Room for Doubt by Nancy Cole Silverman

Author:Nancy Cole Silverman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Amateur Sleuth, Women Sleuths, Murder Mystery Series
Publisher: Henery Press
Published: 2017-07-05T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

It was after three p.m. by the time I left Jennifer’s apartment. Without thinking, I got onto the freeway and instantly melted into a sea of red lights. Traffic was stop and go, with more stop than go and speeds less than twenty-five miles an hour. Kicking myself, I tuned to the station for a traffic report. Instead, I got Dr. Sam, KNST’s new health and fitness personality. He was talking about the recent outbreak of West Nile Virus, and chatting with him was a caller whose voice was becoming unmistakably familiar to me.

Sally!

With the unexpected excitement of hearing Sally’s voice, I nearly slid into the car in front of me. Before my fender could kiss the expensive import, I slammed on the brakes and gripped the wheel. I turned up the volume on the radio and listened. The sound of Mustang Sally’s rusty voice was unmistakable, and the purpose of her call even more disturbing. Sally was accusing the CDC of trying to downplay the dangers of West Nile Virus. Another death had been attributed to the virus this morning in the Antelope Valley, and she was convinced the outbreak was greater than reported. She sounded desperate, as though she were choking back emotion, her broken voice halting between accusations of a cover-up and denial.

Dr. Sam handled her like a pro. He was doing his best to calm her, repeating everything the CDC report had said, stressing that the virus could not be passed from an infected animal to a human. West Nile, he said, was not an airborne disease but a pathogen carried by mosquitos.

“Tell that to my dead son. He caught it from my neighbor’s horse.”

The line went still, and Dr. Sam was silent. There was an unusually long pause, and I could imagine the scene inside the studio. Matt scrambling to let Sam know the caller had hung up and that he needed to fill dead air. Quickly.

Finally, Dr. Sam came back on the air. After a brief and very sincere apology, he suggested a few things we all might do to help prevent the spread of the virus. “I think now would be a good time to say that while the chances of contracting the virus are low, there are things we should all be aware of to prevent another incident. Dead birds are a definite sign. If you see them, call the CDC. Also, if you’ve seen standing water or anything that might attract mosquitos, get rid of it. And if you go outside and see mosquitos, use an insect repellent. As for symptoms, watch for a low-grade fever, headache, body ache, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, and skin rash. The good news is that for those persons who do contract the virus, only about twenty percent would show any signs or symptoms of the disease at all.”

I picked up the phone and dialed Sheri. “How’s Clint?”

“Like a caged gerbil. Housebound and sick of being inside. Can you do me a favor? Have Charlie pick up his history book? He’s got a test tomorrow.

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