its holster and strapped it to his shoulder. After covering the handgun with a sports jacket, he drove his recently restored, classic ‘’64 and-a-half Mustang to the Harris County Morgue.
INCEPTION
The instructor stopped at one of the cadavers. “This man apparently died of smoking.” The middle-aged clinical instructor paused for effect. Everyone in the clinical class knew the man’s views on smoking. They added up to “don’t.” The instructor further expounded on his theory. “The Harris County Coroner’s office has ruled out tar, nicotine, or tobacco as the cause of death. This man did not die of cardio-obstructive pulmonary disease or lung cancer. Apparently, it was an inert ingredient that killed this man. Or it may have been an allergy of some sort.”
Mr. James' view on smoking wasn’t surprising. Most medical professionals hold this view. Though as Magruder listened to his older friend from his hometown teach his students, he knew there was more to the story than just a warning against the long-term effects smoking has on one’s body. Jay was one of only two people in the world who knew how the man on the table died. He decided he would do whatever it took to keep the whole truth from being discovered. Magruder burst through the door in time to stop Mr. James from expounding on his theory.
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As he entered the morgue, Magruder was focused on only one thing. Mr. James paused, and Magruder followed him closely to obscure the view of the corpse Mr. James had chosen to ask about. The view of every student except those in the front row was obstructed, but Magruder was too intent on his mission to notice those students were staring intently at the corpse.
“Mr. Magruder, what can you tell me about this man?” Mr. Jones turned to the young cop and asked him a pointed question.
Magruder was more than a little perturbed. Why must Professor James ask about that particular cadaver? Were there not other cadavers in the morgue whose stories would be at least as relevant to the topic Mr. James was pursuing? Magruder decided the only way to placate his friend was to take a strong stance against revealing anything about the cadaver. “I cannot comment on this corpse, Mr. James. The Harris County Coroner’s Office is still reviewing the cause of death. Therefore, it is not open for discussion to you, your class, or anyone else, because it is an open case.” With that statement, Magruder exited the room.
Magruder remembered stories his friend had shared with him, and his clinical class. They were stories from his career as both a hospice nurse and a nurse at a Texas correctional facility. He had seen, patients who were allergic to very unusual things. One declared he was allergic to Benadryl. Another said he was allergic to apples, of all things. Still another dear lady, he said, declared she was allergic to Ivory soap. It is unlikely these patients would have been allergic to the active ingredients in the soap or Benadryl. Instead, it was more likely the patients were allergic to the inert ingredients in these very useful items.
Jay knew it was not an allergy that killed the man in question, but he didn’t mind his friend leading his students down that path of reasoning. It would distract from the unrevealed truth Magruder was desperately trying to protect.
After the clinical class was dismissed, a young female nursing student approached the detective. His interest was piqued, but he reiterated his stance. The young student was persistent, and Jay liked her moxie. He recognized her as one of the students on the front row of the class. She was the daughter of the man who trained him to become a cop when he was a rookie. Ben Jones’ daughter had grown into quite a young lady. Magruder knew how close Ben and his older daughter were, so he was not surprised when the young lady was persistent in asking about the corpse. He tried very hard to change the subject, but Alice was insistent.
“Very well, if you will not tell me what I want to know now, maybe we could have coffee later. You may be able to shed some light on some other things for me since I am thinking about becoming a forensic nurse. My dad is too busy to be of much help now. He is working a lot of overtime, since my younger sister wants to become a Nurse Practitioner. Dad does not want to go into debt to put us through nursing school.”
Jay agreed to this arrangement. He really liked nurses, and Alice fascinated him. “I know just the place, Alice. It is not far from my precinct, or the nursing school you attend.”
After the young lady left the room, Magruder was left alone with his thoughts.
CHAPTER ONE: A MOCHA LATTE WITH FOAM
Jay didn’t enjoy the coffee the precinct’s coffee maker offered, and he had little time to spare. Because of these two factors, he invited Alice to join him at the coffee shop within walking distance of both his precinct and the nursing school Alice attended. It was that strategic location that allowed the independent coffee shop to compete with the leading national chains.
Since both were pressed for time, it seemed to be the best place for the couple to have coffee and talk.
Jay, and many of his coworkers, often visited the coffee shop. He needed the caffeine the bitter drink offered to stay awake during the long, arduous hours cops sometimes worked. Many of the nursing school students had the same need, so they were also regular customers of the coffee shop.
Alice was almost as familiar with the café and its menu as Magruder, so she only casually perused the offering before ordering. “A mocha latte with foam,” Alice said to the barista, as Magruder took out his wallet to pay for his black coffee and Alice’s tasteful drink.
“That looks delicious,” Magruder said to Alice, trying to distract her from asking about the subject of their last conversation.
It was no use. Alice was NOT going to let this go. Magruder sought to rectify the situation, once and for al. What was of more concern to Magruder, though, was that Alice had been seated in the front row at the morgue, He worried that she and her companions in the front row had seen too much to forget the mysterious corpse. He also knew of her dad’s reputation for digging for the truth until it reveled itself. He hoped against hope that Ben’s daughter did not take on this trait of his personality, but he was soon to learn she had.
Magruder was extremely upset by the question, as Alice quickly learned. “Mr. Magruder, can you tell me anything more about the corpse Mr. James was asking about? I just want to know his name, or something about him. Anything that you can tell me, I’m sure, would be of great interest to me. Your insight may help me advance my nursing career more quickly if I decide to become a forensic nurse.”
As Jay looked up from his steaming hot cup of joe, he took in a pleasant sight of her. She was not so much unattractive as unadorned. She wore no makeup, but Jay was still attracted to his former trainer’s daughter. Her unrestrained hair did not look like it had seen a brush in years, but it did not detract from her high cheekbones and her large, sparkling brown eyes. She didn’t wear any jewelry, a requirement of her clinical class but not for a date with an eligible young cop. However, her long, slender fingers caressed her coffee cup in such a manner as to mesmerized Magruder.
On the surface, Alice would seem to be as plain as the name she bore, but. Magruder looked past that. As far as Magruder was concerned, her most attractive feature was her persistent personality, even though it may have been a detriment to both in the case of the cadaver in the Harris County Morgue. Magruder liked the young lady’s motivation to become a nurse, since it was a profession that fascinated him. His preoccupation with the field had put the young detective in a precarious position. It was that infatuation that led Magruder to ask permission for his hometown friend to have his clinical class visit the morgue. It had been a usual practice for nursing school students in days of yore. In the late twentieth century, however, it was highly unusual.
Regardless of that, Jay felt the need to redirect the conversation. His first attempt at redirecting the discussion did not go well. “What CAN we talk about then?” Alice asked a pointed question.
Magruder thought for a few seconds and made his decision. I would like to talk about your choices of refreshment.” Alice asked him to try her drink. Jay agreed it was delicious, but said he was afraid of looking effeminate in a largely male environment at his precinct if he drank such a colorful drink while on duty. He did agree, though, it would be his “go-to” caffeinated drink when not on duty.
Jay’s attempt to redirect the conversation, however, met with much resistance. Alice again asked about the mysterious cadaver. He felt he had to rectify the situation once and for all, so he answered the question briskly. His hope was to put the matter to rest permanently. “That body is from an open case and, therefore, not open to discussion. I do not know why Mr. Jones wanted to ask me about him.”
“Well then, what else can we talk about? I still hae a few minutes before I need to go home and study.” Alice was curious.
“Well, I would like to begin by talking about YOU. Nurses fascinate me. I would like to know what your motivation is to enter this field as an occupation. Knowing that will help me to know and understand you better.”
During their date, Magruder encouraged the young lady to tell him all about her desire to help relieve other people’s pain. Alice obliged, and the two had a fascinating conversation. Since the date went well, Alice gave Magruder her phone number at the end of it. Two weeks passed and the young cop had not called her.
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