Vector (30 page)

"Ah, just the man I want to see, " Ted said when he caught sight of Jack. He straightened up and then stretched his back. Ted was a big man and a former Ivy League football star.

Jack's face brightened. "Does that mean you have some positive results for me? "

"Yup, " Ted said. "One of all those samples you dropped off was positive for anthrax spores."

"No kidding, " Jack said. He was surprised. Despite making the effort to take all the cultures, he'd not expected any positive results.

"Which one of the samples? Can you remember? "

"Absolutely, " Ted said. "It was the one with the tiny blue iridescent star in it."

"My word! " Jack commented. He could remember finding the star in the middle of the blotter on the desk. It seemed so out of place in the spartan surroundings. Jack had figured it was all that remained of some long-past celebration.

"Can you tell me anything else about it? " Jack asked.

"Yup, " Ted said agreeably. "I had Agnes send up a sample of the culture she'd taken from the patient. We're running a DNA fingerprint now. We'll be able to tell if it's the same strain. I mean, one would assume it was, but it will be nice to have confirmation."

"Indeed, " Jack said. "Anything else? "

"Like what? " Ted questioned peevishly.

He thought Jack would have been more than satisfied with what he'd been told already.

"I don't know, " Jack said. "You're the one with all this high-tech wizardry. I don't even know the right questions to ask."

"I'm no mind reader, " Ted said. "I need to know what you want to know." 'iwell, how about whether the star was heavily contaminated with spores or only lightly contaminated."

"That's an interesting question, " Ted said. He stared off and chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment while he pondered. "I'll have to give that some thought."

"And I'll have to give some thought to how it got contaminated, " Jack said.

"Wasn't this from the victim's office? " Ted asked.

"It was, " Jack said. "The star was on the desk in the office, but the source for the anthrax spores was his warehouse, not the office.

Apparently the spores came in a shipment of goat skins and rugs from Turkey."

"I suppose the spores could have been on his person, " Jack said. "So when he came back to his office and sat down, they dropped off."

"Seems reasonable to me, " Ted said. "Or what about the possibility of his coughing out some of the spores. I understand it was an inhalational case."

"That's an idea, too, " Jack said. "But either way, why the hell were they only on the star? I cultured several spots on the desk, and they were all negative."

"Maybe he coughed out the star, " Ted said with a laugh.

"Now that's a helpful suggestion, " Jack said sarcastically.

"Well, I'll leave the sleuthing to you, " Ted said. "Meanwhile I've got to get back to my sick piece of equipment."

"Yeah, sure, " Jack said absently. He continued to wrestle with the puzzle of the contaminated star as he wandered out of the DNA lab and descended the stairs to the fifth floor. He had the uncomfortable feeling the star was trying to tell him something that he couldn't understand. It was like a message in a code without a key.

Jack leaned into Laurie's office, but she wasn't there. Riva, Laurie's officemate, glanced up from her desk. In her soft, charming Indianemigre-accented voice, she told Jack that Laurie was still in the autopsy room.

Still in a daze about the star, Jack headed for his own office. It occurred to him that the star might have had a slight electrostatic charge, since its sheen suggested it was made of either metallic or plastic material. That might have explained the reason the spores had stuck to it.

He turned into his office and sat at his desk, still obsessed by the mystery of the tiny, cerulean blue star. With his head cradled in his hands, he tried to think.

"What kind of blue star are you mumbling about? " a voice questioned.

Jack glanced up. He was surprised to see Lou. The detective's expression was as hangdog as it had been when they met at the bar the night before, but he was back to his crumpled, perpetually disheveled look.

Gone were the pressed suit and the polished shoes.

"Was I talking out loud? " Jack questioned.

"No, I'm a mind reader, " Lou said. "Can I come in? "

"Sure, " Jack said. He reached over and pulled one of the straight-back chairs he and Chet shared closer to his desk. He patted the seat with his hand.

Lou sat down heavily. It didn't appear as if he'd shaved that morning.

"If you're looking for Laurie, she's down in the pit, " Jack said.

"I was looking for you, " Lou said.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "I'm flattered. What's up? "

"I've got a confession to make, " Lou said.

"This sounds interesting, " Jack said.

"I felt so bad about it, I couldn't sleep. I was up most of the night."

"Sounds familiar, " Jack offered.

"I don't want you to think badly about me or anything."

"I'll try not to." Jack drummed his fingers impatiently.

"Because this is not something I usually do. I want you to know that."

"For crissake, Lou, confess! How else am I going to give you absolution?"

Lou looked down at his clasped hands and sighed.

"Okay, let me guess, " Jack said. "You masturbated and had unclean thoughts."

"I'm not joking around! " Lou snapped.

"Then tell me so I don't have to guess."

"Okay, " Lou said. "I ran Paul Sutherland's name through the system."

"Is that it? " Jack questioned with exaggerated disappointment. "I was hoping you'd done something significantly more salacious."

"But it's abusing my law enforcement prerogatives."

"Maybe so, but I would have done the same thing, " Jack admitted.

"Honest? "

"Absolutely, " Jack said. "So, what did you find? " Lou leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered his voice. "He's got a sheet."

"Something serious? " Jack asked.

"Not really all that serious, " Lou said. "I suppose it depends on your point of view. The charge was cocaine possession."

"Is that all? "

"It was a sizable amount of cocaine, " Lou said.

"Not enough to suggest he was dealing, but enough for quite a party.

He pleaded no contest and got probation and community service."

"Are you going to tell Laurie? " Jack asked.

"I don't know, " Lou admitted. "That's what I wanted to ask you."

"Oh, hell, " Jack said. He rubbed his forehead. It was a difficult question.

"I'd be asking myself why I was telling her, " Lou said.

Jack nodded. "I understand what you mean. She might ask the same question and then take out any anger the news generates on the messenger.

"My thoughts exactly, " Lou said. "Yet as a friend, I kinda think she should know. Of course, he may have already told her."

"My intuition tells me he hasn't, " Jack said. "He's too full of himself."

"I feel the same, " Lou said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw a figure fill his entire doorway. It was Ted Lynch from the DNA lab.

"I'm sorry, " Ted said. "I didn't think you'd be busy."

"It's okay, " Jack said. He introduced Ted and Lou, but they said they'd already met.

"I couldn't get your question out of my mind, " Ted said.

"You mean about the degree of contamination of the blue star? "

"Uh huh! And there is a way to do it! " Ted said excitedly. "It's called Taqman technology. It's a new wrinkle on the PCR."

"What's PCR again? " Lou asked.

s got "Polymerase chain reaction, " Jack said. "It's a way of augmenting a tiny piece of DNA so that it can be analyzed."

"Right!

" Lou said, pretending he understood.

"Anyway this technique is fantastic, " Ted said eagerly. "It involves putting a specific enzyme in the PCR reaction mix. What the enzyme does is gobble up single strands of DNA like that old video game Pacman.

Remember that? " Both Jack and Lou nodded.

"The slick thing is that when it hits an attached probe for whatever it is you're looking for, the enzyme signals. Isn't that sharp? So you can quantify what was in the sample originally by knowing the number of doublings the reaction has gone through, since that's time-related.

" Both Jack and Lou looked blankly at the excited DNA expert.

"So you want me to do it? " Ted asked.

"Yeah, sure, " Jack said. "That would be great."

"I'll get right on it, " Ted said. He disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared.

"Did you understand that? " Lou asked.

"Not a word, " Jack admitted. "Ted's in his own world up there.

That's why they put the DNA lab on the top floor. We all think the results are coming from heaven."

"I've got to learn more about that DNA stuff, " Lou admitted. "It's becoming more and more important in law enforcement."

"The trouble is the technology is changing so rapidly, " Jack said.

"What's this about a blue star? " Lou asked. "Is that the same blue star you were mumbling about when I came in? "

"One and the same, " Jack said. He went on to tell Lou the story of the tiny, glittering star, including the fact that it was the only thing in the Corinthian Rug Company office that was contaminated with anthrax spores.

"I've seen little stars like you're describing, " Lou said. "In fact, just this year the invitation I got to the Police Ball had them inside the envelope."

"You're right! " Jack said. "I once got an invitation with them in it as well. I'd been wondering where I'd seen them."

"It's a curious thing to find in a rug office, " Lou said. "I wonder if they'd had a party."

"Let's get back to your question, " Jack said. "How are you going to make this decision whether to tell Laurie or not about her new boyfriend's criminal record? "

"I don't know, " Lou said. "I suppose I was hoping you'd offer to tell her."

"Oh, no, you don't, " Jack said. "This is your ball game. You got this information, and it's up to you to decide what to do with it."

"Well, there is more, " Lou said.

Jack's ears picked up. "I'm listening."

"I found out what kind of business he's in."

"That's in his police record? " Jack questioned.

Lou nodded. "He's an arms dealer." Jack's jaw slowly dropped open.

As far as he was concerned, Paul Sutherland's being an arms dealer was far more important vis-a-vis Laurie than his having been convicted of cocaine possession.

"He used to have a monopoly of sorts importing Bulgarian AK-47s, at least until 1994 when the Omnibus Crime Bill was passed and they were banned along with eighteen other semi-automatic assault weapons."

"This is serious, " Jack said.

"Of course it's serious, " Lou said. "These Bulgarian AK-47s are very popular with far-right militia groups and other screwy survivalists."

"I'm talking about in relation to Laurie, " Jack said. "Do you have any idea of her stand on gun control? "

"Not exactly, " Lou admitted.

"Well, let me tell you, " Jack said. "She'd like to disarm the entire country, including patrolmen. She's made gunshot wounds her forensic specialty."

"She never mentioned that to me, " Lou said. He sounded hurt.

"Well, I think the fact that her potential fiance deals in guns is a hell of a lot more important to tell her about than the cocaine bust."

"Does that mean you'll do it? "

"Oh, hell, " Jack said. "Won't you?"

You found out about it, and she'll surely ask me my source. I'll have to say it was you anyway."

"It doesn't matter, " Lou said. "I think you could do it better than I. You've got so much more in common with her."

"Coward, " Jack said.

"Well, you're hardly being courageous, " Lou pointed out. "Come on!

You see her much more than I do. I mean, you work in the same building."

"All right, I'll think about it, " Jack said. "But I'm not making any. , , promises.

Jack's phone rang. He snatched the handset from its cradle and his voice sounded almost angry. He quickly mellowed when he heard himself.

Marlene Wilson, the receptionist, was on the other end of the line.

"I hope I'm not bothering you, Dr. Stapleton, " Marlene said. She had a slight southern accent.

"Not at all, " Jack said. "What's up? "

"There are several gentlemen down here to see you, " Marlene said. "Are you expecting anyone? "

"Not that I know of, " Jack said. "What are their names? "

"Just a moment, " Marlene said.

"Hey, I gotta go, " Lou said. He stood up. "I better get out of here before I run into Laurie."

"Keep in touch, " Jack said with a wave.

"We're going to have to make a decision about this sensitive intelligence you've gathered." Lou nodded and disappeared from view.

Marlene came back on the line. "It's Mr. Warren Wilson and a Mr. Flash Thomas. What would you like me to say to them? "

"My word, " Jack said. "Tell them to come on up! " Jack slowly hung up the phone.

He couldn't believe that Warren had come to visit him. Jack had suggested it a few times when he thought Warren would find it interesting to see firsthand what Jack did for a living.

It was part of Jack's attempt to get Warren to go back to school. But Warren had said that there was only one way he'd visit a morgue and that was dead!

Jack got the straight-back chair from next to Chet's desk and pulled it over next to the other one. Then he stepped out into the hall and walked down toward the elevators. He'd timed it just about right, because when he got there the doors opened and out stepped his two basketball buddies.

"This place sucks, " Warren said, making an expression of disgust.

Then he smiled. "How's it going, man? " He held up his hand.

Jack smacked it as if they were greeting each other on the basketball court. He did the same with Flash, who was clearly more intimidated at the surroundings than Warren was.

"It's going like most days, " Jack said. "Except for your visit. I'm shocked to see you guys, but come on into my office." Jack led the way down the hall.