It's the speed of the explosive reaction and the distribution of force that
matters. Petrochemicals burn rather slow, while c-4 is faster (the nitrate
groups are what do it).

 It's the byproducts that would be the giveaway.  Any half-competent
forensics lab should be able to detect the distinctive residue from plastic
explosive.

Okay, that's a good reason. Just don't claim that a methane explosion will
knock a manhole cover into the air and a plastic explosive will shatter it.
The manhole shattering tells you nothing.

 The problem with Potassium Chloride as a murder weapon is that it has to
be injected directly into a vein, which is not a simple matter for an
assassin to accomplish.

Yeah, but that ain't MY problem! Once a potential assassin gets KCl in the
vein, he's home free.

 The problem with any poison is that it is
difficult to use enough to ensure death without leaving any traces.  It is
amazing what some people can survive.  A morphine addict can take amounts
of morphine that would kill an ordinary person and some people just have
natural tolerances far in excess of the norm.

Yeah, but since when have you seen a potassium chloride addict? :)

Morphine is a drug, and the only reason that we respond to morphine at all
is because we have endorphines that use the exact same receptor. If we
didn't have endorphine receptors, there would be no morphine addicts. Its
quite easy to become tolerant to morphine; all the cells need to do is
reduce the number of receptors.

Potassium chloride is different. Potassium's utility in the body is based
on its chemical properties. Together with sodium ions, the exchange of
potassium ions through the nerve membrane is what makes up the impulse
waves that make up neural signals. The sodium ions flood the nerves,
causing the nerve membrane to depolarize (creating the front of the wave),
and the potassium ions diffuse out, which repolarizes the nerve and ends
the impulse wave. The nerve then rests as the sodium is pumped out and
potassium pumped in, and the nerve is ready to send another signal. If the
fluid that the nerve is in has an overabundance of potassium ions, then the
migration of potassium out of the nerve is much slower. This increases the
latency of the nerve signal and disrupts repolarization and the resting
stage.

The pace of the heart depends on repolarization times to be quick,
otherwise the system is fooled into thinking that it has recieved an
impulse wave when it hasn't. The conduction of the wave emitted by the
sinoatrial node (the P wave, which is what sets the heart's pace and
contracts the atria) is along the inner membrane of the atria, so the
potassium diffuses into the blood to repolarize the membrane. If blood
potassium is too high, then the atrioventricular node (which recieves the
wave emitted by the S.A node and stimulates the ventrical muscles) becomes
ready to recieve signals again, but the membrane of the atria is still
depolarized, and the A.V. node is stimulated again before the ventricals
have a chance to expand again.

Now we're in trouble, because the heart is a chaotic system. The timing of
the S.A. node depends on recieving the T wave (or repolarization wave) from
the contraction of the ventricals. If the T waves come in right after each
other, then the S.A. node becomes confused and starts sending a lot of P
waves, which feeds back on itself. Congradulations, you're fibrillating.

Like I said, if the victim is right (heart or renal disease) then no one
will think twice about it.

Traceability isn't so much the problem, as is making it look accidental or
like a disease. That's hard to do with forgien poisons but much easier with
sensitive chemical balances and nasty infections. (Ebola, anyone? <wg>)

 Ebola is not guaranteed to cause death.  It isn't even guaranteed that
the person will develop the disease if exposed.

Yes, I know that. It was a little bit of black humor.

 The key is that no one finds the death suspicious.  If a top CIA official
with a history of heart disease drops dead from an apparent cardiac arrest,
there will still be an in-depth investigation and detailed autopsy.  Some
deaths will be treated as possible murder just because of the victim.

Yes, but any evidence of actual modus operendi is going to come from
physical examinations of the body, because potassium poisoning is hard to
detect. If the patient has a port, then it's going to be hard finding
needlesticks.

A death caused by cardiac arrest is not unexpected in a patient with a
history of heart problems, even in a CIA agent. Poisoning by KCl is very
hard to determine, because its products diffuse into the body tissues very
quickly and a heart patient's system is very sensitive to potassium
imbalances.

A cardiac arrest caused by KCl is hard to distinguish from a cardiac arrest
that just happens. Thus, even a detailed autopsy would reveal nothing to
suggest homicide from just a physiological viewpoint. It would have to be
from careful examination of the body for errant needlesticks. The CIA may
be suspicious, but there would be no proof that an assassination even
happened.

Besides, no one knows who the Knight Sabers are except the Knight Sabers
and Genom, so it's unlikely that the police will be looking hard for a
crime.


                           ---------------------
##   ## ##   ## #######  ##   ##  AKA Tom Jefferys, Time Lord for Hire
##   ##  #   #   ##   ## ### ###    "Have TARDIS; Will Travel."
## # ##   ###    #####   ## # ##  Wielder of ANVIL and SPAM! Breaking
### ###    #     ##  ##  ##   ##    the Rules of Fanfiction!
##   ##   ###   ###   ## ##   ## of UT      <wyrm@mail.utexas.edu>
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