“Part of the reason I stopped by,” she said. “There’s a local memorial service scheduled next week for my slain friends. I’d be grateful if you and Mr. Giordino could attend.”
“We’d be honored,” Pitt said.
“Dirk told me about your swim over the dam,” Gunn said. “Could I ask if there was anything of interest in the water samples you collected from the reservoir?”
Elise smiled. “The third reason for my visit. I understand Mr. Giordino sent the samples to Dr. Stephen Nakamura at the University of Maryland. He’s a professor of epidemiology in their Department of Environmental Health and a key research consultant to our agency. He left me a message this morning that he’d tested one of the samples and made an odd discovery.”
“What was that?” Gunn asked.
“He didn’t go into detail, only suggested I come by to discuss it.”
“Do you think it could be significant?”
She nodded. “He said he was sending one of the remaining samples to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and the others to a research institute in the UK. That tells me there’s something unique in the water, perhaps something that prompted the attack on our camp.” She turned to Pitt. “Would you be interested in coming with me to College Park? Since you helped save the samples, I thought you might want to know what’s in them.”
“If there was something in the water that led to the destruction of the dam and the attack on your people,” Pitt said, “then I’d like to know about it.” He eyed her cast. “On top of that, driving one-handed in this town is inviting a return to Walter Reed.” He rose from his desk. “Rudi, mind the store.”
Pitt borrowed an agency Jeep from the basement garage and drove them across town to the Maryland suburb of College Park. The Maryland University campus featured a mix of red brick Georgian buildings sprawled across thirteen hundred acres of neatly trimmed grass. Elise guided him to the north side of campus, where they parked next to the more contemporary School of Public Health building.
“Dr. Nakamura has an office next to a research lab in the basement,” Elise said, as she guided Pitt down a stairwell off the main foyer. They had arrived during class sessions, so the corridors were quiet. As they reached the lower level, they passed a well-dressed man and woman heading up the stairs. One lugged a thick valise, while the other carried a pair of FedEx packages. Elise said hello, but they ignored her, staring coldly at Pitt as they passed.
Elise led them down a long hallway, passing three labs, each marked ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EPIDEMIOLOGY RESEARCH—NO ADMITTANCE. At the end of the corridor, Elise stopped at an office and tried the handle. The door was locked. She knocked twice. There was no answer.
“That’s funny.” She stepped back to make sure the nameplate next to the door read DR. STEPHEN NAKAMURA. “Maybe he’s in the lab next door.”
As she pulled out her phone to call him, a janitor exited the office across the hall and glanced their way. “Do you need to get in there? I guess the professor is getting hard of hearing in his old age.” He selected a key card and unlocked the door.
“Thank you,” Elise said.
“No problem. Not the first time today.”
Elise pulled the door open and stepped in. Pitt followed, allowing the self-closing door to shut behind them. The office was long and narrow, with bookshelves lining the walls on either side. A small, round conference table was wedged into the middle of the room, with the professor’s paper-strewn desk at the far end. A side door next to the desk led to the adjacent lab.
Nakamura sat at his desk with his back to them, his head tilted to a phone wedged against his ear. As Pitt and Elise stepped closer, she whispered, “Hello, Dr. Nakamura?”
She waved to get his attention. He remained still. She started to step closer. Pitt grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“What is it?” she said.
Pitt didn’t answer, but she heard why he had stopped her. It was the busy tone emanating from the receiver, signaling a phone left off the hook.
Pitt eased past Elise to where he had an unobstructed view of Nakamura. The scientist didn’t move, and Pitt saw why. His face was ashen, his eyes were fixed open, with a neat red bullet hole perforating his temple.
16
Elise ignored Pitt’s warning and observed Nakamura’s wound for herself. She screamed.