The End of the Beginning

William lifted the square storm drain grate with a grunt. John shined William’s flashlight down into the shaft below it. A ladder in the shaft led down into a tunnel about ten feet below the courtyard. William wiped his hands on his pants, instantly dirtying them up with the grim and dirt of the grate.

“In my investigation interview today Hernandez showed me a picture of Samir in his final resting position. His head landed on this storm drain grate. In the picture his head was bleeding, profusely. With any luck, some of his blood dripped down into the tunnel below and it’s still there for us to collect.” “It’s possible. You go first,” John motioned cautiously.

“Baby,” sighed William.

He lowered himself down the ladder, taking his flashlight down in his mouth. John followed. Down inside the tunnel it was damp and cold and it smelt like it. Lighting was minimal. William and John had to crouch inside of it once they reached the bottom of the shaft. The tunnel had a rectangular shape.

“This is used to take excess rainwater during storms,” observed John.

“Yeah, that’s a good thing though,” said William. “It hasn’t rained since the incident. Look around. Most of it should be right here.” William directed his flashlight at the base of the ladder. After only a few seconds of illumination he spotted a dry red substance that had pooled in several scattered stains all within inches of each other.

“Bingo,” smiled William.

“Ha. Look at that,” stared John. “It looks clean. I can’t believe it.”

“Bag it and tag it. You have anything to take a sample?”

John raised an eyebrow. “Will, you kidding me?”

“Of course,” chuckled William. “I forgot who I was talking too.”

John removed a small white Velcro medical kit from his left pant leg. He opened it and sprawled it out on the floor. Inside it was a collection of small surgical tools, creams, some medications, syringes, and cotton swabs that could be sealed inside of an attached plastic tube. He took one of these cotton swabs and rubbed it over one of the blood pools, hoping it would lift something.

“Got it?” asked William.

“Yup. I think so.”

John carefully pulled the swab back into the attached plastic tube and sealed it. He took another sample, then sealed it as well.

“Okay,” he said satisfied. “I can get this analyzed within twenty-four hours of arriving in Alaska.”

“When do you get there?”

“Around eighteen hundred hours Alaskan standard time, four hours behind you here on the east coast. So, twenty-two hundred hours here. The dams opening ceremony is the day after tomorrow at o-nine hundred hours so I’ll either get the sample analyzed before or after that.” “How long is the ceremony going to last?”

“A while. It’s celebrating no small feat, Will. The Bering Sea Dam is the largest structure ever built on Earth. Senior heads of all UNIRO facilities and dozens of heads of states will be there. I’ll try my best to get out of there as soon as I can.” “Okay. Thanks, Doc.”

“No problem. What are you going to do in the mean time?”

William pulled a smirk across his face. “Probably get myself in trouble.”