by Zac Funstein
“I’m sure-did you not get the e-mail I sent Mr. Gagné?”
Guerin begins hunting through various junk-mail that has accumulated-AKs, ammunition, magazines, RPD machine guns, SKS rifles for hunting that sort of thing.
“Are here we are-I knew I had the printout somewhere Felicien. That is you isn’t it-I presume?”
“For my sins Guerin-if I may call you that since we are on first name terms.”
“Naturally. The sulphur data-interesting. Could I ask where this element was found? It’s just it’s rather how shall we say rare-in a domestic setting of this nature, not generally in the universe there is much. Jupiters moon Io is a prime example.”
Many people can trace their excitement about a specific subject to the special way the subject was presented by a great teacher. Unfortunately these ‘great teachers’ are rather rare. Although Felicien wasn’t a pedagogue per se-the same enthusiasm seemed to emanate.
“I’m sure that Burkett told you about how conventional mining was largely superseded by products from refining.”
“Only the briefest introduction but yes-ceramic pipes cap the fumaroles, and inside the sulphur condenses solidifying into pure sulphur. What seemed driven home to us was although denigration of culture is an affront to human dignity-it was difficult to see the sulphur collection by burnt emphysema ridden Javanese natives as crucial to their culture.”
“There are worse Gehenna like baptisms of fire unfortunately-but it is difficult to picture what they are it is an outrage-these men (it does mostly seem to be men) often asphyxiate or get seriously burned! But permit us to draw a comparison from some similar craft-it is not like iron pyrite versus gold.”
“They are both the same man made or rock hewn-all will correspond it can be concluded that they are chemically indistinguishable.”
“The comparison I prefer is to German soldiers in the Great War who emerge from the mist that are indistinguishable from comrades. They look like GI’s, they talk like GI’s, they know the GI passwords—so they are easily able to fool the sentries, penetrate the lines…”
“Why do people choose the human collected sulfur then?”
“A government official said the move was in response to an increase in online ‘general chatter’ from radical groups. Some claimed the impurities gave a specialness to the element. With their radical new status they felt empowered, superior perhaps most annoyingly for us, righteous. Specialness or not it is helpful to law-men like yourself because it tells us what mine or volcano the dye was originally from.”
“I believe I am getting this-whoever made the denim that Schreibers assailant wore denim that used a dye was using not a byproduct of a refinery like this one but actually mined like coal or diamonds. There is a symbiosis: a town springs up because of the mine. Naturally when there is a community there are always those who know when the ‘good stuff’ is coming off the production line.”
It was never satisfactorily cleared up but it was believed that buyers for these rare denim makers knew when the seam matched their unique needs, then at the ring of a smartphone the batch could be purchased- sometimes the mother-lode was so precious it would be requisitioned in its entirety no matter what. The miners grotesque even by traditional standards, bloated yet drooping, slouched monstrosities with rubbery expressions could not know how precious their find was-how their recompense for so little could be so great a find.
“Now you’re going to ask what mine this came from-it would seem a reasonable request.”
“I wasn’t but continue anyway-anything that can pin down this denim will be of enormous assistance.”
“That isn’t my department I’m afraid-for that you must seek the Sulphur Miners Movement.
The (SMM) lamented on Thursday what it described as a wild distortion of its programmes by the media, denied it had any violent or lawless intentions or was corrupt. They know the trade inside out-they often have to trace batches to see where they were from if a legal mine or not. When it was no longer the grist for the shame-filled ambitions of arch Marxist-Abrha Fikru-the present leader of the union took over.”
The Middle Ages, more than any other period, are rich in instances of that intimate blending of the comic plus the horrible which we call the macabre; making through town to his destination this similarity was what most struck Felicien. Everywhere was the plastic-surgeons creations-a mixture of botox with inflated silicone, oozing out of plunging dresses, tottering. They moved blind to anything but their own selfish desires. This jibed nicely with the nascent reurbanization trend that was taking over-a relic of a world lost forever.
What we want is the ability to recognise the difference between situations that call for optimism, trying harder, plus the situations that call for realism/ pessimism Felicien’s immediate superiors had drummed in just before leaving-with this very much to the fore Bonvoeur pushed on.
The prose used to report the highly subjective incident that followed was highly verbose but the gist of what was implied by Deputy Union Leader Yonatan Goytiom was plain.
‘At approx midwatch of the afternoon I answered the entrance buzzer-assured that it was Nasih Brhane of our companion union- the Mechanized Digging Carriers Union (MDCU) calling to gain a progress-report of recent innovations in dry cleaning coal shale that our orgs were both attempting to legislate for. I ushered Brahne in-at least who I believed Brahne was- then moved a chair so we would be facing each other. I told him that Nebay Welde wouldn’t be available until later on, at which the person explained that they were not Nasih but Felicien Bonvoeur a person that was investigating an incident in a remote stretch of highway in British Columbia. They had brought a sulphur sample with a view to determining its origin-this would assist in determining who some denim manufacturers were. That it was mined rather than a byproduct had been already ascertained. They wished us in our capacity of miners union reps to tell him where this source might be.
This caller seemed as never before like a man used to deep trouble.
‘I’d rather see Nebay but I guess you’ll do for starters.’
I replied:
‘If I knew what it was that you wanted then maybe I could help.’
The caller then said that they needed to know where the batch was made if it was from a mine in Turkmenistan as suspected or from one in Ukraine.
I believed this intruder a little disrespectful of Mr.Welde so informed him perhaps a little too rudely, ‘I’m certain that if I had been without Nebay during these hardships, I’d be either in a gutter somewhere or in urn on a mantelpiece-a legacy from some terrible accident-greatly missed by everyone but dissolved again into the natural elements from which we all come’-you must understand if I seem a little cautious or overly protective. Is Nebay a lump of clay who we can mold any way we want I demanded? Is our director an empty canvas on which we can paint any picture we desire? No on both counts.
When the union-leader arrived solid, heavy, very simply dressed (in a pin-striped suit that Felicien had surely last seen in Boyd's Men Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) there was the sound of a radio playing a sport broadcast if not from the courtyard of tai-chi practitioners nearby slowly gyrating then certainly in the vicinity. That Goytiom was demanding of himself could it be possible that his admonition had been too rash, that being severely punished, for his boldness was in the offing was not known, what could be seen however was how disturbed Bonvoeur was.
“You must overlook my hesitation but the last I heard that DJ was when in Texas I often listened to XUVA then-not realising that it would be heard again in Reynosa. Picture my shock if you would before a night at the theatre with my best girl at my side- turning on a radio finding that XUVA was there. After the show when I got home turning on the radio I found that a station in Monterrey, was coming in on our frequency loud/clear. An armoured division acting via a SWAT like squad had closed us down at Reynosa-someone had used the frequency to trace us.We only narrowly escaped.”
It took a while to dawn what was
meant.
“The transistor has disturbing connotations-no matter I’m sure that it will pass.”
The dial was turned, but what was of interest more so was the use of the anachronism ‘transistor’-no doubt there were those who despite modern advances still valued this as a vital contact with what was happening.
Bonvoeur was quick to get to the matter that weighed upon him- under a poster depicting a ‘simple man’ (the irony of the missing female counterpart was not lost on Bonvoeur), dressed in traditional clothes, performing intense physical labour for no reason other than it needed to be done it was demanded:
“Does this fabric give any indication as to which mine it was from Nebay?”
Leaders have to move with a sense of purpose, in a fixed direction someone once said. Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose for Nebay expounded confidently.
“Each mine has its own particular character-it is possible to discern with some certainty which mine any scrap of material came from by the unique properties evinced-that is what toxic metal is prevalent. Now this ascertaining has to be pursued with all vigour.”
“You will try to discern this almost unique code.”
This mele of toxins must be highly unpleasant but there was nothing else in Felicien’s vocab that had the desired descriptiveness.
“Indubitably! Now to work-at the commencement of the mission, all material relevant to the purpose of the exercise should be made available to it, with the assistance of the organization concerned-we must hunt for what necessary for the discernment.”
Dr. Marvin C. Wesley the chief Medical Examiner, was a pompous pain but knew Nebay was brilliant someone who not only got the results correct but also fast.
Yonatan added:
“If you will take note of my observation at the last meeting-more emphasis should be placed on describing interventions that are particularly relevant to the purpose of the case report Nebay.”
“Astute of you Yonatan, but I believe in this instance we will find this is from Turkmenistan without too much bother.”
Gregory R. Herrera was not a brilliant character when it came to the public-side of law-infraction-solving - stick him before a camera something seemed to fade-’camera shyness’ was in short his affliction. Where Gregory was good at however was interviewing children or teachers in a class-it was here Herrera earned the reputation of being a brilliant, but renegade investigative-agency (renegade, not because of the broken rules, but because of those followed). Here was a level of confidence/ arrogance that even his most disliked opponents admired.
“Don’t tell us more counterterrorism work as part of our regular duties,” exclaimed Gregory when told that his services were needed.
“Give us a break Herrera. I want you to speak to the Schreiber class teacher find out if anything untoward happened before the accident-a Mr. Atilio Linares Feliciano.”
When Gregory arrived transportation was to his own school. Its atmosphere was oppressive/ disagreeable exactly the same ; it was crowded, noisy, yet confusing too. A ‘Fresh Paint’ sign greets as the premises is entered. An elderly gentleman who would give a passable impression of a department store Santa were it not for the overalls was applying paint to the sash of window. His title? Rafael Souza Cavalcanti. His age? If our life span was analogous to a clock then well round almost to the beginning of the next rotation-getting near the end that is for sure. A school janitor/handyman? No a kindly individual helping to get a new sports-hall ready in time for the opening-someone giving their energy gratuitously for the good of the community.
Inside are some more geriatrics all candidates for their OAP if not already drawing it. These old men are swinging hammers violently-at least that is how it seems. A woman who is the youngest of them all (which is still older than most of the teachers) is squeezing floorboards into the floor with a device Gregory later learns is called a floor-jack or tile-lifter. At the other end with almost comedic dexterity is another reject Santa with a mechanical nail-injector. All are too busy to notice him.
Herrera enquires of a boy hurrying past who these are. Is rudely informed they are Hemilce Cisneros Montés, Mrs. Minna Rosales Quiroz’s secretary as well as p/t teacher in the victims school “An exchange followed which was somewhat protracted-but the gist was that in a toss-up over what to do in the recess after school, Marcos Fernandes Rocha a resident altar-boy of some standing came up with the wonderful suggestion of going to play a game of hockey nearby-a game which everyone seemed to enjoy. This seemed to go down a storm with Estevan Cavalcanti Almeida who was known as ‘Vitor-A’ after a movie-gangster of the same appellation. A team composed of Gustavo,José, Estevan, Otávio plus a couple of others were formed.
When Gregory arrived Atilio was watching this impromptu hockey match intently banging his gloves together in the cold to keep warm.
“Quite a player I believe you’ll agree- getting the racers loosened up- keeping them loose ‘is the name of the game’-it’s difficult at first but once they’re going! Estevan is reserved outside of class but well liked. His decisive win in Liafdag Ceballos Urrútia’s intermediate hockey team will go down in the school annals. A less pleasant occurrence was his impromptu boxing match against Jenofonte Santiago Escobar under the motorway bridge on Silva St. which will probably end up with the sport being banned.”
Gregory was taken to his own childhood when after the game was over, his own school hero Laurindo Espinal Ozuna would sit at a table sign photos or shirts for all the children in attendance. His impromptu monologues enlivened afternoon walks- none of the teammates took his studied air of despair seriously: Ozuna was skating with his roller hockey team on a concrete pier when Laurindo accidentally crashed.
“You knew the lost one well?” asked Herrera trying to bring matters to a culmination. “Yet you suspected nothing was going to happen.”
“You don’t have teenage children- young adults to be pedantic- yourself or you would know that you cannot really know them per se-only be there when if they need you, we are not parents only temporary guardians, but I have something that is further interest if you would call at my home when this tournament has finished.”
Herrera looked at his watch.
“You want us to visit your private residence Gregory?”
“If you would I’d be most grateful-I can’t really explain here-it would be too complicated. I need my charts.”
What the charts were for remained enigmatic but it sounded positively archaic-hardly a pedagogique interest.
Gregory acquiesced unhesitatingly however since they still had so little to go on. His girlfriend Celestine A. Santoro was told that there appointment for the evening was cancelled, the rather grand Victorian building where her father's luxurious flat was situated being close to Gregory’s destination did not allow this fact to escape him.
It was still very much a child's bedroom, lace blinds on the windows and stuffed creations on the dresser Herrera observed upon arrival as if everything was untouched for a while. This was both an office as well as being a spare room-though what the pieces of paper with esoteric symbols scattered everywhere meant was unclear. This block was filled with small bungalow complexes, each built around a central courtyard. A succession of covens, mystics, astrologers, plus cults had set up shop nearby seemingly gravitating to this setting.
On a shelf a statue of Sir Isaac Newton carved in bronze rested upon an iron globe- weary-looking books were piled high on the windowsills, whilst wire containers plus dried herbs hung from a ceiling beam.
“Who said religion/science were diametrically opposed; I always keep the model of the alchemist Sir Isaac as an assertion of this. For him astronomy/astrology had no distinction. But I digress-I have been examining the dead teenagers chart I believe there are some rather interesting aspects.”
A roll of parchment which had been lying nearby tied by an elastic band was unrolled then some bass paperweights put on the corners to hold it down. Nearby are a p
rotractor plus slide rule.
“Take an appreciative once over of this if you would-I believe it tells a lot.”
“I’m not very good at this sort of thing.”
A pencil is used to point to a midway coordinate.
“It could be said that the Midheaven sign represents our goal; the ascendant sign represents our way of achieving that goal, or our strategy for attaining it. Obviously, if the ascendant could be either sign, this greatly affects the evaluation.”
“What does this tell us about Our subject this mass of joined lines.”
Where they meet up is indicated.
“I believe if you trace them closely then it appears like the word ‘dear’-fanciful maybe- but that aside her aspects are quite good-no way should this have happened to her.”
When Gregory got a voice-message to phone Gastón Elizondo Stewart rather than do so whilst driving (which was dangerous anyway) Herrera decided to ask Nabila Molina Caballero who seemed to know everybody who was anybody upon his arrival.
The only Stewart that Herrera knew personally was a novelist/poet, who built then designed his own house himself, with stepped gables/Scots baronial turrets plus crenelated balconies, but this was not the same Stewart that was deemed certain.
Caballero who was often adjudged able to bring forth implied criticism of situations, or of the dishonesties (specifically the hypocritical subterfuges of the adult world) seemed to cotton on immediately who was meant.
“Gastón is involved in new research to recover print ridge impressions from fabrics -- a technique that has up until now proved difficult-we were sure the recent British Columbia denim might be assisted. Not since the war have prints on fabrics been a major focus for research- the team have already had a number of successes.”
“But why do you hesitate," continued Gregory, gazing on his charges changing countenance, "surely you are not afraid to trust yourself.”
