“But Dr. Abelard took the news in stride,” Jack said. “He said he’d get to it when he had time, or something like that.”

“But I understand the source is locked up tight in Queens,” Bingham said.

“True,” Jack admitted.

“Yet you took it on yourself to go out and rifle through the victim’s business records,” Bingham snapped. “What’s the matter with you, are you crazy? What if some civil liberty lawyer got ahold of this? You didn’t have a warrant or anything.”

“I asked the man’s wife,” Jack said with a shrug.

“Oh, that would hold up well in court,” Bingham said sarcastically.

“I was worried that some of the victim’s recent shipment had been sold. If it had, then the anthrax could have spread. We could have had a mini-epidemic.”

“Dr. Abelard is right,” Bingham fumed. “What you’re talking about is his job, not yours.”

“We’re supposed to be protecting the public,” Jack said. “I felt there was a risk that Dr. Abelard was not addressing. He wasn’t giving the situation the attention it deserved.”

“When you feel that way about a fellow civil servant, then come to me!” Bingham roared. “Instead of you running around playing epidemiologist detective, I could have called Pat Markham. As Commissioner of Health she can surely get people up off their fat asses if need be. That’s the way the system is supposed to work.”

“Okay,” Jack said with a shrug. In further deference to Cheryl he wasn’t about to get into an argument about bureaucratic inefficiency and frequent civil servant incompetence. It had been Jack’s experience as a city worker that all too often if he didn’t do something himself it didn’t get done.

“Fine, then get the hell out,” Bingham said with a wave of his hand. His mind had already switched to the next problem on his agenda.

Jack got up and walked out of the chief’s office. He paused at Cheryl’s desk. “How’d I do?”

“Honestly, about a C,” Cheryl said with a wry smile. “But since you generally get an F, meaning you aggravate him to a point just shy of apoplexy, I’d say you’re showing progress.”

Jack waved and started for the corridor. But he didn’t get far. Calvin caught sight of him through his open office door.

“How’s progress on the David Jefferson case?” Calvin yelled.

Jack leaned in through the door. “Nothing’s back yet. Did you call John DeVries up in toxicology to speed things up from his lab?”

“Right after I said I would,” Calvin said.

“Okay, then I’ll head up there right now,” Jack said.

“Remember, I want that case signed out by Thursday!” Calvin said.