The Dolomite Solution by Trevor Scott Page B

still numb, not sure at first if he should believe her, and then realizing that she had nothing to gain by lying.
    She found herself driving slower than normal now.
    Clouds swirled around the setting sun, exposing the valley below in an eerie hue of blue and green.
    Toni was thinking about asking him more about his research, which he had managed to avoid up to this point. She had already told him she planned on sticking with him until he could present his findings to his sponsor, Tirol Genetics, in the morning. He had seemed somewhat comforted by that thought.
    â€œDo you have a copy of everything?” she finally asked, breaking the silence.
    â€œWhat?” He turned, confused.
    â€œDo you have a copy of all your research?”
    â€œI would be a fool not to. Wouldn’t you say?”
    â€œWhat about Leonhard? Did he have copies made?”
    He thought for a moment, having a hard time thinking of his friend, whom he had worked so closely with for two years, in the past tense. “We knew our studies were important, but didn’t expect someone to try to kill us for the results.”
    â€œIs that a no?”
    â€œI don’t know,” he screeched, showing a side she had not seen in the man. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. We made copies of everything we did on the computer. That was my fault. I still don’t trust machines. I was the consummate note taker. Leonhard transposed my notes into the computer and made a copy for me.”
    She thought about visiting Leonhard Aldo’s house that morning, and how she had found no computer disks. “Did you have a lab at Passo di Villa?” She knew the answer already, but he didn’t need to know that.
    â€œWe immersed ourselves into the village,” he said. “As you probably know, much of my work is done studying empirical data based on our DNA samples. We would send our blood samples to the university once a week, our graduate research assistants would do the initial isolation, and then Leonhard and I would follow up on the weekends. We had talked about setting up a lab, and even moving into the same house to save expenses. But we thought to really understand what made the place special, how to unfold the mystery, was to become one of them. We even rented houses on opposite sides of the village so we could maintain an objective eye. It worked. I’m certain of that.”
    â€œSo are a lot of other people,” she said. “You’ve made a number of groups of people nervous.”
    He raised his brows. “How could we have done that?”
    Toni watched the rearview mirror. An ambulance was approaching swiftly with its lights flashing but no siren. She held the steering wheel with both hands as the ambulance flew by, sending her car sideways in the vortex.
    â€œThis thing you’ve discovered in Passo di Villa,” Toni started. “This wonder. Is making a lot of medical professionals question whether they’ll have a job in a few years. There’s no need to do all those heart bypasses and other expensive procedures if people can keep their arteries clear of plaque with a simple pill.”
    He looked horrified, as if he’d seen his own death ahead. He started to say something, and stopped.
    â€œYou didn’t think I knew about that? I also know about the independent research you and Leonhard did conduct at the University of Milan when you came down out of the Dolomites. You found the answer to the mystery of Passo di Villa sooner than your superiors at the university knew, and before your sponsor at Tirol Genetics knew. But you wanted to make absolutely sure that you were correct. So you tested the solution on rats in Milan and that research confirmed your beliefs. The next step was humans.” She paused and glanced for a reaction, which was unmistakable disbelief.
    â€œHow could you know this?”
    â€œLet’s just say I’m good at what I do.” That sounded a