C.: Well, I must have fallen asleep while I was reading d.c.’s book. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, her is my bookmark. I was on the “Inception.” Let’s see. Maybe, since I haven’t read this version of the book, “The Magruder Mysteries” Murder 8; The Inert Ingredient,” she dies in THIS version of this book. I will need to read the whole book to find out, though.
INCEPTION
The instructor stopped at the eighth cadaver. “This man died of smoking. Since HPD has ruled out the possibility that his death was caused by tobacco, tar, or nicotine, his death is a mystery. That is especially true since cardio-obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer were also ruled out as possible causes of death. In fact, the only possibility that I can think of for the death of a thirty-year-old man to die from smoking would be to have inhaled an inert ingredient that he was allergic to.” The middle-aged clinical instructor paused for effect.
Everyone in his clinical class knew this man’s views on smoking. It added up to “don’t.” It is not surprising for a medical professional to hold this view of smoking. As Magruder listened to his older friend from his hometown teach his clinical students, though, he knew that there was more to this story than just a warning against the long-term effects that smoking has on one’s body. Jay was one of only two people in the world who knew how this man died. He decided he must do whatever it took to keep the whole truth from being discovered. The truth would be detrimental to both his and his young friend’s life, if discovered by the wrong people.
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. He wanted desperately to keep anyone, other than the two people who were involved with the death of this man, from knowing the whole truth.
Mr. James paused, and Magruder followed him closely to obscure the view of the corpse Mr. James chose to ask about. All but the students in the front row’s view were obstructed, but Magruder was too intent on his mission to notice that these students were staring intently at the corpse.
“Mr. Magruder, what can you tell me about this man?” Mr. James turned to the young cop and asked him a pointed question.
Magruder was more than a little perturbed. Why must Professor James ask about this 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 that the only way to placate his friend was to put the matter to rest authoritatively. “This corpse is from an open case and is, therefore, not open to discussion, Mr. James. I am sorry to have to do this, but, if this conversation is pursued further, I will need to ask you all to leave,” Magruder turned, and muttered under his breath, “or kill you all one,” as he exited the room.
Magruder remembered stories that his friend from his hometown shared with him. He was now sharing those stories with his clinical class to distract from the previous conversation. These were stories from his career as both a hospice nurse and as a nurse at a Texas Correctional Facility. He had seen, he said, patients that were allergic to very unusual things. One declared that he was allergic to Benadryl. Since diphenhydramine is an antihistamine, it is highly unlikely that the patient would not have been allergic to the active ingredient. Instead, it was more likely that he was allergic to the inert ingredients in this very useful and versatile drug.
One poor lady, Mr. Jones shared that she was allergic to Ivory soap. This is a highly unusual and bothersome allergy, since Ivory soap is almost devoid of inert ingredients. Being allergic to pure soap would have put this poor lady (literally) in a class by herself.
Magruder knew that it wasn’t an allergy that killed the man in question, but he didn’t mind his friend leading his students down this path of reasoning. It would distract from the unrevealed truth that 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 nursing school student was persistent, and Jay liked her moxie. He tried very hard to change the subject, but she was insistent. She procured a future coffee date with the eligible young cop and left the room. She was intent on learning the truth about the cadaver in question.
Magruder obliged her request for a coffee date, because he had been infatuated with the nursing profession since he was a young child. He also recognized Alice Jones as the older daughter of the man who trained him when he was a rookie with HPD.
Alice had grown into quite a young lady, in Magruder’s opinion, and he knew that the straight-laced cop and his daughter were as close as any two family members could be. He suspected Alice inherited her father’s trait of digging for the truth until it revealed itself. He was determined, though, to keep his secret at all costs, even though he was a lonely, lonely man. After the young lady left the room, Jay Magruder was left alone with his thoughts. He alone knew the WHOLE story as to how this man died.
C.: Well, if d.c. wants to find a sponsor for this book, maybe I should suggest that he contact a representative from Phillip Morris to back him for the whole project. (hehe) “The Magruder Mysteries,” I think, probably reflet d.c.;s views on smoking. Planned Parenthood may also be interested in supporting him (hehe).
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