by Mortal Fear
“I thought I was pretty normal,” Jason said.
“Ha!” Carol said playfully.
There was a good bit of air traffic and they waited for over twenty minutes before they lifted off the ground and headed west.
“I didn’t think we were going to make it,” Jason said, finally beginning to relax.
“I’m sorry,” Carol said again. “I tried to lose Bruno, but he stuck like glue. I didn’t want him to know I wasn’t heading back to Indiana. But what could I do?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jason said, although in the back of his mind it disturbed him that anyone but Shirley knew where he was going. He’d meant it to be a secret. At the same time he couldn’t figure out how it would make any difference.
Taking notes on a yellow pad, Jason began quizzing Carol as to Hayes’s schedule on each of his two trips to Seattle. The first visit was the more interesting. They’d stayed at the Mayfair Hotel and among other things had visited a club called the Totem, similar to the Cabaret in Boston. He asked her what it was like.
“It was okay,” Carol said, “nothing special. But it didn’t have the excitement of the Club Cabaret. Seattle seems a bit conservative.”
Jason nodded, wondering why Hayes would waste his time at a place like that when he was traveling with Carol. “Did Alvin talk to anyone there?” he asked.
“Yes. Arthur arranged for him to speak to the owner.”
“Your boss did? Did Alvin know your boss?”
“They were friends. That was how I met Alvin.”
Jason recalled the rumors about Alvin’s taste for discos and the like. Apparently they’d been true. But the idea of a world-famous molecular biologist being chummy with a man who managed a topless bar seemed ludicrous.
“Do you know what Alvin spoke to this man about?”
“No, I don’t,” Carol said. “They didn’t talk very long. I was busy watching the dancers. They were quite good.”
“And you visited the University of Washington, correct?”
“That’s right. We did that the first day.”
“And you think you can find the man Alvin saw there?” Jason asked, just to be sure.
“I think so. He was a tall, good-looking fellow.”
“And then what?”
“We went up into the mountains.”
“And that was vacation time?”
“I suppose.”
“Did Alvin meet anyone up there?”
“No one in particular. But he talked to a lot of people.”
Jason settled back after the cocktail service. He thought about what Carol had told him, believing the most critical event was the visit to the University of Washington. But the visit to the club was also curious and deserved to be checked out.
“One other thing,” Carol said. “On the second trip we had to spend some time looking for dry ice.”
“Dry ice? What on earth for?”
“I didn’t know and Alvin didn’t tell me. Alvin had a cooler and he wanted it full of dry ice.”
Perhaps to transport the specimen, Jason thought. This sounds promising.
When they touched down in Seattle, they dutifully changed their watches to Pacific Coast time. Jason looked out the airplane window. True to expectations, it was raining. He could see the drops in the darkened pools of water on the runway. Soon, even the window was streaked with moisture.
They rented a car and once they were clear of the airport traffic, Jason said, “In case it helps your memory, I thought we’d stay at the same hotel you did last time. Separate rooms, of course.”
Carol turned to eye him in the half-light of the car. Jason wanted it very clear this trip was all business.
Two cars behind Jason and Carol was a dark blue Ford Taurus. Behind the wheel was a middle-aged man dressed in a turtleneck sweater, suede jacket, and checked slacks. He’d gotten a call only about five hours earlier to meet the United flight from Boston. He was supposed to spot a forty-five-year-old doctor who’d be arriving with a beautiful young woman. The names were Howard and Donner, and he was to keep them under surveillance. The operation had been easier than he’d expected. He’d confirmed their identity simply by coming up behind them at the Avis counter.
Now all he had to do was keep them in sight. Supposedly he’d be contacted by somebody who’d be coming from Miami. For this he was being paid his usual fifty dollars an hour plus expenses. He wondered if it were some kind of domestic problem.
The hotel was elegant. Judging from Hayes’s usual disheveled appearance. Jason wouldn’t have expected the man to have such expensive tastes. They got separate rooms, but Carol insisted they open the connecting door. “Let’s not be prudish,” she said. Jason didn’t know how to take that.
Since they’d barely touched the airplane food, Jason suggested they have dinner before heading out to the Totem Club. Carol changed, and as they entered the dining room, Jason was pleased at how young and lovely she looked. The maître d’ even checked her ID when Jason ordered a bottle of California chardonnay. The episode thrilled Carol, who complained of looking as if she were already over the hill at age twenty-five.
By ten P.M., one o’clock East Coast time, they were ready to leave for the Totem Club. Jason was already beginning to feel sleepy, but Carol felt fine. To avoid difficulty, they left the rental car in the hotel parking lot and took a taxi. Carol admitted she had trouble finding the place with Hayes.
The Totem Club was outside of the downtown area of Seattle, on the border of a pleasant residential neighborhood. There was none of the sordid color of the Boston Combat Zone. The club was surrounded by a large asphalt parking area that wasn’t even littered, and there were no street people panhandling. It looked like any restaurant or bar, except for several ersatz totem poles flanking the entrance. When Jason got out of the car, he could feel the beat of the rock music. They ran through the rain to the entrance.
Inside, the club seemed much more conservative than the Cabaret. The first thing Jason noticed was that the crowd consisted mostly of couples rather than the heavy-drinking men who lined the runway in Boston. There was even a small dance floor. The only real similarity was the configuration of the bar, which was also U-shaped with a runway for the dancers in the center.
“They don’t dance topless here,” Carol whispered.
They were shown to a booth on the first level, away from the bar. There was another level behind them. A waitress placed a cardboard coaster in front of each and asked for their drink order.
After they’d been served, Jason asked if Carol saw the owner. At first she didn’t, but after a quarter hour she grasped Jason’s arm and leaned across the table.
“There he is.” She pointed to a young man, probably in his early thirties, dressed in a tuxedo with a red tie and cummerbund. He had olive skin and thick blue-black hair.
“Do you remember his name?”
She shook her head.
Jason eased out from the booth and walked toward the owner, who had a friendly, boyish face. As Jason came up to him, he laughed and patted the back of a man sitting at the bar.
“Excuse me,” Jason said. “I’m Dr. Jason Howard. From Boston.” The owner turned to him. He wore a plastic smile.
“I’m Sebastion Frahn,” the owner said. “Welcome to the Totem.”
“Could I speak to you for a moment?”
The man’s smile waned. “What’s on your mind?”
“It will take a minute or two to explain.”
“I’m awfully busy. Maybe later.”
Unprepared for such a quick brush-off, Jason stood for a moment watching Frahn move among his customers. His smile had immediately returned.
“Any luck?” Carol asked when Jason returned to their booth and sat down again.
“None. Three thousand miles and the guy won’t talk to me.”
“People have to be careful in this business. Let me try.”
Without waiting for Jason’s reply, she slid from the booth. Jason watched her gra
cefully make her way over to the owner. She touched his arm and spoke briefly. Jason saw him nod, then gaze in his direction. The man nodded again and moved off. Carol returned.
“He’ll be over in a minute.”
“What did you say?”
“He remembered me,” Carol said simply.
Jason wondered what that meant. “Did he remember Hayes?”
“Oh, yes,” Carol said. “No problem.”
Sure enough, within ten minutes Sebastion Frahn made a swing around the room and stopped at their table.
“Sorry to have been so curt. I didn’t know you people were friends.”
“That’s all right,” Jason said. He didn’t know exactly what the man meant, but it sounded cordial.
“What can I do for you?”
“Carol says you remember Dr. Hayes.”
Sebastion turned to Carol. “Was that the man you were here with last time?” he asked. Carol nodded.
“Sure I remember him. He was a friend of Arthur Koehler.”
“Do you think you could tell me what you talked about? It might be important.”
“Jason worked with Alvin,” Carol interjected.
“I don’t have any problem at all telling you what we discussed. The man wanted to go salmon fishing.”
“Fishing!” Jason exclaimed.
“Yup. He said he wanted to catch some big chums but he didn’t want to drive too far. I told him to go to Cedar Falls.”
“Was that all?” Jason asked, his heart sinking.
“We talked about the Seattle Supersonics for a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” Jason said. “I appreciate your time.”
“Not at all,” Sebastion said with a smile. “Well, got to circulate.” He stood up, shook hands, and told them to come back again. Then he moved off.
“I can’t believe it,” Jason said. “Every time I think I have a lead, it turns out to be a joke. Fishing!”
At Carol’s request they stayed for another half hour to watch the show, and by the time they got back to the hotel, Jason was totally exhausted. By East Coast time it was four o’clock Thursday morning. Jason got ready for bed and climbed between the sheets with relief. He’d been disappointed by the results of his visit to the Totem Club, but there was still the University of Washington. He was about to drop off to sleep when there was a soft knock on the connecting door. It was Carol. She said she was starving and couldn’t sleep. Could they order room service? Feeling obliged to be a good sport, Jason agreed. They ordered a split of champagne and a plate of smoked salmon.
Carol sat on the edge of Jason’s bed in a terrycloth robe, eating salmon and crackers. She described her childhood growing up outside of Bloomington, Indiana. Jason had never heard her talk so much. She’d lived on a farm and had to milk cows before going to school in the morning. Jason could see her doing that. She had that freshness about her that suggested such a life. What he had trouble with was relating that former life to her current one. He wanted to know how things got on the wrong track, but he was afraid to ask. Besides, exhaustion took over and try as he might, he could not keep his eyes open. He fell asleep and Carol, after covering him with a blanket, returned to her own room.
13.
Awakening with a start, Jason checked his watch, which said five A.M. That meant eight in Boston, the time he usually left for the hospital. He opened the drapes and looked out on a crystal-clear day. In the distance a ferry was making its way across Puget Sound toward Seattle, leaving a sparkling wake.
After showering, Jason knocked on the adjoining door. There was no answer. He knocked again. Finally he opened it a crack, allowing a swath of bright sunlight to fall into the cool, darkened room. Carol was still fast asleep, clutching her pillow. Jason watched her for a moment. She looked angelically lovely. Silently, he closed the door so as to not waken her.
He went back to his bed, dialed room service, and ordered fresh orange juice, coffee, and croissants for two. Then he called GHP and paged Roger Wanamaker.
“Everything okay?”
“Not quite,” Roger admitted. “Marge Todd threw a big embolus last night. She went into a coma and died. Respiratory arrest.”
“My God,” Jason said.
“Sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings,” Roger said. “Try to enjoy yourself.”
“I’ll give you a call in a day or so,” Jason said.
Another death. Except for one young woman with hepatitis, he was beginning to think the only way his patients could leave the hospital was feetfirst. He wondered if he should fly directly back to Boston. Yet Roger was right. There was nothing he could do, and he might as well see the Hayes business through, even though he wasn’t very optimistic.
Two hours later Carol knocked at the door and came in, her hair still wet from the shower. “Top of the morning,” she said in her cheerful voice. Jason ordered fresh coffee.
“Guess we’re lucky,” he said, pointing out at the bright sunlight.
“Don’t be so sure. The weather around here can change mighty quickly.”
While Carol breakfasted, Jason had another cup of coffee.
“Hope I didn’t talk your ear off last night,” Carol said.
“Don’t be silly. I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
“What about you, doctor?” Carol asked, putting jam on a croissant. “You haven’t told me much about yourself.” She didn’t mention that Hayes had told her a good deal about him.
“Not much to tell.”
Carol raised her eyebrows. When she saw his smile, she laughed. “For a second I thought you were serious.”
Jason told . Carol about his boyhood in Los Angeles, his education at Berkeley and Harvard Medical School, and his residency at Massachusetts General. Without meaning to, he found himself describing Danielle and the awful November night when she’d been killed. No one had ever drawn him out the way Carol did, not even Patrick, the psychiatrist he’d seen after Danielle’s death. Jason even heard himself describing his current depression over his increased patient mortality and then Roger’s s news that morning about Marge Todd’s death.
“I’m flattered that you’ve told me this,” Carol said sincerely. She hadn’t expected such openness and trust. “You’ve had a lot of emotional pain.”
“Life can be like that,” Jason said with a sigh. “I don’t know why I’ve bored you with all this.”
“It hasn’t been boring,” Carol said. “I think you’ve made an extraordinary adjustment. I think it was difficult yet very positive that you changed your work and living environment.
“Do you?” Jason asked. He hadn’t remembered saying that. He hadn’t expected to be so personal with Carol, but now that he’d done so, he felt better.
Enjoying their time together, it wasn’t until ten-thirty that they emerged from their respective rooms dressed for the day. Jason asked the bellman to bring their car to the front entrance, and they took the elevator down to the lobby. True to Carol’s prediction, when they emerged from the hotel the sky had darkened and a steady rain was falling.
With the help of an Avis map and Carol’s memory, they drove out to the University of Washington’s Medical School. Carol pointed out the research building Hayes had visited. They went in the front entrance and were immediately challenged by a uniformed security man. They had no University of Washington identity badges.
“I’m a doctor from Boston,” Jason said, removing his wallet to show his ID.
“Hey, man, I don’t care where you’re from. No badge, no entry. Simple as that. If you want to come in here, you have to go to Central Administration.”
Seeing it was fruitless to argue, they went to Central Administration. En route, Jason asked how Hayes had handled security.
“He called his friend beforehand,” Carol said. “The man met us in the parking lot.”
The woman at Central Administration was friendly and accommodating, and even showed Carol a faculty book to see if she could pick out Hayes’s friend. But faces weren’t eno
ugh, and Carol couldn’t identify him. Instead, armed with security badges, they returned to the research building.
Carol led Jason up to the fifth floor. The corridor was crowded with spare equipment, and the walls were in need of fresh paint. There was a pungent chemical smell, akin to formaldehyde.
“Here’s the lab,” Carol said, stopping by an open doorway. The names to the left of the door were Duncan Sechler, MD, PhD; and Rhett Shannon, MD, PhD. The department was, as Jason might have guessed, molecular genetics.
“Which name?” Jason asked.
“I don’t know,” Carol said, going up to a young technician and asking if either of the doctors was in.
“Both. They’re in the animal room.” He pointed over his shoulder, then turned as Carol walked by so he could catch the view from the rear. Jason was surprised by his blatancy.
The door to the animal room had a large glass panel. Inside were two men in white coats drawing blood from a monkey.
“It was the tall one with the gray hair,” Carol said, pointing. Jason moved closer to the window. The man Carol indicated was handsome and athletic appearing, of approximately Jason’s age. His hair was a uniform silver color that gave him a particularly distinguished look. The other man, in contrast, was almost bald. What hair he had was combed over the top of his head in a vain attempt to cover the thinning spot.
“Will he remember you?”
“Possibly. We only met for a moment before I went off to the Psychology Department.”
They waited until the doctors finished their task and emerged from the animal room. The tall gray-haired man was carrying the vial of blood.
“Excuse me,” Jason said. “Could I possibly have a moment of your time?”
The man glanced at Jason’s badge. “Are you a drug rep?”
“Heavens, no.” Jason smiled. “I’m Dr. Jason Howard and this is Miss Carol Donner.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I’ll see you in a minute, Duncan,” interrupted the balding man.
“Okay,” Duncan said. “I’ll run the blood immediately.” Then, turning to Jason, he said, “Sorry.”
