After speeding through his morning ritual, which included taking Buffer for a short walk, Edward drove to his lab. It was before seven when he entered, and Eleanor was already there.
“I’m having trouble sleeping,” she admitted. Her usually carefully combed long blond hair was in mild disarray.
“Me too,” Edward said.
They had worked Saturday night until one a.m. and all day Sunday. With success in sight, Edward had even begged off plans to see Kim Sunday evening. When he’d explained to her how close he and Eleanor were to their goal, Kim had been understanding.
Finally, just after midnight Sunday, Edward and Eleanor had perfected a separation technique. The difficulties had been mostly due to the fact that two of the alkaloids shared many physical properties. Now all they needed was more material, and as if an answer to a prayer, Kevin Scranton had called saying that he’d be sending over another batch of sclerotia that morning.
“I want everything to be ready when the material arrives,” Edward said.
“Aye, aye,” Eleanor said as she clicked her heels and made a playful salute. Edward tried to swat her on the top of her head but she was much more agile than he.
After they had been feverishly working for more than an hour, Eleanor tapped Edward on the arm.
“Are you intentionally ignoring your flock?” she asked quietly while motioning over her shoulder.
Edward straightened up and glanced around at the students who were milling aimlessly about, waiting for him to acknowledge them. He hadn’t been aware of their presence. The group had been gradually enlarging as more and more people arrived at the lab. They all had their usual questions and were in need of his advice.
“Listen!” Edward called out. “You’re on your own today. I’m tied up. I’m busy with a project that can’t wait.”
With some grumblings the crowd reluctantly dispersed. Edward did not notice their reaction. He went right back to work, and when he worked, his powers of concentration were legendary.
A few minutes later Eleanor again tapped his arm. “I hate to be a bother,” she said, “but what about your nine o’clock lecture?”
“Damn!” Edward said. “I’d conveniently forgotten that. Find Ralph Carter and send him over.” Ralph Carter was one of the senior assistants.
Within a short time Ralph appeared. He was a thin, bearded fellow with a surprisingly broad red-cheeked face.
“I want you to take over teaching the basic biochem summer course,” Edward said.
“For how long?” Ralph asked. He was obviously not enthused.
“I’ll let you know,” Edward said.
After Ralph had left, Edward turned to Eleanor. “I hate that kind of passive-aggressive nonsense. It’s the first time I’ve ever asked anyone to stand in for me for basic chemistry.”
“That’s because no one else has your commitment to teaching undergraduates,” Eleanor explained.
As promised, the sclerotia arrived just after nine. They came in a small glass jar. Edward unscrewed the lid and carefully spread the dark, ricelike grains onto a piece of filter paper as if they were gold nuggets.
“Kinda ugly little things,” Eleanor said. “They could almost be mouse droppings.”
“I like to think they look more like seeds in rye bread,” Edward said. “It’s a more historically significant metaphor.”
“Are you ready to get to work?” Eleanor asked.
“Let’s do it,” Edward said.
Before noon Edward and Eleanor had succeeded in producing a tiny amount of each alkaloid. The samples were in the bases of small, conical-shaped test tubes labeled A, B, and C. Outwardly the alkaloids appeared identical. They were all a white powder.
“What’s the next step?” Eleanor asked as she held up one of the test tubes to the light.
“We have to find out which are psychoactive,” Edward said. “Once we find out which ones are, we’ll concentrate on them.”
“What should we use for a test?” Eleanor asked. “I suppose we could use Aplasia fasciata ganglia preparations. They would certainly tell us which ones are neuroactive.”
Edward shook his head. “It’s not good enough,” he said. “I want to know which ones cause hallucinogenic reactions, and I want quick answers. For that we need a human cerebrum.”
“We can’t use paid volunteers!” Eleanor said with consternation. “That would be flagrantly unethical.”