Case of the Poison Powder Chapter 15
Margaret Mitchell Mysteries - The cozy cousin of Carson Crime Files
The Case of the Poison Powder
(Miss Chapter 14? Find it Here) Or start with the first chapter!
Chapter 15
Margaret’s phone rang at 7:30 Wednesday morning. She answered before the second ring.
“We’ve got him.” Katherine’s voice held quiet triumph. “Lee found the edit history.”
Margaret sat up in bed, suddenly wide awake. “Tell me.”
“The badge logs were modified on January 9th at 2:47 AM. Hours after the theft. Someone with administrator credentials opened the log files and manually inserted two entries: Sade’s badge at 11:35 PM and 11:47 PM.” Katherine’s satisfaction was audible. “Lee traced the metadata. The original file was created January 8th at 11:30 PM, but those specific entries have different digital signatures. They were added after the fact.”
“Can Lee testify to this?”
“He’s writing his report now. You’ll have it by nine, and he’s willing to take the stand. Margaret, this is ironclad evidence of tampering.”
“Someone with administrator access.”
“Chris Webb.” Katherine confirmed what they both knew. “Jake pulled his financial records overnight. Five thousand dollars deposited four days before the theft. Ten thousand deposited four days after. Mortgage three months behind, car loan in default. He needed money desperately.”
Margaret was already pulling on clothes, phone wedged against her shoulder. “I’m going to AgroSynthetics. Call Detective Dorsey—tell her I need her there in an hour.”
“Be careful. If Chris realizes you know—”
“I won’t give him the chance to run.” Margaret grabbed her briefcase. “This ends today.”
***
Margaret sat across from Chris Webb in the same AgroSynthetics security office where she’d first interviewed him. But this time, Detective Dorsey waited in the hallway outside, and Margaret had a folder full of evidence.
Chris reached for his sunflower seeds, then seemed to think better of it. His hand trembled slightly as he pulled it back.
“Ms. Mitchell.” His voice was careful, controlled. “I’m not sure why you needed to meet again. I’ve already given my statement to the police.”
“I know you have.” Margaret set her briefcase on the floor and pulled out the folder. She opened it slowly, deliberately, letting him see the bank statements on top. “I wanted to give you an opportunity to tell the truth before the police arrest you.”
The color drained from his face. “Arrest me? For what?”
“For stealing twenty-five kilograms of chlorpyrifos from this facility. For editing the security logs to frame Sade Jalloh.” Margaret kept her voice even, professional. “For conspiracy, evidence tampering, and accessory to terrorism.”
“That’s insane.” But his eyes were fixed on the folder. “I didn’t—”
“January 4th. Five thousand dollar cash deposit to your checking account.” Margaret pulled out the bank statement. “January 12th. Ten thousand dollar cash deposit at a branch in Towson. Four days after the theft.”
His mouth opened, closed. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Your mortgage is three months behind. Car loan in default. Seventeen thousand in credit card debt.” She spread the papers across his desk. “You needed money, Mr. Webb. Desperately.”
“Lots of people have debt—”
“But not everyone has administrator access to the security logs.” Margaret leaned forward. “You didn’t clone Sade’s badge. You just edited the logs. Made it look like her badge was scanned when she was actually in Wilmington.”
His hands were shaking now, visible tremors he couldn’t control.
“A digital forensics expert found metadata inconsistencies,” Margaret continued. “Edit histories that were imperfectly erased. You’re good, Mr. Webb. But you’re not perfect.”
Chris stared at the papers, his breathing shallow.
“Someone paid you to steal those pesticides. You bypassed the cameras, took the chlorpyrifos, delivered it.” Margaret’s voice hardened. “And then you framed Sade Jalloh.”
“I didn’t know!” Chris’s control shattered. “I didn’t know what they were going to do with it! They said it was for agricultural research. Off the books. They just needed the chemicals.”
Margaret kept her expression neutral. “Who hired you?”
“I don’t know. An anonymous email. Offered me fifteen thousand dollars to take a specific container.” His hands went to his head.
“Why Sade? You could have framed Nick Liu.”
“Nick was at that conference in Philadelphia! Everyone knew he’d be there.” Chris’s voice was defensive. “I couldn’t frame someone with an airtight alibi.”
“But there was something else,” Margaret said quietly. “Something personal.”
Chris’s jaw clenched. He was silent for a long moment.
“She complained about the cameras,” he finally said. “Three weeks before the theft. Said she’d noticed them going offline in the storage area. ‘Just professional concern.’” His voice turned bitter. “But I was already planning this. Testing the system. And she comes to me questioning whether the cameras are working properly.”
“You thought she knew.”
“For a minute, yeah. Then I realized she was just doing her job.” He laughed without humor. “But by then my plans had gone too far. And I knew I could get her out of town so she wouldn’t have an alibi.”
“You sent the email from Nick Liu’s account. How did you access it?”
Chris laughed bitterly. “Security managers have reset privileges. Someone forgets their password; I create a temporary override. I used that to get into Nick’s email, sent the message to Sade, then deleted it from his sent folder.” He rubbed his face. “Nick never checks his own login logs. Nobody does. I knew it would be invisible.”
“And then you edited the badge logs.”
“That was easier. I have full administrative access to the security system. It’s literally my job.”
Margaret studied him. “You knew she’d be arrested.”
“Yeah.” He said it flatly. “I knew. But it was supposed to be simple theft. Maybe she’d get probation, maybe a couple years. I figured with her clean record, good lawyer...” He looked up with desperate eyes. “I didn’t think she’d do serious time. Just enough for the investigation to move past me.”
“But then those pesticides ended up with terrorists.”
Chris’s face went gray. “I didn’t know! You think I’d help terrorists? I thought it was black market people avoiding regulations.” His voice rose. “When I saw the news about the warehouse, about the terrorism plot, I nearly had a heart attack. This was supposed to be simple theft. Not bioterrorism. Not federal charges.”
“But you still let Sade take the fall.”
“What was I supposed to do? Confess?” He spread his hands helplessly. “My kids would lose their house. My wife would leave. I’d go to prison for twenty years instead of Sade going for two.”
“She was facing life in federal prison,” Margaret said coldly. “For something you did.”
“I know.” His voice broke. “I know, okay? But I was already in too deep. The feds got involved, they upgraded the charges. I didn’t know how to stop it without destroying my own life.”
Margaret stood, gathering her papers. “Well, your life is destroyed anyway, Mr. Webb.”
She moved toward the door.
“Wait.” Chris’s voice was small. “What do I do?”
“You tell Detective Dorsey everything. Every detail about who hired you, how you communicated, and where you delivered the pesticides. You cooperate fully.” She paused at the doorway. “And you pray the prosecutor shows you more mercy than you showed Sade Jalloh.”
She opened the door. Detective Dorsey stepped into the office, her expression grim.
“Mr. Webb. Stand up and put your hands behind your back.”
Chris didn’t resist as Dorsey read him his rights. He just stood there, murmuring “I’m sorry” over and over.
Stay tuned for Chapter 16, next week!
Can’t wait? Paid Subscribers receive full access to “The Case of the Poison Powder” right now. If you’d like to get full novella now, you can upgrade your subscription here.
Margaret Mitchell, her white terrier Spotty, and her gang at the local nursing home tackle Baltimore mysteries with pluck, perception, and palaver.
In anticipation of the full release of this novella, I’m releasing one chapter a week to all free subscribers.