'Offhand I can think of two reasons, Mr. Ettinger,' Matt said with calm force. 'First of all, if you refuse, I promise you that I'll be in front of a judge before this day is done, bringing a motion to compel you to answer. And second'-he looked first at Sarah and then at Mallon, before deliberately leveling his gaze again on Peter-'second, I have good reason to believe-hell no, I have proof-that just as Lisa Grayson took Sarah Baldwin's herbal preparation before her ill-fated delivery, so did she take your Herbal Weight Loss product as well!'
'But-'
'I said proof.'
'Wait!' Mallon snapped. 'Peter, hold it. Don't respond. Mr. Daniels, I don't intend to bite at that worm. But since what you are alleging is news to me, I would like to speak with Mr. Ettinger in private before we continue.'
'Take your time,' Matt said.
Arnold Hayden turned his face away from Mallon and brought his fist up to the side of his jaw. Matt's timing and delivery had been perfect. His first head shot had landed squarely.
Sarah watched as her former lover unfolded his reedy six-and-a-half-foot frame. He glanced over at her, his expression pinched and angry. For a moment, it seemed as if he was about to make an obscene gesture.
Grow up, she mouthed.
She was gratefully uncertain of his reply.
'Okay,' Mallon said upon their return. 'Not only do I approve of Mr. Ettinger's answering this line of questions, I encourage it.' His expression was smug, his manner once again self-assured-too self-assured.
Sarah strained to understand why.
'Mr. Ettinger, how did you first meet Pramod Singh?' Matt went on.
'We had done a series of seminars together some years ago when he was on the staff of the Medical Center of Boston. He told me about a set of ancient Ayurvedic dietary rules and herbs that he had been using on his patients for weight loss with remarkable success.'
'Was Lisa Summer one of those patients?'
'I don't know.'
'Constanza Hidalgo?'
'I don't-'
'Stop, Peter!' Mallon snapped. 'Mr. Daniels, stick to the issue and the patient at hand.'
'Mr. Ettinger, did Pramod Singh want to market his product to the general public?'
'He did.'
'With you as the spokesman-the figurehead?'
'Among other things.'
'And so you two Ayurvedic entrepreneurs struck up a deal of some sort?'
'Object to the antagonistic form of the question,' Mallon cut in. 'Don't answer it, Peter.'
'Mr. Ettinger, exactly what is in this product of yours?'
'A number of herbs, plants, and roots. Twelve to be exact. Dr. Singh obtains them in India and elsewhere in the Far East, and ships them to me. We have a production facility where the naturally occurring substances are combined with a protein powder to form a combination balanced nutritional replacement and appetite suppressant.'
'But you have no scientific verification of the product's composition, do you?'
Ettinger glanced over at Jeremy Mallon. When he turned back to Matt, he was grinning confidently.
'As a matter of fact,' he said, 'unlike Dr. Baldwin's preparation, we have absolute scientific verification-FDA analysis and approval of the product. I demanded those before ever allowing the Xanadu name to be used, and we insist upon retesting on an ongoing basis.'
Another head shot. But this time, from the plaintiff's side of the table. Matt fussed with his notes. Sarah could feel him struggling to maintain composure as he searched carefully for the next question.
'This production and packaging facility,' he asked finally, 'is it out there on the grounds of the Xanadu Community?'
'It is.'
'Shipping, too?'
'In a separate building, but yes. Shipping is done at Xanadu also.'
'Mr. Ettinger, just how much money are you two raking in off this powder?'
'Objection!' Mallon cried out. 'Peter, don't answer. Mr. Daniels, the form and content of that question are amateurish-in the baseball terms you might better understand, strictly bush league. Until now I have made a number of allowances for the fact that, aside from a misplaced molar or whatever, this is your first malpractice case. But I draw the line at questions like this.'
Crimson rushed to Matt's cheeks. Beneath the table, Sarah patted him gently on the thigh.
'Easy does it,' she whispered.
Matt calmed himself with a slow, deep breath. 'Mr. Ettinger, go over briefly what happens at this production plant of yours.'
'It's quite simple, really,' Ettinger said, as if he were speaking to a third grader. 'The raw plants and roots come in, get thoroughly washed, inspected, and sterilized by heat or U.V. light. Next they're ground or pulverized, proportioned out according to the ancient Ayurvedic menu we're using, and combined with the commercially prepared protein base. Finally, the mixture is sterilized again and packaged.'
'And then just like that it's shipped?'
'The final, shipped product includes four months' worth of powder, a manual on Ayurveda and Ayurvedic dietary principles, and a supply of vitamins.'
'Vitamins?'
Matt visibly perked up at the word.
'Yes.'
'Herbal vitamins? Like Dr. Baldwin's?'
Again Peter grinned smugly.
'Hardly.' His delivery was pure vinegar. 'Dr. Baldwin's supplements are, well, Dr. Baldwin's. Ours are pure vitamins-standard, FDA-approved multivitamins, manufactured for us by Huron Pharmaceuticals.'
Matt's eagerness deflated.
'Pills?' he asked.
'Actually, they're gelatin capsules. One is dissolved in each daily weight loss shake.'
Jeremy Mallon feigned a yawn.
'Mr. Daniels, please,' he said. 'Your fishing expedition has run aground, and you know it. Mr. Ettinger has been much more patient with you than need be. Certainly more tolerant than I would have been in his position.'
'Mr. Ettinger, are you and Dr. Singh partners?' Matt asked, ignoring Mallon's protest.
'We are.'
'How would I go about locating this man, this Ayurvedic Herbal partner of yours?'
'Enough!' Mallon barked.
'That's okay,' Ettinger said. 'The truth is, Pramod spends most of his time in India now. And mostly he's traveling. I reach him through an American Express office in New Delhi. If you want that address, I'll be happy to have my secretary send it to you.'
'Now, enough,' Mallon said. 'Find another line of questioning, or it's over and out.'
'Actually, I'm done. But I have something to say to both you and Mr. Ettinger. Strictly off the record.'
'Evelyn, we're finished. Thank you.' Mallon chatted in whispers with his associate until the stenographer had cleared out. 'Okay, go ahead,' he said then.
'Even though we haven't mentioned them, and I intend to see that they are not part of this case, we all know with certainty that two other women beside Lisa Grayson have had this DIC.'
'So?'
'I said before that we had proof that Lisa Grayson was treated by Dr. Singh some years ago with what I assume was the Ayurvedic Herbal Weight Loss System. Well, we also have proof that the other two DIC cases lost large amounts of weight with him as well.'
