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“Oh, ah…sure.” I hadn’t thought of it that way. “Give me one minute.”
I got up from the table, glad for the momentary breather. We’d moved most of the files to the couch, at least while we were meeting Lexi, and I dug up a blank piece of paper. I gave Bella a quick glance, but she was still coloring. It seemed she’d moved on to a different book, but she was still going strong.
“Could I borrow a crayon?” I asked Bella, not wanting to find a pen. “I’ll bring it right back.”
Bella looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before grabbing her box. Naturally, Fiona had purchased the largest set of crayons for her. Who needed twelve colors when you could have 152? It was almost comical.
After a moment of consideration, she plucked one up and held it out to me. I paused. “Is this for me?”
Bella nodded and thrust it at my hand again.
I took it carefully, rolling the purple crayon in my finger as I read the name.Vivid Violet. They sure are getting fancy these days, huh?I smiled and looked at Bella. “Thank you. I like it.” It reminded me of the fireweed back home.
“It’s you,” Bella said, already back to coloring. I paused, waiting for her to explain, but she was busy coloring in what looked to be a bright blue horse. I wanted to ask, but Lexi and the others were waiting for me.
I hurried back to the table to sketch out what I remembered of the layout. While I worked, Nic spoke up.
“Have you been able to get any information on Dr. Brenner or the Raven Brothers?” he asked, looking pensive.
“After discussing with Remus the other night, unfortunately, it seems you have more information on the Raven Brothers than we did,” she said, looking a bit annoyed. “Dr. Brenner is another matter, however. Do you mind if I share my screen?”
“Go right ahead,” Remus rumbled.
A moment later, our screen changed, and a few older articles popped up. “Dr. Arnold Brenner was once considered one of the brightest minds in his field when he was a young research doctor at the University of Maryland,” she said, flicking through what looked to be published scientific reports. “He and a team of other scientists were working on novel ways to cure terminal illness. Now, I’m not a doctor or biologist, but my understanding is that they thought they could remove a part of a person’s genome to prevent the progression of the disease.”
I frowned. “Do genes work like that?” I asked, feeling a bit silly for needing that clarified.
Lexi shook her head. “As far as I can tell, their research looked promising within studies looking at individual genes or bacteria, but they were having trouble replicating the same results when they moved to trials in fish and mammals. They never proceeded to human trials.” She paused, raising a brow. “Now this is where he gets interesting. At some point, he starts submitting grants claiming that if he can splice a human’s DNA with one of these animals, he can effectively replace the broken part of their DNA and prevent their terminal disease. No one funded this claim, but it was later found that he was receiving private donations and attempting to run these experiments all the same.”
Eli snorted softly. “This sounds more like science fiction than science,” he grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.
Lexi gave him a wry look. “Some will tell you that science fiction is just a look into the future we don’t have the tools to access yet,” she said. The screen changed again. This time, there were numerous newspaper articles with splashy headlines on the screen regarding Dr. Brenner. None of them were flattering.
“Obviously, the University of Maryland did not take kindly to one of their faculty members running experiments that hadn’t been approved by any ethics committee, and he was terminated immediately. All his former colleagues turned on him, and Dr. Brenner was the center of ridicule for some time. He essentially dropped off the map after that. No one would hire him, and for good reason.
“It was discovered a few weeks after his termination that he had even been experimenting on people, many of whom reported they had been tricked or misled by him. Several of them suffered extreme side effects, and some never recovered. At this point, it’s not just an ethical problem, but a legal one.” Lexi grimaced. “Dr. Brenner was obviously aware of what he’d done because in the few weeks it took those people to come forward, he’d all but disappeared.”
Eli made a disgusted face. “So whoever was running Project Night Moon probably saw this guy as a hot ticket, huh? Smart, practiced, and he clearly has no problem hurting other people — an ends-justify-the-means kind of guy.”
Lexi nodded. “It would appear that’s the case. He’s been a cold case for a while, as these are serious crimes. If he was detected anywhere, he’d have been picked up.”
I frowned a little. “But if he’s wanted, why would he use his real name? He could have told me his name was Little Bo Peep and I wouldn’t have been able to prove it otherwise.”
Lexi shrugged. “He wants the recognition,” she replied simply. “He was considered brilliant once, and I’m sure whoever hires him — or finances him — keeps stroking his ego to keep him working. I’m sure he still considers himself quite brilliant, too.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Oh, he definitely does,” I grumbled, sneering at the memory of the man.
“Well, it could be a good thing for us,” Lexi said. “We’ve been trying to hunt ghosts, essentially, but we know where Dr. Brenner’s trail left off, and maybe with a bit more manpower, we can follow the trail to where he is now. That will lead us to the facility.”
Remus seemed to perk up a bit at the idea. “That’s excellent. I’m sure someone on Seff’s team could help with that.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Lexi agreed. “Now, unfortunately, I do have a meeting for work I need to prepare for.” She offered us an apologetic grimace. “But I’ve transferred my files securely to Seff, and he should be able to share them with you. Hopefully, between the lot of us, we’ll be able to get more information on Dr. Brenner’s whereabouts.”
After a few more pleasantries, the call ended and I leaned back against the kitchen chair, feeling more hopeful than I had in weeks.
We might finally have a lead.
22
