“You don’t need to tell me what he’s like,” I reply. “I’ve been on the job barely a month, and let’s just say I have a lot on my hands,” and here I go again, confiding what I probably shouldn’t.
“Blaise has been telling me about the murder and mayhem up there in Alexandria,” Greta says. “It’s a shame they don’t make her an investigator. They may as well because she lives and breathes like one if you haven’t figured that out already.”
“I certainly have.”
“She’s always been that way, ever since she was little.”
“I’m calling about a case you won’t have heard about.” Without giving much information, I describe the poisoned wine.
“Do we know where it was tampered with?” Greta begins her series of questions.
“Not yet, possibly in this area. Or maybe Europe. The victim survived,” I reply as if talking about somebody I’ve never met. “But the symptoms were classic for an opioid overdose.”
“How much of the wine was ingested? And how quick was the onset of symptoms?” she asks.
“From what I understand, it was just a taste before the symptoms set in. It was very fast.”
“And the tox is negative for carfentanil?”
“Yes.”
“Something much more potent than morphine,” she considers.
“It required two doses of Narcan and that was barely enough.” I text Benton that I’m stopping by my office and will be at least another hour.
“There’s a new synthetic opioid out of China.” Greta’s voice inside Marino’s truck. “As you probably know, the potent painkiller fentanyl has been banned there, and next thing you know people started creating a replacement.”
She’s afraid that the drug I’m dealing with might be isotonitazene, a synthetic version of etonitazene. Translated, iso, as it’s referred to, is a potent pain reliever that isn’t included on a regular forensic toxicology screen.
“Unlike heroin, cocaine and other drugs derived from plants, iso is manufactured in a lab. There’s nothing organic about it, and it’s sixty times more powerful than morphine,” Greta says, and Marino is shaking his head, no doubt thinking the same thing I am.
“Meaning, next there will be something else we can’t detect,” I reply dismally. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to stay on top of the problem. It always seems the bad guys have all the advantages.”
“That’s because they do, and we’re in a new wave of the opioid crisis,” Greta agrees. “The white or yellow powder easily mixes with street drugs or whatever you please including food or drink. It wouldn’t take much.”
Iso has been showing up in Canada, Germany and Belgium, she explains, and I think of what Gabriella Honoré told me about the Bordeaux. It was a gift from the police chief of Brussels. Maybe that’s where the tampering occurred. But I don’t want to assume it.
Greta goes on to say that iso has made its way to America, and we’re seeing variants and a surge of overdoses. Primarily in the Midwest, and also recently in Kentucky.
“God forbid it ends up everywhere,” she adds.
“Possibly making its way to Virginia or maybe it already has.” I explain we had three possible overdoses today that have evaded standard toxicology screens. “Given the appropriate assay, we can check for iso metabolites present in postmortem samples. But I’m wondering how we’re supposed to do that for any variants.”
As luck would have it, that’s exactly what Greta Fruge is working on these days at her Richmond-based private laboratory. The project is a huge one that in part is funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse （NIDA）。
“We’re developing assays that can be commercially available to hospitals, research and forensic labs,” she explains. “Developing them quickly, trying to stay ahead of the curve in a way that government can’t begin to compete with without the assistance of private companies.”
“I appreciate anything you can do,” I reply. “Maybe you wouldn’t mind talking to my chief toxicologist Rex Bonetta.”
“Happy to, since I taught him everything he knows,” she fairly chortles, and there’s the peacock I remember. “By the way, I’m starting a podcast, Tox Doc, and you’d be such a fun guest, Kay,” she adds, and I can’t imagine anything more boring than listening to the two of us discussing chemistry.