“I think we have another one coming over from Bellevue as we speak. I just got off the phone with the ER.”
“What do you mean by ‘another one’?” Jack asked, but sensed he knew the answer.
“Another case just like Carol Stewart,” Bart said excitedly, stumbling over his words.
“Another sudden respiratory death?”
“Yes, and uncannily similar in all respects but without the heart transplant,” Bart said. “Young woman, apparently well dressed and not a druggie type. It even again happened on the subway, if you can believe it. This time it wasn’t the R train from Brooklyn. It was the D train from Brooklyn. I mean, that’s pretty fucking amazing.”
Jack felt a bit of perspiration break out on his forehead as the implications of what he’d just been told occurred to him—namely, that Aretha’s cytopathic effects were probably real and the lack of viruses on electron microscopy probably false. Jack shuddered. From the very moment he’d heard of the first case, he’d been terrified of a new lethal influenza virus running rampant in New York and spreading around the globe. Then, as time passed, first hours and then days, when there hadn’t been another case and the influenza screen was negative, he’d progressively allowed his fears to abate to the point of becoming sidetracked by his stumbling onto a possible violation of the National Organ Transplant Act. As egregious as that might be, it wasn’t nearly as critical as a possible new pandemic.
“What about an ID?” Jack asked. He hoped the case wasn’t an exact replica.
“We are okay in that realm,” Bart said. “We have a name: Helen VanDam, and an address in Bensonhurst. This time the victim was accompanied, and my understanding is that her companion will be in later for a formal identification.”
“Helen?” Jack immediately questioned. In his mind’s eye he immediately saw the nameHELENspelled out in Carol’s tattoo. Could this be the same Helen?
If so, even that was scary by implying an infectious connection.
“I know what you are thinking,” Bart said. “I had the same thought. But yes. It is definitely Helen.”
“Do you know if Bellevue considered it a possible contagious case?”
“I reminded them,” Bart said. “They insisted they had treated it as such from the outset, as did the EMS crew who got the victim off the train. This time it was the subway station at Thirty-fourth Street and Sixth Avenue.”
“That’s close to where Carol Stewart was picked up,” Jack said.
“As I said, the cases are uncannily similar,” Bart repeated.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Jack said.
“You should be arriving about the same time as the body,” Bart said. “It’s coming in a decontaminated body bag. Let me know what you find during the autopsy, and let me know if I can be of any help.”
“Will do,” Jack said. He disconnected. He then immediately pulled up Jennifer Hernandez’s number and made the call. He felt guilty about paying so much attention to his phone while driving, especially after practically having an accident when it had rung. He glanced around at the other drivers. No one seemed to notice, although the highly tinted windows might have played a role in hiding his activities.
The conversation with Jennifer, the current on-call ME, was short and to the point. He merely informed her that another contagion casewas coming in from the Bellevue ER that he would handle and do it immediately. She had yet to be informed from Communications but was glad not to have to think about what to do about it.
Next Jack put in a call to Vinnie, whose mobile phone number he also had in his contacts. Although Vinnie was officially off at three, he frequently stayed around, finding things to do and schmoozing with the other mortuary techs coming on for the night shift. Sometimes he stayed as late as five. Although he made it a point to act as if he didn’t care, Vinnie was seriously dedicated to his job, especially after the tight bond had formed between him and Jack.
“Why do I dread getting a call from you when I’m officially off duty,” Vinnie said without so much as a hello.
“I can’t imagine,” Jack said. “But what I can imagine is that you’ve had withdrawal symptoms, since I haven’t been there all day to keep you in line.”
“Oh, yeah, right,” Vinnie scoffed.
“Listen, I’m going to make it up to you. I’m on my way in to 520 and will be there shortly. On its way in as we speak is another subway death just like the one we did on Monday. The name is Helen VanDam.”
“Let me guess,” Vinnie groused. “You want to do it right away. Shit! Why can’t you be like everyone else around here? What’s wrong with tomorrow morning?”
“I know you well enough to know you know why,” Jack said.
“Okay, but I have to warn you, I’m still babysitting Carlos Sanchez, so you’ll have to put up with both of us.”
“I heard he wasn’t working out too well,” Jack said.
“The kid’s a jerkoff, has zero initiative, and he’s squeamish as hell. And he’s a worse germaphobe than I am. Why the hell he thought he wanted to be a mortuary tech is a mystery to me. All he does is complain. He’s not going to last.”
“Have you said anything to the chief of staff?” Jack asked.
