He was probably going back to the office, in which case she should offer to help him like he’d asked. She’d thought he was joking, but now she wasn’t so sure. It can’t be easy for him, juggling his time between the Foundation and the family business. She knew Uncle Robert always pushed him hard. David had been relentless in setting up the Foundation in Tim’s honour, with Uncle Robert only agreeing as long as he kept up his role at Fisher & Co as well. To be honest, Beth didn’t know how he managed both for so long.
Wait a minute, where was he going? Fisher & Co’s offices were back towards the harbour, but David was heading south. In a split second decision, Beth turned right and kept following him. She’d had a bad feeling from her meeting with him, and, thinking back over the last week or so, he really hadn’t been around much. What was it Gail had said? She’d found something wrong in the customs documents at Fisher & Co, and it had something to do with the Foundation as well. There was only one person who worked in both offices. Was it possible that David had something to do with the drug operation?
Beth hung back while they were in the city streets, but there was no need once the traffic cleared. David put his foot down on the open road, and Beth struggled to keep him in sight. It wasn’t long before she realised they were heading towards Wollongong. She thought of Louis and the kids, on their way back from their forced holiday on the south coast. She’d probably passed them already.
A little over an hour later, Beth watched as David turned into the car park of Wollongong Hospital. She drove straight past, and found a lucky spot on the road just as another car pulled out. She was able to watch from a distance as David hurried across the elevated walkway connecting the car park to the hospital. She racked her brain, trying to think who he could be visiting here. Perhaps it had something to do with the Foundation’s research? Yes, that must be it. Maybe he’s expanding the program, looking for another researcher. Suddenly Beth felt stupid, having followed him all the way down here on a silly hunch. How could she have thought her own cousin was involved in importing drugs for a bikie gang?
Her phone rang: the call was coming from Louis’s phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mummy! Where are you?” asked Jacob.
How could she explain this to a four year old?
“I’m just doing some work, sweetheart. Where are you?”
“We’re at home. We got to ride all the way in a police car. Officer Martin even put the siren on for us. It was really cool.”
“That’s fantastic, aren’t you lucky? Is Dad there?”
“Yes.”
“Can I talk to him, please?”
“Oh. Okay. Bye!” Beth smiled as she heard the phone being handed over.
“Hi. I thought you’d be here when we got home. Are you still at the office?”
“Sort of. I’ll be home in a couple of hours.”
“Beth…”
“It’s been a rough couple of days, Louis. I’ll explain when I get home. I’m looking forward to seeing you all.”
“Just try and get here before they go to bed, will you?”
“Of course.”
Beth hung up and was about to head back to Sydney when she realised how hungry she was. She’d missed lunch. The hospital would have a cafeteria, or a food cart at least. She could grab something quickly to eat on the way home, and save herself from a bag of nasty drive through rubbish.
As she crossed the road, Beth saw David walking back over the footbridge to the car park. She turned away, not wanting him to see her and realise she’d followed him down here. She felt silly enough about it, no need to let him know. When he was safely out of sight, she walked in the main entrance of the hospital and came face to face with the aunt she’d thought had been dead for fifteen years.
46
“It seems you have some explaining to do, Professor,” said Cooper as he re-entered Professor Keane’s office. Quinn and Zach were still busy out in the laboratory area.
“What do you mean?” the man remained defiant behind his desk, lab coat still on.
“This report contains some very interesting material.”
“That report is only preliminary. It contains a lot of raw data. It hasn’t been published, there’s still a lot to do before we can go public with our findings.”
“Your findings aren’t my concern. What I want to know is,” he paused, making sure to get the terminology Liz had used correct, “where are you getting your embryonic stem cells?”
“We use eggs and embryos from donors, like everybody else.”
“I’m aware of the laws regarding egg and embryo donation in this country for research purposes, Professor. There’s no way you could have gotten access to this many embryonic stem cells legally. So I’ll ask you again. Where are you getting them?”
Professor Keane stared at Cooper for a long time. When his shoulders slumped ever so slightly, Cooper knew he was finally going to get some answers.
“I use donor eggs, which are delivered to me once a month. They come from somewhere overseas, that’s all I know. I was told not to ask questions, and I don’t.”
“Who told you not to ask questions?”
Another look of defiance. “I don’t have to tell you that.”
“No, you don’t. But I’m sure I don’t need to tell you just how much trouble you could be in here, Professor. It is an offence in this country to commercially trade in human eggs, sperm, or embryos. That includes trade with another country. Now unless you can prove those eggs were donated by women who gave their full consent for them to be used for research purposes, and show me that you have the proper licence to do so, I’d suggest you start telling me who’s behind all this.”
Professor Keane looked like a man who’d aged ten years in a heartbeat. Cooper could only imagine how it must feel to have years of work made redundant in minutes. Liz had told him that the legislation and regulations surrounding the use of human eggs and embryos were extensive and very restrictive, and from the raw data presented in the report there was no way the Foundation could be complying with them. This was likely to have huge ramifications for stem cell research in Australia, Liz had said. Cooper needed to tread very carefully. But more important to him was solving the murders of four innocent people, and for that, he needed answers.
“Come on, Professor. It’s all going to come out now. We’ve got your data, your reports, all your notes. Our own experts will be pouring over this stuff for weeks and months to come. I don’t think you’re the instigator here. You’re simply an ambitious scientist who chose to look the other way when it came to a few ethical concerns. You were more interested in the greater good your research could ultimately provide. Am I right?”
Professor Keane nodded as he slumped back in his chair. “I was so close, Detective. I was almost ready to start human trials.”
“Surely you knew that questions would be asked once you went public with this? You must have gone through hundreds of illegally sourced eggs. How were you going to explain it?”
“The raw data need never be made public. We are licenced to use a limited number of excess ART embryos — that means advanced reproductive technology, essentially the embryos left over from fertility clinics that the parents no longer need. The ones who choose not to destroy their excess embryos or donate them to other couples have the option of donating them for research purposes. The supply is so small: I could never have achieved the success I have with so few embryos. But I could have made it look like I did.”
“And that would have stood up to the scrutiny of the public and your peers?”
“Perhaps. Oh, I don’t know. I was so caught up in the research, I must admit that I didn’t think through the consequences. I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Are you going to shut us down?”
“For now, yes. There will have to be an inquiry, the relevant authorities involved.” Cooper almost felt sorry for the man. There was a lot going on here that he didn’t understand, but the law in Australia governing commercia
l trade of human parts is very clear. “Professor, I need you to tell me who’s behind all this. Who got you the eggs? Who told you not to ask any questions?”
“David Fisher. He set this place up. It’s his life’s work.”
Cooper should have known. The prodigal son, eager to please the family, win worldwide recognition and all the fortune that goes with it. “Just how lucrative would a company that can make artificial human organs be?”
“I expect it would quickly become one of the leading medical facilities in the world. The technology would be extremely valuable. The demand for donated organs is so much higher than the supply. If people could buy a new kidney, or even a heart, well, I’m sure you can imagine what a commercial success that could be.”
“So that was the reason behind all this? To become the first to make and sell artificial organs for financial gain?” It sounded so clinical, so immoral.
“No. David isn’t interested in the money or prestige a project like this can bring. He only has one goal, and it hasn’t wavered for fifteen years.”
“What’s that?”
“To save his brother’s life.”
47
“Aunt Annie? It is you, isn’t it?”
The woman hesitated. Maybe she doesn’t recognise me. “It’s Beth. Your niece, Beth Fisher. I just saw David leave.”
“Beth.”
With that one word of recognition, fifteen years of questions came storming into Beth’s head. She felt faint all of a sudden, and stumbled to a nearby bench seat. “I followed David here,” she managed to say. “He knows you’re…”
“Alive? Yes, he does. He’s known all along. I guess I have some explaining to do.”
Beth nodded, her mind reeling. This was so much bigger than anything she could have imagined. “Where have you been? We thought you were dead. Uncle Robert, oh my God, does he know?”
“No, he doesn’t. Look, Beth, I’ll explain everything to you. But let’s get out of here, okay?”
“Okay.”
She got to her feet, the initial shock starting to wear off. She assumed they’d go to the cafeteria, or a nearby coffee shop, but Annie led her into a lift instead and pressed the button for level eight.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Beth followed her aunt to ward B8, her mind once again spinning with unanswered questions. They stopped at a sink outside a closed door, and Annie showed Beth how to wash and sanitise her hands before they both put on face masks, Beth continuing to ask why they were here. Finally, when they opened the door, she got some answers. Sitting up in the only bed in the room was a teenage boy, and if she didn’t know how impossible it was she could have sworn it was Tim.
Beth opened her mouth, but no words came out. She looked from Annie to the boy, and back to Annie again.
“This is my son, Cameron.”
For the second time in just minutes she had to sit down again before she fell. Lowering herself into a chair beside the bed, Beth was vaguely aware the boy was talking to her. He was so pale and small in the bed, his voice so soft she had to ask him to repeat himself.
“I asked if you were a friend of my brother’s. His name is David. Do you know him?”
“Yes,” she managed to croak. “He’s my…” she didn’t finish the sentence, somehow instinctively knowing she shouldn’t say too much. Annie’s slight shake of the head confirmed her suspicions that Cameron had no idea he was part of the Fisher family. Or was he? Maybe he wasn’t Robert’s son at all. Beth glanced up at the nameplate above his head. Cameron Jones, it read. Perhaps Annie had remarried.
“Beth is an old friend of David’s,” Annie lied to her son. “You need to rest, sweetheart. We’re going to go and catch up, leave you for a while. Will you be okay?”
“Sure, Mum.” Cameron picked up an iPad from a side table and started plugging in a set of headphones. “Bye.” He waved to Beth.
“Bye. Nice to meet you,” was the best she could manage.
“There’s a visitor’s lounge just along this corridor, it’s usually empty.” Annie again guided Beth to a room and helped her to a chair. This time she also got her a glass of water, which Beth accepted gratefully.
“Robert has no idea I’m still alive,” Annie began once Beth had quenched her dry throat. “And yes, before you ask, Cameron is his son. He doesn’t look it, the blasted disease has ravaged his poor body, but he’s fourteen years old. I was pregnant with him when I disappeared.”
“I knew Uncle Robert didn’t have anything to do with it. I knew he wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Not physically, maybe. But I was scared, Beth. Your uncle is, or was, rather, a hard man to live with. He blamed me for Tim being sick, and when Tim died he forbade me from having any more children. He said he wouldn’t be responsible for bringing another defective child into the world. That’s how he saw Tim, you know? That’s the exact word he used. Defective.”
“I don’t remember Uncle Robert ever saying anything like that.”
“You were still a child yourself when Tim died, Beth. Besides, Robert never said anything so hurtful in front of his precious family. He reserved that for us, behind closed doors.”
“Is that why you ran away? I’m assuming that’s what you did. Is that right?”
“I guess you could call it running away, yes. But I didn’t do it for me. I did it for the sake of my unborn child, for Cameron. I knew if I told him, Robert would make me have an abortion. I just couldn’t face that. I wanted to have the baby so badly.”
Beth swiped her finger through the condensation forming on the outside of her water glass. “They thought for ages that Uncle Robert had killed you. How could you let people think such a thing?”
“I watched the news, and believe me, it hurt to see him treated like that. For all his faults, I still loved him. I would never have let them put him in jail. If they did that I would have come forward. By then it would be too late for him to make me get rid of the baby.”
“So why didn’t you come forward once Cameron was born?”
Annie got up and got herself a glass of water now. “It was too late by then. We didn’t think things through properly at the start. By the time Cameron was born, the media speculation was so huge, the suspicion on Robert so great, I was too embarrassed. I knew Fisher & Co was the most important thing in Robert’s life, so as long as he kept that business going I knew he’d be okay. I thought if I came forward, the shame of me having run away to have a baby, trying to explain the reasons why, it would have put too much pressure on Robert. I’m not sure the business would have survived. Better for him to be seen as a grieving husband than an abandoned one. Plus I had Cameron to consider.”
“You don’t seriously believe Uncle Robert would have made you give up the baby?”
“No, I don’t. But he would have made me feel guilty for the rest of my life. That I could handle, but how would he have made Cameron feel? The unwanted son, the child his mother had to run away and hide to protect. The ‘defective’ child his own father refused to bring into the world.”
“So Cameron has nephronophthisis? Like Tim?”
“Yes. We had him tested as soon as he was old enough. We knew he was going to get sick.”
“You keep saying we. You mean David, don’t you?”
Annie nodded. “It was David’s idea for me to run in the first place. He was the only other person who’d witnessed his father’s rages. He knew Robert would never have allowed Cameron to be born. David had some cash put away, enough for me to disappear for a few months. He also got me a false birth certificate and driver’s licence. I didn’t ask how. We made the decision very quickly, a matter of days. I was starting to show, it wouldn’t be long before Robert knew I was pregnant. I became Annette Jones, and I travelled around the country for three months, all the while assuming I’d be recognised from the news and turned in to the police. But I never was.”
This was an incredible
amount of information for Beth to digest. Her aunt was alive, she had another cousin, and David had known about them all along.
“How did David cope with the deception? He was still living with Uncle Robert for a while after you disappeared, wasn’t he?”
“Yes. It was very hard on him. We agreed we’d have no contact at all until the police inquiry died down. We didn’t think it would become the media circus it did. The day I disappeared, David planned to have lunch with Robert in a restaurant, giving them both a good alibi. But Robert, as usual, was too busy at work, so they only had a quick lunch and were back at work well before our organised time. There was no way for David to let me know, so I went ahead with the original plan. Unfortunately it created doubt, which made Robert a prime suspect. David did his best, but he couldn’t say too much without letting either the authorities or Robert himself know the truth.”
Beth looked out the window to the city of Wollongong below. “So is this where you settled?”
“The hospital has a very good renal unit. I knew Cameron would need dialysis eventually, so David did some research and settled on this place. It was close enough for him to visit without raising suspicions, and large enough to just slip into the community and go relatively unnoticed. Plus, my sister lives here.”
Beth vaguely remembered her Aunt’s sister and her family from a few get-togethers years ago, but she wouldn’t know any of them now.
“I can’t believe you’ve been living here for fifteen years, and we never knew. I have a cousin I didn’t get to see grow up.” As she said this Beth realised something. It was the answer to the question that had been nagging at her since the day she found her sister’s lifeless body lying so unnaturally on her living room floor. She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know.
“Jill found you, didn’t she?”
The Dark Series Page 60