A sleepy Sterling picked up on the third ring.
“He’s left the lair and is heading west,” Wayne said. “Presumably to Forbes.”
“Okay,” Sterling said. “Stay with him. I’ll join you. I was just informed a half an hour ago that the Sushita jet is winging south at this very moment.”
“Sounds like game time,” Wayne said.
“That’s my assumption,” Sterling said.
ANNE MURPHY was depressed again. Charles had come home, but he’d only stayed one night. And now that he was gone, the apartment seemed so lonely. He was such a pleasure to be with, so calm and so close to God. She was still in bed, wondering if she should get up, when the front door buzzer sounded.
Anne reached for her plaid robe and headed for the kitchen. She wasn’t expecting anyone, but then she hadn’t been expecting the two callers inquiring about Sean, either. She remembered her promise not to talk to any strangers about Sean or Oncogen.
“Who is it?” Anne asked, pressing the talk button of her intercom.
“Boston police,” a voice replied.
A shiver went down Anne’s spine as she buzzed the door open. She was sure this visit meant Sean had reverted to his old ways. After quickly brushing out her hair, she went to the door. A man and a woman were standing there, dressed in Boston police uniforms. Anne had never seen either of them before.
“Sorry to bother you, ma’am,” the female officer said. She held up her identification. “I’m Officer Hallihan and this is Officer Mercer.”
Anne was clutching the lapels of her robe, holding it closed. The police had come to the door a number of times when Sean had been a teenager. This visit brought back bad memories.
“What’s the problem?” Anne asked.
“Are you Anne Murphy, mother of Sean Murphy?” Officer Hallihan asked.
Anne nodded.
“We’re here at the request of the Miami police,” Officer Mercer said. “Do you know where your son Sean Murphy is currently?”
“He’s at the Forbes Cancer Center in Miami,” Anne said. “What’s happened?”
“We don’t know that,” Officer Hallihan said.
“Is he in trouble?” Anne asked, afraid to hear the answer.
“We really have no information,” Officer Hallihan said. “Do you have an address for him there?”
Anne went to the telephone table in the hall, copied down the address of the Forbes residence, and gave it to the police.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Hallihan said. “We appreciate your cooperation.”
Anne closed the door and leaned against it. In her heart, she knew that what she’d feared had happened: Miami had been the bad influence she’d suspected; Sean was in trouble again.
As soon as she thought she was composed enough, Anne called Brian at home.
“Sean’s in trouble again,” she blurted when Brian answered. Tears came as soon as she got the words out.
“Mom, try to control yourself,” Brian said.
“You have to do something,” Anne said between sobs.
Brian got his mother to calm down enough to tell him what had happened and what the police had said.
“It’s probably some traffic violation,” Brian said. “He probably drove over someone’s lawn, something like that.”
“I think it’s worse,” Anne sniffled. “I know it is. I can feel it. That boy will be the death of me.”
“How about if I come over?” Brian said. “I’ll make some calls in the meantime and check it out. I bet it’s something minor.”
“I hope so,” Anne said as she blew her nose.
While Anne waited for Brian to drive over from Marlborough Street, she dressed and began putting her hair up. Brian lived across the Charles River in Back Bay, and since it was Saturday with no traffic, he was there in half an hour. When he buzzed to let her know he was on his way up, Anne was putting in the last of her hairpins.
“Before I left my apartment I put in a call to a lawyer colleague in Miami by the name of Kevin Porter,” Brian told his mother. “He works for a firm we do business with in the Miami area. I told him what had happened, and he said he had an in with the police and could find out what’s going on.”
“I know it’s bad,” Anne said.
“You don’t know it’s bad!” Brian said. “Now don’t get yourself all worked up. Remember last time you ended up in the hospital.”
The call from Kevin Porter came within minutes of Brian’s arrival.
“I’m afraid I don’t have great news for you,” Kevin said. “A liquor store owner got your brother’s tag leaving the scene of a burglary.”
Brian sighed and looked at his mother. She was sitting on the very edge of a straight-backed chair with her hands clasped together in her lap. Brian was furious with Sean. Didn’t he ever consider the effects of his escapades on their poor mother?
“It’s a weird story,” Kevin continued. “It seems that a dead body was mutilated and, you ready for this . . . ?”
“Let me have the whole story,” Brian said.
“Somebody stole the brain out of the body,” Kevin said. “And this body wasn’t some derelict. The deceased was a young woman whose father is some business bigwig up there in Beantown.”
“Here in Boston?”
“Yup, and there’s a big ruckus down here because of his connections,” Kevin said. “Pressure is being put on the police to do something. The state’s attorney has drawn up a list of charges a mile long. The medical examiner who looked at the body guessed the skull had been opened with a jigsaw.”
“And Sean’s 4 ? 4 was seen leaving the scene?” Brian asked. He was already trying to think of a defense.
“Afraid so,” Kevin said. “Plus one of the medical examiners says your brother and a nurse were at the medical examiner’s office only a few hours before asking about the same body. Seems they wanted samples. Looks like they got them. Obviously the police are looking for your brother and the nurse for questioning and probably arrest.”
“Thanks, Kevin,” Brian said. “Let me know where you’ll be today. I might need you, especially if Sean is arrested.”
“You can reach me all weekend,” Kevin said. “I’ll leave word at the station to call me if your brother is picked up.”
Brian slowly replaced the receiver and looked at his mother. He knew she wasn’t ready for this, especially since she thought Sean was alone in Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Do you have Sean’s phone numbers handy?” he asked. He tried to keep the concern out of his voice.
Anne got them for him without speaking.
Brian called the residence first. He let it ring a dozen times before giving up. Then he tried calling the Forbes Cancer Center research building. Unfortunately all he got was a recording saying that the switchboard was open Monday through Friday, eight until five.
Picking the phone back up decisively, he called Delta Airlines and made a reservation on the noon flight to Miami. Something strange was going on, and he thought he’d better be there in the thick of things.
“I was right, wasn’t I?” Anne said. “It’s bad.”
“I’m sure it’s all some misunderstanding,” Brian said. “That’s why I think I should go down there and clear things up.”
“I don’t know what I did wrong,” Anne said.
“Mother,” Brian said. “It’s not your fault.”
HIROSHI GYUHAMA’S stomach was bothering him. His nerves were on edge. Ever since Sean had frightened him in the stairwell, he’d been reluctant to spy on the man. But this morning he’d had no choice. He checked on
