Vector

on his desk with its light on and papers spread around it, suggesting he was in the middle of working on something, although at the moment he was nowhere to be seen.

Jack guessed he'd ducked down to the vending machines on the second floor.

Chet liked to snack in the afternoons.

Before sitting down at his own desk, Jack walked down the hall toward Laurie's office. He was still eager to give her the credit for the startling botulinum toxin diagnosis. Unfortunately, her door was closed, which was not normal. Jack could not remember another time when Laurie or her officemate had the door closed in the middle of the day. With a shrug Jack turned back to his office.

Jack had taken only a few steps when he heard a male voice raised in anger. He couldn't make out what had been said, but the disturbing part was that it seemed to have come from behind Laurie's closed door.

Jack hesitated. A moment later he heard it again with a thump that sounded like a fist striking a metal desk or file cabinet.

Concerned, Jack returned to Laurie's door. He raised his hand to knock but wavered. Given the closed door, he worried about interfering, but then he heard a distinctive slew of swear words and another percussive thump. Then he heard Laurie's voice in a pleading tone say, 'Please!

' Prompted by instinct more than thought, Jack knocked and opened the door at the same time. Laurie was backed up against the wall next to the file cabinet. She wasn't cowering, yet her face reflected a mixture of fear and indignation. Paul Sutherland stood in front of her, dressed in a dark business suit. His tanned face was flushed and his right index finger was no more than six inches from Laurie's nose.

Jack's entrance had seemed to freeze him in place.

'I hope I'm not interfering, ' Jack said.

'But you are interfering! ' Paul snapped, coming to life. 'That's why the goddamn door was closed.' He faced around toward Jack and challengingly perched his fists on his hips.

'I'm awfully sorry, ' Jack said. He bent slightly to the side to have a better look at Laurie around Paul's stocky silhouette. 'Laurie, do you feel the same way? '

'Hardly, ' Laurie said. 'I think this discussion, if you can call it that, was getting out of hand.'

'Get out of here! ' Paul snarled. 'Laurie and I are going to have this out here and now.'

'This is neither the time nor the place, ' Laurie said. 'I already told you that.'

'Well, it seems there's a disagreement here, ' Jack said lightly. 'I don't mind offering my services as an arbitrator.'

'I'm warning you! ' Paul said. His eyes narrowed. He took a threatening step forward.

'Paul, please! ' Laurie said angrily. 'I think you should leave! ' Paul did not take his eyes off Jack. 'Get the hell out of here! ' he repeated.

'I heard you the first time, ' Jack said airily. 'But this is Dr. Montgomery's office, and her wishes reign. I think it's time you left, unless you'd like to discuss the issue with Sergeant Murphy downstairs.

' Paul lunged forward in an attempt to hit Jack with a roundhouse blow.

Anticipating the punch, Jack leaned back out of reach. Then, taking advantage of Paul's momentary loss of balance, Jack grabbed a handful of his silk suit and yanked him out through the open door, into the hall.

The maneuver was accompanied by a distinct ripping sound.

Paul quickly regained his footing and assumed a crouched position with his fists raised by his head, giving Jack the impression he knew how to box. Recognizing his own limited abilities in the sport, Jack debated whether to run or envelop the man in a protective bear hug. Luckily, Jack did not have to make a decision. A yell sounded from down the hall as Chet came running at them, an open bag of potato chips and a can of pop in hand.

Faced with overwhelming odds, Paul straightened up from his threatening stance. With angry gestures he examined his finely tailored jacket and found that it had been ripped.

'Sorry, ' Jack said, seeing the damage he'd caused. 'Luckily, it looks like it was just a seam.'

'What the hell is going on here? ' Chet asked.

'Paul and I had a momentary disagreement, ' Jack said. 'But thanks to you, I think it's ironed out, so to speak.' Paul wagged his finger at Jack's face the way he had with Laurie.

'You're going to hear from me about this, ' he snarled. 'Mark my words!'

'I'll look forward to it, ' Jack said.

'Paul, why don't you just leave? ' Laurie said. 'Unless you want to be arrested, please go! I've called security.' Paul straightened his tie and tucked his matching pocket square back into his breast pocket.

The whole time, he kept his eyes glued to Jack.

'You've not seen the last of me, ' he spat. Then turning to Laurie he said with equivalent venom, 'And I'll talk to you later.' After squaring his shoulders he started down the hallway toward the elevator.

Jack, Laurie, and Chet watched him go.

'What was this all about? ' Chet asked.

Neither Jack nor Laurie responded.

'Did you really call security? ' Jack asked.

'No, ' Laurie said. 'I was about to when I heard Chet's yell. It's better this way.'

'Thanks for coming when you did, Chet, ' Jack said.

'Glad to help, ' Chet said. 'Anybody want a potato chip? ' He held the bag out for Jack and Laurie.

Both shook their heads.

'Would you like to talk? ' Jack asked Laurie.

Laurie nodded. 'I would, actually.'

'Chet, old sport, ' Jack said, giving Chet a pat on the back. 'Thanks for being the cavalry, and I'll see you back at the orifice in a few minutes.'

'Orifice' was a comical malapropism for 'office' that Jack and Chet frequently used when speaking with each other.

'I can sense when three's a crowd, ' Chet said. He set off, happily munching his snack.

Laurie led the way back into her office. She closed the door behind Jack. 'I hope you don't mind me shutting you in here like this.'

'I can think of worse fates, ' Jack said.

Laurie enveloped Jack in a sustained hug. Jack hugged her back.

'Thanks for being a friend once again, ' she said after a full minute of silence. She released her grip, gave Jack a crooked smile, and then sat down. She got a tissue out of one of her drawers and dabbed at her eyes.

She shook her head. 'I hate it when I cry, ' she said.

'It seems to me to be rather an appropriate response after having to put up with that kind of behavior.'

Laurie shook her head in dismay.

'I can't believe it. I'm flabbergasted. Just three days ago it was sheer bliss.'

'What happened? ' Jack asked. He leaned against Laurie's desk.

'Last night at dinner I tried to have a conversation with him about what you and Lou told me, ' Laurie said. 'It didn't work. It immediately became confrontational.'

'That's not a good sign, ' Jack said.

'Don't I know, ' Laurie said. She dabbed at her eyes again. 'It made me feel he was hiding something, and that idea was bolstered by his behavior today. I shouldn't have let him in, but he called up from downstairs saying he wanted to apologize. Some apology! '

'What do you think he's hiding? ' Jack asked.

'I'm not sure, ' Laurie admitted. 'But I think he might be selling illegal Bulgarian AK-47 assault rifles.'

Jack whistled. 'That's bad news! '

'That's an understatement, ' Laurie said. She shook her head.

'I suppose I could deal with his being an arms dealer if I understood it had some legitimate purpose for national defense. I certainly could forgive a past run-in with the law about cocaine possession, provided he wasn't still using the stuff. But I'd never tolerate his selling illegal assault rifles or guns of any sort to private people, particularly kids.

It turns out that skinhead, Brad Cassidy, who I posted on Monday, had also been involved as some sort of middleman with those Bulgarian guns.'