Robin Cook: Terminal

“You could have made sure Kevin Porter told the judge there were extenuating circumstances,” Sean complained.

“An arraignment is not a trial,” Brian explained. “I told you that already. It’s only a time for you to hear the formal charges against you and for you to enter your plea. Besides, Kevin alluded to extenuating circumstances during the bail portion.”

“That’s another thing,” Sean said. “Five hundred thousand dollars bail! My God! Couldn’t he have done better than that? Now we’ve tied up part of our seed capital of Oncogen.”

“You’re lucky to be out on bail, period,” Brian said. “Let’s go over your charges again: conspiracy, grand larceny, burglary, burglary with a deadly weapon, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, kidnapping, mayhem, and mutilation of a dead body. My God, Sean, why’d you leave out rape and murder?”

“What about the Dade County District Attorney?” Sean asked.

“They call him State’s Attorney down here,” Brian said. “I met with him and with the U.S. District Attorney last night. While you were comfortably sleeping in jail, I was working my butt off.”

“What did they say?”

“They were both interested, obviously,” Brian said. “But without any evidence to present to them other than some circumstantial travel records and copies of hospital charts, they wisely withheld comment.”

“What about Helen Cabot’s brain?” Sean asked. “That’s the evidence.”

“It’s not evidence yet,” Brian said. “The tests you say you ran haven’t been reproduced.”

“Where is the brain itself?” Sean asked.

“It’s been impounded by the police,” Brian said. “But it is in the physical custody of the Dade County Medical Examiner. Remember, it’s stolen property. So that’s an added problem about its status as evidence.”

“I hate lawyers,” Sean said.

“And I have a feeling you’ll be liking them even less by the time this is over,” Brian said. “I heard this morning that in light of your irresponsible and slanderous statements that Forbes has retained one of the country’s most successful and flamboyant lawyers as well as the backup of Miami’s largest firm. A number of powerful people from all over the country are incensed by your allegations and are flooding Forbes with money for legal representation. In addition to the criminal charges, you’ll be facing a blizzard of civil suits.”

“I’m not surprised that important business people are standing behind Forbes,” Sean said. “But these same people will have a change of heart when they learn that the fantastic cure Forbes provided them was for a brain cancer that Forbes caused.”

“You’d better be right about that,” Brian said.

“I’m right,” Sean said. “The tumor I checked had four viral oncogenes. Even finding one in a natural tumor would have been astounding.”

“But that’s only one tumor out of thirty-eight cases,” Brian said.

“Don’t worry,” Sean said. “I’m right about this.”

“But the other evidence has already been thrown into question,” Brian said. “Through its lawyers, Forbes is saying that the fact that Dr. Deborah Levy happened to be in relevant cities the same day subsequent Forbes patients underwent elective surgery was purely coincidental.”

“Oh, sure,” Sean said sarcastically.

“They do have a point,” Brian said. “First of all, her travel did not match all the cases.”

“So they sent someone else,” Sean said. “Like Margaret Richmond. You’ll have to subpoena all their travel records.”

“There’s more to it,” Brian said. “Forbes contends that Dr. Levy is an on-site inspector for the College of American Pathology. I already checked it out. It’s true. She often travels around the country making clinical lab inspections necessary for hospitals to maintain accreditation. I’ve also already checked some of the hospitals. It seems Dr. Levy did make inspections on those specific days.”

“What about the program running at night with the social security numbers?” Sean asked. “That’s pretty incriminating.”

“Forbes has already categorically denied it,” Brian said. “They say that they access insurance companies on a regular basis but purely to process claims. They say they never access precertification files for elective surgery. And what’s more, the insurance companies claim that all their files are secure.”

“Of course the companies would say that,” Sean said. “I’m sure they’re all quaking in their boots that they might be drawn in on the civil side of this. But in regard to the program at Forbes, Janet and I saw it running.”

“It will be tough to prove,” Brian said. “We’d need the program itself, and they certainly aren’t going to give it to us.”

“Well, damn!” Sean said.

“It’s all going to come down to the science and whether we can get a jury to believe it or even understand it,” Brian said. “I’m not sure I do. It’s pretty esoteric stuff.”

“Where’s Janet?” Sean asked. They started walking again.

“She’s in my car,” Brian said. “Her arraignment was much earlier and a bit easier, but she wanted to get out of the courthouse. I can’t blame her. This whole experience has unnerved her. She’s not accustomed to being in trouble the way you are.”

“Very funny,” Sean said. “Is she being charged?”

“Of course she’s being charged,” Brian said. “What do you think, these people down here are morons? She was an accomplice for everything except assault with a deadly weapon and the kidnapping. Fortunately, the judge seemed to believe her biggest crime is associating with you. He didn’t set bail. She was released on her own recognizance.”

As they neared Brian’s rental car, Sean could see Janet sitting in the front seat. She had her head leaning back on the headrest and she appeared to be asleep. But as Sean came alongside the car, her eyes popped open. Seeing Sean, she scrambled out of the car and hugged him.

Sean hugged her back, feeling self-conscious with his brother standing next to them.

“Are you all right?” Janet asked, pulling her head away but keeping her arms around Sean’s neck.

“Fine, and you?”

“Being in jail was an eye-opener,” she admitted. “I guess I got a little hysterical at first. But my parents flew down with a family attorney who speeded up my arraignment.”

“Where are your parents now?” Sean asked.

“Back at a hotel,” Janet said. “They’re mad I wanted to wait for you.”

“I can imagine,” Sean said.

Brian consulted his watch. “Listen, you two,” he said. “Dr. Mason has scheduled a news conference at noon at Forbes. I think we should go. I was worried we’d still be tied up here at the courthouse, but there’s time. What do you say?”

“Why should we go?” Sean asked.

“I’m concerned about this case, as you can tell,” Brian said. “I’m worried about getting a fair trial here in Miami. I’d prefer that this news conference not turn into the public relations bonanza I believe Forbes expects it to be. Your being there will tone down their rhetoric. It will also help establish you as a responsible individual who is serious about his allegations.”

Sean shrugged. “Okay by me,” he said. “Besides, I’m curious what Dr. Mason will say.”

“Okay by me,” Janet said.

Because of traffic, it took more time than Brian expected to drive from the Dade County Courthouse, but they were still on time for the news conference when they finally pulled into the Forbes parking area. The conference was scheduled to be held in the hospital auditorium, and all the parking spaces near the hospital were occupied. Several TV vans were parked in the fire lane near the hospital’s front door. Brian had to drive around by the research building to find a space.