information about Insufort?”
“Angela, I haven’t had time to digest it all. I did learn recently that Dr. Kaidanov conducted this study, but I have not seen the study, so I can’t comment. But the news that Dr. Kaidanov may have been murdered is shocking and raises the possibility of a cover-up.
“I must say that I am stunned by the possibility that evidence of the horrible effects of Insufort may have been intentionally destroyed.”
The reporters moved to another story.
“Did you see that?” Daniel asked Kate.
“Yeah, and I just switched channels. The story was on the national news on Channel Six, too. Dan, I’ve got to ask: Did you leak the story?”
“Of course not. Briggs said he’d have me arrested if I told anyone what was on the hard drive.” Daniel paused as what he’d just said sank in. “Oh, man. If Briggs thinks I leaked the study I’m screwed.”
Kate and Daniel were silent for a moment. Then Kate asked the question they both wanted to ask.
“If you didn’t tell the media and I didn’t, who did?”
SIXTEEN
Billie Brewster sneaked a peek at the clock over the guard’s station at the end of the visitors’ room at the state penitentiary. Her brother noticed and he flashed her a tolerant smile.
“You got to go, sis?”
Billie was embarrassed at being caught. She’d never been able to put one over on Sherman.
“Duty calls, little brother.”
“That’s okay. Ain’t no one wants to stay here longer than they have to.”
“You remember that,” Billie said as she squeezed his hand.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m bein’ good.”
They stood and he hugged her tight. Billie hugged him back. She hated visiting her brother in this place, but she hated leaving him more. Every time the iron doors clanged shut behind her, she left a piece of her heart in the prison.
“Go on now,” Sherman told her, flashing an innocent, toothy smile that almost made her forget that he was kept here by a trap of his own design.
* * *
Outside, a sleeting rain was falling, cold and unpleasant, like Billie’s mood. As she walked along the sidewalk toward the prison parking lot, the detective hunched her shoulders. Her visits to her brother were always hard on her. After their father walked out, their mother had been forced to work two jobs. Billie was the only one around to raise Sherman. She was sixteen—still a child herself—but she’d tried the best she could to keep her brother straight. Her mother had told her repeatedly that it was not her fault that Sherman was at the penitentiary. She never really believed it.
This was Sherman’s third fall, but his first since she’d joined the police force. He used to get nervous when she visited, afraid that someone would find out his sister was a cop. A high-school friend who was a guard at the penitentiary kept her up-to-date on Sherman. She knew he was in a gang. Since he’d joined and made a rep he’d loosened up. Billie hated what he was doing, but she wanted him safe. Life was loaded with trade-offs.
Billie kept herself from thinking about her brother on the trip back to Portland by listening to loud music and reviewing her cases. When she passed the Wilsonville exit, she phoned in for messages and was glad there was one from Dr. Brubaker, the forensic dentist. The murder at the lab was her most interesting case.
She got Brubaker on her cell phone. “Hi, Harry, what have you got for me?”
“An identification on the body at the primate lab.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“It’s the lawyer from Arizona.”
“You’re kidding.”
“There’s no question about it. The dental records of Gene Arnold match perfectly.”
Completed in 1912, the thirteen-story Benson Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and was the hotel where presidents stayed when they visited Portland. Billie entered a luxurious lobby paneled in rich walnut, floored with Italian marble and lit
“Angela, I haven’t had time to digest it all. I did learn recently that Dr. Kaidanov conducted this study, but I have not seen the study, so I can’t comment. But the news that Dr. Kaidanov may have been murdered is shocking and raises the possibility of a cover-up.
“I must say that I am stunned by the possibility that evidence of the horrible effects of Insufort may have been intentionally destroyed.”
The reporters moved to another story.
“Did you see that?” Daniel asked Kate.
“Yeah, and I just switched channels. The story was on the national news on Channel Six, too. Dan, I’ve got to ask: Did you leak the story?”
“Of course not. Briggs said he’d have me arrested if I told anyone what was on the hard drive.” Daniel paused as what he’d just said sank in. “Oh, man. If Briggs thinks I leaked the study I’m screwed.”
Kate and Daniel were silent for a moment. Then Kate asked the question they both wanted to ask.
“If you didn’t tell the media and I didn’t, who did?”
SIXTEEN
Billie Brewster sneaked a peek at the clock over the guard’s station at the end of the visitors’ room at the state penitentiary. Her brother noticed and he flashed her a tolerant smile.
“You got to go, sis?”
Billie was embarrassed at being caught. She’d never been able to put one over on Sherman.
“Duty calls, little brother.”
“That’s okay. Ain’t no one wants to stay here longer than they have to.”
“You remember that,” Billie said as she squeezed his hand.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m bein’ good.”
They stood and he hugged her tight. Billie hugged him back. She hated visiting her brother in this place, but she hated leaving him more. Every time the iron doors clanged shut behind her, she left a piece of her heart in the prison.
“Go on now,” Sherman told her, flashing an innocent, toothy smile that almost made her forget that he was kept here by a trap of his own design.
* * *
Outside, a sleeting rain was falling, cold and unpleasant, like Billie’s mood. As she walked along the sidewalk toward the prison parking lot, the detective hunched her shoulders. Her visits to her brother were always hard on her. After their father walked out, their mother had been forced to work two jobs. Billie was the only one around to raise Sherman. She was sixteen—still a child herself—but she’d tried the best she could to keep her brother straight. Her mother had told her repeatedly that it was not her fault that Sherman was at the penitentiary. She never really believed it.
This was Sherman’s third fall, but his first since she’d joined the police force. He used to get nervous when she visited, afraid that someone would find out his sister was a cop. A high-school friend who was a guard at the penitentiary kept her up-to-date on Sherman. She knew he was in a gang. Since he’d joined and made a rep he’d loosened up. Billie hated what he was doing, but she wanted him safe. Life was loaded with trade-offs.
Billie kept herself from thinking about her brother on the trip back to Portland by listening to loud music and reviewing her cases. When she passed the Wilsonville exit, she phoned in for messages and was glad there was one from Dr. Brubaker, the forensic dentist. The murder at the lab was her most interesting case.
She got Brubaker on her cell phone. “Hi, Harry, what have you got for me?”
“An identification on the body at the primate lab.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“It’s the lawyer from Arizona.”
“You’re kidding.”
“There’s no question about it. The dental records of Gene Arnold match perfectly.”
Completed in 1912, the thirteen-story Benson Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and was the hotel where presidents stayed when they visited Portland. Billie entered a luxurious lobby paneled in rich walnut, floored with Italian marble and lit
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