Ice Station - Matthew Reilly [137]
Schofield found it. Naturally Occurring Toxins – Sea Fauna.
‘Look up sea snakes,’ Renshaw said.
Schofield did. He found the heading: Sea Snakes – Toxins, Symptoms and Treatment.
‘Read it,’ Renshaw said.
Schofield did.
‘Out loud,’ Renshaw said.
Schofield read, ‘The common sea snake (Enhydrina schistosa) has a venom with a toxicity level three times that of the king cobra, the most lethal land-based snake. One drop (0.03 mL) is enough to kill three men. Common symptoms of sea snake envenomation include aching and stiffness of muscles, thickening of the tongue, paralysis, visual loss, severe inflammation of the eye area and dilation of the pupils, and most notably of all, lockjaw. Indeed, so severe is lockjaw in such cases, that it is not unknown for victims of sea snake envenomation to –’
Schofield cut himself off.
‘Read it,’ Renshaw said softly.
‘– to sever their own tongues with their teeth.’ Schofield looked up at Renshaw.
Renshaw cocked his head. ‘Do I look like a killer to you, Lieutenant?’
‘Who’s to say you didn’t put sea snake venom inside that hypodermic syringe?’ Schofield countered.
‘Lieutenant,’ Renshaw said, ‘at Wilkes Ice Station, sea snake venoms are kept in the Biotoxins Lab, which is always – always – locked. Only a few people have access to that room and I’m not one of them.’
Schofield remembered the Biotoxins Laboratory on B-deck, remembered the distinctive three-circled bio-hazard sign pasted across its door.
Strangely, though, Schofield also found himself remembering something else.
He remembered Sarah Hensleigh telling him earlier: ‘Before all this happened, I was working with Ben Austin in the Bio Lab on B-deck. He was doing work on a new antivenom for Enhydrina schistosa.’
Schofield shook the thought away.
No. Not possible.
He turned to Renshaw, ‘So who do you think killed Bernie Olson?’
‘Why, someone who had access to the Biotoxins Lab, of course,’ Renshaw said. ‘That could mean only Ben Austin, Harry Cox, or Sarah Hensleigh.’
Sarah Hensleigh . . .
Schofield said, ‘Why would any of them want to kill Olson?’
‘I have no idea,’ Renshaw said. ‘No idea.’
‘So as far as you know, not one of those people had a motive to kill Olson?’
‘That’s right.’
‘But you had a motive,’ Schofield said. ‘Olson was stealing your research.’
‘Which kind of makes me the ideal person to set up, doesn’t it?’ Renshaw said.
Schofield said, ‘But if someone really wanted to set you up, they would have actually used drain cleaner to kill Olson. Why go to the trouble of using sea snake venom?’
‘Good point,’ Renshaw said. ‘Good point. But if you read that book, you’ll find that drain cleaner has a 59% mortality rate. Sea snake venom has a 98% mortality rate. Whoever killed Olson wanted to make sure that he died. That’s why they used the sea snake venom. They did not want him to be resuscitated.’
Schofield pursed his lips in thought.
Then he said, ‘Tell me about Sarah Hensleigh.’
‘What about her?’
‘Do you two get along? Do you like her, does she like you?’
‘No, no and no.’
Schofield said, ‘Why don’t you like her?’
‘You really want to know?’ Renshaw sighed deeply. He looked away. ‘It’s because she married my best friend – actually, he was also my boss – and she didn’t love him.’
‘Who was that?’ Schofield asked.
‘A guy named Brian Hensleigh. He was head of geophysics at Harvard before he died.’
Schofield remembered Kirsty telling him about her father before. How he had taught her advanced maths. And how he had died only recently.
‘He died in a car accident, didn’t he?’
‘That’s right,’ Renshaw said. ‘Drunk driver jumped the kerb and killed him.’ Renshaw looked up at Schofield. ‘How come you know that?’
‘Kirsty told me.’
‘Kirsty told you,’ Renshaw nodded slowly. ‘She’s a good kid, Lieutenant. Did she tell you that she’s my goddaughter?’
‘No.’
‘When she was born, Brian asked me to be her godfather, you know, in case anything ever happened to him. Her mother, Mary-Anne, died of cancer when Kirsty was seven.’
Schofield said, ‘Wait a second. Kirsty’s mother died when she was seven?
‘Yep.