"Darn," Laurie said, snapping her fingers in sham disappointment.

"I have to thank you for your advice, Laurie. I'm sure the date wouldn't have happened had it not been for your encouragement and advice."

"You're very welcome," Laurie said. She turned to Riva. "Thanks for these cases. They're perfect." Laurie started once again to leave.

"She took me completely by surprise," Chet continued, forcing Laurie to hold up. "She's a doctor; she's boarded in internal medicine. On top of that, she's CEO of what has to be a multimillion-dollar company that builds and runs specialty hospitals. I mean she is one impressive lady."

Laurie experienced an unpleasant visceral contraction accompanied by a sensation akin to dizziness which resolved as quickly as it had appeared. She cleared her throat before asking, "Is her name by any chance Angela Dawson?"

"It is!" Chet exclaimed. "Do you know her?"

"Vaguely," Laurie said with surprise. "I have met her, and unfortunately I have to say I wasn't as impressed as you are."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid I don't have time to explain now, but let me just say that I sensed her priorities as a businesswoman were trumping those of a physician."

Laurie knew Chet would undoubtedly have more questions, but she had to move on. Despite his protests, she excused herself. Walking quickly through communications, where notification of all the deaths of the city were received, she began to plan her day.

With as little time as she had before Jack went under the knife, she would need to be efficient. The first stop was the forensic investigator's office. Janice Jaeger had done the site visit on the new MRSA case, and Laurie wanted to question her. More than once, Laurie had learned something important from Janice's wealth of experience that had not gotten into the report. Forensic investigators were tasked to include only facts, not impressions.

Laurie found Janice finishing up after a long night. She was the sole PA officially working from eleven to seven but rarely left before eight. She was aided, if need be, by forensic pathology residents who rotated night call. If even more backup was needed or the case was particularly challenging, one of the medical examiners was also available.

"Did I miss something?" Janice asked, as Laurie came up to her desk. Laurie got along famously with all the PA's but particularly with Janice, who appreciated Laurie's recognition of her work. More than any of the MEs, Laurie was constantly coming to her and asking questions and valuing her opinion.

"I'm about to do Ramona Torres," Laurie said. "I gathered from your note you made a site visit to the University Hospital."

"I did indeed."

"Did you sense anything about the case that you thought was interesting or unique but not appropriate for your report?"

Janice smiled. Laurie was always asking her probing questions "I did, actually," Janice said. "I got the feeling the doctors were upset that they weren't getting the Angels Healthcare septic patients soon enough to make a difference concerning survival."

"Did you make a visit to the Angels Healthcare Cosmetic Surgery and Eye Hospital?"

"No, I did not," Janice said. "Not in this case. Do you think I should have?"

"I can't say," Laurie admitted. "But you have visited Angels Healthcare hospitals in conjunction with other MRSA cases."

"Absolutely" Janice said. "On a number of occasions."

"I've read several of your reports. What's your general feeling about the hospitals and these recurrent MRSA cases?"

Janice smiled again. "Do you want the truth?"

"Of course! I wouldn't be asking if I didn't."

"I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like something strange is going on. I mean, it's nothing I can write in my report, but they keep having these infections and yet keep doing the surgery. Whenever I ask any type of question in this regard, they say that they are doing everything they possibly can. Meanwhile, people are dying."

"I've had the same response," Laurie admitted. "Thanks for your opinion. Is Cheryl around?"

"She's out on a call. Bart Arnold is around. Do you want to speak with him?" Bart Arnold was the chief of forensic investigation and ran the department.

"No. Just leave a message that I need the hospital record for Ramona Torres. They can e-mail it to me like they did with the others."

"Not a problem."

Laurie rushed all the way to the front elevators to save time: Not only were they faster, there were more of them. She bounded into her office, laid the three case files on her desk, and hung up her coat. Snatching up the phone, she called down to the mortuary office and asked for Marvin. When she got him on the line, she asked him if he would work with her again that day. She said she wanted to be expeditious. He agreed with his usual cheerful readiness. Laurie gave him Ramona Torres's accession number, said she wanted to do her first, and then rang off.

She looked at the clock. One of the first things she wanted to do that day was call the CDC, but fearing they might not be functioning as early as it was, she turned her attention to reviewing the day's autopsy cases. That required rereading the case file of Ramona Torres. After doing so, she felt confident the post would be similar to David Jeffries's. Putting that one aside, she picked up the first of the two sudden-death cases and pulled out the PA's report.

The patient's name was Alexandra Zuben, age twenty-nine. She had visited the dentist for a root canal and had received the local anesthesia as Riva had described. At the very outset of the procedure, the patient suddenly had fallen unconscious. After she had been placed in a head-down position, she'd revived and insisted the procedure continue. A few minutes later, the same situation had developed, although on this occasion she did not revive, 911 had been called, and the patient had been rushed to the hospital, where she was found to have an arrhythmia, a markedly elevated blood pressure, and little or no respiratory efforts. She'd been put on a ventilator, but despite aggressive therapy, she had progressed to a cardiac arrest that could not be reversed. The emergency-room diagnosis had been recorded as respiratory failure compounded with cardiac failure secondary to severe allergic reaction and anaphylaxis to Novocain. The PAs concluded with the fact that a family member had said that the patient was remarkably healthy but had had, on occasion, several syncopal attacks involving palpitations, flushing, and heavy perspiration.

Laurie slipped the PA's report back into its folder. Her initial impression was that the emergency-room diagnosis was in error, and she had a reasonable idea of what she would find on the autopsy. Of particular note, she was reasonably certain she would not need any special equipment for the post.

Next, Laurie took out the PA's report on her third case. It was very short. It merely said that Ronald Carpentu had been on a semirecumbent stationary bike, which he used most every day, and had suddenly collapsed. Immediate CPR had been given by the health club's personnel but without success, 911 had been called, and the CPR was continued en route to the emergency room. On arrival, the patient was declared dead with the diagnosis of a severe heart attack.

Laurie replaced the PA's report. On this third case, she was quite certain the emergency-room diagnosis would prove to be correct, but there was still the question of why. Laurie guessed atheromatous heart disease. Again, she would not need any specialized equipment.

Picking up the phone, she called down to the autopsy room. It rang six times, causing Laurie to drum her fingers on her desk. While she waited, she thought about the weird coincidence of her giving Chet advice about dating Angela Dawson, of all people.

"Hello," a voice said, sounding more like "Yellow."