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theoretically, it’s probably possible” she allowed.  “But it’s wildly unlikely.  The trouble is, we haven’t established any parameters.  We don’t know how many cases we’re talking about, what time period they cover, or even exactly what the symptoms are.  There’s no way to look for commonality between the cases until we’ve done that.  We need data.”
     
    “You might find that the residents are not very forthcoming with that information” cautioned Khalil. 
     
    “Well, we can get it from medical records, direct observation, whatever.  It has to be the first step.  What about the doctors here?”
     
    “The nearest doctor’s office is in Newburyport.  I spoke to her.  She says that she’s never had an Innsmouth patient with these kind of features in her office.  She knew what features I was talking about, but she’d always just assumed that there were a lot of ugly people in Innsmouth.”
     
    Carla laughed, half-heartedly.  “It would be really convenient if she was right.”  She turned back out to sea, and sighed. 
     
    “Look, I don’t have the resources to do a full epidemiological investigation here.  I don’t even know if the CDC as a whole does, as it doesn’t look as though lives are at immediate risk.  All I can do is collect as much information as possible in the next few days and recommend further action.”
     
    “I understand” said Dr Khalil, gravely.  “Of course I will help you in any way I can.”
     
    Carla glanced at him.  “Can you get birth records from the local hospital?  If you can go through those and find any details of abnormalities recorded by obstetricians, it would help to give us an idea of how many cases we’re dealing with.  Start with the records of the four kids killed in the car crash.”
     
    “I ... can do that” allowed Khalil.  “It might take a few days.  I don’t think it will turn up much though.”
     
    “Why not?”
     
    “Well, it might.  But I’ve not observed any young children carrying these symptoms.  They’ve all been as old as the ones in the car, or older.  Maybe the symptoms are only triggered by the onset of puberty.”
     
    “Well, even if it only rules out a congenital defect, it still adds to the information we have.  In the meantime, I’ll look around the town.  Try and talk to anyone who looks like they have symptoms, see if they’ll open up.”
     
    “You might find people here quite hostile to ... strangers” warned the examiner.
     
    “Doesn’t matter.  If they don’t want to talk to me there’s not much I can do, but I should try.  It might help us build up a list of the features of the disease, might even help us pinpoint other things they all have in common.”
     
    Khalil looked at his watch.  “I should go” he apologised.  “I have a meeting at half past ten.  I will start looking through birth records this afternoon though.”
     
    “That’s OK.”  Carla extended her hand and the medical examiner shook it.  “Thankyou for coming to meet me.  And for presenting such an ... interesting problem.”
     
    “A pleasure to meet you, Dr Edwards.  I will speak to you again soon.”  He turned to go, but paused and called over his shoulder.  “And be careful, Dr Edwards.”
     
     
     
    *****
     
     
     
    Carla watched him jog back across the road, turning the collars of his coat up against the stiffening breeze and the first spattering of rain.  There was still nobody else around.  She decided to walk further down the seafront, past the darkly decomposing warehouses. 
     
    One of them was in a far better state of repair than the others, with fresh cement cladding and glossy, PVC roofing membrane.  It had no windows and only one visible door.  A state-of-the-art security camera fixed to the eaves stared down expectantly at this point of entry.  A large, though faint, wooden sign above the door declared the place to be home to the “Evangelical Order of David”