Harry seemed to love his work. Why not? Duncan was paying him handsomely for playing at his hobby. Duncan remembered how excited Harry had been when he had challenged him to miniaturize an ultrasound transducer. That had taken weeks, but the big bill had been more than worth it.
This little chore, on the other hand, was a piece of cake. . Duncan had told him he thought one of his employees might be pilfering. He'd said he had a pretty good idea who but wanted to catch the culprit in the act. Which was true. He wanted to see if Gin would try again.
Harry had said that was cool. Yeah, what with the labor laws these days, you just about had to catch someone rethanded before you could give them the cot.
Harry's solution, a video camera activated by a motion detector.
"All right, " Harry said, coming off the ladder again. "The light's disabled. Now, remember, the only time you want this thing on is when you're out of the room. Otherwise you're gonna find yourself fast-forwarding through umpteen hours of yourself sitting at your desk or making coffee or whatever." '"Mostly whatever, I should think, " Duncan said. "I often engage in whatever while I'm here."
"Cool, " Harry said. He laid a finger on the upper edge of the transformer.
"Okay. Two little buttons here. This one turns the power off, this one on. Just before you leave, click it on. That'll arm the sensor.
Any movement then will trip the sensor which'll turn on the camera and you'll be taping for the entire time someone's here until a full minute after they leave. It's also got a date and time readout that'll appear in the corner of the picture. I fixed the cam with a wide-angle lens so's you've got the whole office covered." Duncan said, "Cool."
"You know, if you decide to make this a permanent setup, I can rig the camera directly to a VCR and, '' "Just temporary, Harry, I assure you.
And here is your check." Harry glanced at the amount, said, "Cool, " one last time, packed up his tools, and was gone.
Okay, my little cygnet, Duncan thought, staring into the blind eye of the video camera. The next step is up to you.
He glanced at the clock. Perfect timing. Harry had arrived early and done his work quickly, leaving Duncan a few minutes to spare before scrubbing for the day's first surgery.
An abbreviated schedule today, mostly minor procedures. Dr. VanDuyne was due here about noon and Duncan wanted a clear field when he toured him and the others around.
He pushed The ON button, moved an empty carafe in front of the transformer, and headed for the locker room. The back of his neck tingled with the knowledge that his movement had triggered the sensor and his exit was being recorded.
Gin rushed through her dictation and other paperwork so she'd be ready to tail Duncan when he took off. She'd had to hustle. The way he'd whipped through those procedures this . .
morning made her think he was in a big rush to leave. But once surgery was over, he seemed in no great hurry to go anywhere.
Gin was up and down the stairs, keeping an eye on Duncan's office, ready to grab her coat as soon as he looked like he was going to leave.
But he seemed to be killing time On one of her surveillance runs she glanced out into the parking lot and saw the mysterious Dr. V. and two other men get out of a gray sedan.
So that's why he's hanging around.
Twenty minutes later, Duncan was leading the trio downstairs on a tour.
"And here are the nether regions. My brother's lab and our , .
recores room.
The good-looking Dr. V. looked relaxed, but his two suited friends were as stiff and uptight as they were clean-cut. Nosy too. Peeking into every closet, every cubbyhole, asking questions in low voices Gin could not pick up.
"Just showing these gentlemen around, " Duncan told Gin as they passed.
"Don't let us disturb you." He didn't bother with introductions.
She followed the group upstairs and watched the two suits point to doors and windows as they conferenced with each other. Neither of them smiled once. What were they? Lawyers? Accountants? Security consultants?
Then the entire entourage, including Oliver, retired to Duncan's office and closed the door.
What was going on? She was pretty sure now it wasn't a matter of taking on a new associate. Was Duncan selling the building? He'd never mentioned moving. And why did this Dr. V. look familiar?
Curiosity was eating Gin alive. She'd have given almost anything to be a fly on a wall in that officer right now.
* * * Forty-five minutes later all five came out in a group. They stood in the hall, shaking hands. The suits looked as grim as ever, Duncan and Dr. V.
were pleasant, and Oliver was quite literally beaming. Then the visitors headed for the parking lot, Duncan returned to his office, and Oliver bustled down the hall toward Gin.
"This is wonderful, " he said as he approached. The overhead fluorescents gleamed from his glasses and exposed scalp. He was grinning like a man who'd just won the lottery. "This is so wonderful!
" "What is, Oliver? What's going on? " '"I can't tell you, ' he said as he hurried past her. "I wish I could, but I can't. Not now. Maybe sometime." Gin watched him disappear into the stairwell down to his lab. She'd never seen him like this. Had he worked out some huge deal for his implants? She started to follow. She was sure she could pry it out of him.
But then she saw Duncan shrugging into his sport coat asX he stood before Barbara's desk. He was talking, she was taking notes and nodding her head. Then he was on his way.
Gin ducked into the locker room, grabbed her coat and purse, and hurried after him. She'd have to put off grilling Oliver until later.
"Hey, great news, " Barbara said as Gin passed her desk. "We've got a three-day weekend coming up." Gin slowed. "When? " "This weekend.
We're going to be closed on Friday. Dr. Lathram just told me to give everybody the day off with pay. Isn't that great? " "Yeah, " Gin said, picking up speed again. "Great." Friday off. Normally she'd assume Duncan had someplace to go this weekend and wanted an extra day. But the decision seemed to have been made right after his conference with Dr. V. and the suits. How come?
* * * No surprise when Duncan's Mercedes led her away from his golf club, but she was completely unprepared for the course he took through the District. East, then down Connecticut, past Adams Morgan to Dupont Circle. From there he took Massachusetts downtown.
He's heading for the Hill, Gin thought, but he breezed past Union Station and kept going, deep into Southeast. Mass was lined with two and three-story row housu down here, painted in bright reds, yellows, bluo, greens, even orange. The neighborhoods deteriorated, on a couple of corners she saw men in rough clothes drinking from bottles in paper bags. Gin was almost afraid to stop at the red lights. And she was in a three-year-old American compact. Duncan's Mercedes stood out like a luxury yacht in a fleet of tugboats. Yet nobody was bothering either of them.
What was he doing here? He had such a haughty attitude, she could not imagine him down here among the po' folk.
And then they came to the end of Mass Avenue and she caught on. D.
C.
General Hospital lay spread out on the downhill slope before them. She followed Duncan along the winding driveway through the well-kept complex of a dozen or so brick and stucco buildings, past the D. C.
Correctional Treatment facility to a restricted parking lot, "Decals Only" warned the sign. As Duncan turned in, Gin scooted into the nearby patient lot. She saw uniformed guards everywhere. Security seemed a major concern here.
She spotted Duncan strolling toward the doctors' entrance, a rectangular hole in the brick face of one of the buildings. How was she going to get in? She wasn't on staff.
But she could look like she was.