A Talk with A Dr about A Dr

Jp with Jaxx and Cindy

As Dr. Jackal looked out the window he has several thoughts that ran vividly through his mind. He needed to to test and identify the ingredients in the other serum samples for Lady Elizabeth. He also wanted to run some tests on his blood and see if it has changed since his last self test before going on the run. Then he wanted to run a series of experiments on seeing if he could stabilize his other half in the future. This of course would require a lot of time to do and he was still on the mission to find Dr. Lemaire and stop him. To make it more complicated he had to work with a mish mash of other gifted people. Though everyone was being polite for now he had no idea how well they would get along down the road. He looked at Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Sung and asked, "After this meeting what does our schedule include? I was only able to work on the serum in the syringe. I still have to work on the samples that your staff provided."

Elizabeth heard Dr. Jackal's question, "You will have the rest of the day to work in the lab, after we are done at headquarters."

Elizabeth perhaps had not said this outloud but considering what had happened yesterday, she had no plans on having Jackal do much outside the lab for the time being.

Dr. Jackal nodded at Lady Elizabeth and replied, "I see. Thank you. After spending a long time to break down the serum in the syringe I have a hypothesis on Dr. Lemaire. He is lacking in talent despite his education and even despite stealing my research, he was unable to replicate my results. So it seems he is desperate to start from scratch at this point and instead of using mice for test subjects he is using people to get instant results. To be honest I am surprised he has not made a lot more enemies at this point. I mean to go so far as to mistake Hemlock and Queens Anne's Lace, I question his intelligence. The only way he can get away with such mad science, means he has access to a lot of money. Is there a way to track his spending?"

That did explain the hemlock. "That likely makes him more dangerous than before." Elizabeth knew Lemaire would possibly be more dangerous than before as he sounded almost desperate.

"According to the information we have, Lemaire had closed any accounts he has. He paid off his debts before going underground. Unfortunately, there is no way to track his spending as he is likely just paying cash. The stores seem to have no letters of credit for him." Elizabeth explained

Dr. Jackal rubbed his chin and thinly shaved beard a bit as he pondered Lady Elizabeth's concerns. When it came to getting materials for science there was the official merchants, but when acquiring materials outside the normal channels it meant the black market or through criminal organizations. This made it more difficult to track since they did not keep records of purchase nor did they pay taxes on their illegal activities. The only way to get any information from those activities would require an information broker. However that was not cheap and very dangerous since many criminals were not keen on being spied on. However from what he saw Lady Elizabeth could most likely afford the broker, but she would need an agent to establish the deal. Dr. Jackal looked at Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Sung as he said, "Perhaps one or more of your specialized Agents could barter with some information brokers in the under world? I know the risk is high but it could give a lead to his actions and location."

Elizabeth thought for a moment about those on the team who might have access to an information broker. Two were the most likely. She really did not want to go outside the team as then she would have to deal with the Baron even more. "It is a good idea but one I will need to think upon." Elizabeth responded, then went back to a previous statement. "How close in looks is hemlock to Queens Anne Lace?" She had to admit plant identification was not her forte, she had books for such things but obviously they weren't with her, at the moment.

Dr. Jackal replied, "Well...as you know, hemlock or Conium Maculatum is one of the deadliest plants in and can be fatal if just a small amount is ingested. It grows often in dense patches along roads, trails and the edges of fields and streams making it easy to find. On the other hand Queen Anne's lace is a wild plant with an edible root. Now given that it typically does grow in the same conditions as poison hemlock, being able to tell the difference could save lives since it's also toxic to pets and livestock. The stem of Queen Anne's lace will be hairy it will have hairs fine hairs all the way up the stem as well as no spots whereas poison hemlock will be a smooth stem with purple blotches or spots. The flowers of both species are white and bloom in an umbrella shape pattern called an umbel. The flowers of Queen Anne's lace have a single purplish/red flower in the center of the umbel much of the time. Also, the umbrella shape of Queen Anne's lace is flat-topped, while the poison hemlock umbel is more rounded. Notice the difference below. A final distinguishing feature is that Queen Anne's lace has 3-pronged bracts appearing at both the base of the flowers and the main umbel. It is the only member of the Apaiceae family that has this feature. However this is only common to those who studied the plants since many often confuse the two."

"I see. It seems odd that Lamaire would have made that mistake. Is it possible he bought the hemlock from someone, thinking it was Queen Anne's Lace? Perhaps dried? " Was it even sold dried, Elizabeth wondered

Dr. Jackal shrugged and replied, "Well it can be purchased in many forms. I find it best to buy it fresh since I have been swindled in the past when I was much younger. However it can be purchased dried, fresh and as an extract. It is possible Dr. Lemaire was ignorant of the difference or he got swindled in his haste to do his experiments. Either way he is a fool for not checking the quality of his materials since they are not cheap. It would be no different when a craftsman uses the wrong bonding agent or glue in his work. There is a big difference between glue for paper and wood." Dr. Jackal rubbed his chin again then and spoke up, "However I have my reservations in tracking the source of the hemlock since it is one of the easier materials to find. The more rare materials would harder to hide since they would go through customs when brought in from the outside."