PLUMBING PROBLEMS: PART XII

                                    PLUMBING PROBLEMS: PART XII

I started down the stairs.  This may have been a root cellar or storm shelter at one time, but Marcus Worthy had converted the huge room into a laboratory.  The room was about forty by forty feet, almost the size of the barn above.  I gazed at equipment I was familiar with, equipment I used myself as a scientist.  I recognized a PCR machine for copying DNA, and set-ups for gels used to analyze DNA and RNA.  There was also the usual lab paraphernalia, centrifuges, a microscope and various types of glassware and lab books.  In the corner stood a liquid nitrogen storage cylinder.  It was a well-organized lab.  Opening the door to the refrigerator, I saw kits for isolating DNA and RNA along with the probes necessary to do the work.  There were probes for sharks and various other types of marine life – jellyfish, starfish, and other invertebrates.  Apparently Worthy decided to do some scientific studies on his own.  He had the money and I guess just wanted to go where his mind took him.

Studying the lab and its supplies more closely something started going off in the far reaches of my mind.  I tried to recall the first conversation I had with Jack.  How he found that strange fish in the field, its description totally puzzled me.  I reached for what I hoped would clear up all the mysteries this place possessed; I opened Worthy’s lab book.  Marcus Worthy’s notes were meticulous.