While the team headed back into the city the next day to once again make their presence known at the gym, the lab team was examining the items brought back from last nights’ adventure. Suzette sat back from the microscope and rubbed her eyes.
“Anything?” asked Riley staring at her partner.
“Everything and nothing,” said Suzette. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I can’t explain how this is working or even what it’s working on. I’ve examined anabolic steroids before but these vials have something in them that I can’t identify.”
“I’m encountering the same thing with the syringes,” said Riley. “What the hell is this guy putting into these people?”
“I don’t know but we know it’s killing people,” said Suzette.
“Wait. It’s only killing some people,” frowned Riley. “Why is that? Why did it cause Julius organ failure, another athlete a heart attack, others different kinds of ailments, and still others, nothing? Why?”
Suzette stared at her, shaking her head and looking back at the evidence on their counters.
“I don’t know,” she said shaking her head. “Maybe it’s different formulations. The labels are very non-descript. This one has D-173 and this one has D-174. I thought it was a bottle count but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s different formulations.”
“That could explain why athletes are getting different results,” said Riley. “I think we need to interview Julius again.”
An hour later, Julius and his parents were seated with Suzette, Thomas, and Riley, as well as Brian who was taking notes for the potential case they would bring to a court of law.
“Julius, we know you’ve been through this before but sometimes as we walk through these things, we can see that we’ve missed something. Something critical,” said Suzette. “Can you tell us what your interviews with Butch Williams were like?”
“Intense,” he said shaking his head with the memory. “Dad came with me to all of them. He can tell you that his questions were almost like he was accusing me of something.”
“What were the questions?” asked Brian.
“Everything from what were my aspirations as an athlete to did I like boys or girls. It was very uncomfortable for me.”
“We don’t want to pry, Julius, but how did you answer the questions?” asked Riley.
“I told him I wanted to be a world-class athlete, perhaps an Olympian one day, in weightlifting or maybe even wrestling. He asked a lot of questions about that, like what were my accomplishments so far, who were my former coaches, what was I willing to sacrifice.”
“It’s so stupid,” said Graham. “You ask a kid what they’re willing to sacrifice to be famous and of course they’re going to say ‘anything’. I should have stopped him there.” Riley nodded, taking some notes.
“Julius, what about your response on whether you like girls or boys?” asked Suzette.
“Girls,” he smirked. “Girls all the way but I don’t care if some dude likes other dudes. That’s his business.”
“What was the percentage of male and female in the gym?” asked Brian.
“It seemed pretty even to me but at the gym in Wisconsin we didn’t mix a lot. The girls worked out at different times than the guys. We’d get new guys in sometimes and lose some guys, but it was always by gender.”
“Wait,” frowned Graham. “Are you telling me mid-program guys would join your workout group?”
“Yeah. Don’t you remember, Rick and Fulmer dropped out at some point. They were a mess. I should have known something was wrong when they backed out of the program. I’d find them crying, like seriously sobbing uncontrollably in the locker room.”
“Did they say why?” asked Riley.
“Uh, well,” stammered Julius.
“Julius, you know we mean no harm. We just want to find out what happened to them,” said Suzette.
“They were dating, I think. They were both having these horrible mood swings, not violent, more emotional I guess. I remember I walked into the locker room, I think it was the last time I saw them, and Fulmer was complaining about his chest, especially his nipples hurting him.”
“Was his chest big, like his breasts were they large?” asked Riley.
“I mean, bigger than mine. He kept a compression shirt on all the time,” said Julius.
“He was suffering from gynecomastia,” said Riley. “It’s an enlargement of the breasts in men when there is a significant hormone shift.”