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  “What do you mean?” said Ferris, intrigued.

  “No sexual health clinic, no mental health division, no dialysis, no diabetes management, no women in crisis,” Kate ticked off the top of her head.

  “I never really thought of it that way,” Ferris said as Andy pulled into the big lot.

  As they walked across the parking lot into the main entrance of the hospital, Kate couldn’t shake the feeling something was just a little bit off. It had an open main reception area which Ferris bypassed, leading them directly down the brightly lit hallways to the small emergency room. As they passed the double doors into the Valley General ER, Kate figured out what was missing: noise, chaos, energy. Kate felt like she could be walking onto any ward, not the busiest section of any hospital, city or rural.

  A woman with a fashionable auburn bob and a pressed lab coat over a skirt and blouse was walking towards them. Kate guessed she was in her late forties and, from the stern look on her face, took her job incredibly seriously.

  Constable Ferris introduced both Kate and Andy to Dr. Brenda Doyle, chief of staff at Valley General Hospital. Kate tried not to be intimidated by the firmness of her handshake.

  “Dr. Morrison, Sergeant Wyles,” Dr. Doyle began, “I think it’s only fair to be honest with you. Constable Ferris and I have a disagreement as to how we should proceed from here. Since there is no active criminal case, we are bound to protect our patient’s confidentiality. I can share what I have reported to Public Health in terms of general influenza information, but any other decision would have to be approved by the hospital’s board of directors.”

  Kate very quickly tried to read between the lines of what she was hearing. Dr. Doyle wasn’t wrong, and she didn’t even seem particularly combative about it. Mostly she seemed cautious. All at once, Kate could clearly hear Staff Sergeant Finns’s voice in her head, I expect your professional discretion.

  “How are things progressing with Public Health?” Kate asked. “Any headway?”

  Kate’s question seemed to briefly throw Dr. Doyle, as if she had expected opposition to her statement instead of Kate’s simple assumption that they were on the same side. She paused and openly studied Kate before answering.

  “They have been notified of the recent death, but are waiting for the results of the autopsy before deciding how to proceed.”

  “And are they sending someone down to witness the autopsy?”

  Another cautious pause, as if Dr. Doyle was trying to find the trap in Kate’s question. “No, I don’t believe so. But I understand that you will be there to witness?”

  “That’s right.”

  Dr. Doyle was studying her again, her expression somewhere between suspicious and appraising. Kate took the scrutiny, thinking the doctor’s caution bordered on paranoia. Dr. Doyle then looked between Ferris and Andy before centring her gaze back on Kate. Kate knew it was dismissive and rude to leave the two officers out of the conversation, but she resisted the urge to check Andy’s reaction.

  “Perhaps I have my facts wrong,” Dr. Doyle said finally. “You do work for the RCMP, don’t you, Dr. Morrison?”

  “Temporary consultant,” Kate said. “My day job is ER physician down at Vancouver East Hospital.”

  This simple, truthful statement seemed to ease at least some of Dr. Doyle’s reservations. Before she had a chance to speak, they were interrupted by a tall man wearing a dark grey business suit that perfectly fit his broad shoulders. He was immaculately and expensively dressed. He wore the haggard expression of someone under stress who hadn’t seen a lot of sleep recently.

  “Dr. Doyle, I’ve been looking for you.” The man addressed Dr. Doyle, but he took in each member of the group with intense precision.

  “Mr. Cardiff,” Dr. Doyle said, “may I introduce you to Dr. Morrison and Sergeant Wyles.”

  He shook their hands, Kate’s entirely swallowed by the man’s grasp. “My father-in-law speaks very highly of you both.”

  Kate wasn’t sure if this was meant to flatter them or warn them.

  “Mr. Cardiff, I was just explaining to Dr. Morrison and Sergeant Wyles the limits of what information I can—”

  He cut her off immediately with a quick shake of his head. “That’s why I was trying to find you. I want them read in immediately.”

  Dr. Doyle look startled but quickly composed herself. “Michael—” she started, but was cut off again.

  “Brenda.” He looked this time only at Dr. Doyle. “The directors just finished meeting via Skype.” He held up his smartphone as if it was evidence. “We had the required number of votes, Jeff was there from legal, and they’re putting together the decision now. Current circumstances demand appropriate, fast action.”

  Dr. Doyle gave him an appraising look. While they were squaring off, Kate chanced a look at Andy. Her eyes were impassive, but she gave the smallest gesture with her hand. Wait, watch, let it play out.

  “What’s the decision?” Dr. Doyle said, sounding resigned. Kate could only imagine the number of competing pressures this woman dealt with. “What is the board asking for?”

  “We’re asking for this team”—he indicated Kate, Andy, and Ferris without looking at them—“to be granted full access to the patient and hospital records. We need Dr. Morrison to be granted temporary authorization to practice medicine at this hospital.” He paused and very subtly leaned in towards Dr. Doyle. Kate found the gesture both aggressive and compelling. “I’m asking you to help me contain this.”

  Kate automatically looked to Andy, then quickly looked away again when she saw that Andy had also caught the emphasis in that statement.

  Dr. Doyle was holding Michael Cardiff’s gaze, but Kate could see her fidgeting with the pen in her pocket. “I’ll take a look at the decision when it comes in, Michael.”

  “This afternoon. Please,” he added, almost as an afterthought. “While we wait for an official answer, I’d like Dr. Morrison brought up to speed on Serena’s condition.”

  Kate felt a moment of unease. She couldn’t help feeling like she was being manoeuvred. She was just about to voice her concerns when Andy took a step forwards and inserted herself into the conversation.

  “Just to be clear, Mr. Cardiff, Dr. Morrison has been assigned here to liaise with the various agencies involved in the suspected influenza case for all the patients involved. She is not here to act as Serena’s personal physician.”

  Kate thought she caught a flash of anger on Cardiff’s face, either at calling him out so publicly or simply for Andy being able to see so quickly to the heart of his motivation.

  “Thank you for the reminder, Sergeant Wyles, but it is unnecessary. My concern extends to all the patients affected by this illness as well as their families.” His voice was smooth, and his perfect politician’s smile was both easy and insincere.

  Andy simply looked at him, in no way acknowledging the political drivel. If he had any thought Kate and Andy would bend to his wishes simply because they were brought here by his father-in-law, Andy was quickly attempting to adjust his thinking.

  The awkward introduction concluded, Dr. Doyle escorted Kate to a private patient room. Eighteen-year-old Serena Cardiff was asleep in the bed, an IV drip secured with tape to the back of her left hand. Kate quietly flipped through the young woman’s hospital chart. Nothing really jumped out, no red flags, nothing out of the ordinary. Kate looked at the patient. She seemed small for eighteen, or maybe she only seemed that way in comparison to her father. Her hair was long and dark, though it lacked the shine of someone who had seen a shower in the last two days. Kate sighed, unsure what she had to offer in this case, then walked out into the hallway.

  Andy and Constable Ferris were talking to a thin woman with dark hair that hung with blunt precision just past her jaw. She was wearing a grey sweater and the fabric looked soft and expensive. The woman held the sweater closed with one arm held tightly across her body, her other hand clutching a Starbucks coffee. Michael Cardiff was talking on his cell phone, just dow
n the hall. Kate didn’t need the introduction to know who this was. Natalie Cardiff’s handshake was light, her fingers cold despite the coffee.

  “How is my daughter?” she asked Kate.

  “Sleeping, which is probably the best thing for her right now.”

  “She’s been sleeping a lot. It’s hard to wake her, and when she does wake up, she seems disoriented for a long period of time.”

  Kate let the anecdotal facts shift into the medical information from the chart. “I take it that’s not typical? My thirteen-year-old nephew is impossible to wake up,” Kate said with a friendly smile.

  Natalie returned the gesture, though it seemed like effort. “No, Serena and my other daughter Julia are often up at dawn to go down to see their horses before school.”

  “What about eating habits and exercise?”

  “Nothing’s changed.”

  “How are things at school and with her friends?” Kate stopped herself from asking if she had a boyfriend, realizing how many times she had made this assumption in the past.

  “Fine, everything’s fine.” Natalie looked down the hallway towards her husband, then gripped her coffee and took a sip. “What does this have to do with Serena being sick?”

  “I’m just trying to get a picture of what’s going on. The medical charts can only tell me so much. I need to put it in some kind of context, to know if what Serena is experiencing is normal or a cause for concern. That kind of information could be helpful.”

  Kate watched as a look of relief briefly lit up Natalie’s face, as if Kate had just given her permission to be involved and not merely an impotent bystander. She still held herself rigid, her one arm wrapped almost protectively around her body. Kate tried to smile reassuringly, knowing her reassurance could only extend so far, standing in the hallway of a hospital ward.

  She turned to Andy and Ferris. “I’d like to see Dr. Doyle again, if possible.”

  “I’ll take you to her,” Cardiff said, stalking over to the group, his phone clenched in his oversized hand. “She’s following up with the board’s decision, and she wants to see you. This way.”

  Kate couldn’t help but notice Andy bristle at the aggressiveness with which he addressed Kate. Cardiff either didn’t notice, or he didn’t care. He was already walking down the hallway, thumbing through his phone. Kate gave Andy a lighthearted shrug and a small smile, wishing she could reassure her with a touch but recognizing this wasn’t the time or the place.

  “Michael, I’ve got a few questions for you while Dr. Morrison is in with Dr. Doyle,” Constable Ferris said when they stopped in front of a partially open door.

  “I want to be in that meeting.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Mr. Cardiff,” Andy said in her professionally neutral tone. “We can apprise you of any information that directly affects your daughter or her care.” Kate knew she was making her own strategic move, reminding him that his influence had boundaries.

  Michael glared at Andy but didn’t say anything. Ferris pointed down the hallway towards a series of doors.

  “Dr. Doyle is the third on the right,” he said, and Andy nodded and continued walking down the hallway with Kate.

  “Slick,” Kate muttered under her breath. Andy rewarded her with a tight smile.

  Dr. Doyle called them in immediately when Andy knocked on the door. Kate wondered who’d she meet when they walked through the door, the cautious hospital administrator or the team player.

  “Dr. Morrison, here are copies of the charts for all the patients. The white folder is a copy of the information we’ve shared with Public Health.” Dr. Doyle handed her a stack of brown office folders.

  “That was fast,” Andy said.

  “Things tend to happen quickly around here.”

  Kate held the files in her lap, clearing her head of the politics. “Before I get into these, I’d like to hear your timeline of events.”

  “A general overview is all I’ve got time for.” Dr. Doyle sounded annoyed.

  Kate mentally added it to her growing list of descriptions for the woman. “A general overview would be perfect.”

  Dr. Doyle tapped a few keys on her keyboard and peered at her screen. She scowled and picked up her glasses and put them on before she started to read.

  “September 7, the first case of suspected influenza identified in sixteen-year-old Tessa James. She was treated by family doctor. September 9, second case of suspected influenza reported in forty-two-year-old Mary Johnston, a cleaning lady from in town. She was also treated by her family doctor, different practice. September 10, third and fourth cases of suspected influenza reported in twenty-five-year-old Chase Noonan, stable hand, and in sixty-four-year-old Roberta Sedlak, retired teacher. Chase Noonan was seen at the walk-in clinic and Mrs. Sedlak was seen by her family doctor and sent home. Mrs. Sedlak was hospitalized on September 29 for respiratory distress and died in critical care on October 1. And as you know, Serena Cardiff, age eighteen, is our fifth case of suspected influenza, reported September 30 by her family doctor. All cases were reported as suspected influenza, none confirmed.”

  “List of symptoms?” Kate intentionally mimicked Dr. Doyle’s curt tone.

  “Fever, headache, bodily aches and pains, extreme and long-lasting fatigue, muscle weakness, burning sensation in the chest, sore throat, and wet cough.”

  “So your basic flu bug then,” Kate couldn’t help but add, more for Andy’s benefit than anything.

  Dr. Doyle said nothing, seeming resigned to wait for Kate’s next question. Kate felt the pressure of time, of Dr. Doyle’s stare, of Michael Cardiff’s, and the RCMP’s expectations. But she had so little to go on. She stole a moment, pushed at the pressures until they were in the background and listened again to Dr. Doyle’s words in her head.

  “So why is Tessa James the first patient?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I assume Hidden Valley was hit the same as other communities during the flu season.” She waited for Dr. Doyle to indicate her agreement. “So what sets Tessa James apart from what you would consider the last influenza case of the flu season?”

  “I see what you’re asking. It wasn’t until the third case of influenza that specifically seemed to target weakness and exhaustion that we started looking back.”

  “And that led you to Tessa James?” Kate confirmed.

  “Yes.”

  “How far back did you look?”

  “To the beginning of the flu season, so last November.”

  That made sense to Kate. It was what she would have done. She trusted Dr. Doyle, but she still itched to sort through the information herself. Kate glanced quickly at Andy, telling her she was done.

  “Dr. Doyle, Constable Ferris tells me there are two coroners who serve Valley General, is that right?” Andy asked.

  “Yes, though we don’t often have cause for the coroner’s office to be involved.”

  “Any idea which coroner they are sending out tomorrow morning?” Andy asked.

  Dr. Doyle seemed to make a show of looking through her notes. “No, although that’s not unusual.”

  Andy said nothing, letting the silence stretch. Kate watched Dr. Doyle fidget.

  “Do you have any other questions, Dr. Morrison?”

  Kate squared the corners of the case files. She pushed aside the questions of threats and pressures and power struggles. She thought about Natalie Cardiff just a few hallways away, about Serena Cardiff lying in the hospital bed, about the autopsy she was going to witness tomorrow morning.

  “How hard would it be to get me every chart for every suspected influenza case in the last year?”

  *

  Kate rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hands, then took a sip from the water bottle that Andy had brought a few hours ago after refusing to bring Kate another coffee. She wasn’t exactly sure how long she’d been sitting in this small meeting room with the blinds drawn to keep out distraction. Dr. Doyle had set her up on the computer at first, but after two ho
urs of scrolling through data files, Kate had requested the archived hard copies, needing to physically move the papers around and sort through the information in her own barely logical structure. Even after hours with the files, Kate felt like she knew very little. Questions about the September cluster and the length of the illness still knocked around her head. Kate forced herself to not try to form conclusions, simply absorb the information and look for connections.

  Needing to separate herself from the medical files for a moment, Kate pulled up the article from the Squamish Herald that had been the catalyst for her and Andy’s presence on this case. She hadn’t pulled anything new or relevant from the article when Andy walked in.

  “Pack up, we’re heading out.”

  She gave Andy a tired smile. “You like ordering me around, don’t you?”

  Andy grinned and started helping Kate pack up the files, careful to keep some semblance of order to Kate’s chaos. They hadn’t had a chance to talk all day. As they walked silently, side by side, through the quiet hospital corridors and out into the cool, clear night, Kate forced her mind away from the medical charts and tried to remember all the things she wanted to ask Andy.

  “You were great today,” Andy said, once they were in the car.

  “Was I?” Kate asked, rubbing again at her gritty, dry eyes.

  “Yes, you managed to knock down more barriers than I could have in one day.”

  “That’s because you wear a gun. And you don’t smile very often.”

  Andy laughed. “You’re right. I’m definitely not setting up to be the good guy here.”

  “That’s on purpose, isn’t it?” Kate said. “You stepped in with Michael Cardiff so I wouldn’t have to.”

  “You need to have a positive relationship with the hospital and the patients and the families, I don’t. Even if I did, I would never be able to ask the kinds of questions you can. They will always be looking for my motive, always on the defensive.”

  Kate thought about Andy’s response, seeing the scene in the ER with Dr. Doyle and Cardiff in a different light. “What do you think about Cardiff?” Kate asked.