'Right, ' Jack said.
Peter left.
'Oh, well, ' Jack said. He threw his pen onto his desk. Then he started gathering together all the disparate papers from the various cases and jamming them into their folders.
Chet watched for a few minutes. 'If I can think of anything else to test for, I'll give you a call.' Jack gave him a weak smile and continued straightening up.
'Are you heading home? ' Chet asked.
'Yup, ' Jack said. 'I think I need a little physical activity myself.
' After saying goodbye, Chet left. As Jack moved his microscope over onto his own desk, he thought about all the strange events over the previous twenty-four hours. It was all a mystery, yet he had to smile.
Such conundrums were, after all, what he liked about the job.
After locking his office door, Jack glanced down the hall toward Laurie's. It was closed. Obviously, Laurie had left without saying goodbye.
Jack shrugged. He really didn't know what to do about her.
Downstairs, Jack unlocked his bike and rolled it out of the receiving dock. After getting it down to the pavement, he got on and cycled out onto First Avenue.
As usual, the ride home was an opportunity for Jack to break away literally and figuratively. Rush hour traffic had already abated, and he flew. The sun had set an hour or so earlier and the sky was a silvery blue-violet that deepened to indigo with every passing moment.
In the middle of the darkened park he even got to see stars twinkling in the firmament.
Entering his own street, Jack headed directly for the chain-link fence separating the basketball court from the sidewalk. As he pulled to a stop, he saw what he wanted to see, a game in progress. As the men sweptdown the court in his direction, he noticed that Warren and Flash were already playing, although on opposing teams.
With a sense of urgency, Jack carried his bike up to his apartment and tore off his clothes. Redressed in his basketball gear, he thundered down the stairs and out across the street. When he arrived at the game's sidelines, he was slightly out of breath.
Unfortunately, another game had started in the time Jack had taken to get on his togs, which meant he'd have to wait one or maybe two games to get into the friendly fray. As usual, Warren's team had won so he was still on the court. Flash, on the other hand, was standing in the midst of those waiting to play. Jack walked over to him.
'Hey, man, how's it going? ' Flash said when he caught sight of Jack.
It was the typical B-ball court, offhand manner of greeting, even though they'd spent a good part of the afternoon together.
'It's going fine, ' Jack said. 'You doing okay? '
'So far, ' Flash said. He didn't look at Jack but rather kept his eyes glued to the game in progress. 'I'd be better if we'd won the last game.'
'Listen, ' Jack said. 'I gave the laboratory all the samples I took from your sister today. So they're in the works. I want to make sure you're going to be patient and not do anything rash.'
'I'm cool, ' Flash said.
'Glad to hear it, ' Jack said. He was reluctant to tell Flash about the lab results just yet. Despite the negative results on the assays Peter had run, Jack was still inclined to intuit that Connie had been poisoned in some way or another.
'I'm curious about where she lived, ' Jack said. 'You mentioned it was in an area with small wooden cottages. Is it an historic area? '
'I don't think it's historic, ' Flash said. 'But it's old.'
'How old?'
'Man, I don't know, ' Flash said. 'What are you asking me this for?'
' Jack shrugged. 'Like I said, I'm curious. There aren't too many parts of New York City that still have cottages. Could they be a hundred years old? '
'Something like that, I suppose, ' Flash said.
'I think they must have been summer cottages at some point.' Jack nodded as he tried mentally to visualize a group of old woodframed houses built as summer cottages a hundred years ago. What immediately came to mind was that their plumbing might be rudimentary at best. In fact, they might even have septic systems instead of being connected to the city sewer.
'What was the address again? ' Jack asked. 'Was it Fifteen Oceanview Lane? '
'Yeah, that was it, ' Flash said. 'Why do you ask? Are you going to go out there? '
'I might, ' Jack said. 'Sometimes medical examiners have to visit the site of the death in order to reconstruct the series of events preceding it. But, of course, that's usually when the body is still where it was found.'
'But I was told she died at Coney Island Hospital, ' Flash said.
'That's very true, ' Jack said. He gave Flash a pat on the back. 'But it was supposedly in her bathroom where she got into trouble.
Anyway, I'll keep you informed about whatever I learn.'
'Thanks, Doc, ' Flash said.
Jack picked up one of the loose basketballs and took it over to one of the side baskets. He thought he'd warm up by taking a few jump shots.
While he did, he mulled over the coincidence of Connie Davydov's dying from some unknown poison, possibly in her bathroom in the same town where there was a die-off of sewer rats, also caused by some unknown agent.
Jack tossed the ball through the hoop and then watched it bounce in decreasing amplitude until it was stationary. His mind was churning.
As crazy as the notion sounded, he couldn't help but question if Connie and the rats might have succumbed to the same agent. What if it had been some kind of gas and the drains in Connie's bathroom didn't have functioning traps? The trouble was, sewer gas stank, and the EMTS would have noted it.
'Ah, it's impossible, ' Jack voiced out loud. He went over and picked up the ball. He tried to think of other things, but he couldn't. As he took practice shots his mind kept dredging up Connie and the rats and images of the Brighton Beach summer cottages.
Laurie put down the dessert menu and shook her head. 'I'm stuffed, ' she said. 'I can't possibly eat dessert.'
'Do you mind if I order something that we could both nibble on? ' Paul asked. 'I know how much you like chocolate.'
'Of course, ' Laurie said. 'As long as you understand that you're going to have to eat nine-tenths of it.
But I'll have a decaf cappuccino.'
'Coming up! ' Paul said. He raised his hand to get the waiter's attention.
The evening had gone well, and Laurie was feeling considerably better than she had earlier after talking with Lou and Jack. When Laurie had first gotten home she'd considered canceling the week-old plans she had made with Paul to go to the ballet at Lincoln Center followed by dinner.
But after some time by herself she decided that the information she'd gotten from Lou and Jack didn't necessitate an angry confrontation.
She wasn't entirely confident what they'd said was true, and even if it was, she was more than willing to hear an explanation. It was more the surprise of it all that had upset her.
'How about some dessert wine? ' Paul asked.
Laurie smiled and shook her head. They'd had a wonderful red wine with dinner, and Laurie was luxuriating in its afterglow. She knew she'd had quite enough alcohol.
Paul had arrived for the evening with more flowers and an apology for his insensitivity that morning. He'd assured her that he understood her commitment to her work, and he even went so far as to say that he truly admired and valued that she had such a commitment.
As they'd talked, Laurie had been tempted to bring up the issue of the nature of his work in the context of the discussion of hers, but decided against it. In the face of his sincere apology, she didn't want to seem unappreciative or insensitive. She'd decided to wait for a more opportune time.
