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      Death by Manicure

      the case of the poison polish

      By Dr. Robert Spalding

      Spalding Publishing

      Signal Mountain, Tennessee

      Death by Manicure: the case of the poison polish

      Copyright 2013 Robert Tucker Spalding, Jr. All rights reserved.

      ISBN: 978-1-935803-05-8

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013909740

      Published in eBook format by Spalding Publishing, Signal Mountain, Tennessee 37377, USA

      Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com

      No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

      THIS BOOK IS A WORK OF FICTION. CERTAIN NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO AVOID ANY SIMILIARITEIS TO ANY REAL INDIVIDUALS. Making ricin is illegal and very dangerous to even contemplate. Do not attempt to make ricin or you most likely will be found guilty of violating federal or state laws. If anyone dies in your efforts to manufacture this product you could face the death penalty for engaging in terrorist acts. The purpose of this story is to expose potential threats to US security and to make the public aware to be vigilant in reporting suspicious activities (See DR. SPALDING'S other books that discuss such issues DRUG SUBS and HOW TO LIVE HOMELESS IN STYLE.)

      SUMMARY

      Women are suddenly dying after visits to nail salons. All across the US, ricin tainted bottles of nail polish are showing up in beauty shops. Athena Elliott, the number one nail technician in the US figures out the cause of this diabolical domestic terrorist attack and jumps into action. A disgruntled nail polish chemist sets the stage for a real adventure into the criminal mind. This book educates the reader with real facts blended with a fictional story to captivate the reader with a very intense book for entertainment. The reader will be a real expert in the nail salon industry after reading this novel.

      PROLOGUE

      July 6^th 2003, Dallas, Texas.

      It was a beautiful, clear summer’s morning in Dallas. Katie Johnson was off to town for a pedicure at her regular nail salon, and to pick up a few things for her wedding anniversary party that coming Saturday night. If the weather held, and there was no guarantee that it would at this time of the year, the plan was to start with a barbecue and then move the party indoors when it got dark. Or the alternative plan was to go with the flow. If the party was in full swing outside they would just stick with it and only change things up if it was going off the boil. There were a number of people invited who, although they all got on well with the Johnsons, there were also several personality clashes between invitees. Katie could always put her husband on peacemaker duty. Usually he was able to pacify a situation before it boiled over into a verbal assault. The trouble was that if he drank too much he could often cause trouble rather than prevent it. Indeed, there had been occasions where he would take sides with one of the antagonists, which could only make the situation worse. The women often found this amusing as they knew what guys were like and could all relate to it.

      On these occasions, usually the guys ended up staying outside where they could swear and drink while the ladies retired to the more comfortable surroundings indoors. When the beer and bourbon got flowing it was not uncommon that the guys who had seen any kind of military service would start playing a game of one-upmanship in terms of anecdotes. These were made even better if one had some kind of prop like a scar. Some of the best anecdotes opened with something along the lines of “Let me tell you how I got this scar.”

      Most of the immediate neighborhood was invited to this anniversary bash and Katie’s parents would be flying in from Seattle to stay with the family for a few days. Katie loved having her parents come to stay although they had a tendency to spoil the grandkids like most grandparents do. They always insisted on giving them money, knowing full well that they already received an allowance. Katie, by now, had learned that there was no point in arguing with her parents. Her grandparents had done the same when she was young, and even though her parents had asked them not to do it, they now couldn’t recognise that they were doing the exact same thing they had tried to discourage all those years ago.

      Katie’s friend and neighbor, Pam Mathers, was in her front garden trimming one of its many hedges as Katie headed out. Pam’s garden always looked great, much better than Katie’s. She had often offered to do work in Katie’s garden, but Katie had never taken her up on it, as she thought it was something that her husband ought to do.

      “Morning, Katie,” said Pam cheerfully with a little wave.

      “Oh hey, Pam; how ya doin’? The hedges look good as usual. Beautiful day, huh?” Katie returned as she eyed the manicured bushes and took in the colorful flower arrangements.

      “I’m doing great thanks,” Pam responded, wiping a little sweat from her brow. “You off into town? Yes, it’s supposed to be nice all day according to the forecast, that’s why I am doing the hedges while the sun is out. It sure makes a change from all that rain we’ve had just lately.”

      “It sure does, yeah, I’m going into town for a pedicure and to get a few things for the party on Saturday. You can still make it, right?” Katie asked, taking her eyes off some brilliant roses to look at her long time neighbor.

      “Oh sure, we wouldn’t miss it. Ed and I have been really looking forward to it, but I have warned him not to turn it into a poker session like he did that one time,” Pam said with a quick shake of her head and a chuckle. Glancing at Katie’s husband, she noted that he didn’t say a word. Typical, she thought, because he’d been one of the biggest winners.

      “Oh that was ages ago. You never let him forget about that do you?” said Katie as they both laughed. They’d both shared a lot of good times over the years– some not so good ones too, as neighbors do.

      “No, I sure don’t. The money he lost that night could have been spent on a new dress for me or any number of useful things, but there you go; that’s men for you,” Pam said as she motioned with her gardening clippers. “Anyway, don’t forget we’ll be bringing some food and wine over on Saturday. You both have a good day now,” she added, prepared to return to her work.

      “Thanks, you too,” said Katie as her husband, Robert, just smiled. He knew better than to engage in these conversations about poker or gardening, because it never came out the way he intended.

      Pam was pleased that the Johnson’s had made the decision to get back together after their divorce for the sake of their three teenage boys. Being a mother herself, Pam thought it was terrible for any child to go through their formative years in a single-parent environment. Given the amount of broken marriages in modern America, it was becoming more and more common that one parent did it alone, or they upset everything by juggling the kids back and forth between homes and sometimes between cities. She thanked her lucky stars that she and her husband had never had any major problems in their marriage. She sometimes found it a little hard to tolerate Ed’s gambling and drinking, but she gave him a little leeway for what she considered male vices. She would never be sympathetic towards infidelity though, not that that was the reason behind Katie’s divorce.

      Katie’s husband wheeled her over to his white van and turned her round so that her back faced the side-door where she patiently waited through the process. Robert had fitted a retractable ramp to the side door so Katie could get in and out of the van. It took a bit of effort to roll her in sometimes, but with gravity assisting it was easy to wheel her out. Getting a regular pedicure wasn’t so much a luxury as it was a necessity. Due to her inability to trim her own nails, Katie, like many other Americans with medical problems, relied on the services of a nail technician instead of a podiatrist to render delicate nail and foot care treatments. If the truth was known, she hadn’t given the matter any thought. A podiatrist

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