LOST HIGHWAY

by Zac Funstein

  “What is good about GW Frías if you’ll pardon the sales-pitch is that it is not a good Samaritan when it comes to silicon.”

  “It’s not-I suppose I’m sad about that!”

  There was something utilitarian about the commentary like this was a class that was being engaged with.

  “GW is not a prude when it comes to animosity about silicon such that it brings it into sharp relief.”

  Solving this riddle had been a little like climbing a mountain with a single mattock plus some frayed rope-this might just be the cable-car to take them to the top easily.

  Jordan tried to put it in a way that was understandable-since recent inroads had been made into the Antolin Rojas Solano poisoning which was largely considered to be via a bottle of scent called ‘Giant Passport’-at least this was what was suggested.

  “It’s like a pheromone-the GW attracts or repels silicon!”

  “I’ve never heard it put like that but yes-you could say at a pinch. I was fairly uneducated at high-school but if my take is correct then this is a good take. The GW will hone in on any silicone moreover bring out any of its characteristics.”

  Since no one was being traitorous about being inexpert-there didn’t seem to be any ill-will about it was muttered:

  “So using the GW on what we found at BC might tell us something about who was there apart from G.”

  “It can tell us a lot like that yeh. I don’t like to sermonize or make out GW can cure the common-cold or make the human race love one another but no one can deny it’s good.”

  A zipped up attache case is unfastened-a file is removed.

  “Let’s not shilly shally no time like the present. Since we seem to get on I won’t put a price tag on any of this-my services are gratuitous.”

  This was said so no doubt was left that the interpretation could a terrible one if Frías hadn’t been liked. There were a pair of air lanes one fast the other slow. Augustin didn’t even teeter totter but was in the fast-lane no question.

  “It will take a while I can tell-probably a bit of a pantomime.”

  It was anticipated that Augustin might be offended initially, but far from it-Valles seemed to agree.

  “When they begun doing this the hardware necessary would fill a dormitory but now it is reduced to a funnel plus a sachet of chemicals.”

  As if from nowhere such is produced: a tiny resealable plastic bag with what seems like meth-crystals inside then a small plastic funnel that might serve a multivariate of purposes.

  “I detect there are a few problem with this gear.”

  “Sure- you know Frías was an Aquarius-they are brilliant at coming up with schemes, but when it comes to practicalities. Its like the old days of leaded or unleaded-it took them a while to come up with a pep that was safe now the former is uncountenanceable thank goodness.”

  “There are problems I understand-one must be phlegmatic take the rough with the smooth.”

  “Portillo must have got a charming embolism for his pains for his sudden demise occurred soon afterwards. The former bombardier was gone forever.”

  There was a glance at Jordan from ex school-teacher Augustin but Frías didn’t seem like a fidget to him-that is his attention wasn’t lost. The need to amplify himself to get his message across was not necessary.

  “What is amusing if I might be impartial for the moment is that all these props that we use to find who did xyz neglect one essential factor-that we lived in a perfect-world then none of this would be necessary. An anthologist might put all these together painstakingly but those who ask why we have to do this at all are very few.”

  For a briefest instant it was as if we were at the end of everything with everyone ascending the great stairs that took us to great reckoning-in-the-sky. It wasn’t so difficult to countenance that someone in an uncivilized mood could take an ICBM from a stockpile then blow us up in dispirited manner for being annoying humans.

  “I suppose there must be some hardware that goes with this-it used to be a transformer once they all demanded-now everything has got to have an app or a hard-drive with ‘terror-bites’-which sounds nasty but is just another attempt to describe a fiendishly large batch of something.”

  “I suppose you can do this here-you don’t need to go to some nauseous industrial park with an extractor-fan to remove terrible fumes.”

  Students in GW always seemed to be either cute or non-cute-that was one of the non-cute lines of enquiry.

  “No we can do all this here with little more than you see before you. It’s like what ‘heroin addicts’ call the chase only on a smaller scale. Take some grade A heat it up with a lighter then watch it cut a swathe down some tinfoil or in our instance an elaborate tin plate.”

  “Your unique infomercial hardly glitters with intelligentsia.”

  “You don’t have to be a junkie to do it-I was just trying to draw a comparison that is all.”

  Soon Augustin was busy as promised. It was sensed that if an elaborate summation could have been given early then it would have been to speed matters somewhat. Augustin however was not someone who enjoyed cutting corners even remotely. His shirt which was decorated with ‘AD’s seemed to echo fact Puritan woman found guilty of adultery, was severely punished had to wear the letters ‘AD’ on their clothing from that point on. This was not the buffoonery of an adulteress however.

  Jordan could see Augustin’s aquiline features bent over whatever it was that was being done. His jacket was starchy like it still had the coat-hanger in. A cynic might claim that it was more the education that fuelled it all rather than the actual physical application. Tense moments like this were the punishment for sometimes getting it bang on.

  “I could cut the waiting to give you a half baked answer but far better to give you a more complete reply.”

  Relaxation was not the name of the game soon Valles was at it once again. There seemed an almost courtly ritual involved although what it was was anyones guess.

  Eventually a verdict was given for a shriek went up-albeit a very small one as per sound effects.

  “Accuse us of being an idolater of worshipping in the chapel of GW a little too fervently but I am sure that whatever perceptual scaffolding you have going now has a new fact to add-can’t say fairer than that.”

  It was like Valles was fed up with always being the maid of honor-always being stood up at the altar of facts.

  “As far as I can make out-the silicon in this is from someone who used a non-perfumed deodorant.”

  “There was someone who used this whilst the attack occurred in Prince Rupert that’s incredible.”

  After Augustin had gone checked with everything that had been found in or near G’s volvo but it seemed to turn up a big ‘no-no’.

  Hilda R. Wilder a stern looking lady dressed in a crisp uniform plus dark -rimmed glasses sat looking at the relevant online papers finally glanced up speaking in a gruff voice. “It doesn’t seem to be here-have you checked with the Schreiber family?”

  Ellen was duly consulted still dressed in mourning her grief was tangible.

  “We’re all allergic unfortunately G included.”G was mentioned in the present tense like still alive. “None of us can use even the most refined deodorant unfortunately-not even those that advertise they have no unpleasant additives that’s how allergic we are.”

  Ramses Smolders did not know what to do-if to go on trying to find the mix that went with the Guadeloupe volcanic rock-or try to find some more singular element that was in the scrap they had found. More than any other person that Ramses knew Pedro Melo Souza captured people with his inherent simplicity/ humaneness. Despite his life going downhill, he was still described by people who knew him as a gentle, placid, easy-going, amiable man. This placid nature plus sense of humour instilled confidence in patients seeking counselling in his holistic clinic. Pedro seemed like one of those peripheral actors on TV that you might vaguely recognise as a security guard or someone with vaguely sinister intent who appears only when s
uch need arises

  It was sure this was the person to consult.

  Here wasn’t very dez-res not the sort of joint anyone would come to whether they were invited or not. Real-estate agents would call it ‘off the beaten track’ or ‘on the outskirts’. Everywhere was in dire need of a coat of some polyurethane gloss. Built after some war-the charitable might skip just over which was this was or what weaponry was utilized. The makeshift warning signs from equally cobbled together security companies painted a world of blaring hazchem sirens more frightening than real.

  Pedro was wearing a button-down flannel dude-ranch shirt. His shirt was tucked into a pair of trousers (that weren’t jeans) that looked tight/ uncomfortable. Souza definitely seemed to be from somewhere in the southwestern part of the United States because of his accent, but Smolders was sure that it was received wisdom Souza was from Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl OAP Pedro Melo Souza could still be found painting in his Houston studio, wearing a denim apron with an Apollo badge sewn on but had taken the flight to this colder clime to meet an old pen-pal. Souza sprinkled a touch of moon dust into every painting it was said.

  Pedro was his old self, fully charged, excited to be here, just plain fabulous, having just seen Kathakali eclipse other dance forms by its grandeur, at the local theatre, woven in a style combining ease/ elan. It showed in the dancer Jemima Gooxies movements, those fine steps/twists that were as smooth as prized silk.

  “I sense that you are in something of a dilemma Ramses.”

  In far off India, Gandhi's ragged army took on the armed might of the British Empire with as much elan as Ethiopian armed forces defeated the Italians at Adowa. Now Smolders knew just what one of these Bengali or Ethiopian soldiers must have experienced. Souza could at times be formidable-there was no getting away with it.

  Their host (who had kindly agreed to loan the space for the meeting) without being uncharitable seemed like someone who had borrowed props from the ‘House of Flying Daggers’, yet another martial arts period piece, for everywhere were sharp implements. Smolders only reaction to the flick was that apart from squandering the resources of a prodigiously gifted cast, the film's greatest shortcoming must be its inability to generate the merest scintilla of dramatic tension around its central narrative thread-that someone had an affection for pieces of flying steel whizzing through the air.

  There were other artefacts-a gas mask, plus what turned out to be an air raid siren which was unsettling- it hurt too when activated, it was so loud when it was accidentally activated.

  “While acting in ‘good faith’ does not mean things will always turn out the way one wants them to, it does lead to a certain placidity-I believe I have been a little too docile.”

  “This must be in a certain context Ramses.”

  The atmosphere was uncomfortable, the air tense/ jumpy momentarily.

  Everything that had been done up to now was condensed so that Souza could pass judgement in his inimitable style.

  “You feel adventurous, like new experiences, have a fairly grounded personality, I would say go for it Ramses-trust where you are lead.”

  A plaster replica of Durkheim seems to watch over them; at least that is who it seems like. The gaunt model with huge, ghoulish representations was disturbing; the hard lines which dominated almost but not quite like the original. It was as if the great man watched over them wanting to pass a verdict but not being able to.

  “I find the influence of sociology encourages using a variety of more adventurous/ imaginative research methods plus new sources of data. I would be inclined to suggest you try to see beyond what you have set yourself Smolders.”

  The beneficiary of this sound wisdom however is not listening but captivated by the great sociologists representation.

  “Is that who I believe it is Souza?”

  “Who is that Ramses?” it is enquired with the faintest touch of malice.

  Like currency worn so smooth with exchange that it is thinner than paper-the question seems to float between them like the faintest of exhalations.

  “Durkheim who formally established the academic discipline of Sociology who believed in the guidance of institutions no less. It seems such an unusual setting like being somewhere else.”

  That assurance was fading quickly bringing a hitherto unknown and uneasy sense of belonging-as if they both shared this doubt.

  “Interesting nobody who loves or indulges in the opposite knows that such is being done so. If they profess to believe so then they are lying for they have held something in reserve. To sublimate indulgence into a sculpture requires the well-regulated command that is available to few.”

  “Wen der Mensch in seiner Qual verstummnt, gab mir ein Got zu sagen was ich leiden.”

  “It sounds Germanic slightly.”

  “While the rest fall quiet in their suffering-a Deity gives us strength to articulate such pain.

  Almost correct-but not quite-its Swiss-we used the principle of morphology-starting with Durkheim's image which we fed into a computer then proceeded to alter until it was almost unrecognisable-but not quite. It is probably why you hesitate. Some are as confused as you are-I believe the effect was worth the effort. We have made several of these ‘Almost-likes’.”

  ‘Almost-likes’ was Mobspeak for these near likenesses-they were grown out of secrecy of the Cosa Nostra who used them to disorientate victims, and who can be more secret than the Mafia? The anti-social nature of the Mob was the perfect breeding ground for such ‘Antilanguage’ as this was called.

  “I will try to find what the additive that was added to the rare pumice then. There are other things we could explore but I will stick with this. It will help us narrow down even further than we have done already. Those that use the volcanic abrasive on its own are rare those that have to add something might be rarer!”

  Ramses must become like the adoptees of a French-inspired sport called parkour that have fascinated him recently -parkourists tear through urban landscapes using obstacles like ledges plus stairs as springboards, catapults — rarely with any safety equipment. It might look effortless, but it takes a while just to master the proper way of rolling out of a jump. The solution must be found without being blocked by any obstacles.

  “Scripts are pre-packaged ways to find weaknesses in computer systems. They’ve been around for ages, the growth of the Internet has led to higher demand for such tools, especially among a younger crowd dazzled by ‘The Net Hackers’. Maybe you need a pre-packaged way of finding the weakness in the cloth scrap that was found.”

  “They are known as ‘script rippers,’ I believe to be strictly pedantic- people who want to call themselves hackers but who don’t necessarily want to spend forever glued to a monitor. We could use them I suppose but something tells us this is going to be a much harder fight more spadework than sophisticated machinery. Sometimes throwing techno-toys at a problem just doesn’t work.”

  After getting a pep-talk from Pedro Melo Souza, Ramses had to get the lowdown from Jan Rak otherwise known as ‘Hulk-Captain’ or ‘HC’ who had been inside for molestation offences so often that the authorities invariably interviewed him, even though the Schreiber-girl was above her majority so out of his usual catchment. They had often suspected him of cruising that remote piece of highway.

  “It’s not fair Smolders you can’t pin this on us,” moaned the nonce-squirming like something on a hook.

  It was enjoyable watching the low-life suffer. There was tons of stuff on Rak but getting it out of him that was the trouble. They’d probably throw the key away if they knew everything the perv had done. If they could get him to squeal it would probably go on for ages-all those little-boys who couldn’t talk because they were dead.

  “Just tell us what you did on the evening that Schreiber was attacked, if you can give a good account of your actions then you walk away from here a free-man.”

  “You’re sure you haven’t got something on that database of yours you’re just itching to stick on someone so you can s
lam a big virtual ‘solved’ on to get rid of it?”

  “Nothing like that-we don’t fabricate solutions I can assure you-there is no need to be intimidated or start whining to solicitors.”

  Rak went into a fairly complex describing-it was obvious that being locked up with a lot of violent criminals after his serious harm did not exactly thrill.

  After stopping at Walmart to purchase a factory replacement magazine manufactured from high impact, modified, tough, lubricated nylon HC Jan turned the key in the ignition which started without hesitation as always. After reaching his residence Rak parked then searched nearby for any unusual vehicles-there was a Dodge van like Vratislav Trnka drove the notorious parent who hunted men like Jan sometimes-which blissfully didn’t have him (or anyone like it) in it. Having got inside his apartment HC had taken the clothes from the dryer left earlier then put them in a laundry basket when a sound caught his attention; for a moment there had been some anticipation-there had been a lot of break ins recently, but it had only been a neighbour upstairs.

  Eventually it got boring- listening to child-molesters talk about their favourite Randolf Scott movie did not thrill the interviewer.

  “You’re trying to say that you weren’t there.”

  It seemed okay not the usual verifiable concoctions that these men used to cover up their perverted activity.

  “Yeh-you can’t sting us for that I’m fed up with being blamed for everything that happens on that wicked stretch of tarmacadam.”

  After engaging with Rak in any capacity Ramses always wanted to cleanse himself like something really dirty had been related with.

  What is zero-tasking? It means being, not doing. It means taking those precious minutes then just doing nothing. Simply rest, relax, de-stress, de-load (the opposite of overload). It means just breathing—in and out, over and over—then marvelling at the fact that you can breathe, that you are alive, that you are here.

  Instead of the former activity (cleansing) Ramses confined himself (child locks firmly down) in his Mitsubishi Magna. Zero tasking was infinitely preferable. It was fitting really that the let down should come when Ramses Smolders was on his way to Victoria Bayton Ltd who had written to him to say that as far as they knew they were the only people that used the P.P.P to pre-wash their jeans. Ramses was about to get out of his car (Plymouth Volare an old squad car bought at the city auction a few years ago) when a visual reference stopped him- a tall, gaunt, eerie person dressed in all nylon, with a large rimmed hat plus string bow tie was beckoning to let him in the vehicle.