"Jones quit hogging all the popcorn!" Adalet yells trying to swipe a handful from the bowl.
Jones held it tightly, "get your own!"
"And we're back, folks," the sports announcers booms over the speakers, "the Grimsborough Quails are facing the Wippeka Armadillos today in one of the toughest games this football season."
"GO QUAILS!" Jones yells waving his flag.
"This game is particularly decisive. The winning team will have a real shot at the end-of-season bowl. Oh, here he is, Grim College's star quarterback: Troy Takiguchi!" the announcer went on as the quarterback got ready for the start, "first down for the Quails. And they're off! Wait! Takiguchi hasn't passed the ball! He's running straight for the end zone!"
"Come on, Takiguchi!" Jones shouted even though there was no way he could be heard, "you're the best!"
"I can't believe what I'm seeing! Forty yards! Thirty!" the announcer cried with a laugh, "Takiguchi is actually getting close! Look at him go!"
"Come on! You can do it!"
"I've never seen someone run so fast, not even at the Olympics," Adalet muses as the athlete neared the line.
"The Armadillos are all around, rushing to catch him before the touchdown . . ." the announcer narrator, "but wait! No! Troy Takiguchi has fallen, only five yards from the line!"
"Ahhh, no!" Jones shrieked.
"He isn't even getting up . . . Nobody even touched him! " he sounded worried as a murmur spread through the crowd, "the referees are calling a time-out. Medics are rushing to Takiguchi!"
"What's going on here?" Jones wonders setting his popcorn down, "Adalet, the crowd is going wild. Let's get down to the field, we need to make sure everyone is safe."
They pushed their way down to the front row and hopped over the ledge to the ground. They flashed their badges as they neared the scene but one of the medics shook their head. Jones ordered the security to clear the stadium as orderly as they could. Once the field had been cleared and the team called in, Jones and Adalet stood over the quarterback's dead body.
"The stadium has been evacuated, Adalet," Jones reported mournfully, "regrettably, we have confirmation that Troy Takiguchi is dead! This is unbelievable. Someone of Troy's stamina and bulk . . ."
"Some foul play is at work here!" Adalet agreed, "I'll gather some clues on the football field, Jones!"
Adalet neared the place where Troy's body had been placed on a stretcher, she looked around at all the equipment the medics had been ordered to leave. She saw a red mouth guard near the body and picked it up for a closer look.
"This is terrible . . . Takiguchi was a hero for the students of Grimsborough University. He was too young to die," Jones sighs as she examined the mouthguard, "and have you seen his arm? It's completely swollen, about as wide around as a honey-baked ham!"
"Did you not have breakfast?" Adalet asked swabbing the plastic.
He flushed, "this can't be natural! Let's send Takiguchi's body over to Nathan. Hopefully, he'll be able to explain everything."
"And whoever dropped this mouth guard must have witnessed Troy's fall first-hand!" she reasons collecting some saliva, "let's give this DNA to Grace straight away!"
"We should also go talk to Franklin Caldwell. He's the Grimsborough Quails' coach," he adds, "he may have valuable info about our victim."
Once the team had arrived to collect the body and DNA sample, Jones and Adalet excused themselves to find the coach. They entered the Quill's locker room and found Franklin dismissing the last of his players for the day.
"Coach Caldwell," Adalet calls, "Lt. Adalet and Inspector Jones, we will be investigating Troy's death."
"This is such a mess. Losing my quarterback at the height of the football season!" Franklin rubbed the top of his head, "things couldn't get any worse."
"Coach, I understand this is bad for the team," Jones assured, "but shouldn't the death of a player be more important than the loss of a football season? "
"You'll have to excuse me," he apologized, "we all have our own way of dealing with grief. Of course, I'm deeply saddened about Troy's death. No man this young and so full of promise should have to die. "
"Was there anything wrong with Troy? Anything that could explain what happened to him?" Adalet questioned.
"Not that I know of. I don't think he did much besides training for the games. Entering the major league was his dream, he put everything to it," Franklin sighs sadly, "now if you'll excuse me, Lt. Adalet, I've got a team of traumatized players to get back to."
They watched him exit from the way the players just had and Jones turned to the other cop.
"I know Coach Caldwell sounds pretty harsh, but he's a great coach, Adalet. He's always had his players' best interests at heart, and it's paid off," Jones defended the man's heartless reaction.
Adalet nodded in understanding, "now . . . Our victim was a football player, but he was a student at Grimsborough University first and foremost."
"The football players are all housed in the same dorm," he explains, "to enhance team-building. Let's go check our victim's room out!"
It wasn't hard to locate their victim's room, the building which housed the tram's dorms was the one closest to the sports field. The football team's players' dorms were on the fourth floor and they entered the one marked "Takiguchi & Baker". They entered the messy room and saw a laptop on the desk with the victim's name on the cover and an overflowing laundry basket beside the closet doors.
"Ah, an overloaded laundry basket . . ." Jones reminisced, "the staple of every student's room! If you want to have a look at it, you'd better plug your nose, Adalet!"
"You can search it," she countered, "your the one who brags about his football days!"
"Fine . . . fine . . ." he agreed, "and I see you've found the victim's laptop! Let's boot it up and see what we can find!"
Adalet opened the cover and pressed the power button. The screen lit up with a green background and a block asking for a password.
"Troy's laptop is asking for a password . . ." she says going to sit at the desk chair.
"Hold on, I got this one!" Jones grins sliding into the chair before she could.
"Ah-"
"No, don't worry, just let me do my thing!" he waved off her concern, "A, B, C, D! No. How about 1,2,3,4 . . ."
"You're going to lock it," she deadpanned.
"Okay, I am now officially fed up with this," he threw his hands up and stood, "Adalet, could you please have a go at cracking the password on this laptop, please?"
"Go do the laundry," she shooed him out of the chair.
Adalet sat in front of the laptop and worked on cracking the passwords as Jones and Hunter looked through the laundry basket. The Inspector pulled out the clothes and found a Quill jersey that read "BAKER" across the shoulders.
"Our victim's laptop had an extremely secure password," Adalet reports as she disabled the password access, "let's send this laptop to the lab. I'm sure Alex will be happy to retrieve all that relevant data for us!"
"This football jersey obviously can't belong to our victim, the name isn't the right one! How did it end up in Takiguchi's dorm room?" Jones wondered.
"There was a second name on the door," she pointed out, "Baker."
"And Chad Baker, is also a member of the Grimsborough Quails . . . or to be more precise, he's their reserve quarterback!" he tells her, "Takiguchi has been the star quarterback, always coming into play at key moments for the team. "
"Which means Baker has spent a lot of time sitting on a bench," she continued closing the laptop.
"You're right," he nodded, "being left on the sidelines for so long . . . that could drive a guy to extremes. Let's go have a talk with Chad!"
"Who are you and what are you doing in my dorm?" a blonde football player asked.
"We're Lt. Adalet and inspector Jones," Adalet replied, "We just found your jersey in the dorm and-"
"Well duh. Of course, you're going to find one of my jerseys in Troy's room . . ." Chad rolled his eyes, "we were roommates!"
"Oh, so you must have been pretty close," Jones guessed.
"Nah," he gave a one-shoulder shrug, "we weren't best buddies or anything. Coach just thought it'd be good for us two to bunk together."
"Takiguchi was way ahead of you, wasn't he?" he stated more than asked, "you're a substitute quarterback, and he was getting all the glory. This must have been pretty frustrating."
"Rivalry's part of the game, don't you go seeing anything weird about that!" he warned, "I and Troy always put the team first!"
"But his tragic death means you'll finally be able to play quarterback in big games," he pointed out, "nice opportunity to finally shine . . ."
Chad sneered, "don't be getting any ideas."
"We won't, but we will be getting answers," Adalet responded, "goodbye, Chad."
Later At The Station . . .
"Well, one thing is clear: Troy Takiguchi's death on that football field was definitely not natural!" Nathan states firmly.
Jones snorted, "no kidding. I didn't think a human arm could ever get this big!"
"Yes, that got me curious too, especially when I noticed a needle mark on Troy's arm. So I had a look at his medical file . . . Your victim was a type 1 diabetic. He injected himself with insulin daily," he mimicked pricking his own arm, "except today, there was a secret ingredient on top of the insulin . . . a massive dose of Erythropoietin, also known as EPO."
"EPO?" Adalet raised an eyebrow, "you mean doping hormones?"
"Yes. But I'm positive Troy didn't know about the EPO," Nathan added, "the tests are clear: he'd never taken EPO before, with good reason."
"Why?" Alex asked.
"You see, EPO and insulin don't mix. The injection created a blood clot," he placed a finger on his inner forearm, "which travelled through the victim's arm up to his heart," he trailed his finger up to his chest, "and the resulting heart attack was fatal."
"So our victim was killed by EPO . . . That's a bit ironic for a professional sportsman," Jones remarks, "don't you think, Adalet?"
"I thought you only saw this in the Olympics . . ." Adalet shook her head, "anyway, what about the saliva, Grace?"
"You almost never send me DNA, Let!" Grace smiles, "I feel like I should do a little celebration."
"Ha-ah, very funny," Jones rolled his eyes, "so, did you find the owner of the mouthguard she found next to our victim's body?"
"Of course I did. Football players all have files, so recruiters can easily check that their records are clean," she explained, "the mouthguard belongs to Thomas Boedeker. "
"Thomas Boedeker?" he frowns in concentration, "wait, he's the quarterback for the Wippeka football team! They're the Quails' rival team, and Troy was playing against him on the field today! Let's go talk to him, Adalet!"
"Don't forget me!" Alex yells, "the victim's laptop was a pretty boring bundle of information unless you love football. Not a word, Jonesy!"
Jones snapped his mouth shut with a pout.
"Nothing illegal that I could see, no threatening messages in his mailbox . . . The most noteworthy things are the photo albums," he pulled up some pictures on the screen, "there are a LOT of pictures of your victim hanging out with Madison Springer. At parties, on picnics, after matches . . ."
"Madison? You're talking about the Head of the Psi Sigma Gamma sorority?" Adalet guessed.
Alex nodded, "yup. She's also the leader of the Quails' cheerleaders, ain't that fitting?"
Jones shook his head with a smirk, "the cheerleader and the quarterback . . . How deliciously cliché. Let's go have a talk with Miss Madison, Let!"
Jones and Adalet returned to the football field and search for Thomas and Madison. They found the red quarterback exiting the visitor's locker room and call for him to stop. They introduced themselves and explained what they wanted.
"So you found my mouthguard next to Takiguchi's body? That's because I was hot on his heels after he managed to slip by my entire team!" Thomas spat, "he had more speed and energy than humanly possible. But something was obviously wrong: his arm was bulging like crazy!"
"So it had started during his run. .. " Adalet mused.
"I rushed to him once he fell, but it was pretty obvious that he wasn't gonna make it. Huh, I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face . . ." he says sounding slightly shaken.
"You and Troy were rival quarterbacks: I'm guessing the antagonism between you two must have been pretty high . . ." Jones pondered, "and having such a rival fall dead right during the biggest match of the season, it must have been like a blessing to you."
"Yeah, right! As if I would ever risk my career just to get rid of another player! I know what I'm worth: I could have crushed Troy without cheating!" Thomas boosted, "listen, man, I had respect for Takiguchi, he was my only equal. Killing him . . . where would be the glory in that?!"
They left Thomas to return to his team and continued to find Madison. The head cheerleader was dismissing the last of the girls for the day barking orders into a megaphone.
"Hello, Madison. We were wondering if you could tell us more about all the pictures we have found of you and Troy Takiguchi?" Adalet inquired once the student had walked over to them.
"It's pretty obvious, isn't it, Lt. Adalet?" Madison responded, "Troy and I were dating."
"We're really sorry for your loss, Madison. Had you and Troy been dating long?" she asked.
"About six months, I guess. We hooked up after the last match of the season, last year. But I didn't see much of him during the summer," she says, "with him, it was always football before everything else. He spent his days training to be the best . . . and look where it's led him!"
"Yes, it is ter-"
"Worst of all, we were supposed to go to the Prom Ball together!" she cried, "we would have looked so dashing, and now I'm . . . I'm dateless!"
"And this is what's bothering you the most?" Jones demanded.
"I'm sorry," Madison apologized innocently, "I'm still under the shock of it all. Troy was . . . he was a nice guy. I'll really miss him."
Later, at the Police Station . . .
"Adalet, I've got good news!" Nathan announces as he stopped in front of her desk, "you remember the needle mark I found on your victim's arm? Well, I had a closer look at it. The area was a bit reddish, which didn't make sense. After all, your victim was used to injecting himself with insulin daily."
"So in theory, his skin should have been used to the punches," Adalet elaborated.
He nodded, "turns out Troy's skin got red because of traces of capsaicin, the substance that makes chilli peppers so deliciously spicy. Obviously, he was allergic to it. Which can only mean the killer left capsaicin on the syringe when they handled it . . . which means your killer eats spicy food!"
"Adalet!" Ramirez ran in at full speed, "sorry to . . . interrupt but . . . something . . . has happened . . . at the University!"
"Whoa, Ramirez, calm down!" Jones says going to get the Mexican a glass of water, "what's going on?"
"I need . . . to catch . . . my breath . . ." he gulped down the offered liquid, "the University just called for you. There's been a break-in in the infirmary!!"
"A break-in . . . in the infirmary?" Adalet blinked, "what are the odds of such a thing happening right after a student dies of an EPO injection?!"
"Troy only intended to inject himself with his daily insulin dose . . ." Jones hummed, "but the killer added a lethal dose of EPO to the insulin! And where would Troy keep his medication . . . but in the University's infirmary! Let's go there, Adalet!"
They returned to the University and Jones pulled out a map to find the infirmary location in the wide grounds.
"The infirmary's that way," Jones pointed North, according to the University's map. They put it near the football field because that's where students get injured the most."
"Smart thinking," Adalet praised.
"Hey, look! Chad Baker's training on the football field!" he turned his finger to point at the back-up quarterback, "I can't believe he's back on the field so soon after his teammate's death . . . Maybe we should go have a chat with him once we've had a look at the infirmary, what do you think?"
"Why not now?" she asked already heading that way.
"Back on the field already, Chad?" Jones asked the student, "you're not wasting any time, are you?"
"I've been sitting on that bloody bench for months. Of course, I'm on the field!" Chad huffed, "I'll have to train my ass off to be in shape for the next match!"
The two exchanged looks.
"Don't you go looking at me like that, copper. I deserve that break!" he hissed, "it's not like Troy was a perfect angel, anyways. Just because he was "famous", he treated everyone like crap, girlfriend included! Man, if I was dating a girl like Madison, you're damn sure I'd treat her right!"
"So you knew his girlfriend?" Adalet inquired.
"That girl is sweet like sugar and hot like chilli peppers . . . And I love me some spice if you know what I mean!" he fantasized.
"Oh, so you didn't just want Troy's position on the field, did you? You also wanted the girl," Jones accused, "you know, Chad, you can still confess, get a reduced sentence."
"Yeah right. I didn't kill Troy. Now," Chad picked up another football, "I've got to get focused and get back to practice. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
"What door?!" Adalet jokes.
The detectives left the football field and continued to the infirmary. They reached the room which had been victim to the burglary and entered through the broken door.
"Hm, well, the infirmary lock was clearly forced," Jones said inspecting it, "let's have a look around. Look at this mess! I wonder if the burglar found what they were looking for . . ."
"Let's see . . ." Adalet hummed.
She and Hunter took a closer look around the room and Adalet took a liking to the infirmary fridge while the canine found a syringe tossed on the bed.
"A used syringe!" Jones says slipping on some gloves to pick it up, "Adalet, that's exactly what we're looking for. This could have been used for insulin injections! Which means Troy, our diabetic victim, might have used it . . . and his killer too! Let's send this to the lab immediately!"
"I also wonder what's in this infirmary fridge . . ." Adalet said opening the door
She routed through the contents of the fridge and found a small white bottle with a black smudge across the label. But the letter E-P-O was still clear to read.
"I can't believe you found a vial of EPO inside the infirmary fridge!" Jones gasped, "surely this can't be part of the regular prescriptions! What's more, there was only one single vial."
"We'd better ask the University Nurse," she glanced at the certificates on the wall, "Mrs. Karimah Breen, about this."
"And we also should take a closer look at the vial's label. I wonder what this black smudge is . . ."
Jones ducked out of the room to find the nurse in charge while Adalet collected a sample of the black ink from the bottle. She smeared it on a micro slide from Grace and packed it in her case as her partner returned with the nurse.
"Thank you so much for investigating the break-in in my infirmary, Lt. Adalet!" Karimah breathed in relief, "I know how busy you must be."
"Mrs. Breen, I found a bottle of EPO in your infirmary's fridge. Do you usually store such products?" Adalet asked.
"No, of course not!" she cried in shock, "I only have the basics, and whatever the students need on prescription. Some hormones, sure, but EPO definitely isn't part of the list! Pretty much the strongest thing I store here is my extra-spicy Hell Sauce, and that's just for personal use!"
"So you're telling us the burglar actually left something behind?" Jones quizzed.
"Obviously. Nothing's missing from my stocks. I'm used to stuff . . . disappearing," Karimah settled on, "but this I've never had before!"
"Wait, do you mean your infirmary was burglarized before?!" he exclaimed, "why didn't you report the theft?"
"I assumed it had been one of the kids on the football team, looking for a little boost. I didn't want them to get into trouble!" she responded, "look, we all know doping is wrong. But I'd rather have the kids steal drugs from my infirmary than get God-knows-what on the black market."
"I understand your reasoning," Adalet assured, "we will let you know when we discover who caused the break-in, Karimah."
"For someone who knows doping is wrong, Nurse Breen sure doesn't seem to mind it that much!" Jones remarks as they left the infirmary.
"We'd better keep an eye on her," Adalet agreed as they headed back to the station.
Two Analyses Later . . .
"That EPO vial you recovered from the infirmary was a great find, Adalet!" Grace praises as Adalet and Jones entered her lab, "the sample you gathered on the label is a mixture of paraffin wax, petroleum jelly, and black pigment. In short, black makeup!"
"Football players wear it to reduce sun glare," Nathan explained, "and the supporters often wear it as a show of solidarity!"
"So this means that the killer left the makeup behind when they spiked Troy's syringe?" Jones deduced.
"Exactly! Thanks to that vial you found," said Grace, "I can tell you your killer wears black makeup!"
"And I can tell you that the syringe you found in the infirmary is Troy Takiguchi's last insulin syringe!" Nathan took over, "more precisely, this syringe is the one the killer used to administer EPO to Troy without his knowledge! But that's not all. I found traces of some type of hydrating sports drink on the syringe plunger!"
"Wait," Adalet chimed in, "how do we know those were left by the killer and not by Troy?"
"I'm glad you asked. The traces were left on the underside of the plunger's tip. The killer would have pulled it with his fingers to withdraw the EPO from the vial," he lectured with a smirk, "your victim, on the other hand, would only need to push the TOP of the plunger to inject himself with the syringe's contents."
"Whoa that's . . . pretty clever, Nathan," Jones admits, "so our killer had some kind of sports drinks before touching that syringe!"
"There are still a lot of blank spots in this investigation, Jones . . ." Adalet pondered.
"Hey, I know! While Chad Baker is still taking his time at football practice . . ." he smirks, "let's go have another look at the dorm room he shared with the victim! Are you in, Adalet?"
"Do you ever need to ask?" she returned the smirk.
Back At The Dorm Room . . .
"I know students are often careless with their stuff, but look at this cellphone!" Jones cries holding up the broken devices, "did Chad and Troy use it as a football?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Adalet says as she picked up a pile of paper.
"This looks beyond repair . . ." he grumbles looking at the broken casing, "but I've said that in the past, and you've proved me wrong every time, Let!"
"Let see . . ." she mused as she opened her case.
"And this pile of papers looks like it'd be worth a look too, don't you think?" he inquired already knowing the answer.
She glued the casing back together, "I'm more interested in knowing who's phone this is . . ."
"You never cease to amaze me," he shook his head in amazement, "this smartphone is completely functional again! It's also . . . really pink. My super-sleuthing senses tell me this phone doesn't belong to either of our roommates!"
She powered it on, "rats, the phone's data is encrypted. We're going to need Alex's input if we want to get ahead with this lead. Let's have him analyze it."
"The sports magazine in this pile of papers is one of the most influential in sports, Adalet!" Jones comments as he showed her the cover, "the cover is really eye-catching: "Boedeker vs. Takiguchi, the rivalry that's got us excited for this college football season". Let's see what the article says . . . Page 34 . . . "While both are being considered for selection, Takiguchi is rumoured to have a strong lead this season."
"That means Boedeker was in danger of being passed up for selection by his rival Troy Takiguchi . . ." Adalet says even though she knew he knew that, "who also happens to be the victim."
He continued reading, "Amid allegations of steroid use, Boedeker, in spite of his great record . . ." Doping? Well, I think Thomas, the Armadillos' quarterback, might need a good talking to about those allegations, don't you think?"
"I got the phone, let's go!"
They tracked down the dorms where the visiting team was staying for the tournament and knocked on Thomas's door. The rival quarterback opened it and they informed him of the accusations.
"You think I dope myself? All because you read it in some cheap rag?!" Thomas growled, "c'mon coppers, I worked hard to be fit like this and I'm proud of it! There's no pride in taking steroids. It's illegal, it's cheating and it's low: it's everything I stand against! These rumours got spread around because it's the easiest way to destroy an honest player's career!"
"So you're very much against drug usage?" Adalet inquired.
"If you're gonna play just to cheat, then it's no longer a sport you're playing: it's just make-believe!" he declared, "the most illegal thing I ever did was showing up at the Quails' pre-game cookout and stealing a couple of hot wings . . ."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"All in good fun, though," he smirked, "they had a great southern style hot sauce that they prepared their wings with. Not for the faint of heart, let me tell you!"
"I'll be sure not to have it . . ." Jones promised, "thank you for the time, Thomas."
Later In The Tech Lab . . .
"The smartphone you found in the victim's dorm room is Madison's. The encryption protocol on it was weak, so that didn't take long!" Alex says sounding board, "what did take a while is browsing through Madison's photo library. She and her friends take a lot of pictures."
"I'm not surprised," Adalet chuckled, "she seems like the girl camera's love."
"Worthy of note for you: there's a picture of her clubbing where she's seen pouring huge amounts of hot sauce in her Bloody Mary," he informs pointed to some he still had upon his monitor, "also, she's received text messages from her friends informing her that Troy Takiguchi was . . . messing around."
"Troy was cheating on her?" Jones cocked his head, "we need to talk to Madison as soon as possible, Adalet!"
Jones and Adaalat returned to the football field and search for Madison. They saw she had called the cheer squad back together and was still barking orders at them with her megaphone.
"Madison's in the middle of cheer practice," Jones remarks, "but she looks about ready to take a break. Shall we?"
"We shall, Jones," Adalet says leading the way over.
Madison pulled a bottle out of her bag, "what can I do for you, Lt. Adalet?"
"Madison, you were thi . . . Wait, is that a sports drink you're drinking?" Adalet asks seeing the turquoise liquid inside.
"Well, it'd be a shame not to, they're free! Simple Sports Drinks have a sponsoring partnership with the Quails. Why? Is that suspicious, Lt.?" she asked smugly, "most of the players drink these, including Chad. You might be happy to know that I've seen Nurse Breen knock back a few bottles, too."
"That's . . . very helpful, thank you," she said, "now, Madison, you wanted to break up with Troy, is that right?"
"Oh. So you know about that, then. Well yes. When I realized that lying schmuck was cheating on me, I told him it was over," she took a swig of the drink, "and you know what? He had the gall to get mad at me! As if his sleeping around had been all my fault!. . But anyway, that's all over now. I just want to move on, and let Troy rest in peace."
"And we want to catch his killer," Adalet replied, "thank you for the help, Madison."
A While Later, At The Police Station . . .
"Lt. Adalet! Could I have a word with you, please?" Franklin inquired as Ramirez led him into the office.
"We're kind of in the middle of a criminal investigation, Mr. Caldwell," Adalet replied.
"This had better be important," Jones grumbled under his breath.
"But it is!" the coach cried, "it's about . . . It's about Karimah Breen."
"Nurse Breen? The woman in charge of the University's infirmary?" Adalet asked.
"The very same," he confirmed, "the thing is . . . Nurse Breen has got a criminal record."
"What?!" Jones exclaims.
"Lt. Adalet, I'm not usually the kind to rat people out," Franklin assured, "but my team's reputation is at stake here, and I will make damn sure you get every relevant info!"
"What do you mean, a criminal record? What kind of crime did she commit?" Adalet questioned.
"I'd . . . rather not talk about it here," Franklin whispers as if the nurse were near, "if it's all the same to you. Can you meet me back in the field, Lt. Adalet?"
"Well," she shrugged, "then, have it your way. We'll meet you there as soon as we can, Mr. Caldwell."
Back At The Football Field . . .
"So what is this you said about Karimah having a criminal record?" Adalet asked as the group stood on the sidelines.
"Like I said, Lt. Adalet, I don't like ratting people out, but this is my team we're talking about," Franklin says as his eyes darted around the field, "the truth of the matter is that Mrs. Breen has procured students with doping hormones in the past!"
"What the . . ." Jones blinked, "how did this happen? How can she still be working here if that's the case?!"
"It was a few years back. A student was caught with steroids in his room, and the investigation showed that Karimah was the one who procured the pills for him," he told them, "she should have been fired and blacklisted, but the Dean decided Karimah should be given a second chance. The incident was put on her record, and she got a hefty fine, but she kept her job."
"Sometimes I wonder about the education system . . ." Adalet mumbled.
"The whole system is going crazy these days," Franklin agreed, "and having someone like that in the University isn't making my job easier! I keep telling my boys: good hydration, sports drinks to replenish electrolytes, and a little spicy sauce to give you a kick! They're all I ever take, and I'm fit as I ever was! But why would they listen to me when they know the Nurse might just give them illegal doping hormones after hours?!"
"Well, Karimah swore she did not have and steroids in her infirmary," Adalet responded, "but we will be looking into this, thank you."
"You're right, Adalet," Jones agreed as coach Franklin walked away, "it seems Nurse Breen has some explaining to do. If she's handed out illegal substances to students in the past, who's to say she hasn't done it again?"
"There is a possibility," she agreed.
"Oh, but while we're here, at the scene of the crime . . . I'm going to go out on a limb here," he looked around the stands, "but don't you think our killer might have . . . watched Troy's death from the sidelines?"
"You read my mind," she smirked.
He beamed, "yay, I'm so glad you think the same! Let's have a look at the sidelines then!"
Jones took a look around the closest seat while Adalet and Hunter checked around the area where the coaches and backup players had been. The girls found a dirty towel discarded by someone on the Quill's bench and she called Jones over.
"Hm. Only the people involved in the game could have had a use for this towel," he hummed, "it's dirty. There seems to be some red and black on it . . . I can see why this caught your eye, Adalet. Let's gather a sample!"
"Way ahead of you, Jonesy," Adalet smirked holding up the sample she had taken while he was still in the stands.
"Nice job, Adalet!" he grins, "I hope the fibres you collected from that dirty towel will tell us something about the killer!"
Before taking the fibres to their lab, Jones and Adalet continued to the infirmary to confront Karimah about her criminal past.
"So you've learned about that, then," Karmiah sighs once they told her what they knew, "I dreaded the day it would come back to bite me. Four years ago, I . . . supplied one student with some anabolic steroids."
"And yet you claimed to not carry such drugs," Adalet argued.
"I tried to talk him out of it!" she swore, "but he was desperate, obsessed with getting stronger and better!"
"So you just gave in?!" Jones spat, "you're supposed to be looking out for those kids!"
"I've told you before, I don't want my students to go buy counterfeit drugs on the Internet! Getting them from me is much safer!" Karimah shot back, "anyway, this only happened once. I've paid the $7000 fine now and I don't give out anything without a prescription. And that's the end of it."
"We'll be the judge of that," he said, "we're going to have a final look at your infirmary, Mrs. Breen."
"Go ahead," she waved a hand to her room, "I have to go check in on the nursing students anyway."
Once Karmiah had left the room, Adalet and Hunter took a look around the floor for any clues the burglar/killer could have dropped. The canine barked as she found a small pill bottle that had rolled under the examination table.
"You've got good eyes, Hunter!" Adalet gave the dog a treat, "I hadn't noticed this pill bottle, it was hidden under the furniture!"
"Hey, that smudge, on the bottle . . ." Jones mused pointed to the mark, "that's black makeup! The EPO bottle has the same smudge . . . "Which means this pill bottle must have been dropped by the killer!!
"We need to figure out what it is," she agreed, looking at the smudged label, "the writing on the label should help . . . let's see . . ."
She used her magnifying glass to look at the letter and read off what she could to Jones who wrote it down for her on a sticky note.
"Great job decoding the label of the pill bottle, Adalet, but . . ." he gulped as he read his note, "I can't figure out what the label actually says! "225-90-31XD" . . . what the heck could this mean?"
"Let's get this bottle to the lab," she replied, "hopefully someone is able to figure this out for us."
Two Analyses Later . . .
"The towel you found on the football field was . . . very dirty, to say the least," Grace wrinkled her nose, "the fibres you gave me bore traces, as you had correctly guessed, of black face paint and chilli peppers. I also managed to find faint traces of EPO. Any clue who the towel might have belonged to?"
"Our killer, of course!" Jones yells.
"Correct. And there was yet another substance on the fibres: chlorophyll!" she informed them, "this chlorophyll was deeply encrusted in the fibres as if someone had used the towel to try and remove a grass stain from something else!"
"But grass stains are notoriously difficult to remove without a thorough wash," Adalet took over, "our killer still has a grass stain on their clothes, you have my word!"
"Don't be stealing my job now!" Grace laughed, "but moving on . . .The pill bottle you found in the infirmary holds vitamins, Adalet. "
"Vitamins?" Jones repeated, "somehow I was expecting something a little bit more illegal . . ."
"It may not be illegal, but it's still useful. The label Adalet decoded is an estimated vitamin dosage," she explained, "225/90=31XD" means one pill per 90 pounds in weight. Three pills once a day for a 225-pound adult. Which tell us . . . that your killer weighs 225 pounds!"
"Jones, we finally have everything we need to put Troy Takiguchi's killer behind bars!" Adalet celebrated.
"Let's go and arrest that killer!" Jones replied.
Arrest Killer . . .
"Coach Caldwell?" Jones was shocked as his partner made her arrest, "I can't believe you were the one that killed Troy Takiguchi. Why would you ever do such a thing?!"
"Who do you take me for? I never meant for him to die!!" Franklin assured, "I just . . . I wanted to give him a boost before the game, that's all! Look, I knew there were going to be Talent Scouts from the major league that day. Troy's raw strength was admirable, but his endurance could have been better. I just wanted to make sure he would shine!"
"So you added EPO to his insulin syringe, but you messed up the dosage," Adalet deduced.
"God help me, I did. I did!" he cried, "we were so close. But I missed my last shot at giving the Quails national fame."
"A man is dead and all you still think about is football?!" Jones exploded, "how did you even manage to tamper with Troy's syringe? How could he not know what you had done?!"
"Troy kept his insulin kit in the infirmary. I just waited for Nurse Breen to go out for lunch and I sneaked inside," Franklin responded, "I had never used EPO. I didn't think mixing it up with insulin would be a problem . . . I had no idea it would kill him!"
"Wait, but you did this before the match . . . Why did you break into the infirmary a second time, after the murder?! What did you intend to do?" he demanded.
"Once Lt. Adalet started getting close to the truth, I went back there to hide the bottle of EPO into Karimah's supplies!" he admits, "the woman had supplied illegal drugs to students before! I thought if you found the bottle there, she'd be the obvious culprit!"
"So not only did you kill a student you were in charge of, but you tried to frame another faculty member for the murder . . ." Adalet glared.
"Lt. Adalet," Jones gave the killer his own glare, "I don't know about you, but I've heard enough. Franklin Caldwell, you're under arrest! Anything you say can and will . . ."
At The Courthouse . . .
"Mr. Caldwell. As the University football coach, you had been put in charge of students. Students who looked up at you to protect them. Instead of that, you drugged a player without his knowledge," Judge Hall glared down at the accused, "and in so doing, sent him to his death. What you did was reckless and unacceptable coming from anyone who has students in his care, Mr. Caldwell."
"I was a desperate man, your Honor!" Franklin pleaded, "I never wished for Troy to die! I just wanted to help his career!"
"Enough! I will not hear another word from you!" she derided, "for the crime of involuntary manslaughter on the person of Troy Takiguchi, this Court sentences you to four years in prison and revokes your teaching license. Court is adjourned!"
"Well, I hope the Grimsborough Quails will be on their way to recovery soon. Right now they need to look for a new coach . . ." Jones grunts as he stretched his arms, "the Dean is thinking about renaming the University stadium "Troy Takiguchi memorial stadium". Wouldn't that be fitting? That's this job for you, Adalet . . . no matter what happens, we always have to carry on!"
"I hope the Quills will be able to recover from their loss," Adalet says as they got into their car.
"We'll be there to follow the Quails' progress on their next game, won't we?" he asked hopefully, "I hope this case hasn't dulled your appetite for football, Adalet?"
"Nope!" she quipped.
Later . . .
"I have to congratulate you for your success in this investigation, Lt. Adalet! You swiftly tackled the problem!" Chief King praised, "and I'm happy to tell you that the Quails haven't let the ball drop either! They've found a new coach and the match against the Armadillos has finally been rescheduled. I hope it won't be interrupted this time!"
"That was fast," Adalet says with wide eyes.
"But first, I'd like you to check up on Karimah Breen, the college nurse. After the break-in in the infirmary, I'd rather you . . ." he looked for the word he wanted, "keep an eye on the ball!"
She facepalmed, "good one, Chief . . ."
"Hey, Let!" Grace waved as she came over, "I heard you're heading to the University infirmary! Can I come with you?"
"Sure," the Turk replied, "are you going to the rematch?"
"I plan to watch the Quails, and I'd like to meet the college nurse," she added, "she's one of my peers, and I'm curious to know how she handles college students daily."
"Sure, Grace! I'd be more than happy to let you go with Adalet," Jones laughed, "as long as you don't leave us to start a new career as a University nurse afterwards!"
"Well, I did want to become a nurse during my studies. I would have loved working with the dynamic youth, helping students take care of them . . ." she smirked, "but I realized I'd protect young people better than by helping to put the bad guys behind bars and working hard to make this world a better place! That's why I chose forensic studies in the end."
"And we're glad you did!" he smiled, "while you're on campus, could you also check up on Madison and Chad before the match? They must be under pressure now since they have to prove the Quails are the best even without Troy!"
Adalet gave a thumbs up, "can do, see you at the game!"
Grace, Adalet and Hunter decided to walk to the University campus and check in with nurse Breen about the burglary. They found the nurse putting away the last of her supplies and the room looked much cleaner from the last time Adalet had been there,
"Hello, Mrs. Breen. I'm Grace Delaney," Grace introduced herself, "I'm a forensic expert in Lt. Adalet's team. We were sent to see if you needed any help after the break-in in your infirmary."
"Nice to meet you, but please call me Karimah, Mrs. Breen is my mother," Karimah replied, "it's nice of you to come all the way here to help me. The infirmary is a real mess since the break-in."
"If this is a mess, I can't imagine what it looks like clean!" Adalet jokes.
She chuckled, "I'm usually a very neat person, I like my infirmary strictly ordered. It's like an obligation with all the toxic chemicals I stock here. I hope I can finish cleaning before the match. I really want to cheer our boys! I even created my own blue face paint, the same colour as the Quails' logo! It's a totally harmless liquid, and it's easy to remove, I've tested it!"
"Really? That's nice! What kind of products did you use?" Grace inquired, "I always thought about creating my own lipstick, to have it the exact shade I want! Can I see the paint you made?"
"Sadly, I don't even know where my paint bottle is right now," Karimah informed, "since you're offering your help, Lt. Adalet, could you two search the blue paint bottle while I clean up the infirmary?"
"Of course," she replied, "we'll find the paint in no time!"
She let out a breath of relief, "thank you, I have to run and sing for a new shipment of supplies. Hopefully, I can't sort it all out by the match."
Karimah left her infirmary and Adalet took a look around the room. She checked the countertops and noticed a bright blue bottle tucked behind a glove dispenser. She picked it up and showed it to Grace.
"This blue is similar to the Quails banners I've seen when we walked through the campus. Everybody seems excited for the game against the Armadillos!" Grace remarks, "it's nice to work with young people . . ."
"Aw, don't you love me?" Adalet pouted.
"Don't get me wrong, I love working with you Letty," she assured, "but when I was a student, I seriously considered becoming a school nurse. I just love children and teenagers!"
She giggled, "I just pulling your leg!"
"Anyway, with all those chemicals and drugs here, maybe this blue liquid isn't Karimah's paint. It could be methylene blue, and you don't want this on your face, trust me," she shivered, "could you take a sample so I can analyze this liquid?"
Adalet poured a sample of the blue liquid from the bottle into a small petri dish and handed it to Grace before twisting the cap back on. She placed it in her case for safekeeping.
"With this liquid sample, we'll be sure of what's inside that bottle you found!" Grace grins, "I'll do as quick as possible! I can't wait to see if it's Karimah's secret mixture!"
"Alright, I'll be here when you get back," Adalet promised.
The Lt. walked with her friend until they reached the football field and they parted ways. Adalet and Hunter entered the field and saw the cheer squad practicing their routine off to the side.
"Hello Madison," Adalet greets, "I came to chee-"
"Wait a second, officer," Madison said, she turned to the squad, "Beth! I know you can raise your legs higher! Smile ladies, you're supposed to cheer the team and charm the public, not to scare them away! 1, 2,3, jump! God, you're all hopeless! Let's take a break! Ugh, this is so frustrating!"
"Try breaking it up into parts, practice each piece then work it all together," she advised, "it's what my high school's squad did."
She seemed to consider this but was still on a rant, "first I lose my special pompoms and now one of my best cheerleaders has the flu! The damn flu! As if we could replace her in the choreography easily! Actually . . . I know it's a bit impolite to ask you, Lt. Adalet, but I really need your help. As I said, I lost my new cheerleader's pompoms, the blue and gold pair I'm supposed to use during the match!"
"Don't you have another pair?" she asked.
"I have another pair I use to train, but they're pink!" she cried, "it'll look ridiculous if the head of the cheerleaders uses worn-out pink pompoms to cheer the Quails in their blue uniforms!"
"OK, I see your point," she agreed.
"Please, can you look for them while I try to create something at least resembling a cheerleader's performance with my team?" she begged, "I haven't used those pompoms since Troy's death, so they must be around here!"
"Alright, but really," she said walking away, "they doing the routine in pieces!"
Madison just returned to barking orders through her megaphone.
"So," she turned to the dog, "where do you think the pompoms are hiding?"
The dog trotted up to a ball storage bin.
"The ball storage? You think someone could have put Madison's pompoms in there, Hunt?" she asked, "well then, I'll dig through this storage! You can . . . take the ball and run with it!"
She tossed one of the small tennis balls and Hunter chased after it. Adalet grabbed one of the benches and dragged it over to get the height she needed. She bent over the lip of the bin and dug through the ball and found the pompoms she was looking for. She saw that there was a tag attached to the pompoms and checked it for a name.
"Madison's special pompoms - DO NOT TOUCH WITHOUT HER PERMISSION! (Yes, that includes you too Beth!)" . . ." Adalet blinked at what she had just read, "these pompoms are definitely Madison's! We can return them when she's done training, I guess."
Hunter ran back with the ball and shoved it back in through a hole in the ball bin.
"I wouldn't have thought she could be that bossy, though. I can hear her screaming at the cheerleader's squad from here," she complained rubbing her ear, "this charming girl turns into a real drill sergeant during training!"
"Come on, girls! It's 1, 2, 3, jump! Good! Now throw your pompoms! 4, 5, 6, turn around and . . . Porté! Perfect!" Madison shouted, "all right everyone, let's take a five-minute break. I want it to be perfect for the match! "
"Hey, Madison, I found your pompoms!" Adalet waved the fluffy balls, "your "special" pair had been misplaced in the ball storage. "
"Oh! Thank you so much, Lt. Adalet! I'd have been so frustrated to use my pink pair! Can you imagine?" she laughed, "the head cheerleader without good pompoms? It's like a frat party without girls, it lacks charm and class!"
"Uh . . ." she cocked her head, "I'm not sure I understand that reasoning . . ."
"Oh, you weren't a popular kid in college, right?" she guessed.
"Never attended," she shrugged, "took special private schooling."
"I see," she nodded, "you can go to the food stand near the field. Tell the vendor Madison sent you, he'll let you have a hot dog or a burger for free!"
Adalet nodded and Hunter and her left to find Chad before the game. They check the locker rooms but no one was in so she decided to go see if he was still in his room. She knocked on the door and the quarterback opened it promptly.
"Hello, Chad, how are you doing?" Adalet asked, "you're the Quails' quarterback now. The Armadillos won't go easy on you, and neither will Jones! He hopes you have a good game plan for the oncoming match!"
"Of course! I'm more than ready to kick it off! Like it or not, but the Quails are still the best, even without Troy!" Chad proclaimed, "I just need to do my pre-game ritual, and I'm sure to push it over the goal!"
"Your ritual? Oh please," she groaned slightly, "tell me you're not one of those highly superstitious players who think their mistakes are due to some misfortune!"
"Think what you want, but before every game I play with my old football, mostly to relax. My father gave it to me when I was six and had it signed by MFL idols. I do think it's a sign of bad luck if I lose it!" he huffed, "but thanks to your nosy investigation, my own room is messier than ever, and I can't get a hold of it. I hope I'll find it after my team's meeting . . . Anyway, it's not that important. I'll see you later."
He brushed past her and walked won the hall, leaving her and the dog standing in front of the open door.
"Hunter, Troy was so good, I doubt Chad can lead the Quails to victory without a bit of luck. I'd hate to see them lose!" she sighs, "can we look for his "lucky football" while he's out of his room?"
Hunter barked and ran into the dorm room. By the time Adalet had chased in after her, the dog was already barking at a pile of leather she had discovered by the door.
"You're right, Hunt! Those worn-out leather pieces could be part of Chad's football," Adalet hums, "the ball's seams probably broke after it flattened . . . Let's piece it back together!"
She got out her sewing kit and threaded the strong string through the leather and stitched the pieces together tightly. The worn leather was smooth under her fingers and she tied off the thread once she was done.
"All the football player's signatures are in place! It still looks battered but . . ." Adalet frowned, "it looks well used and beloved. Chad was probably showing off when he behaved like finding it wasn't important . . . I can't wait to see his face when we'll give him his football back!"
They waited outside of the dorm room and passed the time by sitting on the floor and rolling the ball back and forth. Chad returned to his room about fifteen minutes later and looked confused to see the cop still there.
"Lt. Adalet?" Chad questioned, "I thought you'd have left . . . I'm sorry but I don't have time to talk, and wouldn't feel like chit-chatting anyway. I have to prepare for the match and . . ."
"And you'll probably need this football I found torn up in your room," Adalet said tossing it up to him.
He caught it easily, "my football! Thank God nobody threw it away during the investigation! I was so worried I had lost it, I couldn't even focus! The meeting was a disaster, I barely fumbled through it!"
He gave the ball a few test tosses, "thank you so much, Lt. Adalet, for restoring it. I know it was pretty damaged. It's a real relief, thanks to you, I'm sure to be at the top of my game against the Armadillos!"
"Yeah, you'd better win the game now!" she ordered, "we'll be cheering for you from the bleachers, and as Jones would say, "crush them without mercy!"
"Don't worry, the Quails will win as a duck takes to water!" he vowed, "if you plan to cheer us, you can wear those clothes! They're Quails' uniforms, we have a lot of spare ones this year."
Chad dug around in a box in his room and produced two sets of Quill's jerseys, one to fit Jones and another to fit Adalet. He even found an extra small one that would fit Hunter. Adalet excepted the clothes with a thank you and head to the entrance to find Grace.
"Grace! Over here!" Adalet waved as her teammate approached, "did you manage to find out what that liquid was?"
"I analyzed that sample you took from Karimah's bottle, and I'm happy to tell you nothing's wrong with it!" Grace reported, "it's definitely harmless, and it's a very interesting mix for face paint. Seriously, even the products sold in supermarkets are more toxic than this."
She laughed, "that's not so surprising!"
"Of course, you mustn't put too much on your face for too long, because your skin's pores need to breathe. But it's still a very delicate paint. Karimah is an awesome chemist!" she boasted, "we'll bring it back to Karimah. She put a lot of effort into this ingenious liquid, it shows her dedication towards her students!"
They returned to the infirmary and found Karimah putting away the last of her new shipment. Adalet took the bottle out of her case and handed it to the nurse.
"My face paint! Thank you, Adalet!" Karimah beams, "I'm so glad to have it back. I can't wait to put it on! I've made sure nothing toxic was lying in the infirmary, but I'll finish the clean-up after the match!"
"I still don't see anything to clean . . ." Adalet teased.
"Thank you for your help. Wait a minute while I put my face paint on!" she turned to face a mirror of the closet door, "do you want some, Grace? I bet you'd look good with it!"
"Uh . . . Thank you, but I think I'll pass. My red hair's skin dislikes this kind of product, even if yours is less aggressive than usual," Grace declined politely, "but if you want, we can go buy air horns and then watch the game together! I'd love to chat with you, even more since you told me about that paint you made!"
"It'd be my pleasure to cheer our boys with you and air horns, Grace!" Karimah replied turning around and setting her facepaint on the counter, "let's show them we're there!"
A/N: I'm more a hockey or soccer person, but I can get into watch football from time to time. This case always surprises me every time I hear Nathan's autopsy report about what happens when EPOs and insulin are mixed, does anyone know if that actually true? I've yet to look into it.