whatever Lisa was asking questions about. I need to find out what that something was. Henry Chan didn't tell me anything. You have to help me.'
'No way,' said Kelly. She dropped her cigarette and stepped on the butt. 'I'm not going to talk to you about BioOne. You're not getting me into trouble too.'
She turned and walked out of the alleyway.
'Kelly. It's for Lisa's sake, too.'
'Bullshit. You're just trying to save your own ass. And I'm not going to help you.'
We were in the road leading to Boston Peptides, Kelly walking fast, me keeping pace with her.
'At least tell me where Lisa is staying.'
Kelly stopped. 'If she wants you to know where she's living, she'll tell you. Now beat it or I'll scream. And I can scream real loud.'
Kelly was serious. I gave up, and trudged back up the road to the 'T' at Central.
26
I returned to the office to find Daniel recovered and ready to gossip.
'Hey, Simon, what's up?' he said as I entered the room.
'Hi, Daniel.'
'God, can you believe what happened to John?'
'No. It was terrible, wasn't it?'
'Did you know he was a fag?'
I felt a rush of irritation. 'No, Daniel, I didn't. He's dead, OK? It doesn't matter.'
I glanced over at John's desk. Empty. It looked strangely tidy.
Daniel followed my glance. 'The cops have been all over it. They took a ton of documents away. They're going to be very bored, I promise you.'
I walked over to the desk, and had a quick look through it. There was nothing of any personal value left. All his working files had been taken too.
Daniel was watching me. 'The cops were asking all kinds of weird questions this morning. Like did I know he and Frank were doing each other. Frank! Can you believe it?'
I sighed. 'Daniel, the guy we worked with for two years has been killed. It doesn't matter what he did with his personal life.'
'No, of course not,' said Daniel. 'But Frank Cook! I mean, did you suspect anything? He was your father-in- law.'
'No I didn't suspect anything,' I answered, letting my irritation show.
'I heard you spent the evening in the police station? I guess they thought you'd killed John because you were the one who found him?'
'Something like that,' I said. 'But they had no evidence, so they let me go. Eventually'
'It must have been rough.'
'I wouldn't recommend it.'
'There's been pandemonium here,' Daniel said. 'Gil is furious. I think he's just as angry about John and Frank having an affair as about John getting killed. Luckily the press hasn't got hold of that angle yet. Art went off for lunch and hasn't been seen since, and Ravi looks like a scared rabbit. Only Diane is keeping cool. And me of course.'
'Of course.'
'I mean, people are frightened. First Frank, then John. It could be any one of us next. Actually, it will probably be you.'
'Thanks a lot, Daniel. That possibility hadn't escaped me.'
'Be careful, Simon.' Daniel's tone was serious, for once.
'There's not a lot I can do,' I said. 'But can you do me a favour?'
'Sure,' he replied.
'Can you find out some stuff about BioOne for me?'
'BioOne? What's that got to do with anything?'
'I'm not sure. You know Lisa was fired from Boston Peptides?'
'Yeah. Art told me. He seemed kind of pleased about it, to be honest.'
'Bastard,' I muttered.
'Tell her I'm sorry when you see her.'
'That's unlikely,' I said. 'She's gone back to California.'
'Oh,' said Daniel. 'Not good.'
'Not good at all,' I agreed. 'Anyway, she was fired for asking Thomas Enever some awkward questions about BioOne's wonder drug.'
'So?'
I leaned forward. 'John phoned me before he died. He left a message on my machine. Said he had found out something about BioOne that might interest me. That's why I went to see him on Saturday night.'
'But you never got a chance to talk to him?'
'No.'
'I see. So what might interest you about BioOne?'
'I don't know anything, that's the problem. Is there anything funny going on there? Anything that might lead to Frank and John getting killed?'
Daniel shrugged. 'Such as?'
'Something wrong with neuroxil-5, perhaps? That was what Lisa was asking Enever about.'
'I don't think so,' answered Daniel. 'I just do the number-crunching remember, but I haven't heard anyone talk about problems with the drug. In fact they all seem to think it's working very well in the clinical trials. They're pretty confident.'
'By 'they', who do you mean?'
Daniel paused. 'Everyone at the company that I come across. Art, obviously. Jerry Peterson, Enever, the CFO, even Harrison Brothers, the investment bankers.'
'You don't think they're hiding anything?'
'It doesn't look like it to me. But I'm no biotech expert. I can poke around discreetly if you like.'
I smiled thankfully. 'That would be great, Daniel,' I said.
'Is there anything else you think might be the problem?' he asked.
'I don't know. There are so many things it might be. Fraud. Insider trading, perhaps. Perhaps something to do with the Boston Peptides take-over.'
'I'll see what I can do,' said Daniel. 'It'll be tough, though. Art keeps all the information on BioOne strictly to himself
'I know,' I said. 'That's why I'm planning to ask him about it myself
Daniel winced. 'Now that will be fun. And if he comes up with anything interesting, be sure to tell me. The more I work with him, the more I think it could be a laundry detergent company for all he knows.'
Art's door was open. I knocked. He was back from lunch, on the phone. A faint smell of alcohol hung in the room. He waved me to a seat and continued talking. Usual Art conversation. It was actually about a new deal. Something to do with a company that did special effects for Hollywood. That sounded like it would have a sky-high bullshit quotient. A great deal for Art.
Finally the phone went down. 'That is a deal we have to do,' said Art.
'Good,' I replied, not willing to be drawn.
'What can I do for you, Simon?' He looked at his watch. 'I've got a few calls to make.' He and I had done a pretty good job of avoiding each other in the week or so since I had visited him at his house. But I needed to pin him down now.
