'Hey, what a nice surprise. We are doing beautifully, thank you. The baby's getting cranked up for the big plunge.'
'How much longer?'
'Six, seven weeks. For my money, tomorrow would be fine. Peter's got two midwives from Mali hovering around me all the time. Since I've had no problems whatsoever, they spend all their time cooking and cleaning and bumping into one another.'
'Annalee, I'm so excited for you.'
'Yeah. Peter's really come through this time. So, what's this urgent stuff? And who's Rosa Suarez?'
'There really is a Dr. Suarez. In fact, she's right here. She's-she's been studying weight loss programs for the government. I told her about Peter's program and about Dr. Singh.'
'Those two are really raking it in,' Annalee said. 'Peter's added a whole new shipping area to this place. Twenty or so employees just packing it up an' shipping it out. It seems half of America is overweight and watching late-night TV. And every one of them is looking to walk the high road to slimness, as Peter puts it.'
'Annalee, do you have any idea how we can get in touch with Dr. Singh?'
'None. He comes by every few weeks with a new supply of the vitamin caps that go with each order. But I almost never see him. I can try asking Peter without telling him it's for you. He's furious that your lawyer has subpoenaed him to testify.'
'Tough,' Sarah murmured. 'Listen, Annalee. Don't get yourself in any trouble over this. But it would be a huge help to us to speak with Dr. Singh.'
'I'll see what I can do. Is that it?'
'Could you send me out some of that powder?'
'You mean you don't want to pay forty-nine ninety-five by check or major credit card, and allow three to six weeks for delivery, sorry no CODs? Well, I think I can handle that.'
Sarah gave Annalee Rosa's address, thanked her, and again begged her not to get into any conflict with her father. Then she sat staring out at the rich autumn afternoon.
'Rosa, you really believe this weight loss powder might be connected with the DIC cases?' she asked.
'Assuming the facts as we have them are true,' Rosa replied, 'it is certainly as likely a cause as your prenatal supplement.'
'It makes no sense.'
'That's because the facts as we have them are clearly not all the facts. I'd like to see one of those infomercials you told me about.'
'I'll get to work on that. My lawyer has some connections in TV. I'll see if he can get hold of a tape of one for tomorrow night's progress meeting. By the way, are you coming?'
'I wasn't planning on it. But now that I'm officially off the case, I think I will. Especially if one of the feature attractions is that tape. Besides, with what you told me, and what I heard over the phone just now, I think the stakes might have just been raised.'
'I don't understand.'
'Your friend Annalee took that diet powder, yes?'
'Yes.'
'And she's due to go into labor in just a few weeks, yes?'
'I didn't even think of that.'
'With all you've had to process this past hour, that's understandable. Besides, there's time. Not a whole lot of time, but some. I'll see you tomorrow evening at your lawyer's office.'
Sarah hugged Rosa long and lovingly, and promised not to share what they had learned with anyone. Then she hurried down the stairs and back to MCB. The roller coaster was cranking upward again. And she was feeling more excited and energized than at any time in weeks.
Alone in her room, seated cross-legged on her bed, Rosa Suarez tried to incorporate the new information with what she already knew. Sarah was right. Blaming the DIC cases on the short-term ingestion of an herbal powder years before made no real sense… yet. It also did not connect in any obvious way with the missing hospital chart pages. Scratching lines and drawing arrows on her pad, Rosa strained to put all of the facts in order until she felt her concentration begin to evaporate. Exhausted, she sank down onto the pillow. Nothing was solid. Nothing. It was like trying to link up puzzle pieces made of Jell-O. She wanted desperately just to close it all off and go to sleep. Instead, she called Ken Mulholland in the CDC lab.
'Hey, Rosa, how's your back?' he asked.
Just hearing his voice brought a smile. Of all those at work, only Ken knew where she was and how she had gotten the time off.
'Worse every day, thank goodness,' she said. 'Have you got anything for me?'
'Yes and no. I don't know what it is with you and your boss, but a memo has come down that your investigation is officially closed. No one in our department is to be devoting time to it. My section chief followed up the notice with a visit to me. He knows I've been helping you. I… um… I've been firmly instructed.'
'You mean warned. My chief really wants to be sure I fail this one. I'm sorry, Ken. Listen, don't take any chances. But I really need your help.'
'And you've got it. You aren't the only person around here with sick time coming, you know. If I have to, I'll just get the flu and work with you up there. You did say you had access to equipment.'
'Not like yours, but yes. A whole lab, complete with technician. Now, what have you got?'
'We've got enough to say your girl had some sort of DNA virus in her blood at the time it was drawn last July. But we don't have enough growth to classify or type it. And we're not going to, either. Our last specimen burned out yesterday. If you want us to go further, we're going to need more serum.'
'Then we'll just have to find a way to get you some.'
'And I'll need the name and number of your technician up there. I may have to have him do the cultures.'
'Anything you want that's within my power, you get.'
'That important, huh?'
'I'm sitting on Vesuvius here, Ken. I swear I am. And soon, very soon, I think it's going to blow.'
CHAPTER 28
October 10
This is Johnny Norman speaking to you from Television City, asking you, our live studio audience, and you, our millions of home viewers: Are you ready to change your lives for the better?' 'Yes!'
'Are you ready to catch the brass ring and finally hold on to it?'
'Yes!'
'Are you ready to walk the High Road to Slimness and Health?'
'Yes!'
'A little louder, please. I didn't quite hear you.'
'YES!'
'Well, all right, then. You've come to the right place, so let's get started. It's time once again to say hello to your guide on the High Road-the man who coached his club to two Super Bowls but couldn't quite coach himself away from the ice cream bowl. Let's have a big, Herbal Weight Loss greeting for Coach Tom 'Bear' Griswold!'
Tall, granite jawed, and slender as a sapling, Coach Tom Griswold bounded onto the stage, clapping his hands the way he might have following one of his fabled half-time harangues. Packed into the waiting room of Matt's office, the viewers watched the taped infomercial in almost morbid fascination as Griswold recited his life story, accompanied by startling pictures of his expanding career, reputation, and waistline.
'I had more money in the bank than I'd ever want to spend, a family that loved me, a great career in broadcasting, and at almost three hundred pounds, a life expectancy that my doctors were measuring in months! At
