Influenza?

"I think it's influenza," you say. "They got it from their pigs. Pigs can be a reservoir for the influenza virus."

Claudia nods. "I think maybe some of the people did get the flu. The cook," she says. "And the doctor. And the other people who were coughing.

"But the people who died before that didn't have a cough," she goes on. "They had a 'dry raging' fever. I'm looking for one thing common to all five of the people in the ice graves. A thumping deadly thing."

"I do believe there is a common thing," William says thoughtfully. "A thumping deadly thing." He is peering at his piece of paper.

"You keep jotting on that," Claudia observes. "Are you ever going to twig us what it's about?"

"It's a chart," William says. "A chart of the mystery." He lays it on the table, and you and Claudia crowd around him for a look.

An Access Excellence Science Mystery sponsored by Genentech, Inc.
Copyright © 1997 Genentech, Inc.; all rights reserved.