of when the rendezvous was. And Badri had come running to the pub to tell him to pull her out.
Mary came in, still wearing her coat. Dunworthy stood up. “Is it Badri?” he asked, afraid of the answer.
“He’s still in Casualties,” she said. “We need his NHS number, and we can’t find his records in Balliol’s file.”
Her gray hair was mussed again, but otherwise she seemed as businesslike as she was when she discussed Dunworthy’s students with him.
“He’s not a member of the college,” Dunworthy said, feeling relieved. “Techs are assigned to the individual colleges, but they’re officially employed by the University.”
“Then his records would be in the Registrar’s Office. Good. Do you know if he’s traveled outside England in the past month?”
“He did an on-site for Nineteenth Century in Hungary two weeks ago. He’s been in England since then.”
“Has he had any relations visit him from Pakistan?”
“He hasn’t any. He’s third-generation. Have you found out what he’s got?”
She wasn’t listening. “Where are Gilchrist and Montoya?” she said.
“You told Gilchrist to meet us here, but he hadn’t come in yet when I was brought in here.”
“And Montoya?”
“She left as soon as the drop was completed,” Dunworthy said.
“Have you any idea where she might have gone?”
No more than you have, Dunworthy thought. You watched her leave, too. “I assume she went back to Witney to her dig. She spends the majority of her time there.”
“Her dig?” Mary said, as if she’d never heard of it.
What is it? he thought. What’s wrong? “In Witney,” he said. “The National Trust farm. She’s excavating a mediaeval village.”
“Witney?” she said, looking unhappy. “She’ll have to come in immediately.”
“Shall I try to ring her up?” Dunworthy said, but Mary had already gone over to the medic standing by the tea trolley.
“I need you to fetch someone in from Witney,” she said to him. He put down his cup and saucer and shrugged on his jacket. “From the National Trust site. Lupe Montoya.” She went out the door with him.
He expected her to come back as soon as she’d finished giving him the directions to Witney. When she didn’t, he started after her. She wasn’t in the corridor. Neither was the medic, but the nurse from Casualties was.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, barring his path the way the registrar in Casualties had. “Dr. Ahrens asked that you wait for her here.”
“I’m not leaving the Infirmary. I need to put a call through to my secretary.”
“I’ll be glad to fetch you a phone, sir,” she said firmly. She turned and looked down the corridor.
Gilchrist and Latimer were coming. “… hope Ms. Engle has the opportunity to observe a death,” Gilchrist was saying. “Attitudes toward death in the 1300s differed greatly from ours. Death was a common and accepted part of life, and the contemps were incapable of feeling loss or grief.”
“Mr. Dunworthy,” the nurse said, tugging at his arm, “if you’ll just wait inside, I’ll bring you a telephone.”
She went to meet Gilchrist and Latimer. “If you’ll come with me, please,” she said, and ushered them into the waiting room.
“I’m Acting Head of the History Faculty,” Gilchrist said, glaring at Dunworthy. “Badri Chaudhuri is my responsibility.”
“Yes, sir,” the nurse said, shutting the door. “Dr. Ahrens will be with you directly.”
Latimer set his umbrella on one of the chairs and Mary’s shopping bag on the one next to it. He had apparently retrieved all the parcels Mary had dumped on the floor. Dunworthy could see the muffler box and one of the Christmas crackers sticking out of the top. “We couldn’t find a taxi,” he said, breathing hard. He sat down next to his burdens. “We had to take the tube.”
“Where is the apprentice tech you were going to use on the drop—Puhalski—from?” Dunworthy said. “I need to speak with him.”
“Concerning what, if I may ask? Or have you taken over Mediaeval entirely in my absence?”
“It’s essential that someone read the fix and make sure it’s all right.”
“You’d be delighted if something were to go wrong, wouldn’t you? You’ve been attempting to obstruct this drop from the beginning.”
“Were to go wrong?” Dunworthy said disbelievingly. “It’s already gone wrong. Badri is lying in hospital unconscious and we don’t have any idea if Kivrin is when or where she’s supposed to be. You heard Badri. He said something was wrong with the fix. We’ve got to get a tech here to find out what it is.”
“I should hardly put any credence in what someone says under the influence of drugs or