"We were going to. Dr. Hallam likes Scotch and water. With a name like yours you might like the same."
"That will be fine, thank you."
I brought their drinks and poured our usual gin and Italian vermouth for Pat and myself.
"Inspector James has been in charge of the investigation into the virus warfare theory," Dr. Hallam began. "He knows your stories already but something new has come up and he wanted to talk to you." He settled back in his chair and looked over at James.
Inspector James took his cue. "Since Dr. Hallam proved that the aerosol bomb contained virus, we have been trying to track down all possible agents, and our maritime division has been searching for the ship off our coast. We have been in constant contact with the FBI and the US Coastguard, and through them, with the US Armed Forces. As far as we can determine, one group of saboteurs inoculated the Vancouver area, the Interior of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. Then they disappeared."
"You actually traced some of them?" Pat asked.
"No, I'm afraid we didn't," James said ruefully. "We base our conclusions on indirect evidence, stories like those Dr. Macdonald found in the public health reports, you know, aerosol bombs triggered off accidentally and so on. The epidemic pattern in BC is now following a more natural course so we believe the agents left ... probably they were recalled right after that fight you had."
"There might still be some undercover agents left," I guessed. "Natural epidemics tend to die out, even as virulent as this one is. However, if they give it a boost from time to time, they might get eighty or ninety percent of the population. Anything less wouldn't be too damaging, we could make up the population deficit in a few years."
"We thought of that, Doctor, and we are continuing the search. However, the main party of agents appears to have left. Some days after your fight, routine air patrols noticed what could have been the Japanese fishing boat off California. Not long afterwards, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego had their first outbreaks. Unfortunately our governments had not yet given the order to find and arrest all agents. By the time that order was given, the ship had disappeared. We presume it stayed out at sea. The epidemics in Mexico originated in Monterey, Vera Cruz and Mexico City, which makes us think they were started by saboteurs operating from the Atlantic side."
"Last week there was the beginning of an epidemic in Medellin, Colombia, and then in Guayaquil, Ecuador, which appeared separately from the already established disease in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and other eastern cities of South America. Our consulates and the United States embassies in those countries had been warned and passed the word on to our Latin American friends." He paused to drink his Scotch and then continued. "The countries concerned have been searching their coasts for any sign of strange vessels but without success until yesterday."