Yes . . . blood. A small, semicircular puncture wound, just the mark a trocar would leave. Just like the mark on Senator Vincent's thigh in this very room last month.
- "Oh, God, " she whispered as fury and terror tore at her. "Oh dear God." Gently she poked the area around it. The senator's leg stiffened. She glanced up and found him looking at her. "Hello, again, " she said, rising, trying to keep her voice calm, her face professionally neutral. "Was Dr. Lathram just in here? " "Who's Dr. Lathram? " He smacked his dry lips. "Could I have some water? " Still too groggy to be of any help.
"Yes. Sure." There was a pitcher at the bedside, but she pretended not to see it. "I'll get you some." She forced her wobbly legs to walk her out to the hall where she leaned against the wall and let herself shake.
What sort of a nightmare had she fallen into? Where was the looking glass she'd stepped through to land in this crazy place?
Duncan. Where was he now? Obviously he hadn't left. Only pretended.
Probably sneaked into one of the rooms and waited for her to leave the senator alone.
And while I was relieving myself, he sneaked into the senator's room and jabeed him with the trocar.
The bastard!
Gin scampered to the front door and saw a black Mercedes like Duncan's pulling away from the curb. She couldn't see the plates and couldn't be sure through the heavily tinted glass if Duncan was behind the wheel.
She watched the car disappear into the traffic.
She hurried back down the hall and found Barbara staring at her.
"Are you all right? " she said.
'"I'm fine, " Gin said. She had to tell someone about this, but Barbara was not that someone. "Perfectly fine." She returned to Senator Marsden's room and found him propped up on an elbow.
"Silly me, " she said. "The water was right here all along." She filled a glass and watched him drink as she cast about for a way to go.
Should she tell him? Tell him that his surgeon had just placed a toxin-filled implant in his thigh?
She studied Senator Marsden's bleary expression. He wasn't in any condition to listen or comprehend. So where could she turn? Who could she go to? GERRY GERRY HAD JUST RETURNED FROM LUNCH. HE WAS ADMIRing Martha's latest Crayola masterpiece, freshly pinned to the wall of his cubicle, when Gin's call came in. He was glad she was calling him for a change.
She'd been strangely distant all wee K.
"Gerry, I need your help." Not a good start. She sounded frazzled.
"Sure. What's wrong'" "It's about Duncan." Gerry suppressed a groan.
Not that again. He wished he'd never mentioned that conspiracy theory to her.
"What about him? " "He put a toxic implant in Senator Marsden. ' Gerry didn't reply immediately. Couldn't . . . too shocked to speak.
"He did, Gerry. I know he did."
"Gin, " he said, finally finding his voice. "We've been through all that. We tested the solution, that secret sauce' or whatever you call it, and it turned out to be, '' '"I'm not talking about the secret sauce. This is something else. This is a drug no one's ever heard of."
"How'd you find out about it? " Now she paused. "I found it in one of his desk drawers."
"He leaves it where anybody can find it? " Another pause. "No. He keeps it locked up." '"So then how did you, ? " And then it hit him.
"Oh, no. You didn't."
"I'm sorry, Gerry, but I had to."
"Gin, you used the Bureau's pick to break into someone's office?
"Gerry, you've got a right to be angry, but please don't be. This is too important. I didn't break into his office, only the lock on his desk drawer."
" Same thing. You could have been caught, arrested, maybe worse."
"Look, I knew you'd react like this if I told you.
I'hat's why I didn't. But I had to get into that drawer."
"I don't believe this. You, " '"Gerry, two people may be dead because of him.
Two others are crazy.
This drug causes psychotic reactions. You saw the tape of Senator Vincent on the first day of the hearing, didn't you? " "Of course.
Who didn't? " "Was he acting sane just before he convulsed? " "No, ' he admitted grudgingly. "I guess not." He reached for a pencil.
"What's the name of this drug? " '"Triptolinic diethylamide." She spelled it for him. "TPD for short."
"And it makes you crazy? " "According to the FDA it does. Research was discontinued because of psychotic reactions in primates. ' "So if Lathram is dosing people with this stuff, why hasn't some medical examiner picked up on it? " "Because nobody's looking for it. Nobody even knows it exists. Gerry, thousands upon thousands of compounds are tested every year. Maybe one out of ten thousand ever reaches the public. It was an investigational drug that was dropped because of side effects. That's it. Goodbye.
Sayonara. On to the next compound, and nobody gives the losers another thought." '"So how'd Lathram get hold of this . . . " He glanced at the sheet.
"TPD? " '"His brother. Oliver used to work for the company that was investigating it." Gerry straightened and leaned forward in his chair.
All the old suspicions he'd been trying to put to rest were dancing through his head again.
'"And you think he dosed Marsden with this stuff? " "I know it! " '"Did you see him do it? " "No, but I saw the puncture wound in his thigh." She went on to tell him about seeing the bottle of TPD on Lathram's desk this morning along with an implant and something called a trocar.
"But couldn't Lathram have simply given him a shot of something? " '"Not there. And Duncan never gives injections. He has one of the nurses do it. I tell you, Gerry, Senator Marsden is Lying down the hall with an implant full of TPD in his right thigh. I've got to get it out! " "Okay. Slow down for a second here and let me think." He leaned back again, trying to remain calm, to contain the excitement racing through him. This was heavy. A prominent, well-connected area surgeon and a very visible U. S. senator. Headline-grabbing stuff. It had the makings of a major case. Or a major embarrassment.
If only Gin had actually seewz Duncan insert the implant.
"Do you think Marsden's in any immediate danger? " Gin hesitated, then, "No. Duncan's gone for the day. I think he wants to choose a specific time and place. Remember how both Allard and Vincent had their mishaps while the cameras were rolling. I think that's what Duncan might be waiting for."
"But why, Gin? We're missing a motive here. Why should he want to do this? " "He hates the Guidelines committee and what it's trying to do."
"So do lots of other doctors.
But they're not, " "No. Listen. It's personal with Duncan." She went on to tell him about the stories in the Post and the Banner, and told him that Schulz had been on the original Guidelines committee.
Bingo!
That was the link he'd been searching for to connect the four legislators. She also told him of her call to the Virginia Board of Medical Examiners.
By the time she finished he was convinced, but that wasn't enough.
He'd have to convince Ketter.
"Okay, look. Since the senator's in no immediate danger, we can take a little time to build a case here." werry, '"Hear me out. We'll have someone keep an eye on the senator's home, make sure nobody's nosing around it. Meanwhile, don't you do anything to alert Lathram. " '"Don't worry." '"Don't give him a chance to cover his tracks. I want him to think he's in complete control, that everything's status quo.
And you keep your distance. No more Nancy Drew stuff. Leave the rest to me." He wanted Gin out of harm's way. No telling what Lathram would do if he felt cornered.
"Okay. But are you sure the senator's going to be all right? " "Gin, " he said, 'right now I'm not sure of anything. But I want to get moving on this and I don't make these decisions. I've got to build a case and bung it to the SSA, and he may have to take it higher. And the sooner I get moving on it, the better." She gave him the year and the months when the newspaper articles appeared, then said, "Keep me informed, okay? " "Don't worry. But one thing that can't be mentioned, now or ever, is how you got into Lathram's locked drawer.