“Already calling,” Mills said.
Harris looked at him sharply.
Maria almost smiled.
Almost.
The visiting general still had not been served. The prepared food sat under heat covers. Maria ordered the entire meal held, not just the sauces. Any dish that might have contacted the suspect containers was isolated. Clean utensils were separated. Staff documented what had been opened, when, and by whom.
Harris objected once.
Maria asked, “Are you ordering me to serve food connected to a suspected tampering event after unauthorized access is on video?”
He stopped objecting.
Security arrived with a medical officer and installation investigator. The kitchen became an evidence scene.
The first field test did not identify an obvious lethal agent. That did not make the sauce safe. Samples went to the laboratory. The general and senior officers were moved to another dining area and given a simple meal from sealed field rations and packaged food.
Maria expected humiliation.
Instead the general asked one question.
“Who stopped service?”
Harris answered, “Sergeant Torres.”
“Good.”
That was all.
The word took some of the air out of Harris’s anger.
Captain Pike was located in the administration building twenty minutes later.
She was wearing no bracelet.
When investigators asked about it, she said she had lost it days earlier.
Maria watched Harris’s expression.
He looked relieved too quickly.
The investigator noticed.
“Colonel,” he said, “did you recognize the bracelet on the recording?”
“No.”
Maria turned toward him.
Harris did not look at her.
The investigator asked again. “Had you seen Captain Pike wear one like it?”
Harris paused.
“Yes.”
