“Honestly, I’m a little concerned and I don’t know what to do.” He chewed on his thumbnail. His nails were all bitten to the quick. It was tough to see what there was left to chew on.
I got up and went to the outer office. The glass partition hadn’t been replaced yet and I could see his bald spot through the opening.
“Want some coffee?” I asked him.
“Sure,” he said. “With milk and sugar, please.”
I went back to my desk and handed him a cup of black coffee. “You’ll have to take it black. I don’t have any milk or sugar.”
He made a face but took a sip anyway.
I sat down, rolled my chair back and put my feet up on the desk.
He took a few more sips, made a few more faces, but didn’t say anything.
Finally I said, “What are you concerned about?”
He started to work on his other thumb. “I don’t want to get into any trouble, but I’m in a very difficult position.”
He stopped talking and sat there as if waiting for a revelation.
I said to him, “Tell me about it.”
He swallowed hard and said, “All right. You know the kind of work I do. I’m a technician. I work on the clinical trials at Insignia.” He took another sip and it was evident he wasn’t enjoying the coffee. “I’ve never had any trouble before in my life.”
He looked like he’d never even had an overdue video rental.
“Well, we’re about to get FDA approval on a new blood product that we manufacture through genetic engineering.”
“Yes,” I said.
“And I’m in charge of compiling the clinical trials.”
This guy seemed to have a real problem getting to the point.
“So?”
His eyes kept darting around the room. He opened his mouth and then shut it. He didn’t say anything for almost a minute.
“So what’s the problem? The mice started fucking the cats?”
“No, no, no.” He shook his head vigorously. “You don’t understand. The clinical trials were conducted on volunteers. That is, human volunteers, you see?”
“I kinda guessed that.”
“Well, anyway, I believe…no, I know that the trials were not valid and reliable. The study design was flawed and, to make matters worse, the data were doctored.”
“How do you know this?”
Up to this point, he hadn’t looked me in the eye once. But now he did. For the briefest split-second.
“Mr. Chisolm had all the technicians use just one kind of blue Bic ball-point pen. All the records were kept with this one specific kind of pen. And I personally witnessed Mr. Chisolm change the results on several occasions. I was familiar with the parameters of the study and the control group and I know for a fact that the data and the results are different. What I don’t know is whether the changes were material enough to get us the approval.”
“How significant are the changes?”
He brushed back his forelock with his hand and moved to the edge of his chair. “Well, you see, the clinicals are supposed to show that the drug is safe and efficacious. We have a problem in both areas. There have been unfortunate side effects and even three fatalities. Now, that’s still within acceptable limits but it appears that the fatalities were ascribed to other causes rather than to the drug.”
“Would that be enough to stop approval?” I asked.
“Not in and of itself. But it raises serious questions and would require additional testing. And that, of course, would cost more money.”
“Is that serious?”
He nodded. “You bet it is. We’re at the end of the line. Our venture capitalists have said they’re going to pull the plug. They told us they’ve sunk in too much money already and they weren’t going to invest any more. This was our last chance.”
“Would it be a problem if you didn’t get the approval now?”
He looked at me as if I’d asked, would it be a problem if the sun didn’t rise tomorrow.
“It would mean the end of the company and all the years we’d put into it.” He fidgeted in his seat and cast his eyes down.
I took my feet off the desk and sat up. “OK. What can I do?”
“I can’t in good conscience let a flawed drug onto the market without verifiable clinicals. Too many people’s lives are at risk.”
“Go on,” I said.
“Honestly I’m afraid to do anything myself. I’m not a brave person. But I believe in doing the correct thing. You can see I’m in a terrible dilemma. I want to blow the whistle but…”
I finished his sentence. “You’re scared? You want me to do it for you?”
He nodded wordlessly.
“OK,” I said. “Your fairy godmother just granted your wish. But first I’m going to ask you some questions. And I need some sharp answers.”
He sighed with relief. “I’ll tell you whatever I can.”
“Did you know a woman named Alicia Rogan?”
“Yes. She called me a few months ago. Early April, I think it was. Said she was doing some research on Insignia and could I assist her. At first, I thought this could be the answer. She would be the conduit for me to get the clinicals out to the proper authorities. I gave her copies of as much of the flawed documentation as I could. But that’s where it ended.”
This was starting to smell most foul. “What do you mean?” I asked.
Hobley spread his hands helplessly. “She didn’t do anything with the information.”
That’s what you think, buddy boy. This amateur was playing a game and he didn’t even know what game he was playing or how high the stakes were.
“I never could reach her after that. She never returned my calls. It was as if she used me and then discarded me. I was terribly discouraged after that.”
“Did you notice any changes in Chisolm after you gave Alicia the documents?”
He shook his head. “Nothing special that I could point to…except maybe…he became even more intense than before…more determined.”
“More determined to do what?”
“To get the FDA approval.”
I sat back. So Alicia had been a busy beaver. Jergens wasn’t the only one she’d been blackmailing.
“What do you think she did with the copies you gave her?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Beats me. As far as I know, she never wrote that research report.”
You bet your sweet ass, buddy boy. She was getting a lot more mileage out of those papers than just a fat Wall Street paycheck.
I took my feet off the desk and leaned forward in my chair. “Here’s what I want you to do,” I said. “Is there a back entrance to the place where you keep the clinicals?”
He looked at me again briefly. “Yes, there is. The files are kept in a room next to the lab.”
“Can you leave that door unlocked?”
“Yes.”
“Is there an alarm?” I said.
He nodded. “Yes, but I can turn it off.”
“Good. Now how do I get over the fence?”
He thought for a minute. “There’s a gate on the north side. No one ever uses it, though. I think I can leave it unlatched for you.”
I got up. “Outstanding, Eric. We’re going to be excellent partners in crime.”
