Winter of Frozen Dreams by Karl Harter

Author:Karl Harter
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: E-Reads
Published: 1989-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

- 23 -

The day after Hoffman’s arraignment for the murder of Harry Berge a toxicologist at the state crime lab in Madison, following the sensitivities of his nose, made a startling discovery regarding the death of Jerry Davies.

Since March 28th, Kenneth Kempfert had been examining selected materials from the Davies autopsy, trying to ascertain if something of a chemical nature had contributed to Davies’s expiration. Lung, liver, urine, kidney, brain, and blood specimens were subjected to standard tests, but no abnormalities were found. The negative results surprised the police investigation team and added to the aura of mystery that hovered over Davies’s sudden and inexplicable demise.

For Kempfert it meant further inquiry. He delved deeper, using more sophisticated and elaborate techniques. Samples of blood, urine, and liver were analyzed for the presence of drugs and other extractables. It was a tedious process. A separate test had to be administered for each suspected foreign substance, and there was no hint as to what, if any, lethal toxins might be involved. Ordinarily Valium would not have been considered, but because of the vial in the bathroom it was checked. A specialized extraction process designed to maximize the detection of diazepam—Valium’s generic name—was utilized with the blood samples. The gas chromatograph registered no significant traces, although a short peak in the graph indicated that diazepam of a therapeutic dosage may be present. Low levels of caffeine were found in the urine and the stomach contents. The county pathologist had already determined that the stomach contained food elements which very likely constituted chili. However, a milligram or two of diazepam, combined with coffee and chili, were not intrinsically fatal.

Kempfert expanded the search. Systematically he evaluated the blood for other chemicals and toxins, such as carbon monoxide, arsenic, botulinym, lead. A list was compiled and checked. He even tested for an exotic snake venom because of an article he’d read in the evening newspaper. None of the potentially poisonous substances graded out positive.

Every day Chuck Lulling telephoned or visited the University Avenue lab, anxious to know of the latest findings. It got so that Kempfert recognized the sound of Lulling’s footsteps and the smell of his pipe tobacco. He could also read the impatience and fatigue on the detective’s face. The skin edging the eyes no longer appeared wearied with wisdom but looked cracked with age. Lulling’s mustache was predominated by gray, whereas only a few months previous it had seemed stocked with a profusion of black. The belly sagged rounder. The shoulders slacked.

Lulling had less than a month before retirement, and the notion of going out a loser in the Hoffman case ate at his gut. He was acutely aware that Kempfert was no magician. He was a scientist whose meticulous efforts could break the case. Yet Lulling wanted magic. He pestered and cajoled Kempfert because he knew the power of the laboratory. He knew the lab could discern the subtle and the sinister.

Thus Kempfert elaborated his examinations, earnestly testing the tubes of Davies’s blood, chasing a phantom chemical culprit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.