October 8, 2018
Galveston, Texas
In the morning, Marnie got up with Chris and saw him off to work. This whole new relationship thing felt very strange. Seeing a man off to work again, and that man not be Adam, made her feel off-center. After Chris asked her about her plans for the day, she tried to gather her thoughts.
First on the list was a call to Ellie Jean and bring her up to speed. Marnie had to plan out how much she was going to say about Chris. Might need to know how I feel before I try to explain it.
Part of her was saying, Just chill. This is a weird place to be—in the middle of a murder investigation. This fling is just that—for him as well as me. Who knows? At the end of this intense time, we might share a little kiss and part ways as close friends. Part of her was saying that wasn’t her style. She had no idea what she wanted now. She didn’t know what Chris’s modus operandi was.
What do I need to do today? Walk the dogs. Call Ellie Jean. Call Louise. Figure out what she’s doing and ask if I can tag along.
The phone rang. Glancing at the phone, Marnie was relieved to see Louise was calling her.
“Hi Marnie, I’m going nuts. Can you join me for a walk before the kids get up? We’re letting them sleep in and Didier said he would get them ready for school without me.”
“Be there in fifteen,” Marnie said.
Well, that was one and three on the list. She had until noon her time to place a call to Ellie Jean.
Marnie and the dogs hopped out of the car at the seawall. Louise was already there, staring at the Gulf. The air was still and carried a fishy smell.
Louise turned to Marnie. “I find myself thinking about how time passes and how people and places change. Didier likes to tell his groups about the indigenous people who were here before the Spanish arrived. Did you know that the Karankawas helped their invaders survive? Some historical documents describe them as ferocious thieves while others point out they cried at the drop of a hat and loved dogs.”
“I must be channeling their spirits then, minus the ferocity,” Marnie laughed. “So, what are your plans for the day?”
“I’m doing mommy/living chores today to keep my mind off things—grocery store, hardware store. I can’t even think about shopping online. I need to keep moving. I’ll pick up the kids and spend some time with them before they go to their grandparents.”
Marnie matched Louise’s pace as they headed east atop the seawall. “Are they okay?”
“Yeah, they were pretty shaken up last night, but will probably be better today. We talked to them about safety precautions so they’re prepared, if, God forbid, there’s ever a next time. Do you and Chris want to come over for dinner? We can order take-out. Since it’s Friday, the kids are spending the night with my parents. Maybe we can compare notes and see what Chris learns today.”
“Sure, sounds like a plan. Mind if I tag along on your errands? I could use a few things as well. Then, I think I’ll go for a long run and settle the pups in for the night.”
“Of course. Warning, it’s going to be a dull outing.”
“I could use some Louise time. Dull sounds good today,” Marnie said, putting her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “I’ll call Chris when I get home and we’ll bring over food. Somewhere in there, I have to give Ellie Jean a call. I’m a little afraid of that conversation.”
“You’ll be fine. Kids are resilient. What’s the story with Chris?”
“Don’t I wish I knew. This whole week has been nuts and then I fall in love again? It makes no sense but that’s how I feel. Part of me thinks it’s just a reaction to the stress of everything. Louise, I haven’t felt this way since I met Adam. Chris’s probably thinking it’s all a fun adventure. I don’t even know him.”
With this confession, Louise burst out laughing and soon Marnie joined her.
After they caught their breath, Marnie said, “What a couple of goofs we are! Love and death intertwined. We could be in a romance novel.”
“Or more like a mystery novel.” Louise paused. “I just can’t wrap my head around what’s going on. First Gen turns up dead. Then, we find out she was being pressured to alter her findings. Next, Mom and the kids get attacked.”
Marnie thought about it. “The information that Chris’s investigator dug up was damaging to several people. I’ve wondered if someone looked into any of our lives how suspicious we might seem.”
Marnie’s phone rang. “Hello,” she said.
“Marnie, this is Kathy Walsh. I’m getting a bad feeling. Things aren’t right here. Roy Williams for one thing…”
“Slow down, Kathy.” Marnie placed her phone on speaker so that Louise could hear.
“Roy? What about him?” Marnie asked, shooting Louise a meaningful glance.
“I’m not sure. He gave me the third degree about your tour. I’ve worked for him for a long time. He’s always been a demanding boss, but now he scares me. He’s agitated. And it’s not just Roy. I tried to talk to his superior at work, but Dr. Thatcher brushed me off—basically told me to mind my own business. He said something about our mission at the lab being sensitive and sabotage could be dangerous. After our chat the other day, you were the only one I could think of to call.”
Kathy continued, “With Gen’s murder and then her missing research, well, I had to do something. I left an anonymous message on an EPA hotline.”
“I think that was a good idea,” Marnie said. “We’ve been gathering information about the lab ourselves. It seems like some powerful people don’t want Gen’s research to proceed. At this point, we’re working with the police. I’ll pass this information along to Detective Sudhan.”
“Okay, I just wanted to warn you in case something happens…”
A little late for that. Marnie said, “Take care, Kathy. I’ll be in touch.”
“What do you think?” Louise asked.
“I think Roy Williams always gave us the creeps. Gen was definitely not a fan of his,” Marnie said. “I also feel like we’re getting close to knowing what happened.”
“Let’s tackle these errands. Then, you can talk to Ellie Jean and Chris. We’ll meet up tonight as planned.”
Chris had left Marnie’s early. He needed to get to the office and tackle the two days of work he had ignored. It had definitely been an interesting two days. He already knew that the story of Gennifer Drake’s murder was making news beyond Galveston. Dallas and Houston were reprinting his stories. The risks to public health coupled with a mysterious murder, the added twists of transsexuality and a possible cover up by the government, were all ingredients for a great story with his byline.
All of this rocked his world. But nothing seemed to have shaken his world as much as getting to know Marnie. He hadn’t been this smitten since his first love back in middle school. He couldn’t understand it. She was smart and funny, caring and passionate, and something of a stunner. But he’d had other relationships with women who had many of these qualities that didn’t pan out. Where she thought this was going after her twenty years of marriage, he had no idea.
The newsroom was humming along when he got there. His administrative assistant, Ms. Willa Owens, wouldn’t arrive before 8:30 a.m. She had been keeping the newspaper running for thirty years. She never came in before 8:30 and never left after 4:30. She said that, after her first ten years of working in the newspaper, she knew that the world kept turning without her overtime. A person had to take the long view. The eight hours she spent at the newspaper during the day was enough time to report the news properly. Which was important since printing the truth could change history. Her real job was to make sure that the nuts and bolts of the place worked for others. Chris couldn’t fathom what he would do when the inevitable happened and she retired.
He had ninety minutes to go through his voice mails and emails before she arrived. After quickly checking the first twenty calls, he took a minute to write down information from a call from the EPA. Marnie had told him she was in contact with someone there.
Tom Assan, the assistant editor, poked his head into Chris’s office. “Hey Chris, did you get the voicemail from a Bert Springer yet? He called three times yesterday saying that he had concerns about, let me see,” he looked at a notepad, “‘suppression of research at the Gulf National Laboratory’. I told him to leave you a voicemail.”
“Thanks. Let me check on it,” Chris replied. This must be the surveyor Marnie told me about. He clicked through a few more of his voicemails to Bert’s message.
“Hello, my name is Dr. Bertram Springer. I have some serious concerns about activity at the Gulf National Laboratory. Please call me ASAP.” He left his contact info.
Chris immediately called Springer, who answered on the first ring. “Hi, this is Chris Hill from the Bay City Daily returning your call.”
Bert thanked him for calling back and launched into his concerns.
“I’ve never called a newspaper before, so I’m not sure how this works. But here goes. I’m a microbiologist, recently assigned to perform a survey for the U.S. Biosafety Association at the Gulf National Laboratory’s Insectary Division. For some reason, my partner never finished his part of our report and now I can’t get in touch with him. It’s as if he dropped off the face of the earth. I would normally just relax about these delays, but my gut tells me that there is something wrong there. My partner’s unfinished report was supposed to cover ongoing research into dengue by Dr. Gennifer Drake. I’ve recently learned that she was murdered.”
Chris was speechless for a minute. Bert was definitely one of the missing pieces of the puzzle. “Yes,” Chris said. “We’re investigating the events surrounding her murder.”
“Her death validates my concerns. I was impressed by Dr. Drake when I met her. I’ve seen online that there have been cases of serious dengue fever in the Galveston area recently as well as other areas of South Texas. You should know I called the EPA Hotline to register my concern about what’s happening at the Gulf National Lab.”
“We’re also in contact with them. Is there anything else you want to share?”
“The director of the insectary division is acting strange. I’ve been doing these surveys for over five years and our clients want our reports submitted so their labs can be certified. His lack of concern is way off base. Am I making sense, or do I sound like a crackpot?”
“Not at all. What you’re telling me could be very helpful. Let me get back to you after I run down a few new leads. Thanks, Dr. Springer.” Chris hung up and turned to his computer.
By late afternoon, he was making notes when Willa came in to review some business details.
“I really can’t deal with this stuff right now. Can it wait a day or two? I have some important leads on Dr. Drake’s murder.”
Willa gave Chris a solemn stare. “Of course, it can wait. Gennifer Drake was a friend of mine. She was incredibly helpful at the cat sanctuary and was in the process of adopting a second cat. You find her killer!”
As soon as she left, he opened the folder Savannah had given him when their meeting had ended so abruptly the day before. He quickly flipped through the pages they had covered together until he came to the last entry, a profile on Director Roy Williams.
“Holy shit!” he whispered aloud as he read Savannah’s notes.
Roy Williams, MA microbiology U.T.M.B.
Salary $140K
Paid time off 21 days
Travel July 2017-June 2018 included three overseas trips to Europe and South America. Stayed in five-star hotels. Always with a companion.
Acquisitions—Collects antique toys. Mostly purchased at auctions attended by collectors with similar “tastes” i.e. toys that belonged to children of notorious strongmen.
Bottom line: Expenses exceed income by $100K.
Savannah added an emoji with three eyes, tongue sticking out entitled “Weirdo!”
“Holy, holy, holy shit!” Chris murmured. He checked his watch and realized it was time to join the others.