Our detective was hard at work in his office, trying to sort things out. Now we have three more murders outside of Pierre and just outside of a giant stag.

We are all just poor players on the stag.

Jeeeeeeeeez I am so glib.

How can I just ignore what goes on two hundred miles from here, when I have a corpse with its poor head bitten off? We gots real problems, Langdon mused.

He set an appointment to see Frank at his home. The number three guy at NORTHCO must have some information about all of this.  Langdon had subpoenaed all the medical records, and after reviewing those records he knew that something was going on in this corporate bastard's head.

The DNA had come in from headquarters as well as similar tests from State so now he knew everybody was fucked.

The DNA demonstrated that some strange mammal had eaten the head of this poor NORTHCO employee that has never been catalogued.  It has tracks like a stag but musculature more reminiscent of a raccoon. But it really left no prints. Not even in the blood. It was like the monster had just vanished.

Something is happening here and we do not know what it is, but it has to have something to do with this NORTHCO.

The raccoon came up funny. The DNA examination of this critter went off the charts. They found too much manganese; too much acidity...whatever that means; although, there was no nuclear threat discovered in any of this testing. No radiation poisoning and yet there was certainly evidence of 'glowing' in the forest as well as at the site of the murdered huntsmen.

Sally.  Get me George on the phone in legal and see if Frances the Talking Mule is out there.

Frances was the medical adjunct to his Bureau. She had to carry packages between private medical suppliers as well as various coroners throughout South Dakota. If there was any time he needed a mule it was now. Officially, his office was in Brookings County but each little county lie Deuel or Minnehaha for instance all had their little part time coroner. And local politics became an extremely important consideration. Unlike himself, Frances had tact.

Ten county coroners did not even have PC's and ten more coroners that did have PC'S did not have the faintest idea how to use them.  But they all had Xerox machines thank God. Ha

Good morning Frances.

Oh top of the morning to you Langdon.

Frances, I need you to get all the information you can on these hunters and get somebody to follow up on this stag. I mean this is bizaare. Try to get most of the information of how the testing is going and such without driving out there. At least at the start.  I also need follow up on the information about these DNA findings in the local murder here.  By the way how are you doing?

Well Langdon, other than some suicidal thoughts, not too bad. We have been on the phone with and in the pc with Pierre and the information is coming in slowly. This will heat up. Any time hunters are being killed and gutted there is public pressure for finding out what the hell happened.

I figured you were on this Frances, but I also need you to check with other counties and see if there has been any eye witness accounts of strange happenings in the woods. If there have been other accounts of strange things glowing in the dark, I wish to know about it.  If hunters have reported threats, I wish to know about it. Hell half these coroners hunt big game, find out if they have any personal experiences that might be relevant here.

Langdon, I have never seen anything like this really. I mean we have seen cases of mange, and talk about mighty mites. Oh and lately, there have been sightings of armadillos; armies of them.  I can only tell you that I am staying on this.

Good thank you Frances. Now I am heading out for an interview with someone from NORTHCO.  Is there anything that strikes you about NORTHCO itself over the last ten years? Do you know that I still do not know what NORTHCO does?

I had a brother-in-law that worked there. I do not know if this has anything to do with anything, but their employment system alone is weird. Nobody at NORTHCO has any children. I mean there are something like 1500 employees and there has never been an issue over daycare, because there is no need for it. Health insurance rates are very low there. And my brother in law worked there for six years and he used to laugh that he had no idea what NORTHCO produced, manufactured or serviced. And there are more than one facility. There are four or five or something. That is all I got.

Well that gives me something to think about; thank you Frances.

Langdon packed up and had plenty to think about on his drive over to meet with Frank. Just before he left he reached into the lower drawer of his desk and took a pill from his 'stash'.

Meanwhile Frank had just gotten back from the NORTHCO Medical Center. It was just after ten o'clock. EEG, EKG, MRI...Three hours of that crap and it was all he could take.

As he sat down to drink his home made espresso, he glanced at the news papers. But he could not shake this specter of Dr. Cliché from his mind.  Frank had refrained from bringing up his name following that strange conversation with Melanie, whoever the fuck she was.  I mean between the epileptic seizures and his memory lapses, he could find himself in stir with Algie real soon.

And with these memory lapses, with this life in the twilight zone, he now has to let a chief investigator from the state into his home and this cannot turn out well for Frank. The more he thought about all this the more Frank realized that he must find a way out.

A way out of NORTHCO. A way out of South Dakota. Just a way out. He can work on where he wishes to go in later. I mean if you are lucky enough to get out of an existential jail, you must come up with a way to introduce yourself into some other milieu. Ha

He owned his home outright although buyers would not be easy to find. The worst case scenario would be renting out the home to one of the apartment dwellers; people farther down the corporate ladder.

Frank had about two hundred grand in his TC accounts.  He had another half million in stocks and bonds.

I could start a new life with this. I mean you find a modest home in a modest burb. Hell what do I really need anyway. It is not like I need a lot of funds for nights at the opera. A couple weeks in Vegas with a tight hold on monies taken there would allow him more entertainment than he had seen in years anyway.

Hell, Frank could even take a year off. Pick up a masters in education or something.

He just was not going to stay in this hell hole any longer.

SHELTER FROM THE STORM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6oPS_C1TKg&feature=PlayList&p=8A181E651155013B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=42

Just as his anger roiled inside his damaged brain, the door bell rang.

Hello, Frank?

Yes, you must be Mr. Langdon.

Langdon is just fine. May I come in?

Frank realized he was just leaving this high level investigator standing at the door.

Of course Frank said while showing his guest into the living room and onto the sofa.

A little coffee?

Why yes. Thank you.

Frank had put a tray on the coffee table and Langdon did not hesitate to poor a cup and add a little cream.

Nice place here Frank.

Same as everyone else Langdon, as Frank rolled his eyes.

Well certainly not everyone, but I must admit meaning no disrespect, this is a place of little boxes on the hill top. Langdon was seeing if he could get this guy's goat, but he could see that was not going to happen. Humility like this could prevent the kind of disclosure he was looking for.

Frank, you know about Thomas and Algernon?

For sure.

Well there are strange happenings in these here parts as one hunter put it couple days ago. And I believe some of this strangeness might be related to NORTHCO. Now my information has it that you are pretty high up, that is a member of management with NORTHCO.

True. Ten years.

What is your exact position there Frank?

I am Vice-President in charge of personnel and finance.

Oh good. Then maybe you can tell me. What the hell does NORTHCO do exactly?

We are a defense contractor.  We do business directly with the Department of Defense and indirectly through other contractors.

Okay. I got that. But what is it you do for the government and its contractors?

That is confidential, top secret I am afraid.

So you are going to tell me that for some reason having to deal with corporate confidentiality you will withhold vital information in a murder investigation....Langdon's voice was getting louder and louder.

Hey, relax. You want to go out on the porch for a smoke?

Ah, yes.

And we can speak off the record for a few minutes?

Sure, why not?

They both grabbed their coffees as Frank led them to the porch. Frank immediately saw two roaches had been left in the ash tray. Covering the top of the ashtray as he grabbed it, he told Langdon to sit down and he would be right back.  Returning with a clean ashtray and a lighter, he sat down with Langdon, offering him a Marlborough from the fancy cigarette case.

Forget corporate confidentiality for a second Langdon. I evidently do not even have a high enough security clearance to tell you what you wish to know. I know that NORTHCO deals with weapon systems. Only because I came across a few contracts by accident one day. I know or deduce that NORTHCO  has dealt with genetic testing of animals because I saw a contract involving NASA and because I have seen some animals at our facility.

But, between you and me, I do not plan on being at NORTHCO much longer. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT NORTHCO DOES. TEN YEARS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO.

I think you might consider a subpoena from a state court seeking records over there. And you should serve it on Mr. Sphincter. Some have said that I am number three over at NORTHCO. Sphincter is my direct supervisor and frankly, I have never seen HIS boss.

And get this. There are four other NORTHCO installations across the country and there is a Mr. Sphincter listed at each on the them.

Now if you let on that you received information from me; that is when you speak with Sphincter, I will be through and I will no longer be able to help you.

Now I am not a lawyer--thank the good lord--but I guarantee that Sphincter will get a federal order voiding your state subpoena. NORTHCO attorneys will claim that its records must be kept secret on the basis of national security.

I will tell you that there are at least three floors of warehouse beneath the building. What they do down there is anybody's guess. I will tell you that whatever they deliver or take out of that hell hole, it is dangerous to humans and other animals. How do I know this? Because it is certainly dangerous to the pavement. Road crews are brought in at least a couple times a month to repair damage done to the entryway to the warehouse.

Now I am in charge of the second and third floors of the center with some responsibilities involving the first floor. But I also have just discovered that there is a fourth floor. You cannot, I swear, make out a fourth floor at this facility by looking at it from the outside.

I will also tell you that I have violated at least seven provisions of my employment contract by even meeting with you today.

You might consider hooking up with the FBI on this one Langdon.

Frank took a long toke off his smoke and as both looked out the window toward the pond, four armadillos scooted past. They were followed by a mangy looking Bear that appeared to be foaming at the mouth.

The she-bear's eyes appeared to glow.

(For previous episodes go to:

http://forestroot125.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

You may look forward to a new episode every Monday and Thursday...unless one or more of my limbs starts to glow)