Charlatans

by Robin Cook

  After looking over the websites of a dozen individuals, Noah found one that seemed promising. Her name was Roberta Hinkle. Part of her attraction was that she advertised she had gone to Brazos University where she had obtained a degree in Criminal Justice. Another plus was that she listed “background check” as one of her specialties, which was essentially what Noah wanted. He also appreciated that she listed her hourly rate, whereas most of the other people did not. Although Noah initially thought $60 per hour was high, it was less than most of the other sites that did list their fee. Impulsively, he decided to find out more.

  Roberta Hinkle’s website invited either phone or email contact for more information. Since it was after 11:00, Noah opted to use email. To make it easy there was an online form to be filled out with his name, email address, and the kind of investigation desired. Along with his name he included his title of M.D. In the investigation section to make it sound like a group effort, he wrote: “We are interested in a strictly confidential, full background check on an anesthesiologist on our staff by the name of Dr. Ava London. We need to know more details of her professional training and her earlier schooling. All information made available will be appreciated including psychosocial factors. Dr. London grew up in Lubbock, attended Brazos University School of Medicine and trained at the Brazos University Hospital but now works in Boston, Massachusetts.”

  In the section of the form labeled “payment preference,” Noah wrote “PayPal” to make it simple. In the section labeled “start date,” he wrote “ASAP if it is decided to move forward.”

  After Noah clicked send, he again felt a letdown similar to when he realized the idea of his hacking the Brazos University computer system was off the table. Again, with the PI idea, he had gotten himself worked up, and now he had to sit on his hands and wait. He wondered when he might hear back from Roberta Hinkle, understanding it depended completely on her schedule. If she were busy, it might be days. If she wasn’t, then it could possibly be within twenty-four hours. Vaguely, he wondered how busy Lubbock PI’s were in mid-summer. Unfortunately, there was no way to know answers to any of these questions. The only thing he could do was call Roberta’s phone number in the morning.

  For lack of anything else to do, Noah decided to go on Facebook to see if Gail Shafter or Melanie Howard, meaning Ava, were online. Yet he didn’t want to do it as Noah Rothauser. Instead, he decided to create his own sockpuppet, calling himself Butch Cassidy, in deference to one of his favorite old movies. That would make it such that Ava wouldn’t know she was dealing with him if she happened to be on Facebook. But then he changed his mind about the name. As smart as Ava was, he was afraid she might recognize the name as too much of a coincidence, as they had talked about movies on several occasions. Instead, he decided to call himself Harvey Longfellow, which he just pulled out of the air. At least it sounded appropriately New England.

  As Noah was creating the profile of a thirty-year-old love-starved insurance salesman who hated Ivy League snobs, a point he thought Ava might appreciate, he was alerted to an incoming email. Since he wasn’t finished with Harvey’s profile, he used his phone to see who had emailed him, hoping it might be Roberta Hinkle, and it was.

  Dear Dr. Rothauser: Thank you for your inquiry about possibly retaining my services to undertake a confidential, in-depth background check of Dr. Ava London. I can start tonight with my online sources if you decide to move forward. If you know actual dates of her personal history and the name of her high school, it would be helpful to make sure I am researching the correct individual. Any other pertinent information you might have would also be of assistance for the same reason.

  Respectfully yours, Roberta Hinkle.

  Amazed at the rapidity of Roberta’s reply, Noah minimized his profile of Harvey Longfellow and immediately began a long email back to Roberta:

  Dear Ms. Hinkle, I appreciate your rapid reply. Here is what I know, although all the dates might not be accurate. She was born in 1982. I do not know where she went to elementary or middle school, but I was told she went to Coronado High School, where she was a cheerleader and took AP courses. I believe she graduated in 2000. Between 2000 and 2002 she worked for a dentist by the name of Winston Herbert, who became dean of the newly created Brazos University School of Dentistry. She then attended Brazos University for a six-year combined B.S./M.D. curriculum from 2002 to 2008 with a major in nutrition. After obtaining her M.D. degree, she took a residency in anesthesia at the Brazos University Medical Center from 2008 to 2012. Following her residency, she was offered a position as a staff anesthesiologist at the Boston Memorial Hospital beginning in 2012. Some of these dates are guesses, but they should be close. Other important information: her oil-executive father committed suicide when she was a junior in high school, and she was briefly married around 2000 to a Serbian medical doctor. Although we will find all information about her pertinent, what we are mainly hoping to learn are details about her residency training, and the more detailed the better. We would be particularly interested in whatever any of the faculty remembers about her, which seems would have to be significant for her to get the kind of recommendations needed for her to be hired by the Boston Memorial Hospital. If anyone asks, you can say that she has earned high praise from the BMH chief of Anesthesia. Last point of information is that she is a devotee of Facebook, which she avowedly uses daily but only via aliases named Gail Shafter and Melanie Howard. For a current picture of Dr. Ava London, please check out her LinkedIn page. Does this sound like a job you would be interested in accepting? I must emphasize that confidentiality is key.

  Sincerely yours, Dr. Noah Rothauser

  After rereading the email and making a few minor changes, Noah sent it off. He then brought up the profile he had been creating for his fake Facebook account. No sooner had he reread what he had written about Harvey Longfellow when a second email came in from Roberta Hinkle.

  Dr. Rothauser: Thank you for the information. I am very interested in accepting your proposed investigation, and I can assure you that it will be done in strict confidentiality, as is the case with all my work. Let me know if you want me to begin.

  Roberta Hinkle

  Noah went back to staring up at the ceiling, trying to decide what to do. He had an immediate good feeling about Roberta Hinkle and liked that she was eager and could start right away. With the same impulsivity that had encouraged him to respond to Roberta’s website, he decided to go ahead with hiring her. He knew that if he changed his mind overnight, he could stop her efforts. He emailed her back to give her the go-ahead. Almost immediately a reply came back:

  Dear Dr. Rothauser: I am looking forward to this project and will start immediately. I will email you tomorrow what my initial inquiries uncover. This should not be a difficult assignment as I also attended Brazos University and have maintained close contacts by continuing to teach an introductory criminal justice course.

  All the best, Roberta Hinkle

  Impressed with Roberta’s rapid responses and seeming professionalism, Noah emailed her back that he would be looking forward to her email. Once again, he cautioned her that discretion was paramount. She responded that she understood perfectly and emphasized that strict confidentiality was the nature of the business. She told him not to worry.

  After the final email with Roberta, Noah tried to go back to his fake profile, but found he couldn’t concentrate. He kept wondering what Roberta might find above and beyond all the complimentary stuff he expected, since Ava certainly had to have done extremely well. Despite Roberta’s reassurances, he worried if her questioning might somehow get back to Ava and, if it did, what effect that might have. Would Ava suspect that Noah was behind it? He doubted she would, but who was to know? For a few moments, he thought about emailing back and canceling the investigation, but then he changed his mind again. He’d wait for her morning email. Tonight, Roberta was only going to see what she could learn online.

  At that point, Noah
noticed it was after midnight. More important, with the feeling he had done something that was potentially promising to dispel once and for all his misgivings about Ava, he felt as if he could finally sleep. He turned off his laptop and the overhead light in the living room, pushed his couch against his broken door for an attempt at security, and went into the bedroom.

  33

  TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2:52 P.M.

  For the first time in a week Noah had slept reasonably well and woke up refreshed. He attributed it to having hired the private investigator in Lubbock. Engaging the PI gave him the feeling he was doing something positive about Ava, and he was comfortable with the decision. He would have much preferred she was willing to discuss the nettlesome questions he had about her performance in her three deaths, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen. Short of his hacking into the Brazos University computer system, it was the only way it might be accomplished. He justified it as ultimately being in her best interests. Just as he expected to be reinstated at the Advisory Board meeting, he was hopeful that Ava was going to ultimately accept his heartfelt apologies and let bygones be bygones. They were too well suited for each other and had been too close in mind and body for any other outcome. And the next time she voiced any thoughts about leaving clinical anesthesiology, he wanted to be sure of her competence.

  At 8:00 A.M., Noah surprised himself by going out for eggs and bacon at a local greasy spoon. He’d even read The New York Times like a normal person. He’d also gotten some bread and cold cuts for a later lunch before returning to his apartment. His plan had been to finish creating his Harvey Longfellow sockpuppet and then go on Facebook to try to friend both Gail Shafter and Melanie Howard. His hope had been that, come evening, he could be messaging back and forth with an unsuspecting Ava.

  It was at 2:52 in the afternoon that the reasonably pleasant day started to fall apart when his mobile phone went off, startling him. Snapping it up, he looked at the screen, hoping it might be Ava. But it wasn’t. It was the MIT Library.

  “Is this Dr. Rothauser?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “This is Telah Smith calling. I got a note from Gertrude Hessen that you were interested in finding out why a copy of your bound thesis had been removed from the thesis room. Are you still interested? Because I was the assistant librarian responsible for letting it circulate.”

  “I am,” Noah said, impressed that they were getting back to him so quickly.

  “Several FBI agents had come into the library and requested the volume, saying it was needed for a short time as part of an ongoing investigation.”

  Noah was stunned. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “FBI?”

  “We get occasional requests of this sort,” Telah explained. “It is less frequent now that all theses are available in digital form, but it does happen.”

  “Did they have a warrant?” Noah asked. He was astounded that Dr. Mason would go to the extreme of involving the FBI. And he was even more astounded that the FBI would be interested in becoming involved.

  “No, they didn’t,” Telah said. “They spontaneously mentioned getting a warrant if it was necessary, but they preferred to keep the case on a low-key basis as it was not a criminal investigation. They said that although the material was available online, it would speed things up for them to have the hard copy, and they would be extremely careful with it and need it for only a few days. I brought the issue up with the head librarian, who authorized it to be released for one week, as the library has had good relations with the FBI in the past. The two agents were very nice about it. They were very young and personable and rather handsome.” Telah laughed. “I know that doesn’t sound very professional, but the visit was a nice break from what normally goes on around here.”

  “Thank you for letting me know about this,” Noah said, searching for something to say. After he disconnected the call, he stared out the window for several minutes, totally taken aback by involvement of the FBI. He couldn’t help but feel nervous about such an unexpected development, and it unpleasantly undermined the optimism he had been recently feeling about the Advisory Board meeting. The mere involvement of the FBI gave the accusation that he’d fabricated data a credibility it did not deserve.

  In the middle of this new confusion, Noah’s phone chimed to indicate he’d just gotten an email. Trying to calm down, he saw it was from Roberta Hinkle. Hoping for some more comforting news, he used his laptop to read what Roberta had written. It didn’t take long for his hopes to be dashed.

  Dear Dr. Rothauser: Things have not been going as smoothly as I had anticipated. First, there was no Ava London in the Coronado High School class of 2000. In fact, there had been no young woman by the name of Ava London attending Coronado High School going back fifty years from 2005. I then checked all the other high schools in Lubbock and found that there had been no Ava London for the same fifty-year interval. I then began searching high schools in the surrounding metropolitan area, where there are high schools in most of the larger towns. After considerable effort, I did find an Ava London in the class of 2000 in Brownfield High School, about an hour’s drive from Lubbock. Apparently, she was a very popular cheerleader, and took a number of AP classes, and was consistently on the honor roll. She was also a member of the student council and her father was an oil executive who committed suicide, so it sounds like the same Ava London you have retained me to do a background check on. At this very moment, I am in the Kendrick Public Library in Brownfield, and I am looking at the high school’s yearbook for 2000, which has a number of photos of Ava London that conform with the photo of Dr. Ava London on her LinkedIn page. However, a major, unexpected problem has come up that I think you should know about, especially if you want me to continue.

  Respectfully, Roberta Hinkle

  Noah shook his head in frustration, wondering why Roberta would not have told him directly what the problem was. As he typed a reply asking to be told the problem, he tried to imagine what the PI had uncovered. Whatever it was, it must have been surprising and off-putting. Roberta responded immediately with another email.

  Dr. Rothauser, I have uncovered a major complication with Ava London’s life story. Perhaps it would be best if we talked directly as it is all rather strange.

  Respectfully, Roberta Hinkle

  Snatching up his phone, Noah called Roberta’s cell phone number. Impatiently, he waited for the call to go through. He couldn’t help but feel irritated that she was dragging out telling him what she had learned. Even when she answered, she didn’t tell him right away but instead asked him to hold on while she went outside the library. As he waited, Noah began restlessly drumming his fingers on his folding table.

  “All right, I’m back,” Roberta said. She had a pleasant voice with a slight twang that appropriately reminded him of Ava’s voice. “I apologize if this all sounds rather mysterious. Here’s the problem: Everything you said about Ava London’s high school experience was true except that she had gone to Brownfield High School and not Coronado. But, more important, she did not graduate.”

  “Excuse me?” Noah questioned. He wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.

  “Ava London committed suicide during her senior year exactly twelve months after her father and used the same gun in the same fashion and in the same room of the house. After I discovered this unexpected fact from the memorial in the high school yearbook, I went back and looked at the appropriate issue of the local newspaper published during the week following the event. There were a lot of articles because the tragedy was a major, upsetting episode for the entire town and sparked an investigation by the local authorities. Both the father and the daughter were popular figures in the town. Although no one was ultimately blamed or charged for the tragedy, it was thought by many that Ava’s suicide might have been an early case of cyberbullying. Of course, it wasn’t yet called cyberbullying, but that was what they were describing. At least three of Ava’s classmates were named,
and it was considered probable that more were involved. The names of the three were Connie Dugan, Cynthia Sanchez, and Gail Shafter.”

  For almost a full minute neither Roberta nor Noah spoke. Noah was stunned for the second time within the hour, and even more so than learning the FBI had been responsible for Dr. Mason getting his thesis. It was Roberta who broke the silence after giving Noah enough time to absorb what she had told him. “Do you want me to continue my investigations?”

  “Hold off for now,” Noah said. “Let me digest this weird revelation. I’ll call you back.”

  After disconnecting the phone, Noah got up to pace in an attempt to get his mind around what he had learned. With the size of the room, there wasn’t nearly enough space. After four steps, he had to turn around. But he felt he had to move. For a few minutes as he walked back and forth, he fantasized about confronting Ava that afternoon when she came home from the hospital to tell her he’d discovered that Ava London was the sockpuppet, not Gail Shafter. But he gave up on the idea as a childish urge for a bit of revenge that she, too, had been harboring a secret a lot stranger than his having had to make estimates on his thesis project to get it in on time. Besides, he didn’t know for certain if she had anything at all to do with his current thesis fracas.

  Instead, Noah picked his phone back up with the idea of reconnecting with Roberta Hinkle. But that turned out to be problematic for the time being. On his screen was a text from her:

  I’m on my way back to Lubbock and the phone signal gets bad. Leave me a voicemail if you can’t get through, and I will return your call. Or you can email me. Roberta