Chapter 17: The Pre-Review

The Maddox committee met in a paneled room on the third floor of a university building in Hartford.

Five people sat behind a long table with water glasses in front of them.

Dr. Wheelock and I took the two chairs in the back row.

Mrs. Wheelock stayed home, because Dr. Wheelock had asked her to.

He wore his one good jacket and kept his hands in his lap so no one would see them shake.

I had told no one where I was going this morning, not even Kellan.

I had told him I was at the lab.

I had mailed one letter to this room a week ago, and I had told nobody about that either.

The brass watch ticked in my left hand, and five minds sat in front of me, all of them open.

The chair, a thin woman with silver hair, was thinking about her lunch.

The man on her left was thinking about a grant that had gone to someone else.

Then the door opened, and Daphne walked in.

She wore a grey suit and her hair in a low knot, and she carried a slim folder against her chest.

She did not look at the back row.

She took the lectern, and the room settled around her.

"Thank you for having me," she said. "My name is Daphne Hartwell, and I'd like to tell you about a test that may save a great many lives."

She was good.

Her voice was warm and low, and her slides were clean, and she did not rush a single word.

She named the third assay, and she named the wash.

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