“That, I believe, is the question of the day,” Kevin said. “Personally, I think the chances are reasonably good. There aren’t many fungi that produce sclerotia. Obviously this new species is related to Claviceps purpurea on some level.”

“Why don’t we try it?” Edward said.

“What on earth do you mean?” Kevin asked. He eyed Edward with suspicion.

“Why don’t we make a little brew with these guys and taste it?” Edward said.

“You’re joking, I hope,” Kevin said.

“Actually I’m not,” Edward said. “I’m interested in whether this new mold makes an alkaloid that has a hallucinogenic effect. The best way to figure that out is to try it.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Kevin said. “Mycotoxins can be quite potent, as those countless people who’ve suffered ergotism can testify. Science is finding new ones all the time. You’d be taking an awful risk.”

“Where’s your adventuresome spirit?” Edward asked teasingly. He stood up. “Can I use your lab for this little experiment?”

“I’m not sure I should be party to this,” Kevin said. “But you’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Very much so,” Edward said.

Kevin led Edward into his lab and asked him what he needed. Edward said he needed a mortar and pestle or the equivalent, distilled water, a weak acid to precipitate the alkaloid, some filter paper, a liter flask, and a milliliter pipette.

“This is insane,” Kevin said as he rounded up the materials.

Edward set to work by grinding up the few sclerotia, extracting the pulp with distilled water, and precipitating a tiny amount of white material with the weak acid. With the help of the filter paper, he isolated a few grains of the white precipitate. Kevin watched the procedure with a mixture of disbelief and wonder.

“Don’t tell me you are just going to eat that?” Kevin said with growing alarm.

“Oh, come on,” Edward said. “I’m not stupid.”

“You could have fooled me,” Kevin said.

“Listen,” Edward said. “I’m interested in a hallucinogenic effect. If this stuff is going to have such an effect, it will have it at a minuscule dose. I’m talking about less than a microgram.”

Edward took a speck of the precipitate on the end of a spatula and introduced it into a liter of distilled water in a volumetric flask. He shook it vigorously.

“We could screw around with this stuff for six months and still not know if it can cause hallucinations,” Edward said. “Ultimately we’d need a human cerebrum. Mine is available right at the moment. When it comes to science, I’m a man of action.”

“What about possible kidney toxicity?” Kevin asked.

Edward made an expression of exasperated disbelief. “At this dosage? Hell, no! We’re well below by a factor of ten the toxicity range of botulinum toxin, the most toxic substance known to man. Besides, not only are we in the microgram range with this unknown, but it’s got to be a soup of substances, so the concentration of any one of them is that much lower.”

Edward asked Kevin to hand him the milliliter pipette. Kevin did so reluctantly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join?” Edward asked. “You could be missing out on making an interesting scientific discovery.” He laughed as he filled the slender pipette.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Kevin said. “I have a comfortable understanding with my renal tubular cells that we won’t abuse each other.”

“To your health,” Edward said as he held aloft the pipette for a moment before depositing a single milliliter on the curl of his tongue. He took a mouthful of water, swished it around, and swallowed.

“Well?” Kevin questioned nervously after a moment of silence.

“A tiny, tiny bit bitter,” Edward said. He opened and closed his mouth a few times to enhance the taste.

“Anything else?” Kevin asked.

“I’m just beginning to feel mildly dizzy,” Edward said.

“Hell, you were dizzy before you started,” Kevin said.

“I admit this little experiment lacks scientific controls,” Edward said with a chuckle. “Anything I feel could be a placebo effect.”

“I really shouldn’t be a part of this,” Kevin said. “I’m going to have to insist that you get a urinalysis and a BUN this afternoon.”

“Ohooo weee,” Edward said. “Something is happening!”

“Oh, God!” Kevin said. “What?”

“I’m seeing a flood of colors that are moving around in amoeboid shapes like some kind of kaleidoscope.”

“Oh, great!” Kevin said. He stared into Edward’s face, which had assumed a trancelike appearance.

“Now I’m hearing some sounds like a synthesizer. Also my mouth is a bit dry. And now something else: I feel paresthesias on my arms, as if I’m being bitten or lightly pinched. It’s weird.”

“Should I call somebody?” Kevin demanded.

To Kevin’s surprise, Edward reached out and grabbed him around the upper arms. Edward held him with unexpected strength.

“It feels like the room is moving,” Edward said. “And there’s a mild choking sensation.”

“I’d better call for help,” Kevin said. His own pulse was racing. He eyed the phone, but Edward strengthened his grip.

“It’s OK,” Edward said. “The colors are receding. It’s passing.” Edward closed his eyes, but otherwise he didn’t move. He still had hold of Kevin.

Eventually Edward opened his eyes and sighed. “Wow!” he said. Only then did he become aware he was gripping Kevin’s arms. He let go, took a breath, and smoothed his jacket. “I think we got our answer,” he said.

“This was idiotic!” Kevin snapped. “Your little antic terrified me. I was just about to call emergency.”

“Calm down,” Edward said. “It wasn’t that bad. Don’t get all bent out of shape over a sixty-second psychedelic reaction.”

Kevin pointed up at the clock. “It wasn’t sixty seconds,” he said. “It was more like twenty minutes.”

Edward glanced up at the clock’s face. “Isn’t that curious,” he said. “Even my sense of time was distorted.”

“Do you generally feel OK?” Kevin asked.

“Fine!” Edward insisted. “In fact I feel better than fine. I feel…” He hesitated while he tried to put into words his inner sensations. “I feel energized, like I’d just had a rest. And also clairvoyant, like my mind is particularly sharp. I might even feel a touch euphoric but that could be because of this positive result: we’ve just ascertained that this new fungus produces a hallucinogenic substance.”

“Let’s not be so lax with the term ‘we,’” Kevin said. “You ascertained it, not me. I refuse to take any credit for this craziness.”

“I wonder if the alkaloids are the same as Claviceps?” Edward asked. “I don’t seem to have even the slightest signs of reduced peripheral vascular circulation, a frequent sign of ergotism.”

“At least promise me you’ll get a urinalysis and a BUN or creatinine this afternoon,” Kevin said. “Even if you’re not worried, I still am.”

“If it will make you sleep tonight I’ll do it,” Edward said. “Meanwhile I want some more of these sclerotia. Is that possible?”

“It’s possible now that I have figured out the medium this fungus needs to grow, but I can’t promise you a lot of sclerotia. It’s not always easy to get the fungus to produce them.”

“Well, do your best,” Edward said. “Remember, we’ll probably get a nice little paper out of this.”

As Edward hurried across campus to catch the shuttle bus to the medical area, he was thrilled with the results. He couldn’t wait to tell Kim that the poison theory involving the Salem witchcraft episode was alive and well.

As excited as Kim was about seeing the progress at the compound, she was even more curious as to why her father had called her. Confident she was early enough to catch him before he left for his Boston office, Kim detoured to Marblehead.

Entering the house, she went directly to the kitchen. As she expected, she found John lingering over his coffee and his clutch of morning papers. He was a big man who’d reportedly been quite an athlete during his days at Harvard. His broad face was crowned with a full head of hair that had once been as dark and lustrous as Kim’s. Over the years it had grayed in a comely fashion, giving him a stereotypically paternal appearance.