CHAPTER EIGHT
They reached Georgetown and found the outside of Petals and Stems blocked by emergency vehicles.Police cars lined both sides of the street.Fire trucks and hazmat vans created a perimeter around a small storefront with “Petals & Stems” painted in elegant script across the front window.
Miles and Vic showed their credentials to the perimeter officer and were directed toward another officer standing with two firemen near the front of the building.The scene felt eerily similar to Roosevelt Elementary, but compressed into a much smaller space.Miles wasn’t absolutely certain, but it appeared that people in the neighboring buildings had been evacuated as a precaution.
Detective Stoller from the school attack was coordinating with Georgetown fire department personnel.He looked up as Miles and Vic approached, his expression grim.He shook his head as he greeted them.
“Same MO?”Vic asked.
“Looks that way,” he said without waiting for questions.“We haven’t gone through officially.Figured we’d wait on you two.”
“How long ago did it happen?”Vic asked.
“We can’t be sure, but it was recent.The victim was found by a customer who came in around one o'clock this afternoon.This same customer saw the victim, Janet Reilly, earlier this morning.”
“What’s her status?”
He nodded over to an ambulance parked by the fire engine.“Looks like she’ll be fine.Medica are tending to her; she’s older and is having some issues breathing, but she’s going to be fine.Seems she didn’t get much of it in her.”
Miles looked to one of the fire fighters and said, “Can you spare two oxygen masks?”
“Sure.Come on.”He led them over to the fire engine and opened up a compartment near the back, just beneath the thick coil of hose.He offered them each a mask, a standard sort that was a bit less impressive than the ones Miles sometimes used back at the lab, but more than adequate.
With the masks secured and the filters doing their job, Miles and Vic prepared to enter Petals & Stems.The breathing apparatus felt bulky and uncomfortable, but Miles knew it would be deadly to go inside without it.Miles wasn't takinganychances with fluorine gas exposure.
They pushed through the front door into a beautiful flower shop.Classical music was playing, filling the space at a low volume.Miles thought the current piece was Chopin.Display cases held arrangements in various stages of completion.Potted plants lined wooden shelves.Hand-painted signs announced daily specials in careful script.Everything suggested a business owner who took pride in creating beauty for her customers.They stepped behind the counter, to an employee-only space beyond.
The back room told a different story.Janet Reilly's body lay collapsed on the concrete floor, surrounded by scattered flowers and broken glass.White lilies were strewn across the workspace, their petals mixing with baby's breath and ribbon scraps.A shattered crystal vase had spread water and glass fragments in a wide circle around her still form.
From the looks of it, Janet had been working alone, preparing arrangements when the gas had struck her.He studied the scattered supplies and overturned buckets.Janet had clearly tried to escape as the gas overwhelmed her respiratory system.Her final moments had been spent crawling across the floor she'd probably swept clean that morning, reaching desperately toward a front door that might as well have been miles away.
“The dispersal system should be in the ventilation,” Miles said, pointing toward a grate mounted high on the back wall.“Help me get a closer look.”
They both snapped on latex gloves and moved a small worktable beneath the vent, careful not to disturb the scene too much.Miles climbed up carefully.The oxygen mask made his movements awkward, but he could see immediately that the cover had been tampered with.Screws were loose and the metal frame didn't sit flush against the wall.
“Do you have a dime or something?”he asked.
Vic shook her head but then grabbed a small set of pruning scissors from Janet’s table.“Will this do?”
“Yeah, that should be okay.”
He took the scissors and spread the blades wide, using one of them to loosen the screws.He inserted the edge of the point into the screw’s seam and though it was clunky, it worked.He worked carefully to remove the vent cover completely, revealing the ductwork beyond.Just as he'd expected, the killer had left behind evidence of their sophisticated dispersal system.There was no way to attack in this manner andnotleave something behind.
The mechanical components were similar to those found at Roosevelt Elementary.There was a timer-controlled valve, a pressurized container, and remote activation capability.“Same set up from what I can tell,” Miles said.
“Can you get it out?”Vic asked.
“Yeah, and…wait, there’s something else here.”He reached deeper into the ductwork and his gloved fingers touched paper.He carefully extracted several folded pages and showed them to Vic.
He stepped down from the table and placed the papers carefully on Janet’s worktable.They’d need to bag it up just like the other note, but for now, they read it together.
“Janet Reilly presented herself as someone who brought natural beauty into the world, but her business was built on chemical contamination of innocent plant life.Synthetic fertilizers, artificial preservatives, chemical dyes used to enhance flower colors - all tools of molecular corruption that poison the natural order.”
Miles felt his stomach clench as he read further.The manifesto detailed Janet's alleged crimes against chemical purity.Her use of commercial flower food.Her practice of dyeing white flowers to create unnatural colors.Her reliance on refrigeration and chemical preservatives to extend the life of cut flowers.
“The fluorine purification of Janet Reilly removes another vector of chemical contamination from our community.Her death cleanses the molecular corruption she spread through her synthetic manipulation of natural beauty.Others will follow until the chemical contamination of innocent society has been eliminated.”
“This person is completely insane,” Vic said, reading over his shoulder.“They're targeting people for using completely normal products in ways that have nothing to do with harming anyone.”
