W Is for Wasted

talking about scientific fraud?”
    “That’s what it sounds like to me. He’s been in trouble before over lesser issues than this.”
    “You told me Mary Lee Bryce quit her job.”
    “She did. The same day Pete was killed.”
    “If she quit her job, where’s the threat to Linton Reed?”
    “She’s more likely to blow the whistle on him now. Besides, I have these medical charts Dace stole. Those should help. In the meantime, I did meet with Dr. Reed.”
    That caught him short. “Why?”
    “I wanted to hear what he had to say about Terrence Dace.”
    “And?”
    “He expressed regret about the deaths. He talked about how the study is set up and why he terminated Dace and his friend. Honestly, he made it all sound reasonable.”
    “I’m sure he did,” he said.
    “I’m trying to be fair about this, Cheney. That’s what I’m getting at. I’m not demonizing the guy. I’m not even saying he did anything on purpose. He had a theory about Glucotace. When he ran into a roadblock, instead of shutting the study down, he changed the data or deleted it.”
    “Weak.”
    “I know it’s weak. Most of this is circumstantial, but don’t sit there telling me it doesn’t count.”
    “Speculation. No real basis in fact. You think doctors won’t stand together in a situation like this?”
    “Indulge me, okay?”
    He smiled. “I’m already doing that. This is me indulging you.”
    “Just listen. Ruthie found a wad of cash that Pete stashed away. Suppose Linton’s prints are on the bills? Wouldn’t that suggest I’m on track here?”
    “You’re grasping at straws. I don’t understand how we get from fraud to homicide.”
    “Easy. Pete jacked him up for money. Reed paid him once, but he didn’t want to pay again, so he killed him.”
    “Where’s the gun? Does Linton even own one?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “You don’t even know for sure Pete and Linton Reed knew each other.”
    “Oh, but I do. Pete met with Reed on July 12 out at UCST. I saw his name in the appointment book, and Ruthie has the properly validated parking ticket, so don’t be a shit.”
    “I am a shit. That’s my job. I’m telling you what will fly and what won’t. All a defense attorney has to do is come up with a plausible explanation. All he needs is a story that covers the same points but with a different slant. You make it look one way? Fine. He can make it look like something else. Right now, there’s no eyewitness and the motive is imaginary. Some guy says he’ll expose you, you tell him to take a hike. You don’t fork over a couple of thousand bucks and then shoot his ass.”
    I reached for the bag I had placed at my feet and took out the shrink-wrapped prescription bottle. “This is one of Dace’s prescriptions. He believed they put him on Glucotace, along with Antabuse and another drug to reduce his craving for nicotine. I asked Dr. Reed straight out if Dace was taking Glucotace or the placebo. He thought about it briefly and said placebo. Can’t you get these analyzed and find out what they are?”
    “Why would we do that? There’s no case.”
    “But if the pills turn out to be Glucotace, it would support my argument, wouldn’t it?”
    “Tenuous at best.”
    “You have a better theory? You even have a suspect? Because I’m offering both.”
    “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying I can’t sell this. The DA’s tough. She won’t file if she doesn’t think she’s got something solid under her feet.” I could see him turn the issue over in his mind. “Promise me your access to this information is legitimate.”
    “Of course.” I tucked the pills back into my bag.
    “No breaking and entering.”
    I raised a hand as though swearing an oath.
    “You never impersonated an officer.”
    “I didn’t impersonate anybody. When I talked to Willard, I said I was a former colleague of Pete’s, which is true. I gave him my business card, so no funny business there.”
    He shook his head. “An investigation like this would take months.”
    “I understand. Just let me know if anything new develops. That’s all I ask.”
    “Sure, but don’t hold your breath.”

34
    I didn’t hear from Cheney until the following Tuesday morning. “The Ruger’s registered to a man named Sanford Wray.”
    I don’t know what I thought he was going to say but it wasn’t that. “Who’s he?”
    “Film producer. He started out as a venture capitalist and he’s been involved with Hollywood for the past six