Робин Кук - Mortal Fear

“Absolutely,” Jason said. Carol went around to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge.

“First of all, they picked Juan up in Miami. He has a sheet a mile long. You name it. He’s one of Castro’s gifts to America. We’re going to try to get him extradited to Massachusetts for Brennquivist’s and Lund’s murders, but it’ll be tough. Seems four or five other states want the creep for similar capers, including Florida.”

“Can’t say I feel very sorry for him,” Jason said.

“The guy’s a psychopath,” Curran agreed.

“What about GHP?” Jason asked. “Have you been able to prove that the releasing factor for the death gene was introduced into the eyedrops used by the ophthalmological office?”

“We’re working closely with the DA’s office on it,” Curran said. “It’s turning out to be quite a story.”

“How much do you feel will be made public?”

“At this point we aren’t certain. Some will have to come out. The Hartford School’s closed and the parents of those kids aren’t blind. Furthermore, as the DA points out, there’s a slew of local families with million-dollar lawsuits to file against the GHP. Shirley and her crew are finished.”

“Shirley...” Jason said wistfully. “You know, there was a time, if I hadn’t met Carol, I might have gotten involved with the lady.”

Carol shook a playful fist at him.

“I guess I owe you an apology, doctor,” Curran said. “At first I thought you were just a pain in the ass. But it turns out you’re responsible for busting the deadliest conspiracy I’ve ever heard of.”

“It was mostly luck,” Jason said. “If I hadn’t been with Hayes the night he died, we doctors would have thought we were battling some new epidemic.”

“This guy Hayes must have been a smart cookie,” Curran said.

“A genius,” Carol said.

“You know what bugs me the most?” Curran said. “Until the end Hayes thought he was working on a discovery to help mankind. Probably thought he’d be a hero, like Salk. Nobel prizes and all that. Save the world. I’m not a scientist, but it seems to me Hayes’s whole field of research is pretty damned scary. You know what I mean?”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Jason said. “Medical science has always assumed its research would save lives and reduce suffering. But now science has awesome potential. Things can go either way.”

“As I understand it,” Curran said, “Hayes found a drug that makes people age and die in a couple of weeks — and he wasn’t even looking for it. Makes me think you eggheads are out of control. Am I wrong?”

“I agree,” Jason said. “Maybe we’re getting too smart for our own good. It’s like eating the forbidden fruit all over again.”

“Yeah, and we’re going to get kicked right out of paradise,” Curran added. “Incidentally, doesn’t Uncle Sam have watchdogs overseeing guys like Hayes?”

“They don’t have a very good record on this sort of thing,” Jason explained. “Too many conflicts of interest. Besides, both doctors and laymen tend to believe all medical research is inherently good.”

“Wonderful,” snorted Curran. “It’s like a car barreling down the freeway at a hundred miles an hour with no driver.”

“That’s probably the best analogy I’ve ever heard,” Jason said.

“Oh, well.” The detective shrugged his huge shoulders. “At least we can deal with GHP. Formal indictments are coming down soon. Of course, the whole pack is out on bail. But the case has broken wide open, with all the principals stabbing each other in the back and trying to plea bargain. Seems that friend Hayes originally approached some guy by the name of Ingelbrook.”

“Ingelnook. He’s one of the GHP vice presidents,” Jason said. “I think he’s in finance.”

“Must be,” Curran said. “Apparently Hayes approached him for seed capital to front a company.”

“I know,” Jason said.

The detective looked hard at him. “Did you, now? And just how did you know about that, Dr. Howard?”

“It’s unimportant. Go on.”

“Anyway,” Curran said, “Hayes must have told Ingelnook that he was about to develop some kind of elixir of youth.”

“That would have been an antibody to the death-hormone releasing factor,” Jason said.

“Hold it a minute,” Curran said. “Maybe you should. be telling me this stuff rather than vice versa.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “It’s all finally making sense to me. Please — go on.”

“Ingelnook must have liked the death hormone better than the elixir of youth,” Curran continued. “For some time he’d been racking his brains about lowering costs at GHP to keep them competitive. So far the conspiracy only involves six people, but there may be more. They’ve been responsible for eliminating a lot of patients they thought were going to use more than their fair share of medical services. Nice, huh?”

“So they killed them,” Carol said with horror.

“Well, they kept telling themselves that the process was natural,” Curran said.

“Some excuse for murder — we’re all going to die anyway,” Jason commented bitterly. The faces of some of his recently deceased patients rose to haunt him.

“In any case, it’s the end of GHP,” Curran said. “The criminal charges notwithstanding, malpractice claims are through the roof. GHP is already filing for Chapter Eleven. So I think you’ll be looking for a job.”

“Looks like it.” Then, looking up at Carol, Jason added, “Carol’s finishing her studies in clinical psychology. We thought we’d open an office together. I think I want to get back to private practice. No more corporations for a while.”

“That sounds cozy,” Curran said. “Then I can get my head and my ticker fixed at the same place.”

“You can be our first patient.”