Question H

[Jonetta]

There were two separate investigations going on in the story; Ben's pursuit of an inexplicable virus or bacteria threatening the lives of soldiers who have had amputation surgery. Maggie's trying to determine the source of the body parts in the cooler. Were you convinced at the onset that these two cases were connected or did that revelation come later?

[Phrynne]

I assumed from the outset that they were connected but only because that's what I would expect from this author. She loves outlandish coincidences.

[Jonetta]

Lol! She is rather predictable.

Actually, I immediately thought there would be a connection. My husband (the microbiologist) was sitting next to me when I read the part about the dying soldiers all having prostheses. I posed the scenario and he said it was possible and probably came from one source. So....:)

[Phrynne]

That part was pretty clever actually - she deserves points for an interesting premise.

[Jonetta]

I thought so, too. My husband wasn't crazy about it (he says the demand is more than capably filled for body parts).

[Phrynne]

We had reports here recently about kidneys being sold on the black market because demand cannot be filled by legal sources. Some of them were claimed to come from prisoners overseas. So having read that I was quite prepared that Kava's story could possibly happen.

[Jonetta]

Body organs are a completely different situation. The body parts are what's not undersupplied.

[Charlene]

I think I read this part of the story with an uncritical eye. Although I had some chemistry degrees, biology and biochem were foreign languages to me.

[Jonetta]

That's why I turned to hubby:)

[Robin]

I expected that the two investigations were connected from the start. As Phrynne mentioned, its what you expect with this author.

[Phrynne]

I actually never knew that bones were used at all. I know my husband's new shoulder joint is metal - it sets off the detectors at airports!

[Jonetta]

The bones were ground up and created a paste to fill the open spaces in the patients bones where the prosthesis or part was attached.

[Phrynne]

And is that paste used currently in our hospitals?

[Jonetta]

I don't know. While my husband found this logical, it wasn't anything he had first-hand knowledge about.

[Phrynne]

It is kind of yucky to think about!

[Lauren]

I also made the connection quickly - Kava wasn't really that subtle about it.

I knew about the other uses of body parts from an episode of Bones.