Gasified

It was the year 1993. British army officer Jack was relaxing at his countryside home in Dorset. His son Nathan came running back home. He had a big red balloon. Red was his favourite colour as he loved Manchester United. Nathan went into his room with the big balloon. He locked the room from inside and he dropped the key on the messy table.

Jack was watching television when he heard the balloon burst. He tried to peep into Nathan's room. He could not get in as it was locked from inside. "Nathan!! what happened? Is everything alright?" he yelled. "Dad I can't see a thing. Its all green in here" said Nathan.

Jack went out on the other side and peeped into the window of Nathan's room. He could see that the room was covered with a green coloured gas. From the colour he could guess that it was chlorine. He knew that chlorine was lethal. "Nathan, open the door and come out immediately" he said nervously.

Nathan started searching for the key on the table. The table was a mess and he could not remember where he kept it. He started panicking. "Dad i cant find the key. It might have fallen down." said Nathan. "Ok Ok kid. Relax. Now dont bend or lie down looking for it. Stand still. " said Jack. Jack knew that chlorine was denser near the ground. Chlorine when inhaled would be fatal, destroying tissue in the lungs.

Jack had to react fast."Now do you have water in there?" asked Jack. "No dad." replied Nathan."Ok. No problem. Remove your shirt." instructed Jack. Nathan removed his shirt. "Now start peeing on it." said Jack. Jack knew that this technique was used during the world war to counteract chlorine. It was well known that chlorine readily reacted with urea to form dichlorourea.

"Hold the shirt near your mouth and nose. Start looking for the key now." said Jack. Nathan started searching for it and he found the key that was lying on the floor. He opened and came out of the door. Jack was relieved.

He suspected that it was an attempt to kill his son. He started inquiring Nathan. "Who gave you the balloon?" he asked.
"An old man gave us the balloon when i was returning home after playing. He gave each one of us a balloon. He offered me a red one. Since i like red a lot i accepted it. Then he told me that if i burst out the balloon in my room without anyone around i would be able to see sparkles from it. He also told me that all my wishes would come true when i see the sparkles. I was very excited about it and i tried to burst it out."

Jack immediately called all the other kids to know about their being. All of them were safe. Jack came to know that only the balloon given to Nathan had chlorine in it. Jack got the details about the old man from Nathan and he came out with a sketch.
The suspect seemed to be familiar to Jack. Few years back Jack had shot an IRA man and arrested his father who was also part of the IRA.

Jack started his hunt for the balloon man.