was heading toward us at a fast clip. “Clavin’s gone into septic shock.”
“Excuse me, gentlemen.” Doctor Bremer hurried toward Clavin’s room.
“You can wait downstairs in the waiting area,” Nurse Andrea told us.
“This isn’t good, is it?” I said.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. We’ll do everything we can.” She headed back to Clavin’s room.
I should’ve been praying for Clavin’s health as I watched her retreat down the hallway. Instead I was asking myself, where had Clavin’s other visitor gone? There was no sign of him in the hallway.
Chapter Seven
Eddie and I went downstairs, but opted to wait in the hospital’s inner courtyard, where there was no one around to overhear us, rather than the waiting area.
“We need to find out if Clavin read the confession,” Eddie said. “And if he didn’t, or can’t remember what it said, we go after this Van Doran lead.”
I was feeling even worse about ignoring Clavin, the man. Treating him as if he were an inanimate clue was cruel. But I didn’t say anything to Eddie, and continued to play the role of a detective investigating the dead annals of history. “If Clavin doesn’t know what Einstein wrote, don’t count on going after Van Doran.”
“You know who he is?”
“ Was , unless you’re going to resurrect him, too. Of course, it’s possible he’s still alive. But he’d be in the neighborhood of a hundred and ten, so don’t count on him being too talkative.”
“So in the fifties he was closer to Einstein’s age than Clavin’s.”
“Yep. He was an electrical engineer, a professor at Columbia. But I really don’t know much else about him because I never connected him to the secret. As far as I could tell, Einstein barely knew him. They were both part of a group that met at the Princeton Club in Manhattan to talk about scientific breakthroughs. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t believe that Clavin brought him up.”
“An electrical engineer, huh?” Eddie was trying to add that piece to the puzzle, as was I.
“Maybe Einstein had discovered something about electromagnetism,” I said. “But that doesn’t explain why he picked this electrical engineer. He had the pick of the litter. He’d worked with some of the top people in that field.”
“I have a more practical question. Why didn’t Van Doran show the confession to anyone?”
“Maybe he never got it.”
“Or maybe, he kept it to himself and pawned Einstein’s discovery off as his.”
Eddie went to his car, returned with his MacBook Air, and fired it up. He tore through the Internet searching for information about Van Doran. He unearthed both public and private records. It was amazing to watch. Eddie’s hacking skills were at the level of a professional’s, and that, combined with his formidable investigative skills, made for a fast and thorough ride through Van Doran’s life.
I saw something peculiar, but wasn’t sure if Eddie had picked up on it. It had nothing to do with electromagnetism or with Van Doran’s personal or professional life. But it did have to do with Einstein’s death. I didn’t mention it, and Eddie waited about fifteen minutes into his search before mentioning it.
“He disappeared three days after Einstein died.” The excitement in Eddie’s voice said the rest. Conspiracy.
“That’s probably a coincidence,” I said, and immediately regretted using the word “coincidence.” I was beginning to believe that word meant something very different. It meant “connection.” Still, I persisted with my denial. “It’s a stretch to think that has anything to do with the confession. Plus we don’t know if Van Doran ever got that confession. There’s no record of it. All we have is Clavin’s word.”
“We have to go back up there and confirm he got it.” Eddie said, then looked over my shoulder. “We’ve got company.”
I turned around. Nurse Andrea was heading out to the courtyard. “If she wants us to do something
“Excuse me, gentlemen.” Doctor Bremer hurried toward Clavin’s room.
“You can wait downstairs in the waiting area,” Nurse Andrea told us.
“This isn’t good, is it?” I said.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. We’ll do everything we can.” She headed back to Clavin’s room.
I should’ve been praying for Clavin’s health as I watched her retreat down the hallway. Instead I was asking myself, where had Clavin’s other visitor gone? There was no sign of him in the hallway.
Chapter Seven
Eddie and I went downstairs, but opted to wait in the hospital’s inner courtyard, where there was no one around to overhear us, rather than the waiting area.
“We need to find out if Clavin read the confession,” Eddie said. “And if he didn’t, or can’t remember what it said, we go after this Van Doran lead.”
I was feeling even worse about ignoring Clavin, the man. Treating him as if he were an inanimate clue was cruel. But I didn’t say anything to Eddie, and continued to play the role of a detective investigating the dead annals of history. “If Clavin doesn’t know what Einstein wrote, don’t count on going after Van Doran.”
“You know who he is?”
“ Was , unless you’re going to resurrect him, too. Of course, it’s possible he’s still alive. But he’d be in the neighborhood of a hundred and ten, so don’t count on him being too talkative.”
“So in the fifties he was closer to Einstein’s age than Clavin’s.”
“Yep. He was an electrical engineer, a professor at Columbia. But I really don’t know much else about him because I never connected him to the secret. As far as I could tell, Einstein barely knew him. They were both part of a group that met at the Princeton Club in Manhattan to talk about scientific breakthroughs. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t believe that Clavin brought him up.”
“An electrical engineer, huh?” Eddie was trying to add that piece to the puzzle, as was I.
“Maybe Einstein had discovered something about electromagnetism,” I said. “But that doesn’t explain why he picked this electrical engineer. He had the pick of the litter. He’d worked with some of the top people in that field.”
“I have a more practical question. Why didn’t Van Doran show the confession to anyone?”
“Maybe he never got it.”
“Or maybe, he kept it to himself and pawned Einstein’s discovery off as his.”
Eddie went to his car, returned with his MacBook Air, and fired it up. He tore through the Internet searching for information about Van Doran. He unearthed both public and private records. It was amazing to watch. Eddie’s hacking skills were at the level of a professional’s, and that, combined with his formidable investigative skills, made for a fast and thorough ride through Van Doran’s life.
I saw something peculiar, but wasn’t sure if Eddie had picked up on it. It had nothing to do with electromagnetism or with Van Doran’s personal or professional life. But it did have to do with Einstein’s death. I didn’t mention it, and Eddie waited about fifteen minutes into his search before mentioning it.
“He disappeared three days after Einstein died.” The excitement in Eddie’s voice said the rest. Conspiracy.
“That’s probably a coincidence,” I said, and immediately regretted using the word “coincidence.” I was beginning to believe that word meant something very different. It meant “connection.” Still, I persisted with my denial. “It’s a stretch to think that has anything to do with the confession. Plus we don’t know if Van Doran ever got that confession. There’s no record of it. All we have is Clavin’s word.”
“We have to go back up there and confirm he got it.” Eddie said, then looked over my shoulder. “We’ve got company.”
I turned around. Nurse Andrea was heading out to the courtyard. “If she wants us to do something
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