“Yes!” Chet said, mildly miffed. As usual it irritated him the way Jack could tune him out. “Why does Brighton Beach surprise you?”

Jack didn’t answer. It was as if he was in a trance.

“Hello!” Chet called, waving his hand in front of Jack’s face. “Earth to Jack! Come in please!” Chet shook his head. “God, I haven’t used that phrase since the third grade.”

“What did the rats die of?” Jack asked. “Was it plague or something like that?”

“No!” Chet said. “That’s the big mystery. They haven’t been able to come up with a cause yet. But they’re very concerned. And just to add to the mystery, two out of the hundreds of dead rats they’ve collected had cutaneous ulcers that turned out to be anthrax.”

“Now that is weird!” Jack said. “Do they think the others had anthrax?”

“No, not at all,” Chet said. “They’ve pretty much ruled out bacteria as the culprit, including anthrax. Now they’re focusing mostly on some kind of virus. The anthrax is just a curious corollary.”

“This is the second time I’ve heard about Brighton Beach today,” Jack said. “And before that, I never knew it existed.”

“What amazed me was to learn that this kind of problem, maybe not quite as dramatic as with the rats, occurs all the time. We just don’t hear about it. These veterinary epidemiologists are busy guys.”

“Do they have any idea where the anthrax came from?” Jack asked.

“Nope,” Chet said. “But it has them thinking that maybe some of the rats are hosts, which is not what the textbooks say. I tell you, it’s fascinating stuff.”

“Let me tell you about my Brighton Beach case,” Jack said. “Do you have a minute?”

“Provided it doesn’t take too long,” Chet said while peeking at his watch. “I don’t want to miss this particular aerobics class. There’s this one girl with a figure to die for who only comes on Tuesday nights.”

Jack gave a quick synopsis of Connie Davydov, focusing on the diagnostic mystery. Jack listed all the agents he’d been considering. Then he asked Chet if he had any ideas.

Chet screwed up his face and pondered for a few moments. He shook his head. “I think you’ve pretty well covered the landscape.”

“It is kinda curious that Connie Davydov suddenly dies from what I think was a mysterious poisoning the day there’s a major rat die-off in the same town.”

“Whoa!” Chet said with a smile. “That’s a giant leap of association, unless, of course, Ms. Davydov spent some quality time during the previous twenty-four hours in the sewer or a portion of the town’s rat population hung out in her apartment.”