Plague Saint

Chapter Seven: An Investigation

Winter stared at Adams' body, painfully aware of the guards standing around her. She recognized a few of them from her time working at the station, which only added to her stress. Fighting to keep her hand steady, she capped the final vial she'd brought for samples.

"I'll test the blood samples, but based on appearances, I agree with the coroner's initial findings," she said. "He had red plague, yellow plague, and either green or blue. Possibly both. I won't be sure about violet until my tests come back, but that one tends to have a longer incubation time, anyway."

The guard captain assigned to the investigation, Captain Perry, nodded. "Have your results delivered directly to the station as soon as you're done."

"Of course." Winter examined the blood sample before sliding it into her coat. "Anything else?"

Perry folded his arms. "In your opinion, Plague Saint, what are the chances of someone like Adams catching three or more plagues in such a short span of time?"

"He does work in a hospital."

"But we've never seen anything like this before."

Winter gritted her teeth. "I have, actually. There have been plenty of cases of this happening to other people. Adams is just the first one the city actually cares about."

Maybe she should have left that last part out. Perry lifted an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware of that." Was he more surprised by her statement, or the ferocity with which she'd delivered it?

"I'd be happy to send you the case files." Winter picked up her staff form where it leaned against the observation table.

"I'll give you a call if I have any other questions," Perry said.

"Great," Winter muttered.

Phoebe looked up from her notebook when she returned to the office. Her expectant gaze followed Winter all the way to the lab door.

Winter paused. "Yes?"

"Well?" Phoebe asked.

"Well what?"

"What did the city guard want with you?"

Winter pulled out her sample vials and held them up. Blood and saliva. "I have to run tests and let them know exactly which plagues he had."

Phoebe didn't wince at the samples like Winter had expected. "So, did they tell you why they're getting involved with a plague death?"

Winter lowered her arm. "It's not my job to worry about that. And if they're looking for something beyond bad luck on Adams' part, they're going to be disappointed." Hopefully.

"So, you don't think it was—" Phoebe leaned forward and lowered her voice. "—murder?"

Winter froze. There it was. The word hadn't been said aloud, yet she couldn't shake the fear it's what everyone was thinking. She shook her head. "What on earth would make you think that?"

"The whole thing is just weird. I think we should look into it."

"We?" Winter's hands tightened. "The city guard is already investigating. What could we possibly find that they can't?"

Phoebe lowered her voice. "I have a theory. I think whoever killed him killed a few other people as well. Some of the deaths in the hospital that were supposedly plague-related shouldn't have happened. People who should have recovered and were getting better are randomly dying. I've been analyzing files since I got here. I've only gone back a few months, but—"

Phoebe was far smarter than Winter had given her credit for. And she wasn't entirely wrong. The Plague Saint was responsible for those deaths, and if Winter was the Saint now, then the Saint was responsible for Adams' death as well.