Free The Seduction - Art Bourgeau by Art Bourgeau Page B

so. For us to do an accurate test we
need a fresh sample, not more than an hour old, and one that's been
kept warm not cold. It's kind of like hatching eggs. Everything's got
to be warm or it doesn't work."
    "Where do you want me to do it?" he said,
the sound of Waterloo in his voice.
    "Right here. I'll leave the room and when you're
finished just bring it back to the lab. I'll do the work and Dr."—she
looked down at the chart that listed the name of one of the younger
physicians—"Dr. Baker will give you the results."
    Walking back to the lab with the old sample in her
hand, she was tempted to take the fresh one and smear it on the
toilet seat just before Beverly used it, then listen to her try to
explain a black baby to Nathan.
    While she waited for her patient she called her
mother. Careful not to say too much with people around, she merely
asked if she could come out for a drink in the evening. Her mother
said, "Yes, of course," but there was a moment of
hesitation, as if she were going to have to rearrange some plans to
accommodate her.
    Next, she called Felix, reaching him at his
construction site. She told him that she had to see her mother early
in the evening, but would he come over for a drink later, around
midnight? He agreed, although he seemed a bit distant. Must be
because he was on the job, she decided . . .
    Some ten minutes later her patient was back in the
lab with a fresh sample. She sent him back to the waiting room and
got to work.
    She was humming as she poured the fresh sperm into a
small graduated cylinder to measure its volume in cc's, then checked
the pH balance to determine if it was acidic or alkaline. It was
mildly alkaline. Next she placed a drop on a slide and checked the
motility of the sperm under the microscope. Noting that approximately
seventy percent were active, she turned her attention to the
morphology, the shape of the sperms, which gave the configuration of
the heads. Sperm with small heads, pinheads as the technicians called
them, tended to be too weak to fertilize an egg. Not the case here.
She skipped the vicosity test, feeling sure it would properly liquify
in an hour but not wanting to spend the time. Then she diluted the
sample with five grams of sodium carbonate, one milliliter of
Formalin and enough distilled water to bring the liquid to a volume
of one hundred cc's, inactivating the sperm so that they could be
counted. The count came to slightly over eighty million, which was on
the low-normal side. Coupled with the mild alkaline quality, this
could explain the family's conception problem. If they were lucky,
all that would be necessary for the wife to get pregnant would be to
douche with a mild solution of baking soda and water before
intercourse.
    Missy was just finishing the report when her phone
rang. It was Kate, the receptionist: "There are two policemen
out here about some lab work."
    "Oh? Well, have them wait a moment," and
she sent Gladys out to bring them back to the lab.
    Both men were in plainclothes—one balding, the
other stocky. The balding one introduced himself as Lieutenant Sloan,
and the stocky one as Detective Evans.
    "What can I do for you, gentlemen?"
    "We're here for the lab work on Terri DiFranco.
We called and were told it was ready," Sloan said.
    "Gladys, has Dr. Pollack signed that report
yet?"
    "Yes, here it is."
    Sloan nearly tore it from her grasp in his hurry to
see the results. When he saw them a look of disappointment crossed
his face.
    "What you hoped for?" said Missy.
    "Not by a long shot," replied Sloan.
 
 
    CHAPTER 6
    LAURA COULD not get the sight of that girl's body off
her mind long enough even to begin work on the piece about Felix
Ducroit. All she could think about was the deserted depot and the
room with its candle-encircled pallet. And what went through the
girl's mind when Peter's hands closed around her throat.
    She looked at herself in the mirror, her blue eyes
red-rimmed.
    "You look a mess, like you've been on a
three-day