"Well," he said, jotting quick, almost unreadable notes, "it seems that you don't have any charges centered around child abuse." He looked up at Frawley, then at Lawrence and Deyo. "What else have you got left to try?"
"We've got plenty. Failure to receive informed consent-"
"From whom?" Fletcher asked.
Dr. Lawrence folded his arms and gazed down his nose at Fletcher. "From the women. You'll naturally point out that we can't accuse you of failing to receive informed consent from a fetus since they are not considered humans capable of grant-ing informed consent. But the women were involved in highly risky experimental surgery. The `donor mother,' as you call her, faced the risk of-"
"Valerie Dalton faced the risk," Fletcher said, "that any woman seeking an abortion faced. Pain. Bleeding. Severe cramping. Possible hemorrhaging and loss of blood requiring transfusion. Even the chance of being rendered sterile by the procedure. She signed-"
Johnson cut in. "You don't have to say anything else. I'll handle it from here."
"Don't interrupt me." Her voice was harsher with him than with the DA.
"As your legal counsel, I strongly urge you to-"
"When I hired you," she said in a sharp tone, "didn't we agree that I'd handle this my way?" Johnson gazed at her silently for a moment. The trace of a smile appeared at the edges of his mouth.
"I was hoping you'd changed your mind," the young man said, bending over his notepad. "Do as you like."
Fletcher turned toward Frawley. "Ms. Dalton signed the proper paperwork that's been approved by the ethics commit-tee."
"I looked at those." Lawrence quickly said to Frawley. "They were nonstandard. Wherever the word àbortion' had been in the original, the term `pregnancy termination' was substituted." Fletcher took a drag of her cigarette and blew smoke to-ward an empty part of the office. "The committee approved the use of the euphemism six years ago, if you'll bother to look at the revision number on the form. Since they were unaware that any other form of pregnancy termination existed, I was able to push that through. All your doctors have been using it." She began to look as if she were enjoying the exchange. "Nothing in the contract required that I kill the fetus or inform anyone of the uses to whi-"
"The recipient mother ran just as much risk, if not more, from the implantation procedure." Dr. Lawrence unfolded his hands and leaned forward in his chair. "Don't tell anyone who's had more than a week of medical school that this transoption technique is safe. Anytime you surgically attach foreign matter into a healthy human being, the capability of tissue rejec-tion, trauma, infection, and morbidity exists. You had no ex-perimental basis for this procedure. No animal research, not even peer-reviewed experimental protocols for establish-"
"What do you propose to do?" she asked him. "Convince Karen Chandler to press charges against me for giving her what she most fervently wanted?" She dropped the cigarette in the Styrofoam cup. "Go to her. Tell her what you plan to do. Tell her you want to imprison the doctor who gave her what no other fertility program could. Wait for her answer. Then take a good look at the waiver she signed. The language is legal." She turned to Johnson. "Did you review the copies I sent you?" Poker-faced, he replied, "I'll need more time, but they seem airtight on first glance." Deyo gave Johnson a curious once-over. Dr. Lawrence stared emotionlessly at Fletcher, drumming his fingers on his arm-rest. "There are noncriminal ways of handling this, as you well know. The principle of non-surgical ovum transfer was estab-lished in 1983, under the most rigorous of guidelines. You've chosen to expand that frontier of research in a clandestine, surreptitious, and completely unprofessional manner. This is clearly a matter for the Board of Medical Quality Assurance. I can virtually guarantee the revocation of your license to prac-tice in the state of California. That would effectively bar you from practice in the United States."
"Fine," Frawley said with a relieved nod. "We'll formulate any criminal charges based upon the findings of the board." He looked at Lawrence. "That should keep things out of the limelight for a few weeks. Time enough for things to cool down." The D.A. relaxed-at least he was off the hook awhile. Johnson cleared his throat for attention. "Is that what you intend to tell the press out there?" Frawley eyeballed him. "Why?"
Johnson ran his hands through his hair and leaned back, notepad and pen resting on his lap. "Because the subjects of abortion, host mothers, and radical new forms of fertility are all violently emotional subjects. You've got people smashing up your hospital just on the rumor that something strange is going on, fetuswise. What sort of publicity will you generate if you let Dr. Fletcher walk out of here with nothing from you but a `We'll look into it' statement? Everyone would view your position as a wrist slap or as cowardly stalling." He looked at Frawley. "They'll be knocking in your windows tomorrow. Maybe tonight.
"But any of those major charges you arraign her on I'll get shot down in pretrial because no judge is going to go up against the prevailing opinion on the nonhuman status of the unborn." He glanced from Lawrence to Fletcher. "The AMA has too much riding on the billion-dollar-a-year abortion industry. And that charge of battery is ridiculous. Dalton paid for the operation. She got what she wanted. She wasn't touched without her con-sent and I'd love to see you try to prove criminal intent to save a baby's life." Lawrence's face turned the color and texture of unpolished granite. Fletcher merely looked at the bookcase across the room. Her eyes seemed to be looking somewhere far beyond the office. Frawley turned to gaze questioningly at Lawrence. The doc-tor shook his head resignedly, peering at a poker-faced Fletcher. "All right," the DA said. "It's pretty obvious that you've thought all this out rather thoroughly. You must have figured you'd get caught someday." He sat back in his chair with weary heaviness. "You've committed what I personally consider to be a repulsive medical experiment, and you've covered your ass admirably. I'm turning this over to a grand jury, and I'll let them issue any indictments. Until then, you're free to go. And I hope you don't have anything put through your windows."
Johnson smiled. "Thank you, Mr. District Attorney."
"And you-" Frawley said. "You just watch your step. If I have to deal with you at all, just remember that we're both officers of the same damned court."
The young man tried to suppress a sardonic smile. "I'm fully aware of that, sir." He switched off the recorder, putting it and his notepad back in the briefcase.
Evelyn stood and turned to go.
"Oh, Dr. Fletcher," Frawley added. "Don't leave the county of Los Angeles without giving us a call, will you?"
"Of course I won't leave," she said. "I have patients to care for."
"You certainly do not!" Dr. Lawrence stared at her in shock. "Your privileges are suspended pending full BMQA review. And I'm going to find a way to sack you regardless of any outcome."
"That's absurd," she said. "Renata requires-"
"Newborn babies are not uncommon in medicine," he shot back. "I'm certain that we-"
"You're certain of nothing because you have no facts!" Her gaze smoldered for a moment. "I know you view the Hippo-cratic oath as a joke, considering how you have your doctors ignore the part about never conducting abortions-"
"I took the oath of Geneva," Lawrence said. "It had nothing about abor-"
"-but think of the publicity crisis you'd have if Renata died because I was barred from helping her," she continued with-out interruption. "Bad for funding."
"Why does it always come down to money and publicity with you?" he asked.
"Because that's what it comes down to with you."
"Until the outcome of the inquest," Johnson interjected, "showing cause for suspension under such circumstances would be diffic-"