“Lots of layoffs, but those don't usually create the kind of anger we're looking for.”Miles opened another database and checked the time.Somehow, they’d already been at this for half an hour.“I'm focusing on people who were fired for cause or who filed complaints against their employers.”
Vic pulled up a map of the D.C.area marked with locations of recent chemical incidents."EPA has records of seventeen workplace safety violations involving fluorine compounds in the past three years.Most were resolved with fines, but a few resulted in employee terminations."
“There might be something there,” Miles said.“Workplace safety violations involving fluorine would be exactly the kind of issue that could drive someone to extremes.Any names stand out?”
“Just one so far.Marcus Thompson.He was fired from Meridian Chemical after reporting multiple safety violations involving fluorine storage and handling.”
Miles typed the name into his search engine.“Here we go.Marcus Thompson, industrial chemist, terminated eighteen months ago after filing complaints with OSHA about improper fluorine containment procedures.”
“What happened after he was fired?”
Miles clicked through several news articles, working as fast and efficiently as he could.“He tried to take his case to the media.Local news interviewed him about what he called 'corporate chemical warfare' against the public.”
“Corporate chemical warfare?”
“Yeah.Says here he claimed certain chemical compounds are purposely being used to poison populations in small doses.”Miles found a video link to the news interview.“Want to watch this?”
Vic moved her chair closer to Miles and looked to the iPad screen.The interview showed a man in his early forties, well-dressed and articulate, sitting across from a local news anchor.Miles had expected another conspiracy theorist like Dr.Lawson, someone obviously unhinged or paranoid.Instead, Marcus Thompson came across as calm and professional… almost kind.
“Mr.Thompson, you're claiming your former employer deliberately exposed workers to dangerous chemicals?”the anchor asked.
“Not deliberately in the sense of malicious intent,” Thompson replied.“But they prioritized profit margins over safety protocols.When fluorine compounds aren't properly contained, they create a cascade of chemical reactions that contaminate the entire facility.”
“And you believe this contamination affects the broader community?”
“Absolutely.These compounds don't just disappear.They accumulate in groundwater, in air systems, in the food chain.We're conducting a slow-motion chemical experiment on the entire population.”
Miles paused the video.“He's articulate.Sounds rational.And really, his theory isn't completely crazy.”
“More convincing than I expected, that’s for sure,” Vic agreed.
Miles continued his research.“Looks like he seems to have disappeared from public view shortly after that interview.No more media appearances, no social media presence, no speaking engagements.”
“Someone who went quiet after their career setback,” Vic observed.“Exactly what you predicted.”
"Let's see what he's been up to lately, then," Miles said.He clicked through several more databases, looking for records of current employment."Looks like he's teaching chemistry at Northern Virginia Community College.Just outside D.C.That's not exactly keeping distance form your community… but it's still promising."
Vic was already reaching for her jacket.“Think it's worth a visit?”
“You’re already getting your jacket,” he pointed out with an excited smile.“Does it matter what I think?”
She chuckled at him as they headed out of the door.“Thompson has the chemistry background, the grievance against his former employer, and he's been publicly claiming that chemical compounds are being used to poison the population,” Miles said.“That's exactly the mindset that would make someone vulnerable to recruitment by some higher-up figure.”
“Plus he went quiet after his public statements failed to get traction,” Vic added.“Someone in that position might be looking for a more dramatic way to make his point.”
They gathered their materials and headed for the exit.The field office continued its controlled chaos around them, but Miles felt a growing sense of focus.Marcus Thompson represented their best lead yet, someone with both the technical knowledge and the ideological motivation to commit these murders.
Within the hour, they’d hopefully have a new path to follow.Maybe a killer, maybe not.But at this point, Miles was willing to accept any path that pushed them forward rather than sitting around waiting for someone else to die.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The campus of Northern Virginia Community College was quietly alive at 9:30 when Miles and Vic arrived.Students ambled across the simple yet respectable grounds.Some scrolled on phones, others hurried along to class, and there were several sitting on benches with coffee and laptops.It was a modest campus of red brick buildings connected by tree-lined walkways.Miles and Vic pulled into the visitor parking lot, studying the campus map posted near the entrance.Miles spotted the chemistry department right away; it occupied the second floor of the Science Building, a utilitarian structure that looked like it had been built in the 1970s.
“How do we find out which classroom he's in?”Miles asked as they approached the main entrance.
“Easy.We ask.”Vic pushed through the glass doors into a lobby filled with students moving between classes.She approached the information desk where a young woman with purple hair sat behind a computer.
“Excuse me, we're looking for Professor Marcus Thompson.Do you know where he might be teaching right now?”
