“I called your nine-one-one supervisor friend, Cynthia Bellows, just like you did. By the way, she said hello and offered congrats for your becoming chief. Just like you did, I got the name and number of the person who made the nine-one-one call from the R train. Talking with her, I confirmed that the victim had appeared entirely normal when she boarded the train in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I also learned she had a backpack and a phone, which obviously got stolen.”
“Did you make the effort to talk with the assigned Missing Persons detective?”
“I did,” Jack said. “But Detective Pauli Cosenza was no help at all. I had the feeling the lazy bum just pushed papers around his desk. Just to get ahold of him I had to let the phone ring almost forty times.”
“My Missing Persons detective contact was also no help on the first call. I even remember his name: Detective Stedman. But the second time I called, he was like a different person. Maybe you should give your PD contact another chance.”
“Maybe,” Jack said. “But I’m far from optimistic. I did tell Sergeant Murphy to make sure the detective got all the information from here as it becomes available, like the fingerprints and these photos of the victim’s tattoos.” Jack handed the three photos to Laurie.
“I’m not a tattoo fan by any means,” Laurie said as she studied each photo in turn. “But these are rather tasteful and interesting, and I guess she was a lesbian.”
“That’s the assumption, for whatever it’s worth,” Jack said.
“Well, the tattoos should help identify her,” Laurie said. She handed the photos back to Jack. “What a fascinating case. I have to say, I’m jealous. Forensic pathology is so much more interesting than arguing with politicians and city employees about budgets and construction plans.” She gestured dismissively over to her desk and the blueprints.
“You can always put in your resignation as the chief,” Jack said. “As soon as they find someone else, you could come back and be one of us grunts.”
Laurie sighed. “I’ve accepted this challenge, and I am going to see it through,” she said. “I can’t give up now. What about your virologist friend: Any more word from her?” When Jack had returned from playing basketball the previous evening, he’d told Laurie that all the rapid screens for the usual viruses that caused respiratory illness had been negative, not once but twice.
“Yes! I spoke with her around nine o’clock,” Jack said. “She thinks she sees some early cytopathic changes in a human kidney cell culture that she inoculated yesterday. If it turns out to be true, then she believes some unknown pathogenic virus is involved. I’ll be talking with her later today to confirm.”
“Damn! That’s not good.” Laurie pressed her lips together and shook her head in dismay. “An unknown, rapidly lethal virus lurking on a New York City subway is a terrifying proposition.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Jack said, “which is why I still think we should alert the Commissioner of Health about what’s potentially brewing.”
“No!” Laurie said without hesitation. “I still feel the opposite. As I said yesterday, we are going to wait until we have a confirmed, verifiable diagnosis. In some respects, an unknown virus could cause more panicthan a known one. What did your virologist friend suggest was the timeline for what she’s doing?”
“She didn’t say. She only commented that if a virus is present, then she’ll have to try to identify it.”
“Did she use the phrase ‘try to identify it’?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Good grief! That’s not very reassuring. Did she give you an idea of how she might go about trying to identify it and maybe an idea of how long it would take?”
“She didn’t. I should have asked, but I didn’t think of it. I’m not thinking right these days.”
“It’s a tough time for all of us. Don’t be hard on yourself.” Laurie walked over and sat on the couch. She patted the cushion next to her as a way of inviting Jack to join her.
“I did learn something else about the case that is surprising,” Jack said as he came over and sat down. “John DeVries found no immunosuppressant drugs on a toxicological screen that he ran overnight. I confirmed with a nurse coordinator of the heart transplant team next door that that is totally unheard of, just like it is so strange that no one has seemingly missed this woman.”
“Well, I have full confidence that you and Bart Arnold will figure it all out,” Laurie said. “In the meantime, I wanted to tell you what I did this morning on the home front. I spoke with Caitlin about my mother.”
“That’s a start,” Jack said.
“You’re right that Caitlin is upset, and she’s finding dealing with my mother difficult,” Laurie said. “But you’re wrong about her threatening to leave.”
“She told me she was upset enough that she was thinking of leaving,” Jack snapped. “I didn’t make it up.”
“Well, I just spoke with her this morning,” Laurie said. “She admitted that my mother was hard for her to get along with, but she said she was dedicated to the children.”
“Then she’s telling you one thing and telling me something else entirely,” Jack said. “Rather than debate who is getting the truth, I think the cause of her discontent has to be addressed. Did you talk with your mother this morning?”
“Of course I spoke with her.”
“Did you talk about her giving us a break?”
“She’s not all bad, Jack,” Laurie countered. “She’s getting JJ to interact with Emma. And she is spearheading getting a second opinion on Emma’s diagnosis.”
