Jack pressed the button for the elevator and waited. The attempt on his own life the night before had given more weight to his suspicions. Someone had tried to kill him after he refused to heed the warning. The very same night Beth Holderness had been murdered. Could it have been in the course of an unrelated robbery or could it have been because of Jack, and, if so, what did that mean about Martin Cheveau? Jack didn’t know. But what he did know was that he could not involve anyone else in this affair for fear of putting them in jeopardy. From that moment on, Jack knew he had to keep everything to himself.
As George had surmised, Laurie was in her office. While waiting for George to assign the day’s cases, she was using the time profitably, working on some of her uncompleted cases. She took one look at Jack and recoiled. Jack offered the same explanation he’d given George, but he could tell that Laurie wasn’t quite convinced.
“Did you hear that Bingham is down in the pit?” Jack asked, to move the conversation away from his previous night’s experiences.
“I did,” Laurie said. “I was shocked. I didn’t think there was anything that could get him here before eight, much less in the autopsy room.”
“Do you know anything about the case?” Jack asked.
“Just that it was atypical pneumonia,” Laurie said. “I spoke with Janice for a moment. She said they’d had preliminary confirmation it was influenza.”
“Uh-oh!” Jack said.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Laurie said, wagging her finger. “Influenza was one of the diseases you said you’d use if you were a terrorist type trying to start an epidemic. But before you go jumping off using this as confirmation of your theory, just remember that it is still influenza season.”
“Primary influenza pneumonia is not very common,” Jack said, trying to stay calm. The mention of the word “influenza” had his pulse racing again.
“We see it every year,” Laurie said.
“Maybe so,” Jack said. “But I tell you what. How about calling that internist friend of yours and asking if there are any more cases?”
“Right now?” Laurie asked. She glanced at her watch.
“It’s as good a time as any,” Jack said. “She’ll probably be making her rounds. She can use the computer terminal at one of the nurses’ stations.”
Laurie shrugged and picked up her phone. A few minutes later she had her friend on the line. She asked the question, then waited. While she waited she looked up at Jack. She was worried about him. His face was not only scratched up, it was now flushed.
“No cases,” Laurie repeated into the phone when her friend came back on the line. “Thanks, Sue. I appreciate it. Talk to you soon. Bye.” Laurie hung up the phone. “Satisfied?” she said.
“For the moment,” Jack said. “Listen: I asked George to assign you two particular cases this morning. The names are Holderness and Winthrope.”
“Is there some specific reason?” Laurie asked. She could see that Jack was trembling.
“Do it as a favor,” Jack said.
“Of course,” Laurie said.
“One thing I’d like you to do is look for any hairs or fibers on the Holderness woman’s body,” Jack said. “And find out if homicide had a criminologist at the scene to do the same. If there are any hairs, see if there is a DNA match with Winthrope.”
Laurie didn’t say anything. When she found her voice, she asked:
“You think that Winthrope killed Holderness?” Her voice reflected her disbelief.
Jack looked off and sighed. “There’s a chance,” he said.
“How would you know?” Laurie asked.
“Let’s call it a disturbing hunch,” Jack said. He would have liked to tell Laurie more, but with the new pact he had with himself, he didn’t.
He wasn’t about to put anyone else at risk in any form or fashion.
“Now you really have my curiosity going,” Laurie said.
“I’d like to ask one more favor,” Jack said. “You told me that you had a relationship with a police detective who’s now a friend.”
“That’s true,” Laurie said.
“Do you think you could give him a call?” Jack said. “I’d like to talk with him sorta off the record.”