Invasion

"I'll tell you what," Pitt said. "Today is the day Beau and I play our three-on-three basketball. It will give me an opportunity to ask him what's up."

"Don't mention that I said anything about sex," Cassy said.

"Of course not," Pitt said. "I'll use the playing hooky to start things off. Then I'll tell him straight out that last night at dinner and when we were walking around, he wasn't the Beau I know. I mean the difference is subtle, but it's real."

"You'll let me know what he says?" Cassy asked.

"Absolutely," Pitt said.

The squad room at police headquarters was always busy, especially around noon. But Jesse Kemper was accustomed to the bustle and could easily ignore it. His desk was in the back, against the glass wall that separated the captain's office from the main room.

Jesse was reading the preliminary autopsy report that Dr. Curtis Lapree had sent over. Jesse didn't like it one bit.

"Doc is still sticking to the idea of radiation poisoning," Jesse called out to Vince, who was at the coffee machine. Vince drank on average fifteen cups a day.

"Did you let him know there was no radiation at the scene?" Vince asked.

"Of course I told him," Jesse said irritably. He tossed the single-page report on the desk and picked up the photo of Charlie Arnold that showed the hole through his hand. Jesse scratched the top of his head where his hair was thinning while he studied the picture. It was one of the strangest things he'd ever seen.

Vince came over to Jesse's desk. His teaspoon clanked against the side of his cup as he stirred.

"This has to be the weirdest damn case," Jesse complained. "I keep seeing in my mind's eye the appearance of that room and ask how."

'"Any news from that doctor lady about the science types she was going to have examine the scene?" Vince asked.

"Yeah," Jesse said. "She called and said that no one had any bright ideas. She did say that one of the physicists discovered the metal in the room was magnetized."

"So what does that mean?" Vince asked.

"Not much to me," Jesse admitted. "I called Doc Lapree and told him. His response was that lightning can do that."

"But everybody agrees there wasn't any lightning," Vince said.

"Exactly," Jesse said. "So we're back to square one."

Jesse's phone rang. He ignored it, so Vince picked it up.

Jesse rotated himself around in his swivel chair, tossing the photo of Charlie's hand over his shoulder in the process. It landed back on the desk amid the rest of the clutter. Jesse was exasperated. He still didn't know if he were dealing with a crime or an act of nature. Absently he heard Vince talking on the phone, saying "yeah" over and over. Vince concluded by saying: "Okay, I'll tell him. Thanks for calling, Doc."

Before Jesse could spin back around his eye caught two uniformed officers coming out of the captain's office. What had attracted his attention was that both of them looked terrible, almost as pale as Charlie Arnold in the photo Jesse'd just thrown over his shoulder. The officers were coughing and sneezing like they had the plague.

Jesse was something of a hypochondriac and it irritated him that people were inconsiderate enough to be spreading their germs all over creation. As far as Jesse was concerned they should have stayed the hell home.

A muffled "oww!" emanated from inside the captain's office and diverted Jesse's attention from the two sick officers. Through the window Jesse could see the captain sucking on his finger. In his other hand he was gingerly holding a black disc.

"Jesse, you listening or what?" Vince demanded.

Jesse spun around. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said that was Doc Lapree on the phone," Vince said. "There's been a further complication on the Charlie Arnold case. The body disappeared."

"You're joking," Jesse said.

"Nope," Vince said. "Doc said he'd decided to go back and take a bone marrow sample, and when he opened up the refrigerator where Charlie Arnold's body had been placed, it was gone."

"Holy crap," Jesse voiced. He hauled himself to his feet. "We better go down there. This is getting too bizarre."

Pitt changed into his basketball gear and used his bike to travel from the dorm to the courts. He and Beau played frequently in the intramural three-on-three league. The competition was always good. A lot of the players could have played intercollegiate had they had the motivation.

As was his custom, Pitt arrived early in order to practice his shooting. He felt it took him longer than others to warm up. To his surprise Beau was already there.

Beau was dressed to play but was off to the side, behind a chain-link fence, conversing intently with two men and a woman. What was surprising was that the people appeared professional and in their middle to late thirties. All three were dressed in business suits. One of the men was carrying a fancy leather briefcase.