Beans and Ricin
“Check this out,” Kelly said,
pointing toward a large pile of beans scattered along a street gutter in front
of an old home.
“So,” replied Robert, standing on
the curb’s edge, “Maybe they’re magic and we can trade them for a cow. Then we
could …”
Kelly interrupted, “Very funny,
Robert, very funny. No, I’m serious.”
“What is it?” inquired Rebecca,
bending over to examine the beans, “Oh, castor beans.”
“Castor beans,” remarked Robert,
“Aren’t those used to make some kind of chemical agent or something?”
Kelly answered, “Yes, ricin! Ricin
is a cytotoxic protein that inhibits the synthesis of protein inside our body's
cells causing the cells to die. It can hurt you and even kill you, but its
effects depend on whether it was injected, inhaled or ingested. It does degrade
rather quickly and is not contagious, though.”
“Too much information, sis” replied
Robert, “But, it is good information to know.”
“Look,” Rebecca pointed, “up there
by the corner of the house.”
The trio observed exactly what Rebecca
intended for them to see, a pile of pellets.
“In history class we read about a
journalist way back in 1978 who had a ricin pellet injected under his skin by
somebody using an umbrella,” Robert commented.
“Let’s get out of here,” commanded
Rebecca sternly.
“I agree,” confirmed Robert.
Kelly added, “We’ll tell dad about
it as soon as we get home.
It was not long before their father
had contacted the local Berkeley police with the information provided by his
children. Jim Connors telephoned later that day to inform the Dance family that
he would assist with the investigation. Very excited, to say the least, he told
Mr. Dance, “Wow, my first big case!”
The next morning, Jim Connors
stopped by the Dance home to relay some information to Mr. Dance, “The group
that rented that house, the Emerald Dragon Society, is part of an international
crime organization known as Polydactyl.”
Overhearing the conversation, the
three youths joined their father and Jim.
“Poly-duck … what?” inquired Robert.
Kelly responded, “Polydactyl,
Robert. It’s from the congenital affliction known as polydactyly or
polydactylism; having extra digits on one’s fingers and/or toes. The one who
has this fetal developmental error is a polydactyl and …”
“Wait a minute,” interrupted Robert,
“let’s skip the encyclopedia stuff and keep it simple, for us normal people’s
sake.”
Jim and Kelly tried not to laugh,
but failed.
Rebecca added, “I read about this in
the news, in online encyclopedias and even in the Bible.”
“Oh, yeah,” reflected Robert, “Those
cool pictures of hands with six fingers you showed me a long time ago. I
remember now.”
“Getting back to the point,” Jim
continued, “This group was originally known for its five criminal endeavors;
narcotics, human trafficking, prostitution, contract kidnappings and contract
killings. They added child pornography to their repertoire of illegality about
fifteen years ago and terrorism for hire just prior to the 9-11 incidents.
Every time they expand into another area of criminal activity, they simply grow
another metaphorical appendage. Their current organization symbol is a
seven-clawed emerald dragon, but on occasion the group has used an open human
hand sporting seven digits.”
“They sound mighty dangerous,”
commented Rebecca.
“That is an understatement, young
lady,” Jim replied. “Make sure you three stay clear of things like this in the
future, at least until you are adults. You are all too valuable to have
something bad happen to you now.”
Feeling proud, the three Dance
youths smiled.
“Have you found any of the members
of the Polydactyl group?” questioned Kelly.
Jim Connors replied, “No, we suspect
they are long gone by now. It appears that whoever cleaned up the residence was
in a hurry and spilled some of the things you three found.”
But we do have information that once
our investigation is completed the owner has leased the house out already.”
“To who?” inquired Rebecca.
“One of those New Age religious cult
groups, you know, the ones whose leaders dominate and control their practitioners’
lives a little more than is normally comfortable for the average person.”
“I’ve read a lot about them in
Christian apologetics literature,” responded Kelly.
“Apolo … what?” asked Robert.
“Apologetics, Robert. This time you
can look it up yourself.”
“Ok, sis, you don’t have to go
postal on me.”
The group laughed.
Rebecca commented, “Looks like that
home’s owner is a die-hard for controversial tenants.”
“He definitely does not
discriminate. That’s for sure,” Jim replied.
Mrs. Dance shouted in the background,
“It’s almost time to head to the airport, everyone.”
“Going away?” asked Jim.
“Yes,” Kelly replied, “to Norway!”
As soon as the plane landed at
Gardermoen Airport outside of Oslo, Norway, the Dance family felt the
excitement and anticipation of the trip to a foreign land growing inside of
them. The children had never visited a European country and could hardly wait
to see Uncle Jim and Suzie. The flight was long, but due to the nine-hour time
difference, they arrived at mid-day, although it was now the next day,
Thursday.
“Don’t forget to make sure you have
all of your carry-on bags, kids,” reminded mom, “and you too, Jonothan.”
“Ok, mom.”
“Yes, dear.”
As the family exited the plane they
walked through the terminal down to the baggage pick-up area to wait for their
luggage. The turnstile went around and around, around and around, then finally,
after what felt like forever, luggage began to drop onto the conveyor belt
piece by piece.
“There’s mine,” Rebecca said,
pointing to her large blue suitcase.
“I don’t see mine yet,” Kelly
lamented.
“It will be coming soon,” Mrs. Dance
said hopefully, knowing that luggage does get lost many times on international
flights, especially where passengers change planes during their trip. The Dance
family’s flight went from San Francisco to Amsterdam, Netherlands, then on to
Oslo from there.
“I have my suitcase,” Robert
informed his father, “and mom has one of hers.”
“Now we just need Kelly’s, mine and
your mother’s second bag,” dad replied.
“There they are,” Robert said, “I’ll
grab those two, dad, and you get the other one.”
“Ok, son.”
After they loaded the baggage onto a
cart they passed through the customs area quickly then exited out to the main
terminal entrance where Suzie eagerly awaited their arrival.
“There’s Suzie,” Rebecca said,
“nearby the exit door.”
“Hello, everyone,” greeted Suzie,
“How was your flight?”
“Long,” Robert replied, with a tired
sounding voice.
Kelly remarked, “I slept for a few
hours on the plane.”
“Me too,” said Rebecca.
“Where’s Uncle Jim?” asked Kelly.
“He will join us later at home.
There’s a demonstration scheduled for today that will pass by the Embassy and
he must be there.”
“Protestors?” Rebecca questioned.
“Yes,” Suzie replied, “It is sort of
a common occurrence here these days and with responsibility over a few dozen
Diplomatic Security Officers, your uncle stays pretty busy.”
“The Local Guard Force,” Kelly
replied to her future aunt.
“Yes, that is correct, Kelly. That
is the correct title for them.”
“We’ll drive to Oslo, it takes about
fifty minutes, then we can get you all settled in at your uncle’s place. I live
nearby in a small apartment, but not for long!” Suzie said, being very excited
about her upcoming wedding.
“We are so happy for you and Jim,”
Mrs. Dance said to Suzie, “We really are.”
“Thank you. It feels so good to be
part of such a nice family.”
“We like it, ok,” Robert replied.
Mrs. Dance added, “It feels like
you’ve always been a part of our family in a way.”
As they made their way to Suzie’s
car with their luggage, they talked a little about what they would do Friday
and Saturday. Suzie’s parents will arrive Saturday evening, but they will have
a rental car of their own. They plan to take an extra week to do some site
seeing after their daughter’s wedding.
The drive back to Oslo along highway
E6 provided the family with a view of the typical landscapes surrounding Oslo.
The Dance kids noticed that trees seem to be much smaller than in California
and assumed that it was due to the colder climate and shorter growing season.
Arriving at Uncle Jim’s place in
West Oslo, they unloaded Suzie’s car and settled in. Just before 7 p.m. Uncle
Jim came home and was greeted with a flurry of hugs and hellos.
“I am glad you all arrived safely,”
he said.
“Safe and sound,” Robert replied.
“I take it that Suzie has gone over
some of the plans she has for the next couple of days,” commented Uncle Jim.
“Even though it’s a short trip you can still enjoy a few things around town.”
“Yes, I can hardly wait,” Kelly said
with excitement.
The next morning after Uncle Jim had
left for work, Suzie returned to pick the Dance family up for some quick site
seeing around Oslo.
Suzie informed them, “First, we will
drive to Bygdøy and visit the Viking Ship and Kon-Tiki Museums, and then the
Norwegian Folk Museum. The Folk museum is an historic collection of homes,
barns and the like from all over Norway; finally, we will take a walk around
Vigeland Sculpture Park in Frogner Park.”
“Sounds great,” Mr. Dance answered.
After finding a parking space, the
group entered the Viking Ship Museum.
Robert felt so amazed seeing the
real Viking ships that archeologists unearthed after being buried for so long.
The artwork carvings amazed everyone.
Everyone listened to Suzie explain
things to them that were written in Norwegian, though much of the information
was also posted in German and English, they enjoyed hearing Suzie inform them
like a tour guide.
When visiting the Kon-Tiki Museum,
Rebecca and Kelly were amazed at seeing the raft used by Thor Heyerdahl when he
sailed from South America in 1947 to the Polynesian islands.
“I can’t imagine being on a raft
like this out in the wild ocean,” Robert commented, daydreaming of the giant
waves hitting it, over and over, day and night.
The crowning moment came when the
group visited the Norwegian Folk Museum and saw how people lived in Norway
hundreds of years ago.
“It seems so dark inside these
houses,” Rebecca commented.
“No electricity, wow!” exclaimed
Robert.
“And no electric bills,” their
father jested.
In the afternoon, Suzie drove by the
American Ambassador’s residence ‘Villa Otium’ located on a street called Nobels
gate.
“That is a huge house,” Mrs. Dance
commented as they drove by.
“It was built in 1911 for the niece
of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist who founded the Nobel Prize awards, and it
was sold to the U. S. in 1924 for $125,000.00,” Suzie informed them.
“Mr. Nobel was also the person who
invented dynamite,” Kelly said, “wasn’t he?”
“That’s correct.”
“Now that’s a blast to think of,”
joked Robert.
“Straight ahead is the Vigeland
Sculpture Park,” Suzie said, as they passed the Vigeland Museum, also on Nobels
gate.
After parking, they walked through
the granite and wrought iron entrance gate into the large park. On their way
toward the Monolith Plateau they stopped to see the fifty-eight sculptures
along the bridge, including the one called ‘The Angry Boy’, then the group
passed by a large fountain. Finally, they all climbed the circular stairs to
the column shaped Monolith itself.
“Wow,” exclaimed Rebecca, “look at
these statues.”
“They’re all naked,” Robert said,
slightly embarrassed.
Rebecca commented, hoping to
embarrass her brother a little more, “Look at how detailed and fantastic they
are.”
“Gustav Vigeland was a master
sculpture,” Kelly commented, staring at the Monolith towering some fifty feet
high above her. “I read that there are one hundred twenty-one human figures
climbing toward heaven on this sculpture alone, and almost two hundred
sculptures in the whole park.”
“Correct again,” Suzie replied.
“I also read the carving took three
stonemasons fifteen years to complete,” continued Kelly.
“I am impressed, “Mr. Dance said,
surveying the area with great interest.
“Over there is the Wheel of Life
sculpture,” Suzie pointed, “It depicts the central theme of this park: the
struggle of life’s journey from birth to death.”
“How uplifting,” Robert said
sarcastically, “Now I feel really encouraged.”
“Ha, ha, Robert,” laughed Rebecca, “Ha,
ha.”
Next Chapter Twenty-Two:
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