'And then Mrs Porter said' Jesse continued, adopting a feminine falsetto 'Young man, I haven't had a sponge bath since Rudi Waller and I consummated our relationship in 1942.  And that was in the honeymoon suit of the Imperial Hotel!'

'Noooo!' Amanda gasped, eyes wide and the beginnings of a smile twitching at her lips.

'Oh yeah!' he affirmed, pleased at the effect he was having on his enraptured audience 'Then' he continued  'she looked me up and down and said 'You're not a patch on Rudi, but I suppose at my age beggars can't be choosers!'

Amanda shrieked with amusement and Mark chortled heartily.  Clutching at sides now aching with laughter Steve protested 'You're making it up Jess, you've gotta be.'

'I swear it's true' Jesse was adamant.  He grinned wickedly 'That woman has a thing for me – Mark back me up here.'

'Well she is a little eccentric' Mark agreed with a twinkle in his eye 'But I do think you have a habit of bringing out the best in our patients'.

'I'm telling ya' Jesse winked at them  'I had to get out of there quick before she jumped me.'

Wiping away a tear Amanda grinned mischievously at him 'Soooooo' she teased  'Does this mean I have to tell Susan she's got competition?'

'Funny!' Jesse replied, but before he could respond further Steve held up a hand.

'Susan?' he said pointedly, the raised eyebrow indicating his interest was obviously piqued.  He looked from one to the other 'Okay, what am I missing here?'

'Ooooh you've been way out of the loop' Amanda informed him.  Leaning closer to Steve, she patted him conspiratorially on the knee 'but don't worry, cause I'm gonna catch you right up'.   Indicating Jesse she grinned 'Casanova here has a hot date with Community General's very own Nurse Susan Hilliard' she provided gleefully.

Leaning back casually, hands nonchalantly folded behind his head Jesse beamed smugly 'Hey – is it my fault beautiful women can't help but fall madly in love with me?' 

Steve smirked giving Jesse a kindly pat on the back 'As long as you believe it Jess' he told the younger man drolly.

Mark smiled.  Settled back in his comfortable armchair, coffee cup balanced across his knees, he was thoroughly enjoying the banter going on around him.  After a shaky start the evening was working out better than he had dared hope. Caught up in Jesse and Amanda's light-hearted teasing and high spirits, Steve was already looking better than he had in days.  Squashed companionably on the sofa between Jesse and Amanda, his blue eyes were sparkling with amusement and that oh so familiar whimsical smile had returned.

Watching the three of them fondly, Mark thanked whatever fates had brought them into his life.  After he'd lost Kathryn and become estranged from Carol, he'd sadly accepted that family life would never be the same again.  He smiled – how wrong he'd been!

With half an ear on the conversation, Mark's thoughts turned inevitably to the conundrum of Peterson's murder.  How could a man that large get through a window that small?  Jesse's idea of the chimp, despite Steve's scorn, was a possibility.  Mark was aware that circus animals could be trained to perform remarkably complex skills. However it had been done, someone had gone to a hell of a lot of trouble.  Why?  Mark frowned - why not simply poison the man when he was in the cafeteria or jump him in the parking lot?  There had to be something meaningful about the way in which the murder had been committed, but for the life of him he couldn't think what.

'Okay, so forget it for awhile' he chastised himself 'It'll come to you'  - besides he smiled, instead of wondering 'why' it was done, what was more to the point right now was 'how' it was done. 

Stroking his chin, deep in thought, Mark turned over the possibilities – could the needle have been attached to the end of a long pole that could be fed through the window?  He didn't think so - from that distance you wouldn't have enough control of the needle to break the skin.  He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, the simple, repetitive movement helping him to think.  Could there be another entrance to the lab he wondered. 'Maybe' the rational side of his mind responded, but surely Steve would have found it if there were? 

Mark sighed; he hated to admit it, but so far he was stumped.  Slowly his attention drifted back to the conversation going on around him.

'And then' Jesse was saying eagerly 'We whipped back the curtain and there was Jonathan Marsden!'

'That little boy whose brother is in the burns unit?' Amanda queried 'I feel so sorry for his mother - those two boys are such a handful!'

'Tell me about it' Jesse agreed rolling his eyes 'Turns out Jonathan has a pea shooter and he's firing at us!'

Steve grinned appreciatively 'Sounds like just the kind of thing I got up to at that age – remember Dad?'

But his father wasn't listening – in fact Steve realised, he had a rather strange expression on his face.

'Dad?' he prompted 'Dad, are you okay?'

'That's it!' Mark exclaimed suddenly, bolting upright in his excitement.  The coffee cup tipped from his lap, spilling it's contents onto to the floor at his feet - he didn't even notice 'Jesse you're a genius!' he beamed

'I am?' Jesse gulped in surprise and then recovered himself and smiled broadly 'I am!' he agreed.

Steve and Amanda looked blank.

'And Jesse would be a genius because ….. ?' Steve was bemused.

'He's got the answer!' Mark said as if stating the obvious.

Jesse grinned proudly at them 'I always do this' he said smugly.  He paused a couple of seconds, before turning to Mark and whispering out of the side of his mouth ' Er .. Mark?  Exactly what answer did I get?'

Mark beamed triumphantly 'I know how Peterson was killed!'

'What?! How?' Steve couldn't believe it.

Instead of answering Mark held up a hand to stop Steve's inevitable tirade 'Now where did I put it' he murmured to himself and then to the amazement and utter frustration of his son, he headed out of the room.

'Wait … Dad where are you going?' Steve called after him in disbelief.  Looking at Amanda and Jesse, Steve shrugged helplessly 'I swear he loves to torment me like this' he growled.

Mark returned muttering excitedly to himself.  In his hands he carried a dusty, hard-backed edition that must have been at least circa 1935.  He was already flipping through the pages; his glasses pushed to the end of his nose. 

'It was when you started talking about the pea shooter Jess' he explained 'That's when it clicked'.

'Are you trying to say Peterson was murdered with a pea shooter?' Steve asked incredulously.

'Not a pea shooter Steve' Mark found the place in his book and pointed emphatically 'A blow pipe' he paused thoughtfully  'It wasn't a needle in his neck, it was a dart'.  Looking round expectantly at the others he continued 'And do you know where blow pipes originated?'

'The Middle East' Jesse supplied, remembering Mark's earlier conversation with Jonathan.

'Or to be more precise - Egypt' Mark beamed, holding up his book for their inspection. The front cover displayed the title 'The Civilisation of Ancient Egypt' and was accompanied by a picture of the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza.

'Egypt?' Steve asked in confusion 'I still don't see the relevance Dad'.

'Steve' Mark continued patiently, 'Where did you say both Peterson and Summers had been just before their deaths?'

'Egypt!' Amanda interrupted excitedly

Steve looked at him sceptically; arms crossed face a picture of exasperation 'So you're saying I should be looking for an Egyptian?'

'Not an Egyptian' Mark explained 'an Egyptologist!'

 'But Peterson was a chemistry Professor Dad' Steve protested 'Why would an Egyptologist want him dead?'

'I don't know' Mark admitted 'Why would some one choose an Egyptian weapon to kill him?'  He looked at Steve keenly 'The more I think about it, the more I'm sure the killer had a very special reason for killing Peterson in the way that he did.  Think about it son, why attempt to kill a man in a locked room from a distance of ten feet?  There are so many easier ways of doing it.' 

Jesse nodded enthusiastically 'So what you're saying Mark is that the killer was trying to leave some kind of message – like a calling card?'

'That's exactly what I'm saying Jess' Mark continued eagerly 'This guy wants us to take notice not just of who he's killing but how he's doing it.'

'So the rope that was used to strangle Peterson' Amanda said slowly 'could be an ancient Egyptian weapon too'.  She looked at Mark thoughtfully 'Maybe that's why I'm having so much trouble with my autopsy.  Maybe that's why I can't identify those substances'.  A look of determination appeared on her face 'first thing tomorrow I'm gonna check out everything the medical library can tell me about ancient Egyptian poisons.'

'I hate to put a dampner on everyone's enthusiasm' Steve interrupted 'but this is pretty thin guys.'

'Steve' Amanda said firmly 'You said yourself that Peterson was in Egypt just before he died – Summers too right?'

 'Right' Steve sighed 'But we have no idea what they were doing there and the Egyptian Embassy are telling us squat'.

Mark took a deep breath and thought out loud 'So, Peterson and Summers are involved in some way we don't know about' he paused, considering 'now that involvement has something to do with Egypt.  Both men were in Egypt just before they died and both men were murdered with Egyptian weapons' he frowned 'Summers was an Egyptologist, and Peterson was a chemist who was killed by an Egyptologist'.

He beamed at Steve 'Well I think it's pretty clear what our next move should be'

'It is?' Steve still wasn't convinced.

Mark grinned  'I think it's time I went back to school' he told them cheerfully 'You know' he smiled 'I've always wanted to learn about ancient civilisations!'