Chapter 28
Ver

It is only a matter of time before I lose access to BioLabs. Even if I were not a murder suspect, my lab is in the process of collapsing. Without an investigator or a lab manager to supervise us, apprentices will be unable to keep working. But for now, my retinal scan still gets me into the building.

The police have changed the elevators’ settings to prevent them from going to the basement, but the back staircase is clear. Step by painful step, I lower myself down the stairs. Tap, grab, tap. Have to distribute my weight among the handrail, my cane, and my feet.

On a normal day, I would rather eat food cooked by Kricket than do such acrobatics. But I need to see with my own eyes what Ford described. I exit the stairwell into a dimly lit hall and make a left.

The hallway outside Devon Kye’s lab is blocked by glowing yellow lights, marking the area as a crime scene. Beyond the lights is a cavern, singed black. I can see bedrock where the walls have been blasted away. A metal door, blown off its hinges, lies twisted like shrapnel. The scene glitters with shards of broken glass. Farther down the hall is the chemical cart. I gag on the smells of alcohol, bleach, and other compounds I cannot name.

This is bad for my health. I must leave soon.

I walk up to the glowing yellow lights and lean against the wall for support. With trembling hands, I raise my burner flexitab and capture one, two, three images. Feeling dizzy, I retreat and pull myself up the stairs, sweating, breathing hard, a single question ringing in my mind.

Who did this?