“You’d promised to call last night and didn’t,” Terese said. “How can I trust you?”

“You’ll just have to give me another chance,” Jack said. “And now I have to get to work.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me about my exciting news?” Terese asked.

“I thought you’d tell me if you wanted to,” Jack said.

“National Health canceled the internal review,” Terese said.

“Is that good?” Jack asked.

“Absolutely,” Terese said. “The reason they canceled it is because they are so sure they’ll like our ‘no waiting’ campaign that I leaked yesterday. So instead of having to throw the presentation together haphazardly we have a month to do it properly.”

“That’s wonderful,” Jack said. “I’m pleased for you.”

“And that’s not all,” Terese said. “Taylor Heath called me in to congratulate me. He also told me he’d learned what Robert Barker had tried to do, so Barker is out and I’m in. Taylor all but assured me I’ll be the next president of Willow and Heath.”

“That calls for a celebration,” Jack said.

“Exactly,” Terese said. “A good way to do it would be to have lunch today at the Four Seasons.”

“You certainly are persistent,” Jack said.

“As a career woman I have to be,” Terese said.

“I can’t have lunch, but maybe dinner,” Jack said. “That is, unless I’m in jail.”

“Now what does that mean?” Terese asked.

“It would take too long to explain,” Jack said. “I’ll call you later. Bye, Terese.” Jack hung up before Terese could get in another word. As tenacious as she was, Jack had the feeling she’d keep him on the phone until she got her way.

Jack was about to head up to the DNA lab when Laurie appeared in his doorway.

“I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you,” Laurie said.

“And I have you to thank for my being here,” Jack said. “A few days ago I might have thought of you as having interfered. But not now. I appreciate whatever you said to Lieutenant Soldano, because it saved my life.”

“He called me last night and told me what happened,” Laurie said. “I tried to call you at your apartment a number of times.”

“You and everyone else,” Jack said. “To tell you the truth, I was scared to go home.”

“Lou also told me he thought you were taking a lot of risks with these gangs involved,” Laurie said. “Personally, I think you should call off whatever you are doing.”

“Well, you are siding with the majority if it is any consolation,” Jack said. “And I’m sure my mother would agree if you were to call her in South Bend, Indiana, and ask her opinion.”

“I don’t understand how you can be flippant in light of everything that has happened,” Laurie said. “Besides, Lou wanted me to make sure you understand that he can’t protect you with twenty-four-hour security. He doesn’t have the manpower. You’re on your own.”

“At least I’ll be working with someone I’ve spent a lot of time with,” Jack said.

“You are impossible!” Laurie said. “When you don’t want to talk about something you hide behind your clever repartee. I think you should tell everything to Lou. Tell him about your terrorist idea and turn it over to him. Let him investigate it. He’s good at it. It’s his job.”

“That might be,” Jack said. “But this is a unique circumstance in a lot of ways. I think it requires knowledge that Lou doesn’t have. Besides, I sense it might do a world of good for my self-confidence to follow this thing through. Whether it’s obvious or not, my ego has taken a beating over the last five years.”

“You are a mystery man,” Laurie said. “Also stubborn, and I don’t know enough about you to know when you are joking and when you are serious. Just promise to be more careful than you’ve been the last few days.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” Jack said. “I’ll promise if you agree to take rimantadine.”

“I did notice there were more influenza deaths downstairs,” Laurie said. “You think it warrants rimantadine?”

“Absolutely,” Jack said. “The CDC is taking this outbreak very seriously, and you should as well. In fact, they think it might be the same strain that caused the disastrous influenza outbreak in 1918. I’ve started rimantadine myself.”

“How could it be the same strain?” Laurie asked. “That strain doesn’t exist.”

“Influenza has a way of hiding out,” Jack said. “It’s one of the things that has the CDC so interested.”

“Well, if that were the case, it sure shoots holes in your terrorist theory,” Laurie said. “There’s no way for someone to deliberately spread something that doesn’t exist outside of some unknown natural reservoir.”

Jack stared at Laurie for a minute. She was right, and he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it.

“I don’t mean to rain on your parade,” Laurie said.

“That’s okay,” Jack said, preoccupied. He was busy wondering if the influenza episode could be a natural phenomenon, while the other outbreaks were intentional. The problem with that line of thinking was that it violated a cardinal rule in medical diagnostics: single explanations are sought even for seemingly disparate events.

“Nevertheless, the influenza threat is obviously real,” Laurie said. “So I’ll take the drug, but to make sure you hold up your side of the bargain, I want you to keep in touch with me. I noticed that Calvin took you off autopsy, so if you leave the office you have to call me at regular intervals.”

“Maybe you’ve been talking to my mother after all,” Jack said. “Sounds remarkably like the orders she gave me during my first week at college.”

“Take it or leave it,” Laurie said.

“I’ll take it,” Jack said.

After Laurie left, Jack headed to the DNA lab to seek out Ted Lynch. Jack was glad to get out of his office. Despite the good intentions involved he was tiring of people giving him advice and he was afraid Chet would soon be arriving. Undoubtedly he’d voice the same concerns just expressed by Laurie.

As Jack mounted the stairs he thought more about Laurie’s point concerning the influenza’s source. He couldn’t believe he’d not thought of it himself, and it undermined his confidence. It also underlined how much he was depending on a positive result with the probe National Biologicals had sent. If they were all negative he’d have scant hope of proving his theory. All he’d have left would be the improbable cultures he’d hoped Kathy McBane had obtained from the sink trap in central supply.

The moment Ted Lynch caught sight of Jack approaching, he pretended to hide behind his lab bench.

“Shucks, you found me,” Ted joked when Jack came around the end of the counter. “I was hoping not to see you until the afternoon.”

“It’s your unlucky day,” Jack said. “I’m not even on autopsy, so I’ve decided to camp out here in your lab. I don’t suppose you’ve had a chance to run my probes…”

“Actually, I stayed late last night and even came in early to prepare the nucleoproteins. I’m ready to run the probes now. If you give me an hour or so, I should have some results.”

“Did you get all four cultures?” Jack asked.

“Sure did,” Ted said. “Agnes was on the ball as usual.”

“I’ll be back,” Jack said.

With some time to kill, Jack went down to the morgue and changed into his moon suit before entering the autopsy room.

The morning routine was well under way. Six of the eight tables were in various stages of the autopsy procedure. Jack walked down the row until he recognized one of the cases. It was Gloria Hernandez. For a moment he looked at her pale face and tried to comprehend the reality of death. Having just spoken with her in her apartment the day before, it seemed an inconceivable transition.

The autopsy was being done by Riva Mehta, Laurie’s officemate. She was a petite woman of Indian extraction who had to stand on a stool to do the procedure. At that moment she was just entering the chest.

Jack stayed and watched. When the lungs were removed he asked to see the cut surface. It was identical to Kevin Carpenter’s from the day before, complete with pinpoint hemorrhages. There was no doubt it was a primary influenza pneumonia.