Richard Mabry - Lethal Remedy

There was no mix-up. This was a means of applying pressure, plain and simple. He grabbed his computer case and started for the door, where he paused and looked at the room rates posted there. Of course, no one paid these rates, there were always discounts, and he had no doubt that the meeting organizers had arranged one. But the Hessischer Hof was a five-star establishment that housed only the VIP's, their tab picked up by companies with deep pockets, and the rooms, especially this one on the Executive Floor, weren't cheap. If Ingersoll had to pay for this himself, he could count on dropping a couple of thousand dollars for a few days' stay. He pulled the door closed behind him.

Okay, Bob, you've shown me the stick. It's time to go after the carrot.

Ingersoll peered into the semidarkness of the lecture hall and tried to read the faces of his audience. He was on the next to last slide of his PowerPoint presentation, emphasizing probably his most important and most controversial point: that Jandramycin was 100 percent effective against the untilthen lethal scourge, Staphylococcus luciferus, with absolutely no adverse effects noted. Unfortunately, the combination of a dark lecture hall and the spotlights aimed at the podium made it impossible for him to see beyond the first row. In his limited field of view, Ingersoll didn't see any frowns. No one was shaking his head. But he knew the reactions of the attendees in his field of view didn't constitute a representative sample. At any meeting, the population of the first row consisted of those waiting to present, plus a smattering of speakers who'd already been on the podium but hadn't been able to escape in a timely fashion. The acid test would come when the lights went up and the questions began. Most speakers were given ten minutes to present their work. Ingersoll was allotted twenty, with an additional ten for questions and discussion.

Not only that, his paper was the last one before a midmorning break, during which he would undoubtedly be held captive in the front of the lecture hall by individuals wanting a private word with him. Ingersoll pushed the button to project his last slide, one with a picture of an aerial view of the campus of the medical center with the seal of the university superimposed in the lower right corner. "I would like to thank my colleagues at the Southwestern Medical Center for their cooperation and assistance in obtaining patients for this study." He pushed the button again, and the screen went dark. He paused a moment to emphasize the separation of professional from commercial, then acknowledged the research grant from Jandra Pharmaceuticals that made the work possible. "My thanks also to the organizing committee for this invitation. Now I'd be pleased to answer any questions from the audience." The applause began immediately. In a few seconds, the volume rose as the translators in a glassed-in booth at the rear of the auditorium rendered his final words in German, French, and Spanish. Ingersoll looked to his left, where the session moderator sat at a table at the side of the stage, and asked with a lifted eyebrow and a gesture toward the podium whether he wished to take the microphone and direct the discussion session. The moderator, a French physician, gave a Gallic shrug and waved away the invitation.

Ingersoll wasn't sure whether this represented confidence in the speaker's ability to handle whatever came up or a desire on the part of the moderator to distance himself from the presentation. The questions followed a predictable pattern, and Ingersoll had the answers readily available, either offthe top of his head or in one of the slides he'd presented, a set still displayed as a series of thumbnails on the monitor in front of him. A young doctor in an ill-fitting blue suit stepped to the microphone that had been set up in the aisle. "In your doseranging study, what did you find to be the optimum dose?" Ingersoll moved his mouse over the appropriate slide and double-clicked. A graph filled the screens on either side of him as he discussed the dose-response curve, concluding his answer with,

"Even though there were no ill effects from the drug, we elected to use the lowest dose tested because the response was a 100 percent cure with it." There you go, Bob Wolfe. That's twice I've said it. An older doctor took his turn at the microphone. "Perhaps Dr. Clement can answer this. Will the recordings of this session include the discussion? " The moderator leaned into the table, pulled his microphone toward him, and said, " Oui." Ingersoll's amusement at the taciturn response died as he realized the implication of the question, something he'd totally forgotten. He ran his mind back over all the forms he'd completed and signed to confirm his invitation. He clenched his teeth when he realized that buried among them had been permission for his talk to be recorded. A few more questions followed, and Ingersoll answered them with no difficulty. He glanced at the clock on the podium. Time to wrap it up. He made a show of pushing back his sleeve to look at his watch. "We have time for one more question." Two men stood at the microphone in the aisle. The first in line was a young man with neatly styled black hair and a small Vandyke beard. The man behind him, who looked vaguely familiar to Ingersoll, wore a poorly cut blue suit that badly needed a pressing. The second man in line leaned forward and whispered urgently in the ear of the younger man. Whatever was said must have worked, because the man shrugged and gave up his position without a word. Blue suit moved forward to the microphone. Ingersoll recognized him and felt his heart rat-a-tat in his chest. " Ich bin… sorry. I'll speak English. I am Dr. Herman Rohde from Ulm, Germany. Like you, Professor Ingersoll, I have had the privilege of participating in the study of Jandramycin. My colleague and I have treated a number of patients, and like you, we have been pleased that there are no instances where the Staphylococcus luciferus failed to yield to the drug. But we are concerned that you are reporting no adverse effects to the drug." A low murmur swept through the auditorium. Ingersoll opened his mouth, but Rohde apparently wasn't finished. "I would like to ask you this specific question. Are you aware of any adverse consequences, either during the treatment or afterward, that can be attributed to Jandramycin?" Ingersoll wasn't sure whether this man was a plant or a fellow clinician asking an honest question. In either case, he had the answer ready almost before the words were out of Rohde's mouth. "I am unaware of any such adverse effects." Without waiting for a reply or a follow-up, he said, "That concludes our session. Again, thank you all for coming." Ingersoll reached down to retrieve his briefcase from its position beside the podium, and flinched as he anticipated running the gauntlet of people already forming up in the aisles to ask him questions. He was about to head down the steps when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Great presentation, Jack," Bob Wolfe said. He pointed to a small door offstage to their right. "If we duck out that door, we can avoid the crowd." Wolfe led the way into a small hallway. "Oh, by the way. Sorry about that mix-up about your hotel bill. I've got it straightened out now. Jandra is covering all your expenses, just as we promised. So enjoy your time here." Ingersoll didn't feel very grateful, but he managed to choke out a "Thanks." Well, they've got me on tape twice. I guess they really do own me.

John Ramsey scanned the crowded lecture hall and saw Lillian Goodman with an empty seat beside her. Judging from the PowerPoint slide on the screen, John figured he'd missed at most five minutes of the talk. He eased down the aisle, but hesitated when he saw something in the seat next to Lillian. She glanced toward him, smiled, and lifted her purse from the seat, gesturing him to sit. "Thanks for saving me a place," he whispered. She settled her purse onto the floor at her feet. "I thought you'd want to hear this." At first, John was interested in the presentation. But as the speaker went deeper and deeper into the molecular and genetic basis of his theories, he appeared to lose the attention of most of his audience, John included.