"I can't say I know her. I'd spoken with her, as I just mentioned, and even met her at a mayoral function. She's very impressive. Why do you ask?"

"Is she an M.D. or Ph.D.?"

"She's an M.D. She has her boards in internal medicine." Laurie was even more taken aback.

"You have a strange expression, Laurie. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking it is a little weird for you to be essentially ordering me to stay away from Angels Healthcare hospitals when you are an investor and there is a problem going on."

The web of capillaries on Bingham's nose dilated. "I resent the implication," he boomed out.

"I don't mean to sound insubordinate," Laurie added quickly. "I'm actually thinking of your best interests. It might be best for you to recuse yourself."

"You better be careful, young lady," Bingham snapped patronizingly while pointing one of his thick fingers at Laurie. "Let's get this straight. I'm not in any form or fashion restricting your investigation of your case, especially not for my investment. I'm just telling you not to go to those hospitals yourself, angering politically connected people, and putting me in a difficult situation. All I'm saying is to use the forensic investigators to do your legwork, as I've been telling you for years. Are we clear on this?"

"Quite clear," Laurie said. "But I'd like you to know that my intuition is telling me there is something decidedly odd going on."

"Maybe so," Bingham reluctantly agreed. He was clearly more irritated now than when Laurie had first arrived. "Now get out of here and get back to work so that I can get back to mine."

Laurie did as she was told, but before she could open the door, Bingham called out, "Actually, it's my recollection your intuition has always been right, so keep me informed and, for God's sake, stay away from the press."

"I'll do that," Laurie promised. There had been a few times in the past when she had unknowingly leaked confidential information to the media.

In the elevator on the way up to the fifth floor, Laurie couldn't decide if she was pleased with herself for holding back her tears or disgusted with herself for provoking Bingham. She was leaning in the direction of the latter. It had served no purpose whatsoever to accuse him of impropriety; she didn't believe it herself. Her response had been from shock that her own chief was supporting an organization whose ethics seemed questionable at best.

With both her emotional and her rational brain in turmoil, Laurie bypassed her office for Jack's. She needed a little reassurance from having been abused by Bingham and the powerful and politically connected Angela Dawson. But Jack's desk chair was disappointingly empty.

"Where's Jack?" Laurie asked Chet, whose eyes were glued to his microscope. He hadn't heard her come in.

"He's out on one of his field trips," Chet said, looking up from his work.

"Meaning?"

"You know Jack: The more controversy, the better! He posted a case where the three involved stakeholders are at each other's throats over the manner of death. It was a construction worker at a high-rise site who fell ten stories onto concrete."

"I know the case," Laurie said. "What's he up to?" As irritated as Laurie had made Bingham, she hoped Jack would be discreet, a virtue he often ignored.

"How should I know. He said something about re-enacting the crime, but short of his jumping off the building himself, I have no idea what he meant."

"When he comes back, tell him I was looking for him."

"Will do," Chet said agreeably.

Laurie was about to leave when she remembered to ask Chet about his MRSA case.

"Right," Chet responded. "Jack had mentioned you were interested in it, so I got it out." He pulled himself along his desk with his chair's casters squeaking shrilly enough to make Laurie wince. He grabbed a case file from the top of his file cabinet and handed it to her. "The name was Julia Francova."

"Terrific," Laurie exclaimed. "I'm glad you still had it." She slid out the contents to make certain it was another Angels Healthcare case.

"What's the big interest?"

"I had a similar case this morning," Laurie explained. "There have been quite a few over the last three months or so: twenty-four, to be exact. It hadn't appeared on anyone's radar screen, since the cases have been widely distributed among the staff, including cases in Queens and Brooklyn."

"I didn't know about any others," Chet admitted.

"Nor did anyone else. I'm looking into it, and I'm psyched. There is something weird about these cases, and I'm going to figure it out if it kills me. I've already managed to provoke our fearless leader."

"Let me know if I can help. The reason I still have the case is that I've been waiting for the CDC to get back to me before signing it out."

"Don't tell me you sent an isolate for subtyping," Laurie questioned while trying to keep her excitement in check.

"I did. I sent a sample to a Dr. Ralph Percy. I got him through the CDC's central switchboard."

"That's more than terrific. I'll call Dr. Percy for you, and I'll put the results in the case file. It will save you a step."

Eager to add yet another name to her matrix, Laurie again tried to leave. This time, Chet called her back.

"I took your advice you gave me this morning and called my new lady friend this afternoon," Chet said.

"And? What happened?"

"I was shot out of the sky, and I was as direct as you suggested I be. I put my ego out there on the table, but she blew me off. I had even sent some flowers to soften her up, but no luck."

"Was she rude?"

"No. Actually, I'm exaggerating. She was pretty nice about it, even though I stuck my foot in my mouth with my opening ploy. She had confided to me the evening before that she was desperately trying to raise a couple of hundred thousand dollars for the company she works for. I started the conversation by saying I'd found the money in my bedside table, and I wanted to invest."

"Bad strategy."

"Obviously. She said she felt I was mocking her."

"I think I would have felt the same," Laurie agreed. "How did you leave things?"

"Open-ended. I gave her my cell phone number."

"She's not going to call," Laurie said with a wry chuckle. "That's asking too much. You'd be making her feel like the aggressor. You have to call her back and apologize for your supposed joke."

"You mean I should call her back after she shot me down twice."

"If you want to go out with her, you have to call. If she didn't want you to call she would have said so."

"When do you think I should do it?"

"Whenever you'd like to see her. It's up to you."

"Do you think I should call her back again today? I mean, isn't that a little too pushy?"

"I wasn't a party to your conversation," Laurie said. "But you said you left things open-ended. There's a slight risk she might be perturbed, but I think the chances are better than even she'll be flattered. Call her! Take a chance," Laurie said as she backed out into the hall. "Obviously, you want to see her. What do you have to lose?"

"The rest of my self-esteem."

"Oh, baloney!" Laurie said, heading toward her office.

Chet put his hands behind his head and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. He felt indecisive, yet he trusted Laurie's counsel. She was smart, intuitive, and, above all, female. With sudden resolve, he tipped forward, got out the Post-it note on which he'd written the number of Angels Healthcare, and placed the call. He wanted to do it quickly, before he lost his nerve.

As on the previous call, he had to go through the operator to get Angela's secretary. Then, after identifying himself appropriately, he was put on hold. While he waited, he debated whether to be humorous or serious, but ultimately decided to be merely straightforward. When Angela finally came on the line, he simply told her that he'd been thinking of her and had just had another conversation with his colleague, who'd again urged him to call.