IT was evening in Kingston; and the twilight glow shone against the Martinez couple, as they watched the sun from their balcony.
It had been a few days since Carl went undercover with Peter to spy on Cannon…
And he’d returned that same day, but hadn’t talked much on it.
The couple stood in the terrace, leaning on the rail enclosing it. As June snitched her small frame under Carl’s broad shoulder.
The yellowing sun had almost vanished out of sight when Carl thought to raise the talk about Cannon.
He wanted to talk to June about doing forensics on the bicycle. The rooftop cycle.
Carl remembered that June had been wanting to invent a thing around forensics. It was one of the three projects she abandoned during her Ph.D.
Her idea was to model radiocarbon – which is the compound present in living things which makes carbon dating possible—
To use the model to invent a novel formula for crime analysis.
“Carl, you know what is dead is dead,” June had told him one day.
“So if we use radiocarbon in organisms to date the time that they’ve existed, I don’t see how this adds anything cogent to this precious life we’re living now!”
“Uh-oh,” Carl nodded.
“So it doesn’t surprise me that we’ve got the world inventing lies in the name of carbon dating and archeology.
“Telling the lay world about Bigfoot, humanoids, and dinosaurs—and all that stuff invented to date the world some million years old!
“Then, with the things fabricated to pitch life’s origin in Africa. Or even to construct the science-politics that they call ‘Race’—
“When people are just people wherever they go! Whether they are genetically mutated, or they’ve become more adapted!”
“Mmm!” Carl heaved a sigh.
“But what if we leave the dead buried?” June drove her words hard. “Then stop digging antiquity, and dig our lives instead?!”
“Really!” quipped Carl. “Cos we don’t exhume the past without looking down!”
“Oh how can you so nail it, honey!” It was June now being impressed with Carl’s remark.
“You’ve got your own way with words that so beats me! You know, I call their digging, ‘Graceful Condescension!’”
“Good line,” answered Carl. “Now go ahead; I’m feeling you already!”
“Okay then,” replied the lady as she picked up. “Now this is what I’m thinking:
“Fingerprints in outdoor crime scenes are easily washed by rain. So it’s difficult to collect the prints for analysis after rain.
“But imagine if we leave the prints aside, and identify suspects by their smell.
“No two people have the same body smell. It is why dogs can distinguish between people.
“So, imagine if we don’t have to take those sniffer dogs around during forensics. And we simply let chemistry do the job!
“You see, it is just like blood: it thickens when it spills down. But when people wash it with water, the trail is almost wiped off.
“But then, when it seemed blood may be washed off crimes scenes, chemistry gave us luminol. And now we can make blood trails reappear!”
“Wow, that is interesting!” gasped her listener.
“Sure,” answered June.
“Then, so we don’t look destined to keep on seeing blood, science again gave us hydrogen peroxide to wipe it clean!”
Carl was impressed, so he just smiled. He only smiled.
But the brilliant chemist wasn’t done. She fired on.
“But even so, identity trails like the sweat and even fingerprints on objects can still be washed off by rain.
“So we stand helpless in the hands of nature. Because forensics is still being disturbed by it.”
Carl wanted more. “Now is there a way forward? Look, you’ve got me; so sport on already!”
June was touched. It’d always seemed tough to get Carl on her topics. Now the engineer was the one speeding her up.
Her husband was the one ready.
So June did just what Carl told her to. She sported right on.
“This is it now: We have something as effective as radiocarbon dating that can show us traces of prior existence.
“Now if we leave the dead be, and use this same carbon model to recover lost traces of sweat or other human matter...
“Then, forensic analysis on crime scenes will be lots faster.
“That is my new idea for research!”
Carl jammed his hands. “Fantastic! Real fantabulous!”
Yes, the man was ready to support his spouse. He wanted June to proceed with this.
He was willing to seek grants for her research. For he knew she could break new grounds.
But then again, Cannon happened. And June dropped all talks on forensics.
That big day was what Carl had just recalled.
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