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“Linds, can you talk about the science teacher? Off the record—or on”

It’s a long-standing joke that Cindy has to be warned andshop She’s a cririt, tenacity, and insight Of course we all love those qualities in her, but still Reporters report, right? If we don’t say “off the record,” it’s our own fault if soe

“Off the record, Cindy,” I said over the din “If Conklin didn’t tell you, Grant co 101, and one of the bombs he describes is a compression bomb That’s probably as used in Sci-Tron”

Three asked as one, “What’s a compression bomb?”

I said, “As I understand it, you fill a en You attach a detonator and es the atmospheric pressure of, say, Sci-Tron, and that’s what blows up the structure It’s called a hard-force explosion The second blast ered by a timer on a detonator The pieces of that second bouisher with the ends blown off has been dredged out of the bay No prints on it, of course”

“It’s better than nothing,” Yuki said “Grant describes a sis Plus, we have the remains of the exploded bo it in Sci-Tron”

Cindy asked, “So he just brought it in and left it there? How?”

“Don’t know,” I told her “Maybe he cauised in a service uniforuisher Maybe he came in as a science teacher There’s an idea He could have used his real ID to get in and inserted the canister into an exhibit At the salob of C-4—anywhere It’s a plausible theory”

I went on, telling iven in to our CSI, but what they found wasn’t illegal or even incri

“Yes, he did research on boy, astronomy, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Entertainment section of the Chronicle

“Forensics also went through his phone, read his texts, chased down his frequently called phone nuot names, school administrators, take-out pizza, utility companies There were absolutely no calls to Syria or Pakistan or Brussels, or they were untraceable No calls to known criminals, either,” I said “Needless to say, we also have no hits on his fingerprints or DNA in criminal databases”

“The guy is a closed book,” said Cindy

“A ghost,” said Claire “Or a wraith”

“A very dangerous person,” said Yuki

I asked, “So why did he leave that ht?”