Robin Cook: Vector

“I’ve never heard of them,” Jack said.

“I hadn’t, either,” Lou admitted.

“It’s a shadowy group,” Gordon said. “All we know is what we’ve been able to intercept off the Internet, which, by the way, has become the major method of communication for these neo-fascist nuts. All we know about PAA is that it’s located somewhere in the New York metropolitan area, and it’s recruited some of the local skinheads. But the more disturbing part has been some vague references to an upcoming major event. We’re worried they might be planning something violent.”

“Something like the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City,” Lou said. “Some major terrorist thing.”

“Good God!” Jack said.

“We have no idea what, when, or where,” Gordon said. “We’re hoping they’re just posturing and bragging, which these groups tend to do. But we’re not taking any chances. Since counterintelligence is the only true defense against terrorism, we’re doing the best we can. We’ve notified the emergency management people here in the city, but unfortunately there’s little information we can give them.”

“Right now our only positive lead is a dead skinhead,” Lou said. “That’s why we’re so interested in the autopsy. We’re hoping for a lead, any lead.”

“You want me to do the post right now?” Jack said. “I was on my way to do an infectious case, but it can wait.”

“I asked Laurie to do it,” Lou said. He blushed as much as his dark, southern Italian skin would allow. “And she said she wanted to do it.”

“When did you talk to Laurie?” Jack asked.

“This morning,” Lou said.

“Really,” Jack said. “Where did you get her? At home?”

“Actually she called me,” Lou said. “She got me on my cell phone.”

“What time was that?” Jack asked.

Lou hesitated.

“Was it around four-thirty in the morning?” Jack asked. The mystery about Laurie was deepening.

“Something like that,” Lou admitted.

Jack took Lou by the elbow. “Excuse us,” he said to Gordon and Sergeant Murphy. Jack took Lou out into the communications room. Marjorie Zankowski gave them a quick look before going back to her knitting. The switchboard was quiet.

“Laurie called me at four-thirty, too,” Jack said in a whisper. “She woke me up. Not that I’m complaining. Actually it was good she woke me up. I was having a nightmare. But I know it was exactly four-thirty because I looked at the clock.”

“Well, maybe it was four-forty-five when she called me,” Lou said. “I don’t remember exactly. It’s been a busy night.”

“What did she call for?” Jack asked. “That’s a rather strange time to call, wouldn’t you say?”

Lou fixed Jack with his dark eyes. It was apparent he was debating the appropriateness of revealing what Laurie had called him about.

“All right, maybe it’s not a fair question,” Jack said, raising his hands in mock defense. “Instead, why don’t I tell you why she called me. She wanted to have dinner with me tonight. She said it was important that she talk with me. Does that make any sense given what she said to you?”

Lou blew out through pursed lips. “No,” he said. “She said the same thing to me. She invited me to dinner, too.”

“You’re not pulling my leg, are you?” None of this was rational.

Lou shook his head.

“What did you say?” Jack asked.

“I said I’d go,” Lou answered.

“What did you think she wants to talk to you about?” Jack asked.

Lou hesitated. It was again apparent he was uncomfortable. “I guess was hoping she wanted to tell me she missed me. You know, something like that.” Jack slapped a hand to his forehead. He was touched. It was obvious Lou was in love with Laurie. It was also a complication, because in many ways Jack felt the same way about her although he was reluctant to admit it to himself.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Lou said. “I know I’m a sap. It’s just that I get lonely once in a while and I enjoy her company. Plus she likes my kids.”

Jack took his hand away from his forehead and put it on Lou’s shoulder. “I don’t think you are a sap. Far from it. I was just hoping you could shed some light on what’s up with her.”

“We’ll just have to ask her,” Lou said. “She said she’d be a little late arriving this morning.”

“Knowing Laurie she’ll make us wait until tonight,” Jack said. “Did she say how late she’d be?”

“No,” Lou said.

“Even that’s weird,” Jack said. “If she was up and dressed at four-thirty, how come she’s late?” Lou shrugged.

Jack went back into the ID room with his mind spinning about Laurie and terrorism. It was a strange combination. Realizing there was little he could do about either for the moment, he got Vinnie away from his paper for the second time and vowed to get his day underway. He looked forward to concentrating on a problem with an immediate resolution.

As Jack and Vinnie passed Janice Jaeger’s office, Jack leaned inside.

“Hey, you did a good job on this Papparis case,” Jack said.

Janice looked up from her desk. Her dark circles were as impressive as always. Jack couldn’t help but wonder if the woman slept at all.

“Thanks,” Janice said.

“You’d better get some rest,” Jack said.

“I’ll be leaving as soon as I wrap up this case.”

“Anything extra we should know concerning Papparis?” Jack asked.

“I think it’s all there,” Janice said. “Except for the fact that the doctor I talked with was pretty upset. He told me he’d never seen a more aggressive infection. In fact, he’d like a call after you do the autopsy. His name and number are on the back of the information sheet.”

“I’ll call him as soon as we have something,” Jack promised.

Once in the elevator Vinnie spoke up. “This case is starting to give me the creeps. It’s reminding me of that plague case we had a few years ago. I hope this is not the start of some kind of epidemic.”

“You and me both,” Jack said. “It reminds me more of the influenza cases we saw after the plague. Let’s be extra careful about contamination.”

“That goes without saying,” Vinnie said. “I’d put on two moon suits if it were possible.”

Vinnie was already in his scrubs, so while Jack went into the locker room to get out of his street clothes, Vinnie went to don his moon suit. Then while Vinnie went into the autopsy room, or pit as it was called, Jack went through all the material in the folder, particularly Janice Jaeger’s forensic investigator’s report. On this more thorough reading Jack noticed something that he’d missed the first time through. The deceased had been in the rug business. Jack wondered what kind of rugs and where they were from. He made a mental note to bring the question up with the forensic investigators.

Next Jack snapped Papparis’s morgue X-ray onto a view box. As a total-body film the X-ray was not much good diagnostically. In particular, the chest detail was indistinct. Regardless, two things caught Jack’s attention. First, there was little evidence of pneumonia, which seemed surprising in view of the history of the patient’s rapid respiratory deterioration; and second, the central part of the chest between the lungs, known anatomically as the mediastinum, seemed wider than usual.

By the time Jack got himself suited up in his biocontainment moon suit, with its hood, plastic face mask, and battery-powered HEPA filtered ventilation system, Vinnie had the body on the autopsy table and all the appropriate specimen jars lined up.

“What the hell have you been doing out there?” Vinnie complained when Jack appeared. “We could have been done by now.”