Case No. 83 · have you seen this molecule?

Geraniol

the smell of roses

File sealed

The detectives are still writing this one up. The poster and the facts are below; the film and the interrogation room open soon.

Booking photographs

Geraniol, front view, against a height chart in nanometers — FRONT

The suspect, from its real atomic coordinates. Drag to turn it. Height chart in nanometers, ruled every 0.05 nm. A honeybee is about thirteen million times longer.

Rap sheet

Answers to: Geraniol. Named after geraniums.
Height: 0.98 nm. Flexible.
Weight: 0.26 zeptograms
Build: Two five-carbon units end to end, with an OH on the tail.
Smell: Sweet rose. Some noses catch a few parts per billion.
Associates: Citronellol. Together they’re about half of rose oil.
Habits: Honeybees fan it from a tail gland to show the swarm the door.
Origins: Roses make it by a back route most plants don’t use.
Weakness: Comes in small batches. One rose yields about a milligram of oil.
Last seen: A 5 mL tube marked ROSE in the fridge at HQ.

1,200,000,000,000,000,000

of them in the petals of one damask rose, give or take.
Roses vary. You’ve never seen one.

The poster on the street

This is the photocopied wanted poster for Geraniol, No. 83. They were made for noticeboards around Boston, Cambridge and the rest of the east coast.

Found one? Scan its QR code with your phone. If you're a signed-in player, the sighting goes on your record with +1 XP.

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