Jonathan Kellerman - The Conspiracy Club

But one particular illustration came to mind, now. An etched reproduction of chalk graffiti scrawled on a black brick wall in London’s East End. A message left at the scene of a prostitute killing- something about “the Juwes” not being blamed for nothing. The original writing had been sponged off, and some police constable had jotted from memory. The etcher had drawn upon his imagination.

The Ripper had done his thing in a heavily Jewish slum, and the accepted interpretation of the scrawl was an attempt to cast blame upon an already distrusted ethnic group.

According to Bernard Kaplan, Central Hospital had once been besmirched by anti-Semitism.

The murdered girls in the clipping had been English.

His head spinning, Jeremy closed the book and started the drive back to the hospital.

Oslo, Paris- Damascus by way of Berlin. The Syrian capital was sure to be a place hostile to Jews. And nowhere had Jew-hatred blossomed more fully than in Germany. Was Arthur guiding him in a certain direction?

Arthur and others? Tina Balleron hadn’t been the least bit surprised to hear about the envelopes.

So maybe the articles weren’t correspondence from a killer but precisely what he’d guessed initially: one of Arthur’s surrogates doing the old man’s bidding.

Leading him to an ancient Jewish book.

The only CCC member with a Jewish surname was Norbert Levy and during Jeremy’s initial search nothing had come up linking the engineering professor to any homicides. Maybe he just needed to dig deeper.

He pressed down on the gas pedal, drove too quickly on streets slicked by oil and rain, found his way to the doctors’ lot, parked quickly. Bounding out of the car, he hurried to his office.

A specific assignment. That felt good.

He’d barely hung his coat and booted up the computer when Angela phoned.

“I need to come over.”

“Right now?”

“Yes- may I? Please?”

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t want to talk about it over the phone. Are you free? Please say you are.”

“I am,” said Jeremy.

“I’m coming now.”

She burst in wearing a black blouse tucked into khakis, and sneakers. No coat or stethoscope. Her hair was tied back carelessly and loose strands flew out wildly. Her eyes were raw, her cheeks tear-streaked.

“What is it?” said Jeremy.

She flashed a smile that sickened him. Pure defeat. When the words came out, her voice was strangled.

“I am so, so stupid.”

Dirgrove had hit on her. Hard.

It had just happened- thirty minutes ago- in the surgeon’s office. She’d been sitting shell-shocked in the female residents’ locker room since then, had finally garnered the energy to call Jeremy.

Dirgrove had set it up carefully, inviting her over to discuss the aftereffects of coronary bypass surgery.

Something you should know, Dr. Rios, as a practicing physician.

When she showed up, he greeted her warmly but with formality, remained behind his desk and pointed to the journal articles he’d laid out for her in a neat, overlapping row. Bookmarks designated pages he deemed noteworthy.

When she sat down, he began lecturing her about patient care, then instructed her to have a look at one article in particular. His tie was tightly knotted, and he smelled freshly showered. When Angela began reading, he came around from behind his desk, made a show of smoothing the tailored white coats and freshly pressed scrubs that hung from a wooden rack next to a burbling saltwater aquarium.

Then he moved behind her. Stood there as she read.

She was halfway through the methodology section when a hand alit on her shoulder.

That was the way she thought of it. Alighting. Like a bird- no, an even flimsier creature- an insect. A mayfly.

Such a delicate touch, those spidery fingers.

Proximity added a new fragrance to the squeaky-clean aroma. A nice cologne, something herbaceous, masculine, applied sparingly.

She could hear her own breathing but not his.

He kept talking. His words blurred, and all she could feel was the touch of his fingers.

Drumming her shoulder, slowly. Moving to the nape of her neck, warm and dry.

Confident. It was that- his confidence, realizing how smug he felt- that froze her.

She shrugged him off- violently, she thought. But he didn’t react except to lift the mayfly fingers.

She told herself to forget it, keep reading for an obligatory interval, then make some excuse and get out of there.

She heard him sigh. Regretful, she hoped. No harm, no foul.

Then the hand- both hands- returned. Got busy immediately. Before she realized what was happening, one had slid down the front of her blouse, wormed under her bra, cupped her breast, grabbed hold of a nipple, and pinched it gently to erection. The other stroked the nearly invisible down along her jawline. As if sketching the contour. As if drawing a preincision line.

She jumped up, faced him.

He stood there, hands at his side. Bent a knee because no gesture could be more casual than that.

“I can make you very happy,” he said.

She’d prepared an outraged retort; her words died.

He smirked.

She croaked out: “How… could you!”

He said, “Is that an objection? Or an inquiry about technique. If it’s the latter, I’d be happy to show you how I could .”

He touched his crotch. Massaged himself, showed off the obvious enthusiasm that tented his trousers.

She fled. Heard him laughing as she slammed his door.

“Report the bastard,” said Jeremy, squeezing the words out between clenched jaws. Fighting to keep his voice even.

She flew into his arms, freed herself, began circling the office. Stopping at the window, she stared out at the air shaft, threw up her hands.

“Oh, shit,” she moaned. “I left my coat there. And my scope. I’m going to have to go back there.”

“No way. I’ll get them for you.”

“No- please. I don’t want a scene. Let’s just forget it. I’ll figure something out.”

Jeremy didn’t answer.

Angela said, “What? Why are you so quiet?”

“Are you really able to forget it?”

“I don’t know.”

“He should be reported, Angela.”

“What happens, then? His word against mine? An R-II against a tenured professor? It could never be proved. Copping a feel? I’ll be drawn into a huge mess. Things will never be the same for me, here.”

She pounded the windowsill with her fist. “Damn him! Fuck him!” A sickly smile spread across her lips. “Poor choice of words… God, Jeremy, how could I be so dumb !”

She hurried to his patient chair and slumped down heavily. “My coat and my scope. That’s all I care about, I just want never to see him again. I’m off Thoracic in two days, anyway. There’ll be no reason to see him. What was I thinking? I’m not going to be a cutter. What possessed me to want to waste my time with him?”

“This isn’t about you being dumb. You wanted to be a better doctor. You believed he wanted to teach you.”

“Yes. That’s true.” Her chest heaved. “But you knew better, didn’t you?”

“No,” he said. “I was just jealous.”

She managed a half smile. “Oh, Jer, how could I have been so gullible? Would I have hung out with him if he looked like a troll? If he hadn’t paid attention to me- singled me out from the other residents? I’d like to think I would’ve. I just wish I could be sure.”

She doubled over in the chair. When she looked up her eyes were heavy with… guilt.

She’d been attracted to Dirgrove.

My jealousy wasn’t baseless. Maybe my intuition’s coming back.

He said, “It really doesn’t matter what you thought or felt. He’s the offender. He brought you in under false pretenses, touched you abusively, and when you let him know you weren’t interested, he compounded the insult by grabbing his dick.”