“No idea,” Kazimi said, “but I would think not long.”

“How many guards?”

“Again, I do not know. But Burke is here. I know that much.”

Lou expected Vaill to react to the news, but his face looked blank. It was the expression Lou had seen in the Arbor General parking lot and before that, in the interrogation room. Hopefully, if a headache was developing, it would either be minimal or short-lived. Lou feared otherwise.

“That’s important information,” he said. “Anything else you can tell us?”

“You should know that it is my fault that Mr. Miller is here. Burke forced me into giving up his name by showing me proof they were ready to harm or murder my friends and family.”

Vaill suddenly brightened, and seemed to connect with what was being said.

“Do you mean you told Burke about Humphrey? I thought there was an informant in the FBI.”

“Burke is the only informant I know of,” Kazimi said, “but he is enough—a violent, violent man.”

Lou and Vaill exchanged understanding looks. There was no additional mole in the FBI. Under great duress, Lou had disclosed Humphrey’s identity to Vaill and his partner, while Kazimi, imprisoned fifteen hundred miles away, had given up the same information to Alexander Burke.

“You did what you had to do, Dr. Kazimi,” Lou said. He glanced at Vaill. “We both did.”

“It appears summoning Mr. Miller may well be the key to solving this crisis. Mr. Miller and I connected online many years ago. I had never met him in person, so I was unaware of his disability while he was part of my team. But I did appreciate his brilliance. My decision to ignore his good council was predicated on my arrogance alone and nothing more.”

“You’ve made up for that now,” Humphrey said.

“Thank you for saying that. I believed in my approach to eradicating this germ. I was wrong. Thankfully, I have since seen the light, as it were. I now believe Mr. Miller’s theory about a combination of bacteriophage may well be the correct one. If his well-thought-out approach is proven in our trials, it will destroy the Janus germ, as it is referred to here, without harming the host.”

Instead of looking terrorized or weakened by his ordeal, Humphrey seemed aglow with pride.

“Very sad about Cassie,” he said, “but getting recognition I deserve means a lot.”

“What did he say?” Vaill asked, clearly impatient.

“He said he’s glad things are working out.”

“Tell him that if his theory works, he’ll be a national hero.”

“Tim, he can hear and understand you,” Lou said, suppressing most of a grin. “It’s just his speech that’s off.”

“Very confident will work,” Humphrey said. “Don’t need lab at Arbor, Lou. We’re about to get cure!”

His eyes were sparkling.

“He says—”