The Death of Distant Stars, A Legal Thriller

by Deborah Hawkins

  “Your Honor, I have prepared a witness summary for Mr. McLaren, but we believe you will see that Wycliffe is already intimately acquainted with the subject of Dr. Reynolds’ testimony.”

  “Very well, Mr. Kelly. You may proceed.”

  Frank was only a little nervous as he took the stand in one of Paul Curtis’ suits.

  “Please state your name for the record.”

  “Franklin David Reynolds.”

  “And how are you employed?”

  “Until March 20, I was employed as an organic chemist by the Federal Drug Administration.”

  “And what is your background and training?”

  “I graduated from Yale with a degree in organic chemistry and earned my Masters and Ph.D. from Stanford.”

  “And were you part of the team assigned to work on the approval of Wycliffe’s drug, Myrabin, in 1997, Dr. Reynolds?”

  “Yes, I was.”

  He had literally shown up on Kathryn’s doorstep at nine-thirty on Saturday morning, tired, distraught, and hungry, and clutching a gym bag and a briefcase.

  “Do you remember me? Frank Reynolds of the FDA Myrabin team?”

  She’d crawled out of bed when she’d heard the front door bell. She was uncomfortably aware that she was wearing the sweatpants and camisole she slept in and had bed hair.

  “Please let me in. If I’ve been followed, our lives are in danger.”

  They went to the kitchen where Kathryn made coffee and scrambled eggs.

  He sat at the table and described his ten days on the run.

  Finally she asked, “Why have you come?”

  “For Mary and Harrison. They were killed because they knew the truth about Myrabin. And I’m about to be next.”

  “What is the truth?”

  “It’s all in here.” He tapped the briefcase sitting next to him at the table.

  * * *

  Monday afternoon, April 6, 2015, Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, San Diego

  “And so you are saying that there were deaths associated with Myrabin in the clinical trials before the drug was approved by the FDA?” Bob McLaren wiggled his eyebrows skeptically as he cross-examined Frank Reynolds to show the jury just how unbelievable his story was.

  “Yes, there were two.”

  “But weren’t those caused by alcohol abuse by the two patients who died?”

  “No. We were instructed to say that, but it was a lie. Myrabin caused those two deaths.”

  “What reason, Dr. Reynolds, would anyone have to order you to lie about deaths during a clinical study?”

  “Because if we had told the truth, the clinical trials would have been shut down, and Myrabin would never have been approved.”

  McLaren frowned. He had clearly lost on that point. But he went on. “Now, Dr. Reynolds, you are also claiming that there were deaths after Myrabin was approved?”

  “That’s right. More than six hundred have been reported to the FDA.”

  “Then why didn’t your team at the FDA act on those reports?”

  “Because we were instructed not to.”

  McLaren paused for effect and gave the jury his best deadpan. “So you want us to believe, Dr. Reynolds, that someone directed the Federal Food and Drug Administration to ignore a large number of deaths from a drug the agency had found safe?”

  “I have the memo that was directed to us right here.” Dr. Reynolds pulled a folded paper out of the inner pocket of his borrowed suit.

  Kathryn felt Mark tense up beside her. Reynolds had never shown them that document when they interviewed him over the weekend.

  “Objection. Hearsay!” McLaren boomed.

  Judge Weiner looked over at Mark, who said, “We haven’t seen this document before. May we approach the bench?”

  Kathryn watched as Mark and McLaren huddled in front of the judge, each of them examining the paper Frank Reynolds had produced. McLaren looked angry. Mark looked grave. After a few minutes, Mark came back and sat down beside Kathryn. Hugh, seated at Kathryn’s right, gave him a questioning look, but Mark didn’t respond.

  Judge Weiner addressed her courtroom. “I am going to allow this memo. It appears to me to be a business record, and Dr. Reynolds has testified that his job duties include the preservation of memoranda directed to his team about the drug approval process. You may continue cross-examination, Mr. McLaren.”

  “No further questions,” McLaren said, and sat down. He looked bleak. Mark was on his feet immediately for redirect.

  “Your Honor, we’d like Mr. Reynolds’ document marked as Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 106.”

  “The exhibit will be admitted,” the judge intoned.

  “So, Dr. Reynolds, if I understand you correctly, someone ordered a cover-up of the number of deaths from Myrabin after it was approved by the FDA?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And did the same person give the order to cover-up both the pre- and post-approval deaths?”

  “Yes.”

  “And is that person’s name on the memo that you have in your hand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who ordered the cover-up, Dr. Reynolds?”

  Kathryn held her breath. The jury was riveted on Frank.

  He took a deep breath and then said, “Senator Hal Edwards.”

  * * *

  April 6, 2015, Monday, 2015, 4151 Opal Court, Pacific Beach

  At seven p.m., Amanda Cooper sat alone on the porch of the cottage that had belonged to her brother Steve and sipped the martini she had made for herself in the kitchen as she watched the sun slide into the ocean. His little two-bedroom house sat on a moderate hillside facing the Pacific, and every afternoon there was a spectacular end-of-day view from the porch.

  If Steve had lived, he would have been coming up on his forty-third birthday. Her heart ached whenever she thought of him. She could hardly believe she had just cleared forty-five. She knew she didn’t look it. She didn’t surf, but she was athletic like her brother. She was five-eight, one hundred twenty pounds. She ran marathons. She had the grays removed from her shoulder-length blonde hair by an expensive stylist in La Jolla. She had, according to the men she met in bars, melting brown eyes to go with her hot body. But her left hand remained distinctly bare, and her life was devoted to teaching the fifth grade at Bird Rock Elementary. Dogs and children adored her, she often said, but never the right man.

  She had moved from her La Mesa rental to Steve’s place after he died. He had left her the cottage, and it was much closer to her work than her old apartment. She would never have been able to afford the mortgage on her teacher’s salary. But Steve, ever the financial wizard, had paid it off. And now it was hers.

  The house, of course, did not make up for losing her brother. Or Tom. Her eyes teared up as she thought of Tom and Steve and Paul in high school, traveling the world as champion surfers. She could see a few of the black dots now on the distant horizon waiting for the next wave. Steve was there in spirit. With Tom.

  The news for the last few nights had left Amanda furious. Watching Shannon simper as she left the federal courthouse last Thursday had turned Amanda’s stomach. She had never liked Shannon. From the first time she had met her, she had sensed the hard-nosed, bar-tending opportunist was out to take advantage of her brother. Since Thursday, she had balanced her hatred of Shannon’s bold-faced opportunism against her own resolve to put the past behind her and move on from her brother’s death. Now, as she watched the black specks of the surfers in the water in the soft spring twilight, she heard Steve’s voice as plainly as if he’d been in the room. “I left you the truth, Amanda. I left you that note. Please go tell them my truth, sis. Please don’t let Shannon get away with this.”

  Amanda polished off her martini and phoned Paul, who saw her number and answered on the first ring. “I need the phone number of the attorney who is trying Tom’s case.”

  “Mark Kelly. He lives just down the street from me.”


  “Would you call him and tell him I’ll be over to see him in thirty minutes? You can come, too. Steve would want you to know. I’ll pick you up.”

  * * *

  Monday, April 6, 2015, Crown Manor, Coronado, California

  Hugh had begun phoning Hal as soon as he’d reached his office late that afternoon, but the president did not answer his cell. Edith picked up one of the calls and said Hal was in a cabinet meeting. But as the hours slid by, Hugh’s phone remained frustratingly silent.

  Until midnight. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Hugh shouted into the phone when he answered.

  “Calm down. I tried to. I used Fred to try to get you interested in a run for his seat by offering to kick him upstairs to the Attorney General’s office. I hoped you’d turn the case over to your junior partner and let him lose it for you.”

  “Mark’s better in a courtroom that I am. He never loses.”

  “Well, it would have been to your advantage if he’d lost this one. I gave you your chance to get out from under this suit. You didn’t take it, and now you’re finished as a lawyer, thanks to your former mistress. Hope you enjoy retirement.”

  “So you were just stringing me along? You were never going to withdraw that indictment?”

  “God, no. Logan Avery didn’t come to us. We went to her. Davidson was instructed to get cozy with her and persuade her to spill the beans.”

  “But hundreds of people are dead because of Myrabin.”

  “Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t kill everyone. And besides, it’s about the money, Hugh. You know what that means. You’d do anything for money. Hell, you have done anything for money.”

  “I haven’t killed anyone.”

  “Well, then, maybe you’re a slightly better crook than I am. But not much. You’ve shaken down too many corporations. They want you off the streets, and I’m the one whose taking you off.”

  “So you’re not acting just for Wycliffe?”

  “Let’s say ‘Wycliffe and friends.’ Corporate America is rejoicing that their biggest enemy has finally fallen by his own sword. You and Rick were pretty stupid to keep up that arrangement after the Department of Justice started sniffing around.”

  “This was the last one. Rick was in financial trouble.”

  “Well, now he’s going to be in ‘convicted felon trouble.’ And you are, too. You should have done your homework, Hugh, before you filed suit for the pretty widow. Then you’d have seen that I chaired the committee that approved the FDA’s work on Myrabin. Wycliffe has been paying me ever since I was in the Senate to get them what they want. And I always deliver.”

  “So this is how you treat old friends who have helped you all the way to the presidency?”

  “I’m grateful for your support, Hugh. But you only offered ten million.”

  “I’ll double that to twenty.”

  “Try fifty million. That’s what Wycliffe is giving me. In legally correct donations, I might add. And I’m going to be on Wycliffe’s board when I leave office after my second term. I like you, Hugh. Edith does, too. I tried to warn you to stay out of the Andrews case. But the pretty widow was too tempting.”

  “Kathryn is a client. I don’t sleep with my clients.”

  “Like hell you don’t. Look, do everyone a favor. Call McLaren and settle it right now for a half mil. The sainted hubby was nothing more than a public defender. They make peanuts. If you dismiss the suit in the morning, I’ll get DOJ to withdraw the indictment.”

  “You know I can’t do that. I can’t put my interest ahead of my client’s.”

  “Well, listen to Hugh Mahoney hiding behind the ethics rules he’s broken more times than anyone can count.”

  “Don’t be insulting. Kathryn Andrews has a right to justice for her husband.”

  “So get her some cheap justice before in the morning. Look, Hugh, how did the lovely widow kill the hard-headed businessman in you? Myrabin is one of Wycliffe’s most successful drugs. My so-called ‘blind trust’ is weighted with Wycliffe stock. If Myrabin goes down, I’m going to lose millions along with Wycliffe. And if Myrabin goes down, there’ll be class actions that could bankrupt the company. Did you really think I would stand by and let that happen?”

  “Lawson told us that he was the one who gave the order to ignore Vannier and Girard’s work.”

  “That was our cover story. I told Lawson what to do because Wycliffe paid me to.”

  “So hundreds of people have died so you can line your pockets?”

  “More like thousands, actually. Lawson developed a system to hide the majority of post-approval complaints that reached the FDA.”

  “You’ll reap what you’ve sowed. I’ll call you as a witness.”

  “Go ahead and try. You’ll never get me on the stand. My attorneys can keep you tied up for years.”

  “You knew Suchet gave up on Myrabin because it wasn’t safe.”

  “Sorry, Hugh. I have to go. You’ve played with the Big Boys for a long time, but now you’re out. I hear a couple of years in a federal country club prison isn’t so bad. And after that, you can learn to play golf. Or something.”

  The phone went dead. Hugh found himself shaking with rage.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Tuesday, April 7, 2015, Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, San Diego

  At nine a.m. the next morning, Judge Weiner addressed Mark from the bench. “Mr. Kelly, do you have any further rebuttal evidence to present?”

  “I do, Your Honor. The plaintiff calls Amanda Cooper.”

  Kathryn watched Amanda cross the courtroom to the witness stand and take the oath. Her trim figure was perfect in her black suit. She had bundled her lovely blonde hair into a neat but soft, professional bun. She usually did not look like a fifth grade teacher, but today she had all the charisma and credibility of one. Mark had told her he was going to call Amanda instead of Paul to rebut Shannon, but Kathryn had no idea why.

  “Please state your name for the record.”

  “Amanda Rose Cooper.”

  “And how are you employed, Miss Cooper?”

  “I am a fifth grade teacher at Bird Rock Elementary in La Jolla.”

  “And do you have siblings, Miss Cooper?”

  “I did. A brother.”

  “And what was his name?”

  “Stephen Shepard Cooper. Shepard was our mother’s maiden name.”

  “And did you know the deceased, Tom Andrews and his wife, Kathryn?”

  “Yes. Steve and Tom and I grew up together. And I met Kathryn when she started dating Tom.”

  “Did your brother Steve have a girlfriend named Shannon Freeman during 2009 and 2012?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did your brother ask Ms. Freeman to marry him in December 2011?”

  “He did.”

  “And did Ms. Freeman agree to marry your brother?”

  “No. She turned him down.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “Not at the time that it happened.”

  “But did you find out later why Shannon refused your brother’s proposal?”

  “Yes.”

  “And when did you find out why Ms. Freeman turned your brother down?”

  “After Steve died.”

  “When did your brother pass away, Ms. Cooper?”

  “On August 1, 2012.”

  “And what was the cause of his death?”

  “He committed suicide.”

  Kathryn’s heart lurched and seemed to stop beating for a full second before it recovered its rhythm. She focused intently on Amanda’s deep blue eyes, so like Steve’s. And Tom’s.

  “Ms. Cooper, are you aware that the coroner concluded your brother died by accidental drowning?”

  “I know about his conclusion, but I also know it is incorrect.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Because Steve wrote a note to me the morning before he went to Black’s Beach. He posted it on the way to his death
.”

  Kathryn’s heart skipped another beat.

  Mark continued. “And have you brought with you today, that note your brother posted to you on August 1, 2012?”

  “Yes. With the envelope that I received it in.”

  “And is this the handwriting of your brother?’

  “It is.”

  “With the court’s permission, I have copies to hand to the jurors.”

  Judge Weiner nodded. “That’s fine, counsel.”

  “Objection,” Bob McLaren boomed. “Hearsay.”

  “Your Honor, Mr. Cooper’s statement to his sister qualifies as a dying declaration. According to the postmark, it was composed and sent just before he drove to Black’s Beach to take his life.”

  “Objection overruled. You may continue, Mr. Kelly.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor.”

  “Ms. Cooper, would you read your brother’s last letter for the jury?”

  “Dear Manda. I love you so. Sorry for what I am about to do to you. I know with Mom gone, it’s just the two of us. But I can’t go on, Sis. I would if I could, but I can’t.

  “I feel so guilty for what I did to Tom and Kath. I never meant to bring anyone into their world who would try to come between them. The truth is, I’ve been in love with Tom my whole life. I tried not to feel that way, but you can’t control who you fall in love with.

  “I told Tom how I felt during our senior year at Stanford. He said he’d think about it, but then he met Kath the following year at law school. There was never any question after that. She was the love of his life.

  “I thought when I met Shannon I might get over Tom. She was beautiful and a world-class surfer like Tom. I tried my best to fall in love with her, but I couldn’t.

  “Last Christmas, I realized she was just using me to get close to Tom. I thought I could protect him and Kathryn by marrying her, but she turned me down because she was determined to have Tom. She moved out, and she pursued him relentlessly.

  “Tom was so sick, Manda. That drug ate up his insides, and he was so weak he could barely talk. I went to see him the day before he died. I got Kath to take a break and go get something to eat. He opened his eyes after she left, and I got to tell him how sorry I was for bringing a destructive force like Shannon into the lives of the people I loved the most. He smiled and said that it didn’t matter because he could never leave Kath. I told him I loved him, and he just barely squeezed my hand and said he loved me, too. And then he closed his eyes and went back into the coma.