When he finished with the internal exam and had taken the samples he wanted, he put aside a special sample of lung to take up to Agnes Finn. Once he had similar samples from Joy Hester and Donald Lagenthorpe, he planned to have them all sent immediately to the reference lab to be tested for tularemia. By the time Jack and Vinnie had commenced stitching up Maria Lopez, they began to hear voices in the washroom and out in the hall.
“Here come the normal, civilized people,” Vinnie commented.
Jack didn’t respond. Presently the door to the washroom opened. Two figures entered in their moon suits and ambled over to Jack’s table. It was Laurie and Chet.
“Are you guys finished already?” Chet said.
“It’s not my doing,” Vinnie said. “The mad biker has to start before the sun is up.”
“What do you think?” Laurie asked. “Plague or tularemia?”
“My guess is tularemia,” Jack said.
“That will be four cases if these other two are tularemia as well,” Laurie said.
“I know,” Jack said. “It’s weird. Person-to-person spread is supposed to be rare. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that seems par for the course with these recent cases.”
“How is tularemia spread?” Chet asked. “I’ve never seen a case.”
“It’s spread by ticks or direct contact with an infected animal, like a rabbit, Jack said.
“I’ve got you scheduled for Lagenthorpe next,” Laurie told Jack. “I’m going to do Hester myself.”
“I’m happy to do Hester as well,” Jack said.
“No need,” Laurie said. “There aren’t that many autopsies today. A lot of last night’s deaths didn’t need to be posted. I can’t let you have all the fun.”
Bodies began arriving. They were being pushed into the autopsy room by other mortuary techs and lifted onto their designated tables. Laurie and Chet moved off to do their own cases. Jack and Vinnie returned to their suturing. When they were finished, Jack helped Vinnie move the body onto a gurney. Then Jack asked how quickly Vinnie could have Lagenthorpe ready to go.
“What a slave driver,” Vinnie complained. “Aren’t we going to have coffee like everybody else?”
“I’d rather get it over with,” Jack said. “Then you can have coffee for the rest of the day.”
“Bull,” Vinnie said. “I’ll be reassigned back in here helping someone else.”
Still complaining, Vinnie pushed Maria Lopez out of the autopsy room. Jack wandered over to Laurie’s table. Laurie was engrossed in the external exam but straightened up when she caught sight of Jack.
“This poor woman was thirty-six,” Laurie said wistfully. “What a waste.”
“What have you found? Any insect bites or cat scratches?”
“Nothing except a shaving nick on her lower leg,” Laurie said. “But it’s not inflamed, so I’m convinced it’s accidental. There is something interesting. She has definite eye infections.”
Laurie carefully lifted the woman’s eyelids. Both eyes were deeply inflamed, although the corneas were clear.
“I can also feel enlarged preauricular lymph nodes,” Laurie said. She pointed to visible lumps in front of the patient’s ears.
“Interesting,” Jack commented. “That’s consistent with tularemia, but I didn’t see it on the other cases. Give a yell if you come across anything else unusual.”
Jack stepped over to Chet’s table. He was happily engrossed in a multiple gunshot wound case. At the moment he was busy photographing the entrance and exit wounds. When he saw Jack he handed the camera to Sal, who was helping him, and pulled Jack aside.
“How was your time last night?” Chet asked.
“This is hardly the best time to discuss it,” Jack said. Conversation in the moon suits was difficult at best.
“Oh, come on ,” Chet said. “After the China Club we went back to her pad on East Sixty-sixth. I had a blast with Colleen.”
“I’m happy for you,” Jack said.
“What did you guys end up doing?” Chet asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Jack said.
“Try me,” Chet challenged. He leaned closer to Jack.
“We went over to her office, and then we came over here to ours,” Jack said.
“You’re right,” Chet said. “I don’t believe you.”
“The truth is often difficult to accept,” Jack said.