Della B’s Bleu Glo

Continuing his research on the dye, the scientist discovers that the dye has a half-life, with its molecules gradually attaching themselves to organic compounds as it reconfigures itself and loses its ability to glow. Since skin is organic, he realizes that the cosmetics are attaching themselves to human beings and doing damage. With lasers, he develops a way to correct this damage and opens a clinic to correct the problem, only then revealing what is happening to people throughout the world.

Under this overarching story are subplots of a marriage to an ambitious woman who is beautiful beyond the dreams of her husband, whose ambition leads to the murder of a scientist who might interfere with her becoming wealthy from her husband's discovery, of the murder of a fellow worker who rapes her to keep him from ruining her life, of her attempt to disrupt her ex-husband's later success by trying to involve him in one of the murders, and of the accidental discovery of the wrong body that leads to her arrest.

Underlying the story are the moral questions of adequate cosmetic testing and of the responsibility of an individual to warn the public of a danger when he knows it, especially when he is delaying notification while he develops a way to correct the danger and make a personal fortune.