She was immaculately dressed but for her feet, which were bare with red nail polish perfectly applied to her toes. The head of Spectrum 8 did not much care for shoes of any kind and was rarely seen in footwear.
When she reached the front, where the microphone stood, she dropped a file onto the small table at her side and launched right in.
“So, as you will know by now, Agent Trilby’s body was found on Sunday evening — he had been diving off the coast not far from Twinford Bay Beach. During the past month he has been investigating unusual ocean activity — strange behavior of marine life. There has been a lot of unusual ocean activity recently, and it can all be found in Agent Trilby’s report.” She continued to go through example after example of things that had been occurring just off the coast of Twinford.
Dolphins refusing to leave the bay, seagulls flocking inland, fishing stock low.
“As we all know,” continued LB, “Trilby was a very proficient diver, and it is highly unlikely that he would have drowned in normal circumstances. We are still waiting for the autopsy results, but it would seem that he was unfortunate enough to come into contact with something like a stingray or an electric eel. There is evidence of bruising to his leg that still needs to be explained, but we feel it’s likely that he encountered this sort of creature and this either led to a cardiac arrest or a severe shock that in turn led to drowning.”
It couldn’t have been a stinging creature that killed him,
thought Ruby,
Trilby would definitely have utilized his Spectrum-issue anti-sting Miracle serum.
It was a comfort to know that every diving agent had this lifesaver with them even if it couldn’t guard against shocks and bites.
LB pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose. “Yes?” she said, spotting a raised hand.
“Do you think the strange ocean activity is linked to something else — some dark plot, I mean — or do you think it’s all just a consequence of some natural event throwing things off course?”
The question came from Agent Blacker, a disheveled-looking man in a crumpled jacket — an agent Ruby admired. They had worked together on the Jade Buddha case, and he was not only a smart person, he was a nice guy. He had a laid-back manner, but was as sharp as a tack.
“There is nothing to suggest that Trilby was the victim of foul play, if that’s what you’re getting at,” replied LB. “However, I am interested in his findings in the context of other unusual activity. Some of you will have been party to the ongoing investigation into the missing or scrambled coast-guard signals and reports of disruption with shipping vessels; cargo going awry, turning up in the wrong place.”
She listed the coast-guard reports — and the list was long. Shoes, coffee, corn, bananas, you name it, it seemed to have ended up in the wrong port.
“Even a six-ton elephant on its way to Baltimore has gone astray,” concluded LB.
Ruby made a mental note to apologize to Del Lasco: give or take a few elephants, she had actually been telling the truth.
LB wound up her talk and removed her glasses, hooking them onto her shirt. “To be honest with you,” she said, “we really have no idea what might be going on. To date we are not investigating any criminal activity. All we know is that Agent Trilby was monitoring unusual events at sea and regrettably died. If it wasn’t for the coast-guard reports, we would continue monitoring marine life and not look any further.”
Blacker raised his hand again.
“Yes?” she said.
“So you
are
looking to make a link?” said Blacker.
“Either that or to establish that there isn’t one — it could all be a coincidence,” she replied.
“But link or no link, you’ll be wanting me to plot through Trilby’s findings and see where they take us?” said Blacker.
“Correct. Meanwhile, I understand that Agent Kekoa from Sea Division will take over Trilby’s ocean
When she reached the front, where the microphone stood, she dropped a file onto the small table at her side and launched right in.
“So, as you will know by now, Agent Trilby’s body was found on Sunday evening — he had been diving off the coast not far from Twinford Bay Beach. During the past month he has been investigating unusual ocean activity — strange behavior of marine life. There has been a lot of unusual ocean activity recently, and it can all be found in Agent Trilby’s report.” She continued to go through example after example of things that had been occurring just off the coast of Twinford.
Dolphins refusing to leave the bay, seagulls flocking inland, fishing stock low.
“As we all know,” continued LB, “Trilby was a very proficient diver, and it is highly unlikely that he would have drowned in normal circumstances. We are still waiting for the autopsy results, but it would seem that he was unfortunate enough to come into contact with something like a stingray or an electric eel. There is evidence of bruising to his leg that still needs to be explained, but we feel it’s likely that he encountered this sort of creature and this either led to a cardiac arrest or a severe shock that in turn led to drowning.”
It couldn’t have been a stinging creature that killed him,
thought Ruby,
Trilby would definitely have utilized his Spectrum-issue anti-sting Miracle serum.
It was a comfort to know that every diving agent had this lifesaver with them even if it couldn’t guard against shocks and bites.
LB pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose. “Yes?” she said, spotting a raised hand.
“Do you think the strange ocean activity is linked to something else — some dark plot, I mean — or do you think it’s all just a consequence of some natural event throwing things off course?”
The question came from Agent Blacker, a disheveled-looking man in a crumpled jacket — an agent Ruby admired. They had worked together on the Jade Buddha case, and he was not only a smart person, he was a nice guy. He had a laid-back manner, but was as sharp as a tack.
“There is nothing to suggest that Trilby was the victim of foul play, if that’s what you’re getting at,” replied LB. “However, I am interested in his findings in the context of other unusual activity. Some of you will have been party to the ongoing investigation into the missing or scrambled coast-guard signals and reports of disruption with shipping vessels; cargo going awry, turning up in the wrong place.”
She listed the coast-guard reports — and the list was long. Shoes, coffee, corn, bananas, you name it, it seemed to have ended up in the wrong port.
“Even a six-ton elephant on its way to Baltimore has gone astray,” concluded LB.
Ruby made a mental note to apologize to Del Lasco: give or take a few elephants, she had actually been telling the truth.
LB wound up her talk and removed her glasses, hooking them onto her shirt. “To be honest with you,” she said, “we really have no idea what might be going on. To date we are not investigating any criminal activity. All we know is that Agent Trilby was monitoring unusual events at sea and regrettably died. If it wasn’t for the coast-guard reports, we would continue monitoring marine life and not look any further.”
Blacker raised his hand again.
“Yes?” she said.
“So you
are
looking to make a link?” said Blacker.
“Either that or to establish that there isn’t one — it could all be a coincidence,” she replied.
“But link or no link, you’ll be wanting me to plot through Trilby’s findings and see where they take us?” said Blacker.
“Correct. Meanwhile, I understand that Agent Kekoa from Sea Division will take over Trilby’s ocean
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