hemoglobin, which, in turn, contains trace amounts of iron. That’s what causes the Luminol to react.”
“Just watch where Tory sprays.” Hi popped up and slapped the wall switch. The only remaining light beamed from ten glowing eyes. “If you see a blue glow, that’s means blood.”
“Thanks, Hi.” Adjusting my weight, I leaned forward. “I’m going to saturate this whole area evenly. Any blood, and the glow should last about thirty seconds. Shelton, can you snap a few pics with my Nikon? Use a long-exposure setting.”
“One sec.” Shelton lifted the camera and popped off the lens cap. A few more fidgets, then, “All set.”
Deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”
I pumped the nozzle, applying the chemical evenly as I moved my arm in a slow arc.
The reaction stunned even me.
A strong glow sprang immediately to life—a thick blue patch that covered the door’s bottom quarter and a three-foot semicircle on tiles beneath it.
I moved robotically, expanding the circle by pumping more spray. The only sound was the rapid-fire click of the Nikon. Shelton, frozen in place, simply held down the button.
So much blood.
Cool radiance oozed from the floor. As I continued spraying the perimeter, tiny arrows of illumination fired outward from the solid disk centered on the doorway.
When I’d finished, I stared at a glimmering blue sun, edged by broken streaks.
My mind practically gibbered in horror.
No one moved. The glow crested, then slowly faded from existence.
“So much blood,” Hi whispered. The golden light vanished from his eyes.
Inside my head, a string abruptly severed.
SNUP .
Waves of dizziness crashed over me. I braced myself on the floor with both hands, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Slowly, it did.
Shelton began coughing so hard, I feared he’d vomit. Ben wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pounded Shelton’s back. Both of their flares were gone.
“My flare shut down on its own again.” Hi shivered as if spiders were crawling his back. “ Poof. Gone.” Shelton looked up, but could only nod. Ben glanced away.
“Same here.” I pounded my leg in frustration. “What in the hell is going on?”
“Hit the lights,” Ben ordered.
Hi scampered over and turned them on.
“My God,” Shelton wheezed, eyes glued to the doorframe. “Nobody can lose that much blood and live!”
It was true. The blue circle had been massive, and dense throughout.
I tried not to imagine that much blood spilling across the floor. Could think of nothing else.
Lucy. Peter.
Sweet Jesus, what happened down here?
The analytical portion of my brain rebooted, came back on line. Made a connection.
Of course.
“Wait!” I hissed. “That’s not blood!”
“Oh please please please tell me that’s true!” Shelton was maniacally shirt-cleaning his glasses. “’Cause otherwise . . .”
“It can’t be.” I shoved my nose within an inch of the tiles. “There’s no visible bloodstain here. That’s impossible for such a huge reaction to Luminol.”
“True.” Hi cupped his chin. “And the edge of that circle seemed pretty regular, now that I think about.”
I rifled through every fact I knew about Luminol.
An answer popped out at me.
“Bleach.”
Hi looked at me sideways. “Huh?”
“Bleach reacts to Luminol just like blood.” The pieces started falling into place. “Someone scrubbed this area with a bleach solution.”
“So someone was cleaning up,” Ben said. “But why bleach? And why use so much?”
“What were they cleaning?” Hi asked grimly.
I remembered the streaks at the perimeter of the glowing circle.
My eyes found Coop. I recalled the tangy, metallic odor he’d sent my way.
He’d been certain. Now I was, too.
My heart sank.
“I think something terrible did happen down here.”
Ben grunted. “Explain.”
“Remember the spatter along the rim of the circle? Those streaks reacted to the Luminol, too. And based on their form and shape, I doubt they were
“Just watch where Tory sprays.” Hi popped up and slapped the wall switch. The only remaining light beamed from ten glowing eyes. “If you see a blue glow, that’s means blood.”
“Thanks, Hi.” Adjusting my weight, I leaned forward. “I’m going to saturate this whole area evenly. Any blood, and the glow should last about thirty seconds. Shelton, can you snap a few pics with my Nikon? Use a long-exposure setting.”
“One sec.” Shelton lifted the camera and popped off the lens cap. A few more fidgets, then, “All set.”
Deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”
I pumped the nozzle, applying the chemical evenly as I moved my arm in a slow arc.
The reaction stunned even me.
A strong glow sprang immediately to life—a thick blue patch that covered the door’s bottom quarter and a three-foot semicircle on tiles beneath it.
I moved robotically, expanding the circle by pumping more spray. The only sound was the rapid-fire click of the Nikon. Shelton, frozen in place, simply held down the button.
So much blood.
Cool radiance oozed from the floor. As I continued spraying the perimeter, tiny arrows of illumination fired outward from the solid disk centered on the doorway.
When I’d finished, I stared at a glimmering blue sun, edged by broken streaks.
My mind practically gibbered in horror.
No one moved. The glow crested, then slowly faded from existence.
“So much blood,” Hi whispered. The golden light vanished from his eyes.
Inside my head, a string abruptly severed.
SNUP .
Waves of dizziness crashed over me. I braced myself on the floor with both hands, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Slowly, it did.
Shelton began coughing so hard, I feared he’d vomit. Ben wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pounded Shelton’s back. Both of their flares were gone.
“My flare shut down on its own again.” Hi shivered as if spiders were crawling his back. “ Poof. Gone.” Shelton looked up, but could only nod. Ben glanced away.
“Same here.” I pounded my leg in frustration. “What in the hell is going on?”
“Hit the lights,” Ben ordered.
Hi scampered over and turned them on.
“My God,” Shelton wheezed, eyes glued to the doorframe. “Nobody can lose that much blood and live!”
It was true. The blue circle had been massive, and dense throughout.
I tried not to imagine that much blood spilling across the floor. Could think of nothing else.
Lucy. Peter.
Sweet Jesus, what happened down here?
The analytical portion of my brain rebooted, came back on line. Made a connection.
Of course.
“Wait!” I hissed. “That’s not blood!”
“Oh please please please tell me that’s true!” Shelton was maniacally shirt-cleaning his glasses. “’Cause otherwise . . .”
“It can’t be.” I shoved my nose within an inch of the tiles. “There’s no visible bloodstain here. That’s impossible for such a huge reaction to Luminol.”
“True.” Hi cupped his chin. “And the edge of that circle seemed pretty regular, now that I think about.”
I rifled through every fact I knew about Luminol.
An answer popped out at me.
“Bleach.”
Hi looked at me sideways. “Huh?”
“Bleach reacts to Luminol just like blood.” The pieces started falling into place. “Someone scrubbed this area with a bleach solution.”
“So someone was cleaning up,” Ben said. “But why bleach? And why use so much?”
“What were they cleaning?” Hi asked grimly.
I remembered the streaks at the perimeter of the glowing circle.
My eyes found Coop. I recalled the tangy, metallic odor he’d sent my way.
He’d been certain. Now I was, too.
My heart sank.
“I think something terrible did happen down here.”
Ben grunted. “Explain.”
“Remember the spatter along the rim of the circle? Those streaks reacted to the Luminol, too. And based on their form and shape, I doubt they were
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