Penthesilea's Wish [Vol.2]

Chapter Forty

Back in the unmarked high rise office the short-haired intelligence agent reached over the professor's shoulder, pointing at the schematic he now held.

"Those blue dots you see are victims which were obviously not intended to be killed. They were ambushed and injured in a specific way . . . to cause considerable suffering."

"That's right," the Asian-looking agent added, straightening his oval glasses. "The blue dots are extremely painful assaults, though the victim does survive. His health of course, in terms of any full recovery is always severely impaired."

"And those red dots you see? They're fatal attacks," the fair-haired agent weighed back in. "These victims all died usually within a few hours . . . some much faster. But it was the same method of assault . . . interestingly, just a different toxin."

"I see," the professor responded. Are these attacks really so organized? So . . . calculated . . . with these outcomes?" He was noticeably astonished at what he was hearing and seeing.

"Yes," the suited man behind the desk interjected. "We've now determined it's all extremely well orchestrated and precisely planned. There's a sophisticated modus operandi here . . . coupled with training and impressive execution. All these men were shot by an arrow propelled from the same type of weapon. A modern, high tech crossbow."

He reached again down into his drawer, this time producing a sturdy, black mechanical device, the outer dimensions being only as wide as a laptop computer. It seemed to have a pair of thin metal wings that arched out on either side of a sturdy central column. There was a handle like a pistol and a red trigger mounted inside it.

"This is the same model weapon confiscated from a woman suspect arrested in India. She's in custody now for being witnessed using this crossbow on a man who was convicted of a dowry-murder in the province of Rajasthan."

The professor looked again at the relatively small weapon.

"She will not talk to authorities while incarcerated and is prepared to go to prison rather than cooperate.

"What did the man do?" The professor asked.

"Dowry murders? They're wife burnings," the blue-eyed man explained. "Murders committed by husbands. They set their spouses on fire with kerosene to collect their dowries and property after death. It's become epidemic in a few countries today, particularly India."

The bureau chief behind the desk continued the debriefing about the crossbow while aiming it menacing at the wall. "This little weapon is of the highest quality of its kind on the international market today. It's made in Finland, perfectly lethal, and ships out in a harmless-looking unmarked package for assembly. It's lightweight. Aluminum, plastic, carbon-fiber, and has an ultra-powerful tempered steel bow. Unassembled it looks more like a large book in its shipping box."

The professor reached over and tested the immoveable tension of one of the crossbow's small steel wings. "Impressive," he said soberly.

"This company has shipped out some fifteen hundred of these babies this year alone. They've made it to various locations, believed only to be books in most cases. And once there they're distributed to individuals who we now believe are female operatives within a number of countries and regions."

"And the shafts? Those small arrows?"

The reddish-faced CIA agent reached into his desk and took out a silver object the size and shape of a pencil and handed it to the professor. "These stainless steel darts, called 'hunting bolts' by cross bow enthusiasts, are manufactured and sent from another location entirely," added the bespectacled, Asian agent. "Spain, to be precise."