December 1971- Tuesday 21st: The Attack of the Killer Bug
"What do you mean, Roy? You don't know whether to deal with this in your capacity as Lieutenant of Homicide or Robbery? If there is a dead body it is Homicide! If someone steals the body it is Robbery! Just send Steve and Haseejian and after they report back to you, you can decide if it was a robbery gone bad!"
Mike slammed down the receiver and swore under his breath. On a busy day like today he certainly didn't appreciate Roy Devitt's attempt at humour. There had been a recent spate of pre-Christmas break-ins and he knew Robbery was busy, but Homicide was equally busy.
Looks like a joint venture between the two departments, he thought and with a pang of regret imagined how nice it would have been to work the Homicide case with Steve and maybe get some inside information from Irene Martin from Robbery. Irene… he mused. Not cooperating with her on a case doesn't mean I can't ask her out for a pre- Christmas drink! He took a peek at the staff rota and found out that Irene was due to go off duty early. He grinned and admitted to himself that the boring desk job at least had one distinctive advantage.
Around three, Mike decided to catch up with Steve. He felt that after the all-nighter his protégé had pulled to help him out with the despised paperwork, he at least owed him a coffee and a donut. He eyed his little office with longing and was surprised to find Steve's desk empty, although Haseejian was definitely on the premises.Very unusual for partners… Was there a conflict looming? Mike went straight over to the Armenian detective who stood with Lessing and Tanner, telling an obviously funny story.
"Norm? Where is Steve? Is this the way you look after your partner?"
"Wait a minute, Mike! I certainly haven't harmed your boy. On the contrary, I brought him home and provided him with tea and sympathy. You couldn't have done it better yourself!" Haseejian feigned being deeply wounded.
"What do you mean you brought him home? Is he sick?" Mike was equally confused and concerned.
"You can say that again. Last time I saw him he was puking his guts out!"
"But he was fine last night!"
"He was fine this morning too when we went out to the crime scene. By the way, the kid is actually shaping up well - very professional and sharp - I must say, and very kind hearted! He was questioning a neighbour of the deceased, an old geezer who had only come out of hospital the day before and was poorly. The kid insisted on staying with grandpa until the doctor arrived and fair play he even cleaned up after the old dear!"
Mike listened with trepidation. "What exactly was wrong with grandpa?" he asked.
"Nothing much, I guess, just puking…" "
Okay, guys, I'll just pop over to Steve and check on him. Could one of you try and find out what was the matter with the neighbour?"
Norm obliged fast. "Sure Mike, I'll do that and I'll even try and find out what happened with our original corpse!"
"Very funny!" Mike shot him an angry look. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Oh no! I am supposed to be at a meeting with the Commissioner and the Mayor in half an hour. I plumb forgot!"
"What did you forget, Mike?" Irene had approached the group of Homicide detectives.
Stone filled her in quickly and Irene offered straight away to go and check on Steve. "I'm off now; I just wanted to drop theses files on recent robberies that fit the modus operandi of this morning's homicide. I'll call in on my way home and see if he needs anything."
"Thanks, Irene, I really appreciate this and I'd like to make it up to you somehow…"
"Lovely, Mike! I'm meeting Jeannie tomorrow afternoon for a bit of shopping, so how about we all get together for dinner?"
Not exactly what Mike had in mind, but definitely better than nothing…
For the next couple of hours Mike was too busy with the demands the new job entailed but when he returned to his temporary office he found a small pile of phone messages waiting for him. He quickly sorted through them and started returning calls beginning with Haseejian
"Hi Captain! The good news is that our stiff didn't die of excessive puking; the preliminary finding is that he was killed by a blow on the head with a blunt instrument. The bad news is that the neighbour suffers from an infection with a thing called Norovirus, otherwise known as Winter Vomiting Bug. His doctor actually rang to warn us about it. It's not dangerous, just extremely infectious…"
Mike's thoughts jumped ahead. Steve. Norm. Irene. Who else?
"Boss- are you listening? The doctor said the virus is still active even after the vomiting has stopped, so the patient has to stay at home for another two days."
Mike's brain went on overdrive.
"Mike, do you want me to stop by the kid on my way home? Irene thought he was quite poorly but she can't call back, she arranged to go shopping with Jeannie today instead of tomorrow…"
"No!" Mike interrupted. "You stay away from him. If he needs checking, I'll do it!"
In spite of the highly contagious nature of the bug Mike decided to visit Steve on his way home. He trusted his strong constitution; after all, he wasn't called Iron Mike for nothing!
Steve was worse than his partner had expected. During Mike's stay, he had to rush to the bathroom several times and all he wanted was to be left alone. Even during the worst of the flu he had always enjoyed Mike's company.
"Steve, will you promise to ring me if you get worse over-night?" Mike urged.
The young man nodded obediently, eyes closed.
"And Steve, if you are not better by tomorrow morning, we'll get you to a doctor, okay?"
"Mike, if I'm not better tomorrow morning, you might as well call the undertaker for all I care!"
Coming home, Mike found his daughter surrounded by shopping bags and no indication that dinner preparations were under way. He sighed and suggested a pizza, while Jeannie showed her purchases and talked about the dinner that she and Irene were going to cook the following was happy that his motherless daughter could enjoy female companionship, but he felt a little uneasy when he realized that Irene might be carrying the dreaded bug.
Like myself, he reminded himself.
