I could see tears as he groaned in pain. He ceased his struggles. “All right, stop. Please.”
“When I let you go, I want you to sit down and keep yourself under control while we talk. Are you ready?”
He nodded and she led him to a chair across from Carolyn. He sat docilely, looking subdued and fearful. A bully brought to heel.
“I’d enjoy throwing your ass in jail, but I really don’t want to waste any more of my time on you,” Karen said. “So I’ll settle for apologies.”
“Thank you, officer. I’m sorry I lost it.”
Karen nodded. “And to your wife.”
That was clearly harder for him. He glared at Karen and then turned to Carolyn, anger still in his eyes. “I’m sorry, honey. I shouldn’t have shoved you.”
“It’s all right,” Carolyn said. “I know what a strain this is on you. But really, there’s nothing going on between me and Brad.”
“No, there isn’t,” I interjected. “You must realize how hard this is for Carolyn.”
He nodded. “I do. Again, I’m sorry I lost my temper.”
The change was too quick for me to believe. But Karen said, “Okay. Are you in control of yourself now?”
He nodded again.
“All right,” Karen said. “You’re free to go if you want to.”
“Why don’t you go ahead home?” Carolyn suggested. “I’ll follow soon and pick up the kids on my way. That’ll give you a chance to relax for a bit.”
We sat quietly with Carolyn for several minutes after he left. Then Karen asked, “Will you be all right tonight if you go home?”
Carolyn’s eyes were sad when she answered. “Yes, it’ll be fine. He just gets this way sometimes; he has a bad temper. Probably from his father. He’ll be over it by the time I get home.”
We stayed a few more minutes before Carolyn thanked us profusely for coming, assured us that she was all right, and said we could go. I was hesitant to leave her, but I sensed that she needed some time by herself before going home to deal with whatever awaited her there. I told her to call if she needed anything or if there was any news. Then Karen and I took our leave.
When we reached the reception desk, I noticed the woman who had been there on my last visit was back on duty. She recognized me and smiled sadly. “I’m so sorry you’re here with someone else again. It’s the same kind of thing, isn’t it, and now it’s happened to two patients from your institute. So sad. Funny, this patient also has a Russian relative. A cousin from Los Angeles called to check on Mr. Reed, and he has a Russian accent, just like poor Mrs. Weston’s brother.”
Two patients whose relatives had Russian accents? There was nothing funny about it. I knew what Karen would say to a coincidence like that.
25
By the time we left the hospital, though, I had more on my mind than Russian accents. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Karen at this point. How had she interpreted Carolyn falling into my arms when we saw the patient? And her husband’s accusation that we were having sex? If things between us had been bad before, I feared they’d be even worse now. Going home might be no better for me than it was going to be for Carolyn.
I got into the car and looked over at Karen as she sat in the passenger seat, trying to read her thoughts. Instead, she read mine.
“It’s okay, Brad.” She leaned over and cuddled against me. “I understand now. Seeing her made it clear. That poor woman.”
I put my arm around her as an enormous wave of relief flowed through me. “So you saw what it was like for me that night?”
“Yes. She’s like a puppy in distress. Of course, you did your best to comfort her. I would’ve done the same—anyone would have. At least anyone decent.”
“Anyone except that brute of a husband.”
She shook her head. “What an asshole. Do you think she’ll be all right with him tonight? Should we drop by and check on her?”
“I’m afraid that would only make matters worse. She probably knows how to handle him by now.”
“I suppose you’re right. Brad, I’m so sorry. I should have trusted you and believed you from the beginning.”
“It’s all right. That damned photo of Carolyn and me together made it hard, not to mention my telling you that she spent the night in bed with me. Should I have left that out?”
I started the car and began to back out of the parking space.
“No, you were right to tell me. It shows you trusted me enough to be honest about what happened. And I should have had that kind of confidence in you.” She ran her hand up the inside of my thigh and smiled coquettishly. “Maybe there’s some way I can make it up to you.”
“Maybe there is,” I said, as her hand reached my growing erection.
She giggled. “Hold that thought while you get us home.”
We drove in contented silence as I navigated through the side streets to US 1 and turned north toward Drakes Island. I was happy to bask in the relief of a crisis averted, but Karen’s mind was—as always—still churning.
“Do you think he’s seen the photo? He went after you like he had, but he didn’t say anything about it.”
“I was wondering the same thing. In fact, I’d been thinking earlier that it could have been taken by a private detective he had following Carolyn. But I don’t think that’s it now. He would have been screaming about it back there if he’d seen it.”
I glanced over to see her nod and purse her lips. “Who are you thinking then? Carlson?”
“That would make sense. And it would fit with it being sent to Claire Houghton.”
“Oh! I didn’t know she’d seen it.”
“Yes. She got me on Zoom to grill me about it. Said both Carlson and one of his buddies who’s on the board of trustees were after my ass. She wants me out of here, although in the end, she gave me another week to finish things up.”
“You’ve really been bombarded with this crap.” She reached over and squeezed my arm. “I’m sorry; I should have been here for you. Not making things worse.”
“Don’t worry about it. This was hard on both of us, and I’m just glad you’re here now. I’m not sure about Carlson, though. He couldn’t have sent the text from Boston, he was in my office that morning. Plus, the whole thing seems too intricate for him to have pulled off.”
“He could have hired someone, though. Whoever it was must have been following you, and they’re clearly a pro. They had to be prepared to do an all-night stakeout and take pictures the next morning.”
“That sounds crazy. It’s way over the top to try and get me to drop my support of Carolyn’s tenure case. I’ve seen academics do some pretty weird things, but this is hard to swallow. Even for Carlson.”
Karen started to say something, but then interrupted herself to stick her arm in front of my face and yell, “Hold it! Pull into the left here!”
I moved over to the left-turn lane and hit the brakes. Maybe she’d spotted someone tailing us. But she gave me a somewhat sheepish grin and pointed across the road. “We’re stopping at that lobster place. I remember it from last summer. They have cooked lobsters there that we can take home.”
I couldn’t stop laughing as I pulled into the lobster farm. “What’s so funny?” Karen asked. “We have to eat. This way we’ll be all set to have lobsters in bed.”
“No argument; sounds like a perfect plan.” I parked and got two pound-and-a-quarter lobsters, which were apparently so popular during the summer months that they always had them cooked and ready to go.
My mind was racing ahead to being home in bed with Karen by the time I got back to the car, but she’d returned to thinking about whoever was blackmailing me.
“Did you notice anything strange that night you spent at Carolyn’s? Maybe somebody unusual at the hospital while the two of you were there?”
“Afraid not. The only people we talked to at the hospital were Dr. Ashland and the woman at the reception desk.”
“The same woman who was there tonight?”
/> “Yes. Friendly lady.”
“What was she saying about the first patient’s brother? He had a Russian accent, like Mr. Reed’s cousin who called tonight?”
“That’s what she said. And it seems more than a little weird. The first patient’s brother was there that night, but he was already on his way out when the receptionist pointed him out, and I couldn’t catch him.”
“Did you get a look at him?”
“Just from the rear, before he got into his car. Blond hair, well built but short. Maybe around your height.”
“Hmm, interesting,” she said. “So, both patients have relatives with Russian accents, and one is short and well built.”
I looked over and saw that her eyes had lit up. “It certainly seems suspicious. What are you thinking?”
“Short Russian men have been on my mind lately. You remember that mob hit in Boston, the one that kept me late the night you told me about the job up here?” I nodded and she continued. “We don’t have much, but we did get the shooter on video. Can’t see his face, but he’s short. The analysts put him at about five-six. And the victims were Russian mob, so our assumption is that the shooter is, too.”
“You’re thinking there’s some connection to what’s happening up here? That seems awfully thin.”
“I know, but there’s another video of a five-foot-six-inch mystery man.”
Suddenly it hit me. “Right! The asshole that unplugged Carolyn’s freezer.”
“And the patient’s brother you saw at the hospital? The one with a Russian accent. You said he was about my height, or shorter. I’m five-seven, which puts him in the same range. So that makes three.”
“Okay, I agree that that’s a lot of short Russian men. But there’s nothing to tie any of this together, is there?”
We’d reached Drakes Island Road, so I made a right off of Route 1 and headed for home. My thoughts were turning to Karen, bed, and lobsters. In that order. Happily, leaving the highway seemed to have a similar effect on Karen.
She put her hand back on the inside of my thigh. “I don’t know, but something about all this is raising my hackles. Too much coincidence. But for now, why don’t you get us home? I think our lobsters are ready for bed.”
26
I woke to find Karen snuggled tightly beside me with her head on my shoulder. It was tempting to stay like that, but it took only a few minutes for Rosie to realize that I was awake and start pawing me. So I carefully extricated myself without waking Karen and headed downstairs. Coffee for me and out to the yard for Rosie.
It was gray and misty with enough wind to drive the ocean into a froth of waves crashing into the shore. A bit chilly, but a nice show to watch as I sat on the deck with my coffee and skimmed the night’s emails on my iPad. Nothing noteworthy in my inbox, which was just as well because Karen came down in a few minutes, clad in nothing but a light robe that came down no further than mid-thigh. A tantalizing enough picture to reawaken my ardor from last night.
I got up to give her a kiss, which started to develop into something more, but she stopped me with a grin and a wink. “Hang on, I need some coffee. And then we have some work to do.”
“Ah, always work. What’s so urgent?”
“Don’t worry, there’ll be time for more fun and games later. But first I want to check out these supposed relatives with Russian accents.”
That brought me fully back to the seriousness of Carolyn’s situation. I had no choice but to call an immediate halt to her drug trial, even while the second patient’s sudden illness was being investigated. A second patient that I hoped was still alive.
“Yes, that’d be good to do. And I think I’d better call Carolyn. I want to find out about her patient, and I also have to give her the bad news about her trial.”
“And don’t forget to find out how she is,” Karen reminded me. “I wasn’t entirely happy to let her go home with that animal last night.”
I rolled my eyes as I dialed Carolyn’s number. She picked up on the third ring. After affirming that she was okay, she told me that the patient—Mr. Reed—was still in intensive care, but stable and conscious. She was on her way to the hospital and had pulled off the road to take my call.
I would have liked to put off delivering my next message, but there was really nothing to do but spit it out. “I’m glad to hear that. Keep me informed when you see how he is. In the meantime, I’m afraid there’s something else we have to talk about.”
“My drug trial?” Her voice was trembling. “I understand. You have to stop it, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, but yes. With a second patient suddenly ill, I don’t have any choice. At least until we know what’s going on.”
“I can’t believe we’re seeing this kind of toxicity without any previous indications of a problem. But I understand, there’s nothing else you can do. I know how supportive you’ve been.”
I felt like crap when we ended the call. Neither of us mentioned it, but we both knew that whatever chance she had at getting tenure was rapidly going down the tubes. And I couldn’t put a final vote off past the end of next week.
Karen had gone down to the beach with Rosie while I was talking to Carolyn, so I went ahead and did the necessary dirty work. First, I called Leslie Farnsworth and brought her up to date with instructions to add Fred Reed’s case to her committee’s investigation. She was horrified at the illness of a second patient, but almost as surprised as Carolyn had been. Nonetheless, she agreed that stopping the trial was the only option at this point.
I had to take a deep breath before making my next call. But I needed to let Tom Carlson know. As chair of the IRB, it was up to him to implement a halt to Carolyn’s trial. I prepared to eat crow as I punched in his number.
His response to the news was pretty much what I expected. “About time you decided to do your damn job. I’ll have the IRB order an immediate stop to her trial.”
The glee in his voice was obvious. So much so that I couldn’t let it stand. “Hopefully it’ll just be a temporary measure while Leslie Farnsworth’s committee has time to look into this second case. It still doesn’t seem like drug toxicity to me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Carlson said. “It’s as plain as the nose on your face. I’m looking forward to the faculty vote on Friday, when we can get rid of that worthless bitch once and for all.”
After ending the call to Carlson, I went down to join Karen and Rosie on the beach. Rosie was running in and out of the water, chasing the waves as they crashed into the shore and then receded back into the ocean.
It didn’t take Karen long to divine my mood. “What’s wrong? You look like you’d like to strangle someone.”
“Carlson. The bastard can’t wait to put the screws to Carolyn.”
“How’d he find out?”
“I had to call him. As chair of the IRB, he’s the one to officially put a stop on Carolyn’s trial. Now he can’t wait until Friday, when the faculty’s scheduled to vote on her case.”
“Can’t you delay the vote until you figure out what’s happened?”
“Not really. Claire Houghton insisted that Friday’s to be my last day at MTRI. Besides, it seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Two similar cases has to mean drug toxicity.”
She looked at me shrewdly. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
I sighed. “In my gut, no. But in my head, what else is there to think?”
“There’s too much else going on,” Karen said. “Lab sabotage, blackmail, and strange men with Russian accents.”
“So you think what? Carolyn’s somehow being set up with this? I can’t believe that her patients are being murdered just to prevent her from getting tenure.”
“I agree, that seems too flimsy a motive. But something smells wrong. And it sounds like we have one week to figure it out before your faculty vote.”
A wave of gratitude swept over me. Karen had reversed course since yesterday. She was now completely on Carolyn’s side. And on mi
ne. Maybe with her help we had a shot.
“Meaning you’re going to help with this? Don’t you have to get back to Boston?”
“I already let the office know that I’d be spending the week up here to follow a new lead on the Russian mob killing.” She smiled and shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe that’s what I’ll be doing.”
“So where do we start? Do you want to talk further with Carolyn? She said she was going back to the hospital.”
“Maybe later,” Karen said. “First I want to track down the first patient’s brother. The one who supposedly lives in Sanford and you saw in the parking lot.”
“You want to see if the brother’s a short guy with a Russian accent?”
“Yep.”
“Sounds good. I should be able to get his address from the MTRI patient database.”
“Get the info on Fred Reed’s cousin, too, while you’re at it.”
“Why? Are we going to make a trip out west?”
“No, but I’ll have someone in the Los Angeles office check him out while we visit Sanford.”
27
Sanford was only half an hour from Drakes Island, but it felt like a world away. Whereas Wells had one of the lowest crime rates in Maine, Sanford had one of the highest. And it turned out that Emily Weston’s brother lived in the worst part of town, near town center. When I gave Karen the address, she laughed, saying it was a haven for drug dealers and it would be interesting to meet this mysterious brother.
As we neared our destination, I started to feel like we were back in one of the rough areas of Boston. There was no landscaping, just houses packed together on small lots with uncut lawns. Almost all were badly in need of painting, and most had obvious areas of rotted wood and sagging gutters. A few of the more run-down ones had broken windows to complete the picture.
The address we had for Emily’s brother—Charles North—corresponded to a run-down three-story New England–style house that looked like it might be a multifamily. There was only one door, though, so we made our way carefully up the rotting steps and rang the bell. No answer, and the bell hadn’t made a sound, so I tried knocking instead. That got us a grudging shout to wait a damn minute. Eventually, the door was opened by a pudgy red-haired woman wearing a ratty-looking T-shirt and black sweatpants. She stared at us with bleary eyes until Karen broke the silence.
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