Recycle - 5. Chapter 5

Elena continued her research, mainly online, and then talked it over with Don. “I didn’t realize how expensive these tranquilizer guns are,” she said.

“Never thought about it... Guess they’re pretty specialized... How much?”

“Three or four thousand dollars.”

“Wow! I never expected that. So we’re looking for a rich kid.”

“Possibly. But you can also make a blowgun that does the same thing, and that only costs two or three bucks.”

“Will it shoot very far? And with any power?”

“No, you have to be much closer... seven or eight feet... as opposed to ninety. But it has the force.”

“The dart won’t just bounce off?”

“In the videos, they stick a half inch into the wood – it looks like pine. So they should go through light clothes and into skin.”

“What do you make it from? The blowgun?”

“A foot or so of pipe... the plastic garden kind you pick up at Home Depot.”

Don considered. “But you still need the darts. Can you make them, too?”

“That’s trickier... because you need the drugs.”

“Of course... and that takes a prescription – which is traceable. So it’s self-defeating.”

“But you need a prescription to buy tranquilizer darts, too,” Elena pointed out. “So we’ve got the shooter either way... if we can find its supplier.”

“What about the guns? Are dart guns legal?” Don asked.

“They’re not licensed in Massachusetts. They’re just air guns – kids’ toys. Anyone can buy one in Walmart.”

“Ha!”

“Anyone over eighteen.”

“Do we know which way the shooter’s going? Do we have any of the darts?”

Elena shook her head. “No. Not everyone threw them away, like our first kid. But if they remember taking them out – before they got groggy – they couldn’t find them later.”

“So the shooter takes them away? To refill?”

“Possibly. But that still needs the drugs.”

“Are darts cheap? Or as expensive as the guns?”

“They cost anywhere from fifteen to fifty dollars – each. It depends on how strong you want them and where you buy them. Online’s cheapest, but not from a reliable dealer.”

“Either way... they’re drugs and should be traceable.”

“But it’s a pit... with who knows what kind of dark market. And if there’s even a profit.”

“So we’re back to a rich kid?”

“I don’t know... and either does anyone else.” She hesitated. “Though we do know we have an ongoing shooter – and stalker. And that people as a group know more than any one person can find out. But most important – people need to be warned.”

Don laughed. “How does Owen feel about that?”

Elena smiled. “Yeah... I know... Which is why I haven’t asked him yet. But I’m sure he feels the same way any of us do... that people have to be safe.”

“Plus, you’re right – telling them’s the best way to gather information. And we have a forty mile area to cover, a lot of it rural.”

“That’s a lot of well-meaning citizens,” Elena agreed. “But I know you’re also thinking – copycats and crazies.”

They considered.

“There’s something else,” she finally went on. “Something we haven’t talked about.”

“What?”

“The tattoo.”

Don looked at her. “Yeah?”

“Why ‘recycle?’”

He shook his head. “I don’t follow.”

“Why that particular word?”

Don shrugged. “Again, public spirit?”

“There’s that, but...”

“What?” he followed -up. Then he waited for her to go on.

“Well, the dart’s not really harming anyone,” she said. “Not like a gun or knife.”

“It must hurt,” he pointed out. “A half inch of steel.”

“But it’s more like a vaccine... or a bee sting.”

“Either of those cause reactions... could...”

“But so far, none have.”

“So the shooter’s been lucky?”

“Or careful... because that’s not the intention. It doesn’t want any bad publicity.”

“Publicity?”

“Yeah – that’s got to be the reason for that tattoo – the specific word. The shooter only drugs people to brand them – spread the word about recycling.”

Don was skeptical. “Elena,” he said smiling, “this is The Happy Valley... with what? – a dozen colleges and all those educated people? They’re all super-aware and knew about recycling before you were born. Heck, I learned about it in second grade.”

“I know that,” she admitted. “And I’m only twelve years younger than you and didn’t grow up far away.” She paused. “But maybe the shooter’s after a different group – a bigger one.”

“Students?”

She nodded. “The ones from all over... The state... The country... Even international ones. Maybe it’s just waiting for us to make the attacks public.”

“Then why not go straight to the media?” Don asked. “Especially online? That would get more attention.”

“Or get lost... Which may be what already happened.”

“Did you look?”

“Elena laughed. “I started to... but there’s so much. After two or three hours, I gave up.”

Don laughed, too. “That’s longer than I would have lasted.”

“So if we go to Owen,” she continued, “and suggest what we know he doesn’t want to hear... If we give the shooter the publicity it wants, and that’s all that comes of it... Then what have we gained?”

“The shootings might stop,” Don suggested.

“Would that be enough?... if we still don’t also catch the person behind them? Is that all Owen’s going to tell us? Because then, you and I’ll just look dumb.”

Don thought but had no answer.

“So I guess I need to work harder,” Elena decided. “Till I can prove to Owen what we’d gain.”

“Or maybe we have to wait for the next one,” Don weakly offered. “And hope something goes wrong.”

“Now that’s a terrible bet.”