Alex Barclay - Blood Loss

‘So,’ said Ren, ‘he wasn’t just trying to give the cops something to think about, trying to make them waste time looking for a link between the abduction and the rapes that were happening in Denver. He knew that what he was doing would scare the crap out of Laurie. He was showing her how much control he had over her. I know it would have scared the hell out of me when I was eleven. I’d pretty much go along with anything anyone said to me after that.’

How could you let this happen to your child?

‘What did you think happened?’ said Ren.

‘I thought … I thought … Jonathan was on our side. Oh my God. What have we done? I thought Jonathan was on our side.’

‘No,’ said Ren. ‘Mark was set up by Nolan Carr and Jonathan Meester, Cathy. Not only that, but they knew that the side effects of Ellerol and Cerxus taken together had likely caused Joshua Merritt to attack his sister, and Cameron Temple to have violent, psychotic episodes, that led to three rapes. Jonathan Meester was involved every step of the way. That’s what a wonderful godfather he was. That’s the man you thought loved your daughter. And the man who really did love her, killed for her, and died for her.’

Ren arrived into the office — an email had come in from Taber Grace. The subject was ‘Nolan Carr talking to Sales rep’.

It had an audio file attached. Ren played it. Nolan Carr was speaking.

‘… the missing link for us is not having an ADD drug. But obviously, we can at least step in after that. So, a kid’s diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, given whatever stimulant, which brings on manic symptoms, which more than likely is going to lead to a bipolar diagnosis next time he visits the doctor — he’s bouncing off the walls.’

Laughter.

‘Now,’ said Carr, ‘we’re talking — with bipolar on the table — down the road, the kid’s in line for an antidepressant, for an antipsychotic … so they’re coming our way. Cerxus and Ellerol. If you could see Cerxus and Ellerol as, you know, a duo, a Laurel amp; Hardy, a Ben amp; Jerry …’

Laughter.

‘Every child diagnosed with bipolar disorder,’ said Carr , ‘that’s $5,000 per annum. Multiply that …’

The pre-cursor to the combined pill.

Ren’s phone rang.

‘Thank you for giving me the great pleasure of watching Nolan Carr in handcuffs. Congratulations, Agent Bryce.’

‘Thank you very much,’ said Ren. ‘Thank you for everything you did.’

‘It was a risk worth half-taking.’

Ren laughed. ‘I saw your interview on CNN. I’m so happy that you had the chance to clear your name.’

‘I can’t tell you my relief.’

‘I can imagine.’ She paused. ‘Can I ask what happened in Boston?’

‘One of Nolan Carr’s lobbyists in Washington had tipped him off that I was liaising with the action group that were trying to introduce tighter regulation of the pharmaceutical industry. As you know, that’s not exactly my party’s traditional stance. When I was in Boston, I got a phone call from a man, he didn’t identify himself — he said that he wanted to arrange a meeting, so I agreed to see him that evening.’

‘Why did you agree to meet with a man who didn’t identify himself?’ said Ren.

‘Well, because he identified me: he had information about me, and about my family, that only I knew. This man told me to “quietly resign”. Obviously, I refused.’

‘He was threatening to reveal this information?’ said Ren.

‘No — he used it to prove the extent to which they could invade my life, and find things out, and that he’d do the same thing to my wife, my kids … he told me I could choose what way I bowed out. I had to pick my poison: child porn discovered on my computer, or I slept with a hooker. I told him he was insane and I left. He fired a warning shot that night: when I connected to the internet, a pornographic image of a child appeared on my computer screen …’ He paused. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’

Just like the teen girls on Mark Whaley’s computer.

‘Could you not have gone to the police with it?’ said Ren.

‘I was afraid to,’ said Collier. ‘It was as simple as that. I was afraid what would happen to me, to my family.’

‘What exactly happened at The Crawford that night?’ said Ren.

‘The night Tina Bowers showed up at my door, I was sitting on my bed in the hotel room, polishing my shoes. My wife called and I put her on speaker. She heard the knock on the door, I told her to stay on the line, that I wasn’t expecting anyone.’

‘And what happened?’ said Ren.

‘I opened the door, and Tina Bowers started to walk in. I asked her who she was, she told me that I knew “damn well” who she was. She tried to push me back into the room. She was very forceful. She was saying that she knew that this was what I wanted, and that …’ He paused. ‘She was speaking … in graphic terms,’ he said. ‘I told her that she was mistaken, that she had to leave, but that appeared to encourage her more. I had to physically remove her from the doorway, which is why my hands were on her arms in the photo. I had to almost push her into the hallway … which was terrible, I know, but she was very determined.’

‘Did she say anything after that?’ said Ren.

‘She just looked confused,’ said Collier. ‘I closed the door when I got the chance, but when I looked out of the spyhole, she was looking at the number on the opposite door like she was checking whether she had gotten the right room … and then I could see her sort of moving quickly back down the hallway.’ He let out a breath. ‘The whole thing was very unnerving.’

‘What was your reaction?’ said Ren.

‘I … I assumed she did get the wrong room, and that she thought my reluctance was part of a game, role-playing … I went back to my call with Marie. She didn’t hear exactly what happened, but she was aware that there were raised voices. I told her that someone had come to the wrong room. I didn’t tell her that it was a call-girl — that wouldn’t look good, no matter what.

‘So Marie knew when she saw the date-stamped photos that she had been on the phone with me before and after they were taken, for a total of forty-five minutes, so I couldn’t have had sex with Tina Bowers at that time. If you look closely at the photograph, you can see a dark patch on my shirt — polish, which is why I put Marie on speaker — I wanted to polish and talk at the same time. Because of the black mark, I had started to take off the shirt when Tina Bowers called. I assumed it was a room service guy. That’s why I looked a little rumpled, I opened the door just as I was, without thinking.’

‘What reason did you give your wife for confessing to something that didn’t happen?’ said Ren.

‘I did tell her that I was the victim of a smear campaign, but I told her it was to do with financial irregularities related to a hedge fund I was involved in. I told her that I could go to jail. She had seen what happened to the Madoffs …’

‘And she would do anything to stop that,’ said Ren.

Collier nodded. ‘I admitted to a hooker because the other option was child porn.’ He paused. ‘MeesterBrandt knew it was in trouble. If Mark Whaley’s evidence got out, Nolan Carr was about to saddle the company with a massive lawsuit over Cerxus and off-label marketing at the very least. There was a serious possibility that Cerxus could have been withdrawn from the market — it was clear that the benefits were negligible and the side effects were catastrophic. It got approved in the first place by all kinds of string-pulling. And Ellerol, it now seems, is not the wonder drug it claims to be …’