University libraries are by their very nature, quite different from other more normal libraries. Our library is huge and has many things that normal libraries do not. For one thing, this one is a huge ziggarut type building high up on a hill. This helps a whole lot of determined perverts using super telephoto lenses to spy on surrounding dorms of the female persuasion to further their perversions. There are also many hidey-holes created by the mazes of book shelves, a plethora of private study rooms and then there are the offices scattered through out the second through fourth floors.
These office are arranged along certain areas facing windows on the outer edges of the second and third floors, and along 2 sections of the inner stacks on the fourth floor. They are small single chamber units that are free standing inside the stacks like a child lining up a set of building blocks on the floor free from the library walls and internal structure. The end result is that each office has a door and at least one window. In some ways they are self-contained worlds unto themselves.
Each of these offices are supposedly issued to professors and researchers so that they can come to the library and do research away from the distractions of people. What they are in truth is semi-autonomous dens of inquiry, free action, and other perversions and distractions especially since almost no one but the occupants have keys to them. In short, the Guards and even the cops don't have keys to them. The library Admins say they have the keys but I have yet to see one of them produce one.
Case in point. About a month before I came on shift, one of the Admins sent a request down that several of the cleaning staff and a few library works had reported an odd smell coming out of the office block on 4D (4th floor, 4th section of offices). Since no one could come up with the key, the Admins sent a request down to circulation to find out which professor had offices in that block. I came on shift while the library was doing all this research through their records. One thing to note, was even at that time not a whole lot had been put on computer so the searches were going through file drawers of hand written records. Meanwhile the strange smells were continuing to come from Section 4D.
Finally, someone found a peice of paper identifying four of the six offices and their occupants. All of whom were located and confirmed that they had not used their offices so far that semester. By that point the smell was overpowering although no one could really say what the smell- smelled like!
At this point, it was decided that Vintage Smurf would take a set of universal keys up to Section 4D and do an office to office search. An hour passed and no one could reach Vintage so the Library Admins sent Butter to find Vintage. Another 30 minutes passed and finally Butter radioed in that he had located Vintage in a bathroom near Section 4D "puking his guts out."
At this point, the Library Admins panicked and called the City Cops who called the University Cops and told them to clean up their own mess. The University Cops came in and went in search of Butter and began to bitch him out for wasting their time when one of them caught a whiff of the odor and said. "man this place reeks of death." and it all snapped into place.
The four lucky cops and Butter ran down to the offices and found the fith out of six office doors open and inside- the cause of Vintage's distress. The mostly desiccated corpses of a man sitting facing the opposite wall of the office. The smell in that cramped office was overpowering and Butter and two of the four cops joined Vintage in the bathroom. One of the cops didn't make it and ended up using a paper recycling box instead.
It took another call to the city, a crime scene crew, a fleet of city officers and the city morgue the entire afternoon to clean up that mess.
When I came on shift that night most of the fourth floor was cordoned off. Cops and technicians everywhere. hundreds of redundant questions being asked and piles of paperwork being pulled and library staff scrambling to find out who the dead man was.
A few thing were known.
1. He had been dead close to a month at least.
2. He was in a state of advanced decomposition
3. The stench was worse since these office had no air vents which meant barely any airflow
4. somebodies head was going to be rolling over this one
5. somebody was going to have to take the fall so the guilty could get away with this particular FUBAR.
What a mess.
Tomorrow I will conclude thie one. Right now I got to go see if Vintage has stopped throwing up yet.
These office are arranged along certain areas facing windows on the outer edges of the second and third floors, and along 2 sections of the inner stacks on the fourth floor. They are small single chamber units that are free standing inside the stacks like a child lining up a set of building blocks on the floor free from the library walls and internal structure. The end result is that each office has a door and at least one window. In some ways they are self-contained worlds unto themselves.
Each of these offices are supposedly issued to professors and researchers so that they can come to the library and do research away from the distractions of people. What they are in truth is semi-autonomous dens of inquiry, free action, and other perversions and distractions especially since almost no one but the occupants have keys to them. In short, the Guards and even the cops don't have keys to them. The library Admins say they have the keys but I have yet to see one of them produce one.
Case in point. About a month before I came on shift, one of the Admins sent a request down that several of the cleaning staff and a few library works had reported an odd smell coming out of the office block on 4D (4th floor, 4th section of offices). Since no one could come up with the key, the Admins sent a request down to circulation to find out which professor had offices in that block. I came on shift while the library was doing all this research through their records. One thing to note, was even at that time not a whole lot had been put on computer so the searches were going through file drawers of hand written records. Meanwhile the strange smells were continuing to come from Section 4D.
Finally, someone found a peice of paper identifying four of the six offices and their occupants. All of whom were located and confirmed that they had not used their offices so far that semester. By that point the smell was overpowering although no one could really say what the smell- smelled like!
At this point, it was decided that Vintage Smurf would take a set of universal keys up to Section 4D and do an office to office search. An hour passed and no one could reach Vintage so the Library Admins sent Butter to find Vintage. Another 30 minutes passed and finally Butter radioed in that he had located Vintage in a bathroom near Section 4D "puking his guts out."
At this point, the Library Admins panicked and called the City Cops who called the University Cops and told them to clean up their own mess. The University Cops came in and went in search of Butter and began to bitch him out for wasting their time when one of them caught a whiff of the odor and said. "man this place reeks of death." and it all snapped into place.
The four lucky cops and Butter ran down to the offices and found the fith out of six office doors open and inside- the cause of Vintage's distress. The mostly desiccated corpses of a man sitting facing the opposite wall of the office. The smell in that cramped office was overpowering and Butter and two of the four cops joined Vintage in the bathroom. One of the cops didn't make it and ended up using a paper recycling box instead.
It took another call to the city, a crime scene crew, a fleet of city officers and the city morgue the entire afternoon to clean up that mess.
When I came on shift that night most of the fourth floor was cordoned off. Cops and technicians everywhere. hundreds of redundant questions being asked and piles of paperwork being pulled and library staff scrambling to find out who the dead man was.
A few thing were known.
1. He had been dead close to a month at least.
2. He was in a state of advanced decomposition
3. The stench was worse since these office had no air vents which meant barely any airflow
4. somebodies head was going to be rolling over this one
5. somebody was going to have to take the fall so the guilty could get away with this particular FUBAR.
What a mess.
Tomorrow I will conclude thie one. Right now I got to go see if Vintage has stopped throwing up yet.
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