The holidays are fast approaching and it has been a good year for the stone detective. Just when I thought I would settle down for the holidays, guess what...The darn phone rings. A minute ago I was half tempted to put a new message on it wishing everyone a happy holiday, but nooooo, I guess that will have to wait. I picked up the phone and said, "Happy holidays - stone detective here."

The voice on the other end had a pretty heavy accent and I had trouble understanding what he was saying. I checked my hearing aid to make sure it was turned up. I managed to interrupt him with a quick, "Slow down, sir." He rambled on and on about an airport, some stains they were frantic about, etc. After about a few minutes of this, I finally asked him to just spell it out in an email and send it to me. I hung up and booted up my ole Tandy computer and waited. Within five minutes the email came through. The gentleman was a project manager for a large airport that was being built in Asia. They had just installed over 250,000 square feet of granite flooring and they had some stains in several hallways. He asked if I would fly over there and take a look and come up with a way to remove them.

My gut reaction was NO. Especially flying into a little country I knew nothing about. An old man like me would certainly be taken advantage of. And I don't mean by some foreign woman (LOL). In addition, I had gotten no clear assurance about a contract outlining the terms of my consultation. So I sent him an email telling him my concerns and what it would cost for me to come over and look at it. Again within minutes I received a reply and he basically said they really wanted me over there; they would prepay my airline ticket and send me my fee up front. Well, I couldn't say no to that so I pulled out my trunk and started packing for a trip to Asia.

I arrived at this airport somewhere near Outer Mongolia that looked like something out of an Indiana Jones film. (The number of connecting flights I had to take to get there is a story in itself...) But 38 hours later I arrived. I staggered off the plane and entered the main terminal which was about the size of a small convenience store. It wouldn't have surprised me if the pilot had gotten off the plane and had to refuel it himself. I walked through the terminal and out the other side and there stood a small, dark guy in a suit standing in front of a jeep with a cardboard sign that read,"Mr. Detective." Cute.

I walked up to him and bowed. He smiled at me but didn't say a word, only opened the door and gestured for me to get in. Now, I'm thinking, "I'm being kidnapped, and I'll be taken to some remote location and be forced to eat monkey brains in an antique palace." I got in the jeep and he floored it as we raced across the runway. In the distance I noticed a large building and thought that must either be the new airport or I was being taken to a government facility to be interrogated. Within minutes we were crossing a brand-new runway to an ultra-modern terminal. We arrived at a security gate and were waved right though. I was starting to feel a little more comfortable but was still wondering if I was going to be able to eat the food here (my old ulcers were walking and talking after 30 hours of airline food and pretzels). We walked up a set of stairs and entered the main terminal. Wow - I could not believe my eyes. I had entered one of the fanciest airport terminals I had ever seen. The floors were obviously all granite. The walls and almost every other surface was highly polished stainless steel. Some construction was still going on and there were workers all over the place. He motioned me to a hallway and pointed to the stains. Finally he opens his mouth and says,"Here are the stains; we have no idea where they are coming from."

Ok, I thought. Now it's time for me to do my detective magic. The stains were about the size of a baseball, but some were smaller. They were all evenly sopaced in an area about 20 feet by 20 feet. He told me there were two or three hallways where these stains were located. I looked up at the ceiling to see if there maybe were some leaks. I asked if they stored anything in these areas. I couldn't find a clue to where these stains could be coming from. I was starting to get a bit nervous thinking they spent all this money and I wouldn't be able to solve this mystery. Just when the sweat started pouring off my brow, a whistle went off in the terminal. All the workers stopped and headed to different areas for their break. I didn't think much of it, but I did notice a group of workers headed my way. They went over to a corner where I had spotted some of the stains, unrolled mats on the floor and kneeled. They then placed their foreheads on the floor in the attitude of devout prayer. A light bulb went off in my head. The mystery stains were body oils from their foreheads! Talk about being in the right place at the right time-what a lucky break for this ole Stone Detective!

I explained the problem to my guide, gave him a shopping list, and then mixed up a poultice for the floor maintenance crew to draw the oil stains out of the granite. This was probably a new record for me: the sheer number of miles traveled for a one-hour solution. This was both good and bad; the next flight out to the US wasn't for a few days, and the Starbucks I had spotted in the new concourse wasn't open yet. Sigh. Still, I have another unique case to mark solved, my clients were very happy, and I got to visit an exotic part of the world I had never expected to see-always a nice bonus, in my book.

The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Fred Hueston, written to be entertaining and educational. Frederick M. Hueston is a worldwide expert on stone installation, failures, fabrication and restoration. He heads up the leading stone inspection team in the industry at Stone Forensics ( www.stone forensics.com ) and is the chief technical director for StonePRO Solutions. Please visit www.stoneforensics.com www.stoneprosolutions.com and www.stoneandtilepros.com for more information on their services.

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