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That’s right. Ferguson
told us it was four-thousand times sweeter than corn
syrup.”
    “ See, that’s the thing. An
industrial strength food sweetener is agricultural. It is not the
sort of thing Biocrynetix Laboratories typically
researches.”
    “ Maybe they are thinking
about going public,” I said. “If that’s the case, they have to
think about getting away from the radical R&D stuff and going
mainstream. A breakthrough in a super sweet food additive would
surely add a feather in their cap and boost their IPO.”
    Carlos added, “Ferguson did say he didn’t
want the publicity. That is exactly the sort of thing that would
jeopardize an initial public offering.”
    “ Maybe,” said Spinelli,
“but something still seems fishy to me.” He flipped another page in
his notepad. “Case in point. Those two guys that died last night,
Mark Williams and Rick Delaney?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ They’re not
alone.”
    “ How do you
mean?”
    “ I mean they are in good
company. In the past three weeks, three other employees of
Biocrynetix Laboratories died in bizarre…” he did the quote thing
with his fingers in the air, “accidents.”
    “ You don’t
say?”
    “ I do say. One fellow,
Jake Gerardi, drowned in his swimming pool while sleepwalking in
the middle of the night. His wife said he was taking prescription
sleep aids. He walked straight into the pool and never woke
up.”
    “ That’s
bizarre.”
    “ Ah-huh, so is what
happened to Melvin Brookfield. He fell down an escalator and broke
his neck after his shoelace hung up in the revolving step
tread.”
    “ Ouch,” said Carlos,
rubbing the back of his neck while craning out the kinks. “I bet
that hurt.”
    Spinelli only nodded. “Bet not as badly as
the hurt Julie McSweeney experienced.”
    “ McSweeney. That’s
Ferguson’s secretary. He said she booked his flight last night.
What happened to her?”
    “ Electrocuted.”
    “ How?”
    “ A curling iron she was
pre-heating fell into the tub while she was taking a bubble
bath.”
    Carlos twitched, gyrated and recoiled in
mock convolutions. “Shocking,” He said.
    “ Funny.”
    “ Enough,” I said. “Bizarre
indeed, every one of them, but they do all sound like
accidents.”
    “ You don’t think it sounds
too coincidental?”
    “ That’s what coincidences
are, Dominic: random unrelated events bound by time and
circumstance. Who is to say that a common ingredient, such as
fatigue from working late on deadlines, did not contribute to an
accident-prone workforce? From initial reports about Williams and
Delaney, I could say as much for them.”
    “ Still, I’m going to dig
deeper into Biocrynetix Laboratories. I can’t shake the feeling
that something is just not right with them.”
    “ You do that.” I stood and
gestured to Carlos. “You ready to go?”
    “ What, you getting antsy
about tonight?”
    “ What’s tonight?” Spinelli
asked.
    I gave Carlos a lowbrow glare that promised
to kill him. He came back, “Oh, nothing. Forget it.”
    Of course, Spinelli could not forget it.
    “ No. What? Tell
me.”
    “ It’s nothing,” I told
him. “Come on, Carlos.”
    “ Guys. What the hell? Are
you keeping secrets from me now?”
    Carlos turned to me. “Tony.”
    “ All right. Fine.” I said
to Spinelli. “It’s no big deal, Dominic. Lilith and Ursula want me
to join them in a ceremony tonight to establish a new coven. It’s a
private thing and you and Carlos can’t come.”
    “ That’s it?”
    I nodded. “That’s it.”
    “ They’re gonna get naked,”
said Carlos.
    “ Huh?”
    “ Carlos. What the
hell?”
    “ You said it was all right
to tell him.”
    “ No I didn’t. I said don’t
tell him.”
    “ Ursula is going to be
naked?”
    “ See, Carlos. This is why
I wanted you to keep your trap shut.”
    “ Again with the telling me
what to do.”
    “ What?”
    Dominic asked, “Will all of you be
naked.”
    “ As a jaybird,” said
Carlos.
    “ It’s nothing,” I