Thursday
Ginny forked the first bite of the pilaf into her mouth and sighed in ecstasy. “Delicious!”
Hal smiled at her across the table, then picked up the wine bottle and refilled her glass.
“Hard day, darling?”
Ginny laughed. “How did you know?”
“That’s your third glass of wine.”
“Oh!”
“Care to tell me about it?”
Ginny looked over at him and found she did, rather, want to talk. “Would you mind very much?”
“I’ve been wondering what you were up to.”
“Bad news first, I suppose,” she said. “I couldn’t find those documents you described. There were several primary source documents at Professor Craig’s house, but none looked right. I have the entire collection in the car if you’d like to go through it.”
He nodded. “I would. Anything with my name on it?”
“There was a folder with what looked like printouts of computer files. You’ll have to check, but I didn’t see anything that looked old.”
He sighed. “It’s probably just a duplication of what was on his office computer.”
Ginny nodded.
“Anything else?”
“Not about you.” Ginny spent the next half hour entertaining Hal with a description of the antique art and the Craigs’ reactions to it.
“Antique pornography! Who would have thought!”
“I know and you mustn’t tell anyone.”
“Why not? He’s dead.”
“Yes, but the Craigs aren’t.”
“Oh, all right.” Hal’s eyes twinkled at her over the rim of his glass. “I wish I’d been there.”
Ginny raised an eyebrow. “They give Mark Craig a motive for murdering his uncle, but I don’t believe it. He didn’t know they existed until his wife hauled them out from behind the bookcase.”
“Murder?” Hal looked startled. “That’s the first I’ve heard of that.”
Ginny nodded. “It’s beginning to look like it.”
Hal lifted an eyebrow, studying her. “You know something you haven’t told me.”
“I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
“You told him.”
Ginny caught her breath. Hal wasn’t stupid and he’d be less than human if he wasn’t jealous. She needed to explain about Jim Mackenzie.
“Only because it was a medical device. Besides, you and I haven’t seen each other since this started. There’s been no time to tell you.”
“I have time now.”
Ginny nodded. “Yes. I think you need to know what’s going on.”
He rose from his seat, picked up the wine bottle, then came around to collect her.
“Let’s move into the den, and I think I’m going to want another bottle of wine.”
Over the glasses, Ginny outlined what had happened since Sunday afternoon.
“Elaine is the current front runner in the suspects stakes since we have means, motive, and opportunity for her, all except access to the virus.”
Hal was seated facing her, one arm stretched across the back of the sofa, his expression sober. “I would hate to think Elaine Larson was a murderer.”
“I feel the same way.” Ginny’s expression hardened. “My money is on Fiona Campbell.”
Hal nodded. “She’s easy to hate. But?”
“But I can’t place her in the genealogy library on Wednesday afternoon.”
“Oh, she was there.”
Ginny blinked. “How do you know?”
“I went looking for her at the Convention Center and was told she’d popped up to the library to have a chat with the Professor.”
“Do you remember who told you?”
Hal screwed up his face. “No. I mean, I can see her, I could describe her, but I don’t know who she was.”
“What time was that?”
“After lunch. Mid-afternoon, I think.”
Ginny nodded, turning over this new information in her brain. “Everyone knows Fiona Campbell. If she was there, it’s a good bet she was seen.”
Hal frowned, fixing Ginny with a worried look. “Ginny, you’re not serious about continuing this investigation, are you?”
She met his eyes. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
“Didn’t you tell me you’d turned the evidence over to the police?”
“And they’re investigating. The detective was out talking to the Craigs this morning.”
“So they took your suggestion seriously.”
Ginny nodded. “It looks like it.”
Hal put his wine glass down on the table, then took hers and did the same with it. He moved over, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her into an embrace.
“Ginny, darling, I hate the thought of you poking around in something like this. You might get too close and then what would I do without you? I would really rather you gave it up.”
Ginny snuggled closer, her head on his shoulder. It was nice to be held, to be cared about, worried over. She sighed. “Maybe I will.”
He sat there for a few minutes in silence, hugging her, then kissed the top of her head. “Maybe?” His voice was warm and soft and conveyed both concern and comfort.
She shrugged. “We’re pretty sure we know how he was killed, but no one knows why.”
Hal sighed deeply, a rich, masculine sound. “Why do you care, Ginny?”
She sat up and looked at him, wondering if she could explain. “He was my patient. I promised we’d take good care of him and he shouldn’t have died. So part of my problem is guilt.”
He shook his head at her. “Blame the murderer, if there is one, not yourself.”
She put her head back down on his shoulder and let him wrap his arms around her again. “The reason I told Jim Mackenzie was because he has the same obligation to his patients. He and Dr. Armstrong both want to know how this death happened, so they can prevent it ever happening again.”
Hal nodded. “I can understand that.”
“And I was exposed to the virus, so I’m still a little nervous about what it might do to me.”
“I thought the CDC decided no one else was going to catch it?”
“They did, but they’re guessing. Viruses mutate. Without knowing more about this particular bug, I can’t rest easy.”
“Oh.” Hal was silent for a minute. “So what you and Jim and Armstrong really want to know is about the virus, not the murderer.”
Ginny nodded. “But to find that virus, that version of the virus, we need to identify who had access to it and to Professor Craig.” She shrugged. “So that’s what we’ve been looking for.”
“I might be able to help with that.”
She picked her head up and looked at him. “How?”
“I have connections to a lot of labs. I can put out some discreet feelers and see if anyone recognizes the symptoms.”
Ginny sat bolt upright. “Wait a minute. I’ve just remembered. Alex said they had identified the source. Gene-something-or-other. It’s a lab in the Dallas area. I gave the note to Jim.”
She pressed her lips together. “That’s why I forgot about it. I was so angry I tossed it at him and stormed out.”
Hal smiled at her “So the CDC already has the answer and you can stop worrying.”
“Yes.” She smiled, then handed his wine glass to him and picked up her own. “In vino veritas!”
He laughed, touched his glass to hers took a sip, then set his glass down, and drew her closer.
“You are a remarkable woman, Ginny Forbes, but I’m just as happy you won’t have to fight off an attacker in the dark.”
Ginny was startled. “What attacker?”
“The evil villain who wants to silence you. Like in the movies.” Hal was teasing, but Ginny couldn’t help feeling a qualm in the pit of her stomach.
“Well, he’s safe from me. I just hope he knows it.”
“If he tries anything, he won’t be safe from me.”
“Dueling pistols?”
“Smith & Wesson.”
Ginny grinned, then reached up and kissed him. “My hero.”
He kissed her back, then again. They were still at it when Mrs. Mason came in to ask if they wanted dessert.
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