I began by listing all the people who seemed to be involved in the Network drama. That included Riesler, JJ, Graham, Elaine, Edwards, Cindy, and Dinah. With all the players accounted for, I itemized, for each person, everything I knew about them and all the outstanding questions. Twenty minutes later, with the lists completed, I reached an uncomfortable conclusion. My case so far was a mess. The list of participants was unmanageably long, their relationship to the case was obscure, and the “questions” column was three times longer than the “what I know” column.
I sat back in my chair and surveyed the table from a distance, trying to get the gestalt of it. On the surface, Graham looked good. He was certainly an accomplished fraud artist, but that was the problem. The motivation for Graham’s style of fraud was usually a desire for recognition, adulation, rather than the need for ready cash. Stealing funds from the Network wouldn’t accomplish that. On the other hand, maybe he was diversifying, adding embezzlement to his already impressive list of criminal credentials. There was something else that didn’t add up. Riesler had implied that Graham and JJ ran the Network, yet JJ seemed to despise Graham and denied his involvement, so what was the true relationship between them? Was it possible they were shielding a very lucrative partnership, with Graham providing the brains and entrepreneurial spirit, JJ the access and opportunity?
But that led me to JJ, who, without any help from Graham, had the most obvious motives for the crime. He had reason to hate Edwards, and he had a taste for high-risk stocks, but would he, could he, work alone? Everything to date indicated that JJ was a follower, either of Riesler or someone else. And how could he possibly embezzle that amount of cash right out from under Riesler? Riesler was no idiot. If $200,000 were missing from the grant surely he, as principal scientist, would be aware of it even with his supposed hands-off approach.
So, what was Riesler’s involvement?
Then there was the clincher. How was Elaine tied in to all of this? What the hell was going on between her and Riesler, and her and Edwards, and was any of it related to the missing funds?
I sighed. Of all the questions, this last one, centred on Elaine’s seemingly pivotal role, was my best bet for the evening. Of course I’d try for more, but if that’s all I got, some insight into her relationship with Riesler and Edwards, then I’d be happy. I was pretty sure that once I understood how she fit in it would clarify a lot of other issues.
I began laying out a plan of attack for dinner that involved a quiet seafood restaurant and several bottles of champagne (Elaine has a fondness for bubbly and no head for alcohol) when the phone rang. I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether it might be for Cindy, then picked it up.
“It’s me,” said Elaine, with no introduction. “I can’t make dinner tonight. Something’s come up.”
This was typical Elaine, but I wasn’t in the mood to play along.
“Cancel it. You’re booked with me.”
There was an exasperated sigh at the other end. “I can’t cancel it. It’s work related.”
“Elaine, you booked with me. And you know what, I’m work related too. We have a lot to discuss, and it can’t wait until tomorrow.”
There was a long pause. I’m not sure anyone had ever questioned Elaine’s inalienable right to work at all times, under any circumstances, and regardless of the cost to others, so it took her a moment to collect herself. When she did it was with unexpected violence.
“No, you have things to discuss.I have work to do. Just because you arrive here out of the blue doesn’t mean that I can just put everything down, walk away from my lab. Jesus, Morgan, what do you think — “
“One dinner together, Elaine. Is that too much for your busy schedule? Or maybe it’s something else. Maybe you don’t want to talk me. Maybe you’re afraid, because face to face you’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do. You lied about Riesler, you lied about Edwards, you’re hiding more sh— “
She cut me off, her voice low and vicious. “You never change, do you. You always want more from me than I can give.”
It was like being kicked in the stomach. I was momentarily stunned into silence, and when I could finally get some words out my voice had lost its edge. “That was a long time ago, a different life, and we’ve resolved all that.”
“You haven’t resolved it. You never will. And quite frankly, for me there was never anything to resolve.” And she banged the phone down in my ear.
For a moment I sat there immobilized. Was it true? Did I always want more from her than she could comfortably give? There was a time when… when that might have been true. But it was long ago, in graduate school, at a time when even the simplest emotions were intensified out of proportion by lack of sleep, excessive stress, and our bizarre living conditions in isolated field camps. And I had resolved it, no matter what she said, a hell of a lot better than she had. At least I didn’t deny the past. And bringing it up after all these years, throwing it in my face, was an inexcusable betrayal. I gnawed on that for a while, replaying in my head scenes from our shared past, reanalyzing them in the new light of Elaine’s betrayal. What was said, how it was said, what it really must have meant. By the end of it I was emotionally exhausted, but the paralyzing pain I’d felt earlier had been transformed by some primitive alchemy into a much more useful emotion. Cold, analytical anger. Elaine was going to pay for this.
I heard the lab door open and close and the sound of footsteps coming down the hall to Cindy’s office. I braced for Elaine, but a moment later Dinah looked in through the door.
“You still here?” she said. “I thought you were having dinner with Elaine.”
I eyed her, gauged the possibilities, and reached a rapid conclusion. She’d have as much information on Riesler, JJ, and Graham as Elaine, but she was also a possible treasure-trove of material on Elaine’s personal and professional life. I smiled. I was going to find out what Elaine was up to, with or without Elaine’s cooperation, and when I did there would be no mercy.
I looked at Dinah and gave a helpless shrug. “I was stood up. You wouldn’t be interested in dinner, would you? My treat. I really need some help sorting out all the conflicting information I’m getting about the department.”
She shifted uneasily. “Well…” “Your choice of restaurants. Cost is no object.” Then I said sincerely, “You’d really be giving me a hand.”
“I’ve got to organize the gear and load up the truck for tomorrow before I can leave.”
“That’s no problem. I’ll help. It’ll get me in the mood for our trip.”
She still looked wary but finally nodded. “Okay, but I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”
“More,” I reassured her, “than you can imagine.”
She gave me an odd look then pushed herself off the door frame. “Okay. Whatever. I’ll be in the main lab getting out the gear. When you’re finished up here you can come and help.”
She turned and disappeared back down the hall. I smiled, saved and closed my file, then snapped the laptop shut.
I was halfway out of my chair when I remembered something, and I gave myself a little mental kick. I couldn’t let Elaine divert me from other possibilities. I picked up the phone, dialed Duncan’s number, and got his machine. He was probably putting the kids to bed. I gave him several new chores, the most urgent being a complete history of Graham Connell, including his academic records and a criminal check. Given the three-hour time lag he would have most of the work done by the time we opened for business tomorrow. I had just hung up the phone when I heard a loud expletive and a crash. I came around the corner into the lab to find Dinah standing, her back to me, in a large storage