Fatal Cure by Robin Cook. Chapter 24, 25

Fatal Cure. Chapter 24, 25

24

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31

Halloween dawned clear and crisp with frost on the grimacing pumpkins perched on porches and windowsills. Nikki awoke feeling entirely normal physically, and with the festive atmosphere of the holiday, even her spirits were much improved. Angela had made it a point earlier in the week to stock candies and fruits for possible trick-or-treaters.

Angela had no interest in going to church. The idea of trying to fit into the Bartlet community had lost its appeal. David offered to take them to the Iron Horse Inn for breakfast even if they didn’t go to church, but Angela preferred to stay at home.

After breakfast Nikki began to agitate to be allowed to go trick-or-treating herself. But Angela was not enthusiastic. She was concerned about letting Nikki out into the cold so soon after she’d gotten over her latest bout of congestion. As a compromise, she sent David into town to try to buy a pumpkin while she got Nikki to help her prepare the house for the children coming to their door.

Angela had Nikki fill a large glass salad bowl to the brim with miniature chocolate bars. Nikki carried it to the front hall and placed it on the table by the door.

Next, Angela had Nikki start making Halloween decorations out of colored construction paper. With Nikki happily occupied, Angela called Robert Scali in Cambridge.

“I’m glad you called,” Robert said as soon as he heard Angela’s voice. “I’ve gotten some more financial data like I promised.”

“I appreciate your efforts,” Angela said. “But I’ve another request. Can you get me military service records?”

“Now you’re pushing it,” Robert said. “It’s much more difficult to hack into military data banks, as you might imagine. I suppose I could get some general information, but I doubt I could get anything classified unless Peter’s colleague is on line with the Pentagon. But I doubt that very much.”

“I understand,” Angela said. “You’ve said exactly what I thought you’d say.”

“Let’s not give up immediately,” Robert said. “Let me call Peter and ask. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

Angela hung up and went over to see how Nikki was doing. She’d cut out a big orange moon and now was in the process of cutting out a silhouetted witch on a broomstick. Angela was impressed: neither she nor David had any artistic talent.

David returned with an enormous pumpkin. Nikki was thrilled. Angela helped spread newspaper on the kitchen table. David and Nikki were soon absorbed in carving the pumpkin into a jack o’ lantern. Angela helped until the phone rang. It was Robert calling back.

“Bad news,” he said. “Gloria can’t help with Pentagon stuff. But I was able to get some basic info. I’ll send it up with this additional financial material. What’s your fax number?”

“We don’t have a fax,” Angela said. She felt guilty, as if she and David had not joined the nineties.

“But you do have a modem with your computer?” Robert said.

“We don’t even have a computer, except one for Nikki’s video games,” Angela admitted. “But I’ll figure out a way to get the material. In the meantime, can you tell me why Van Slyke was in the navy for only twenty-one months?”

There was a pause. Angela could hear Robert shuffling through papers.

“Here it is,” he said finally. “Van Slyke got a medical discharge.”

“Does it say for what?” Angela asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Robert said. “But there is some interesting stuff here. It says that Van Slyke went to submarine school in New London, Connecticut, then on to nuclear power school. He was a submariner.”

“Why is that interesting?” Angela asked.

“Not everybody goes out on submarines,” Robert said. “It says he was assigned to the U.S.S. Kamehameha out of Guam.”

“What kind of job did Clyde Devonshire have in the navy?” Angela asked.

There was more shuffling of paper. “He was a navy corps-man,” Robert said. Then he added: “My gosh, isn’t this a coincidence.”

“What?” Angela asked. It was frustrating not to have the papers herself.

“Devonshire got a medical discharge, too,” Robert said. “Having done hard time for rape, I would have guessed it would have been something else.”

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