Tangled Web

"We've been looking for you, Stuart. It's fortunate that you came along" said the Provost.

"What's this about?" Mr. Marcus was confused.

"We need to ask you some questions."

"Perhaps we could go inside?" suggested the Provost.

"Of course, gentlemen, come inside."

"May we look around?" asked the lead agent.

"Certainly, gentlemen, but I can't imagine what you're looking for."

The Provost and Mr. Marcus sat in the living room while the FBI agents moved around the house.

"This the only computer?" asked an agent indicating the desktop in a corner of the living room. Without waiting for an answer he began to dismantle the computer, taking the CPU and modem out to the car.

The agents addressed each other from the bedrooms. "Hey chief, this place looks like it's been scrubbed by pro's. We won't find any evidence here."

"Oh, my house guest has a thing about cleanliness. I thought I was a good housekeeper until he came along. The bathroom positively gleams. I admit I let him do it." Mr. Marcus said lightly.

"And your 'house guest' as you called him, where is he now?"

"I expected Professor Stephenson back by now."

"Mr. Marcus, have you accessed student records on this computer?"

"Certainly not" he replied fastidiously. "I am told that the system security is top notch, but I've never been comfortable accessing privileged information outside my office in the administration building. We are entrusted with a great deal of confidential information and I honor that trust." Mr. Marcus then paused and said thoughtfully. "There was one time when Cal, Professor Stephenson asked me to log on, but that was just to check some reports or papers related to his position in the Economics Department."

"When was that?"

"About a month or so ago, yes before Thanksgiving."

"Did you allow Stephenson to access the system using your id often.?"

"No, that was the only time. Dr. Waldheim, I realize it is technically a breach of security procedures, but I cannot believe anything untoward of Cal's accessing the system. He was trying to get some work done from here. It's unimaginable that this requires the attention of the FBI."

"Unhappily, Mr. Marcus, student records had been reviewed on this computer and one of those students disappeared a few days ago."

"I think it's preposterous to suggest that Cal had anything to do with that." Mr. Marcus was indignant. "He has always had the welfare of students paramount in his mind. He could never do anything to harm a student or anyone else, for that matter."

"Nonetheless, Mr. Marcus, we must thoroughly investigate every aspect related to the student and his possible abduction. It is inordinately suspicious that your computer was likely used to gain information about the missing student and that your home has been cleansed of fingerprints and traces of human occupancy typical in even the most fastidious house." The agent's cell phone rang. "What? The office, too? Damn. Stephenson's office has been stripped, too. Well Mr. Marcus, what do you say to that?"

Mr. Marcus sought the Provost's face for some sign of reassurance. Finding none, he fell into despair. Could Cal, the man he loved, be guilty of such a horrific crime? That surely was not possible, and yet, where was he? And what was behind his excessive cleaning? And why had he cleaned this morning?

"Mr. Marcus, it's routine to take samples of DNA for validation and testing. With the way things have been 'tidied up', we'd appreciate any suggestions on your part as to how we might obtain some. You seemed to know Stephenson well."

Mr. Marcus felt again the feeling deep in his core that served as a reminder of his making love to Cal. The blood drained from his face.

"Stuart, if there is anything, anything at all we can do to help this investigation, we must do it. There is a student out there whose very life is at stake. Please Stuart, you have to help" the Provost pleaded.

Mr. Marcus looked at his shoes. He began to speak quietly. "This morning, Cal made love to me. We haven't been using condoms for some time, since we've been cleared of any possibility of disease. His semen is still inside me."

The senior FBI agent was on the phone immediately. "Get me a proctologist, now. There's got to be one at the local hospital. Never mind why, get one and an examination room. We'll bring in the subject. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes to get there. Now move!"

Mr. Marcus allowed himself to be led out of his home. He scanned the area to see any sign of Cal in the hope he would show up and clear up this incredible mess. He thought for a moment he saw someone in the woods across the path. No one emerged. He concluded it was just the breeze moving the shrubbery.

"I've got to check-in a minute" said the lead FBI agent. He walked a distance from the car and took out his cell phone. "Yeah, it looks like a real pro job, totally cleansed the house and the professor's office. We got a lead on some DNA, though, though we have to extract it from a witness's ass. I'll explain later. No sign of him around. Marcus doesn't seem to know anything. He's real upset. I guess the suspect was his boyfriend. I've already alerted the local cops. We've got to get this area locked down. Yeah, that's right. An APB for the missing student and now we can add this Calvin Stephenson. Too many links, he's got to be involved." He got into the car next to Mr. Marcus, looking for any tell tale reactions. Nothing.

Mr. Marcus had lost his spirit and allowed himself to be packed into the car and taken to the hospital He was put on a stretcher and whisked to an examination room. There a doctor, already in surgical attire asked him to disrobe.

"No need to be nervous, Mr. Marcus. This is a very routine procedure. Tell you what, let's get an intravenous going so we can give you something to help you relax. It will all be over in no time." The doctor wrote some instructions on Mr. Marcus's chart and asked a nurse to complete the pharmacy order and administer the sedative. He excused himself to attend to another patient, promising to return shortly.

The nurse was gone only a few minutes and returned with an IV setup and some small phials. She expertly inserted the IV needle and completed the process, injecting the contents of the phials into the IV. The preparation room had another patient who called for the nurse's assistance. As the nurse went behind a curtain dividing the room, a doctor she did not recognize came in. The doctor greeted her in a friendly fashion. The nurse looked at the doctor's badge to be able to call her by name and welcomed her to the hospital staff. The patient called again, and the nurse went to help.

Mr. Marcus had begun to feel woozy from the drugs. He looked up to see a female doctor examine the chart at the foot of the bed he lay upon and do something to the IV. She then lifted the sheet covering him and seemed to touch his ass. She recovered him and left the room.

As she left, a large man came into the room. He leaned over Mr. Marcus and spoke quietly in his ear, "I'm sorry Stu, I'm so sorry."

Mr. Marcus recognized that voice from within the deepening confusion of the drugs. He replied, "Cal, Cal" and lost consciousness.

***

The unconscious Mr. Marcus was wheeled into the examining room. As the doctor began the procedure of obtaining the semen sample from Mr. Marcus's rectum, he knew something was wrong. "My god, he's got no pulse." The doctor called for assistance from the emergency room. They arrived in less than a minute and began a heroic effort to revive Mr. Marcus.

"How can this happen? You're just going up his ass with a swab and he dies?" The FBI agent was furious.

"It's impossible to say until we have an autopsy. I gather he was under significant stress. People react differently to even minor procedures with minimal anesthesia" the doctor replied defensively.

"Did you get the sample?"

"Yes, it's already been sent to the lab. I've cleared everything but emergency analysis. You should have initial results within the hour. DNA matching after that is up to your laboratories."

The FBI agent had commandeered a doctor's office to review the DNA analysis that came an hour later. After a moment's review, he leaped to his feet and stormed off to find the lab.

"These results can't be right."

"I agree that the results seem unlikely. I ran the test four times and had my supervisor run the test again. It's not conclusive, but it is certain that the sample provided contained semen from at least six men and perhaps as many as a dozen. I've only seen this kind of thing once before, and that was an instance of a gang rape. Horrible."

"Where will I find the hospital administrator?" the FBI agent demanded.

"All the admin offices are behind the welcome desk at the main entrance."

The FBI agent was on his cell phone as he marched along the corridors toward the administrator's office. "Better broaden that search perimeter. I want every way in and out of this area locked down. The local airport, train stations, highways, hell hiking trails. This thing is getting out of hand. The State Department is weighing in? Just who was this kid anyway? Diplomat's son? Those kids seem to get in more trouble. And one of those foreign royals? I wondered what all the noise was about. Stephenson shouldn't be hard to identify, six two or three, 220, buzz cut, voice like a church organ. Not fat, built. I've got a situation here at the hospital I'm on right now. I'll call you back."

He had arrived at the hospital administrator's office. "Look, I need you to get everyone involved with this 'simple procedure' in a room to get the facts straight. This is a high profile case and the lead witness just died -- while under the care of this hospital."

The proctologist, the head of the pharmacy, and the attending nurses were all summoned. Once in the room, the FBI agent paced back and forth, shooting questions. Nothing out of the ordinary was reported. The pharmacist was adamant that the correct prescription for the anesthetic had been provided and that the FBI was welcome to verify and audit their procedures. The agent assured him that would be done.

Then the nurse who had prepped the patient shyly raised a hand.

"Yes?" demanded the agent, "You know something?"

"Where is that new doctor? I thought everyone who had worked with this patient was to be here."

"What new doctor?"

"Doctor -- oh I can't remember her name. I tried to read it off her badge, but it was one of those long, foreign names. She seemed very nice."

The FBI agent scowled at the administrator. "You've left someone out?"

"No, no one else was involved with this patient."

"Better round up all the female doctors that fit the description -- 'stat.' Anything else you should tell me?" he said to the nurse.

"Well I didn't see anything else, but when I was attending to the other patient in the room, I heard a voice from Mr. Marcus's side."

"You heard a voice?"

"Yes, the rooms are divided by privacy curtains and I heard a man's voice say something like 'I'm sorry'. Then another man's voice, it could have been the patient said, 'cow'. It doesn't make sense to me. I checked in on the patient a moment later and no one was there."

"Was the voice distinctive in any way? You could tell it wasn't the patient's voice."

"The voice was very deep, like a bass opera singer."

"Stephenson! Get an autopsy done, now" he shouted at the administrator.

The FBI agent was on his cell phone again in a second. "This case has just gone to a new level, chief. Our lead witness died and it looks like Stephenson was in the room minutes before. I'd say it's beyond suspicious. We've got the APB out now, but we've got a probable murder to add to our charge of conspiracy to kidnap. I'll get the autopsy moving and an audit of the pharmacy to rule out accident, but this looks like pros at work. You think that's necessary? I guess so, if there's one murder, it might not be kidnapping."

The agent redialed his phone. "Yeah, Larry, we're not hearing back from any of the local or State police. And the lead suspect was at the hospital. So unless this kid was cooperating with the kidnapping...alert the down river cops and Coast Guard. And drag the lake."

The hospital administrator caught the agent's eye. He confirmed that he could absolutely identify the whereabouts of each of the female foreign doctors on his staff during the critical period. Two had been in surgery, one teaching a seminar to fifteen interns and the fourth had been at a nearby elementary school giving inoculations. Who the nurse says she saw he couldn't verify. The nurse was fully qualified and reliable. The hospital security procedures were fully in compliance with the law and above industry standards.

A short while later a report came in. Local cops had found Stephenson's bicycle near the river, not far from the train station and a bridge. A search of the area did not locate the suspect. Local police were out on the river, now looking for two bodies. Three trains had gone south and two north since the suspect was last reported at the hospital. The agent directed the searchers to focus on the city bound trains, the most likely route of escape. Radio contact with the north bound trains reported no one matching the descriptions of the suspect or student travelling together or alone had boarded at the station.

The autopsy report came a few hours later. The FBI agent reviewed the results. He went back to the administrator's office. "Can you call in your team, please? I want to confirm all the facts."

The administrator complied. The group quickly gathered, including the proctologist, the nurses, the pharmacy staff, the coroner and his assistant.

"This report says Mr. Marcus died of an overdose of anesthesia. Is that right?"

"There is no question of the cause of death" confirmed the coroner.

"And you say that the correct amount was provided to and administered by the nurse."

"Yes, that is correct."

"And you're sure that all other supply of drugs is accounted for."

"Absolutely, as your own staff can attest" said the head of the pharmacy.

"So, the drug came from somewhere else or Marcus came in here with it already in his system."

"That seems the case."

"I think it unlikely that the patient arrived with it already in his body" said the proctologist."

"I agree" said the coroner.

"I had a brief conversation with Mr. Marcus on his arrival. While very nervous he seemed lucid. The amount of drug indicated in the autopsy would have rendered him insensible."

"That's right. He would have lived a matter of minutes after having that volume of drug injected."

"And there was no evidence of other injections?"

"None."

"So someone with knowledge of anesthesia and access to the drug came to the hospital with the intent to kill Mr. Marcus?" asked the agent.

"So it would seem" affirmed the administrator.

***

The FBI agent called in his fellow agents to report on what had been learned through the day. Most had little to report, though great effort had been made to find Stephenson, the missing student, and now a missing female doctor. The college security detail added little more, though one detail was curious. In the woods, near Marcus's home were two bags of groceries, containing perishables and bottles of wine, recently purchased. They appeared to have been dropped by someone in a hurry.

The curious outcome of the DNA sampling rankled the senior agent. He put the issue before his colleagues for their insight.

"Clearly, someone was trying to corrupt the DNA sample we were taking from Marcus."

"Who would know we were looking inside the guy's ass for the sample?"

"Could someone have overheard our plans?"

"I doubt it, though I think I mentioned it when on my cell outside Marcus's house."

"Who else knew?"

"Dr. Waldheim, the Provost, was there when Marcus told us. He knew we were headed to the hospital for the sample."

"Where would you get semen from ten guys?"

Several of the agents looked at each other with mild disgust.

One finally volunteered, "Guys, it's a college campus. I don't know what you did when you were in school, but if you can't find a hundred used condoms on a college campus, well I fear for the future of the country."

There were nods of understanding and some of fond remembrance.

***

The next day the FBI agent found the Provost in his office on the campus.

"It looks bad for Stephenson. He had access to the computer that accessed the student's files. He was pretty clearly indentified at the hospital. He's nowhere to be found. I need to interview anyone on campus who might have information that will assist with the case."

"I may be able to quickly identify faculty, staff and students who were close to or had regular contact with the Professor Stephenson. We can start with the faculty and staff. I think we should wait until this afternoon to interview the students. Word about Mr. Marcus's death has already gotten out -- I don't know how. We're having a memorial service in the chapel" explained the Provost.

"Normally I'd not want to wait, but with your permission I'd like to attend the service. Is there someplace I can observe who attends the service without being seen?|

"The balcony should suffice" the Provost replied with distaste. "One more thing, I will need to be in attendance during any interview. In the interest of time, I can serve as in loco parentis to protect the interests of the students. Otherwise, you will need to wait until parents can be in attendance." The agent reluctantly agreed.

"By the way" the agent continued, "did you mention our taking Mr. Marcus to the hospital for the DNA test to anyone?

"I believe I mentioned it to the college President, Mr. Worthington. I was updating him on the situation. Everything is very delicate. Generally, he does not concern himself with day-to-day college life, his primary responsibility being fund raising and the management of the endowment, but this whole series of events is extraordinary. He already seemed to know about the missing student, however, though I don't know how he came by that information."

The Provost then identified members of the faculty and staff. Their information correlated well. Professor Stephenson was a conscientious teacher, liked by his students, friendly and open. Many thought his temporary position should be extended and that he showed promise to become an outstanding faculty member and contributor to the college community. His personal relationship with Mr. Marcus was known, but not seen as of any great importance, but had been of visible benefit to Mr. Marcus. Universally, it was hoped that he would quickly return.

***

The memorial service was scheduled for the mid-afternoon. Most of the faculty, many of the long-term staff members, and a few students gathered in the college Chapel. The Provost climbed to the dais in what had been the apse. His steps were leaden. He took a few minutes to compose himself before addressing the gathering.

"Friends. For that is what we were, Stuart Marcus and I. He has long seniority over me here at the college, over most of us, I dare say. He came here as a student and returned a few years after graduating. He gave us unfailing service and dedication. To me, to the students now attending, to all alumni past and that will come. The success of this institution is wholly dependent upon the contribution of Stuart Marcus and those of us who endeavor to follow his example of service.

"These past few months have been special for Mr. Marcus, Stuart, as he was known to me. I think we have all remarked upon a joyful caste to his countenance, a light spirit that informed his interaction with us all. I am comforted that my friend Stuart had found something, someone special for his life. And I am saddened that he enjoyed it for so short a time. Still, to leave life loved and fulfilled, that is a gift. As Stuart's life was to us all.