criminal defense and plaintiff's litigation. I think you'll fit in over there a hell of a lot better than you fit in at Reed, Briggs.'
'Thanks, Kate. You're a good friend.'
'You're a good lawyer.'
Daniel was about to reply when something on the television caught his eye.
'Hold on, Kate. There's something on TV about the fire.'
On the screen, a reporter from one of the local television stations was standing in front of the burned-out shell of the primate lab.
'There is a bizarre twist in the multimillion-dollar litigation against Geller Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of the pregnancy drug Insufort,' the reporter said.
'Kate, turn on Channel Four, quick.'
'Late yesterday,' the reporter continued, 'this station received copies of a study alleged to have been made on rhesus monkeys that were burned to death in the building behind me. According to the study, a significant percentage of the monkeys that were given Insufort during pregnancy gave birth to babies with birth defects.
'Eyewitness News has learned that Dr. Sergey Kaidanov, the scientist alleged to have authored the study and an employee of Geller Pharmaceuticals, has disappeared. We have also learned that the remains of an unidentified male were found in this building, which was destroyed by arson. According to the police, the man was murdered.'
The picture changed and Aaron Flynn's face appeared on the screen.
'Earlier today, reporter Angela Graham talked with Aaron Flynn, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Insufort litigation.'
'Mr. Flynn, what is your reaction to this new 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?'
Chapter 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 by several crystal chandeliers, and found Kate waiting for her.
'Thanks for letting me tag along,' Kate said as they headed for the reception desk.
'You've been straight with me about your information. It's the least I can do.'
'I can't believe the body wasn't Kaidanov.'
'I'd have lost a bundle myself if I was a betting woman.'
Billie flashed her badge at a bright-eyed, Japanese woman and asked for Antonio Sedgwick, the hotel's chief of security. The woman went through a door behind the desk and returned a few minutes later with a muscular African-American in a conservative business suit. When the ex-Seattle cop spotted the homicide detective he flashed a big grin.
'Hey, Billie, haven't seen you in a while. You over here to scam a free lunch?'
'No such luck,' Billie answered with a smile.
'Who's your friend?' Sedgwick asked.
'Kate Ross. She's an investigator with the Reed, Briggs firm.'
Billie turned to Kate and pointed at the security chief. 'You have my permission to shoot this man if he comes on to you. He's a notorious womanizer.'
Sedgwick laughed.
'I ain't lyin',' Billie said with mock seriousness. 'Shoot to kill.'
'Besides ruining my love life, what brings you to the Benson?'
'One of your guests checked in on February twenty-ninth and disappeared by March seventh. Now he's turned up dead and I'd like to see his belongings.'
Sedgwick snapped his fingers. 'The guy from Arizona.'
Billie nodded. 'His name was Gene Arnold. What do you remember about him?'
'I never met him. He didn't check out on time, so we sent a bellman up to his room. There was a `Do Not Disturb' sign on the door. We usually wait when we see that. At the end of the day I let myself in. It looked like he planned on coming back. All his stuff was there: toiletries on the sink, clothes hung up in the closet and neatly placed in the drawers. If I remember, there was even a book open on the end table, American history or
