first place.”
Rita tsked. “Those are the kind of friends Jenny has.”
“Come on now, you can blame Jenny for a lot of things, but not what happened to Sheila.”
“Well, what’s in Sheila’s diary?”
“I don’t know yet. I opened it last night, but…” It had been bad enough to see Sheila laid out in the morgue; I hadn’t been ready to see her heart laid bare. The journal had gone into my glove compartment this morning. “I’ll read it tonight. See what’s in there about her allergies. LifeScience. Fay.”
Rita’s green eyes held me for several long seconds. They were aloof, like an oracle. “Why are you getting so caught up in this?”
“You know me, Rita. I like to get to the bottom of things.”
She gave me a scolding smile. “The curious cat. Always chasing after things he can’t quite catch. Pretty soon one of those things will jump up and bite you.”
“I bite back, don’t forget.”
“Yes. One of the few men whose bite is worse than his bark.” She smiled.
“Thanks for the upgrade to dog status. But look, I was dragged into this. I’m the one who identified the body. Jenny may get blamed for her death. And Sheila was—I don’t know, something just clicked. You don’t often meet people like her. You would have liked her, Rita.”
“I’m sorry, Bill. I’m sorry she died.”
“The guy at LifeScience was such a prick about it. He’s covering something, I’m sure. It pisses me off, you know? The things people get away with.”
Rita slowly exhaled. “Nothing surprises me anymore. I’ve been doing a lot of work in biotech lately. I see what’s goingon. The money osmosed to it after VCs came to their senses about the Net rush. Sequencing the human genome was supposed to open a new gold mine. But it’s an industry like any other. A young one. Only a handful of these companies show any profit right now. Most of them are hot air, or years from a return on investment. Think of all the money that went into the dot-bombs: the startup costs of a biotech company are even greater.”
“At least biotech makes an actual product.”
“The lead time to results still can be long. And the shenanigans of the Web run-up are going on in biotech, too, with higher stakes in some cases. So, yes, there could be shenanigans at LifeScience, but they’re probably nothing more than the usual.”
“Except Sheila’s dead.”
“She had a medical condition. What, you think someone
tried
to kill her? Bad business strategy.”
“Only if you get caught. And not if she was screwing up someone’s plans while she was alive.”
Rita leaned over and gave me a little punch on my bicep. “It’s Jenny, isn’t it? You’re sweet to be so concerned. You’re taking good care of her. Just don’t let her run your whole life.”
“Jenny is completely upset. She doesn’t scheme nearly as much as you think she does. But this is as much for me as for Jenny.”
Rita sat back. “I’ve seen it a thousand times,” she said, nodding in the wise, wry way she had. “Death does it to people. It brings them together—or it splits them apart. One of the two. Rarely in between.”
She tilted her chin up and added, “You’ve been on the fence about Jenny. Mark my words, you’re going to fall one way or another before this is all over.”
8
After I’d rented the film gear, I had just enough time to drop in at Dr. Jill Nikano’s office. It was in the Sunset district, near Golden Gate Park and the University of California Medical Center. The nurse at the front desk was just putting on her coat to leave. I asked if Dr. Nikano was in her office. Yes, but she was done seeing patients for the day. I said it was a personal matter. The nurse buzzed her and then pointed me down a hallway.
The doctor waited outside her door with her arms folded. She was a sturdy woman with veins of gray in her short hair. A pair of trapezoidal glasses sat on her nose like a piece of furniture. Telling her I was a friend of
Rita tsked. “Those are the kind of friends Jenny has.”
“Come on now, you can blame Jenny for a lot of things, but not what happened to Sheila.”
“Well, what’s in Sheila’s diary?”
“I don’t know yet. I opened it last night, but…” It had been bad enough to see Sheila laid out in the morgue; I hadn’t been ready to see her heart laid bare. The journal had gone into my glove compartment this morning. “I’ll read it tonight. See what’s in there about her allergies. LifeScience. Fay.”
Rita’s green eyes held me for several long seconds. They were aloof, like an oracle. “Why are you getting so caught up in this?”
“You know me, Rita. I like to get to the bottom of things.”
She gave me a scolding smile. “The curious cat. Always chasing after things he can’t quite catch. Pretty soon one of those things will jump up and bite you.”
“I bite back, don’t forget.”
“Yes. One of the few men whose bite is worse than his bark.” She smiled.
“Thanks for the upgrade to dog status. But look, I was dragged into this. I’m the one who identified the body. Jenny may get blamed for her death. And Sheila was—I don’t know, something just clicked. You don’t often meet people like her. You would have liked her, Rita.”
“I’m sorry, Bill. I’m sorry she died.”
“The guy at LifeScience was such a prick about it. He’s covering something, I’m sure. It pisses me off, you know? The things people get away with.”
Rita slowly exhaled. “Nothing surprises me anymore. I’ve been doing a lot of work in biotech lately. I see what’s goingon. The money osmosed to it after VCs came to their senses about the Net rush. Sequencing the human genome was supposed to open a new gold mine. But it’s an industry like any other. A young one. Only a handful of these companies show any profit right now. Most of them are hot air, or years from a return on investment. Think of all the money that went into the dot-bombs: the startup costs of a biotech company are even greater.”
“At least biotech makes an actual product.”
“The lead time to results still can be long. And the shenanigans of the Web run-up are going on in biotech, too, with higher stakes in some cases. So, yes, there could be shenanigans at LifeScience, but they’re probably nothing more than the usual.”
“Except Sheila’s dead.”
“She had a medical condition. What, you think someone
tried
to kill her? Bad business strategy.”
“Only if you get caught. And not if she was screwing up someone’s plans while she was alive.”
Rita leaned over and gave me a little punch on my bicep. “It’s Jenny, isn’t it? You’re sweet to be so concerned. You’re taking good care of her. Just don’t let her run your whole life.”
“Jenny is completely upset. She doesn’t scheme nearly as much as you think she does. But this is as much for me as for Jenny.”
Rita sat back. “I’ve seen it a thousand times,” she said, nodding in the wise, wry way she had. “Death does it to people. It brings them together—or it splits them apart. One of the two. Rarely in between.”
She tilted her chin up and added, “You’ve been on the fence about Jenny. Mark my words, you’re going to fall one way or another before this is all over.”
8
After I’d rented the film gear, I had just enough time to drop in at Dr. Jill Nikano’s office. It was in the Sunset district, near Golden Gate Park and the University of California Medical Center. The nurse at the front desk was just putting on her coat to leave. I asked if Dr. Nikano was in her office. Yes, but she was done seeing patients for the day. I said it was a personal matter. The nurse buzzed her and then pointed me down a hallway.
The doctor waited outside her door with her arms folded. She was a sturdy woman with veins of gray in her short hair. A pair of trapezoidal glasses sat on her nose like a piece of furniture. Telling her I was a friend of
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