BLIND TRIAL by Brian Deer (good books to read for adults .txt) 📕

knows where? About some lost to follow-up, or whatever, involving that young doctor who was complaining about Frank Wilson at the Washington conference.”

“Okay.”

“Anyway, it’s her sister, she says. The volunteer’s sister. And what Trudy’s saying about this… Well, I don’t know. I just don’t know what to make of it… I want you to look into it. Today. In fact, now. This minute.”

Hoffman looked at the ceiling as he absorbed the implications. So much for the motherfucking dickheads. And so much for Ben Louviere, loyalty, and trust. Not only did it appear that he’d driven to Garberville, but he must have switched off his phone. “A sister you say? What she know about anything?”

“That’s what I thought. But what Trudy’s saying is… Well, honestly, I don’t know. You might be right. She might be losing her marbles. But, in any event, what she’s saying is my executive vice president wasn’t only out there working as a physician, would you believe, but he wrote the death certificate of a volunteer on the trial.”

“What? The vaccine trial?”

“Yes.”

“Hold on. What crap’s all this? That sounds hundred percent proof crazy. Can’t even see he’d be registered with the medical board here. Must be some other Viraj Grahacharya.”

“That’s what I thought. But apparently not.”

“Okay, let me look into this. Gimme an hour or so. It’ll be nothing, I’m sure, but I’ll find out what it’s all about. He’s here with Wilson now. Leave it with me.”

“Please do. It’s utterly, utterly absurd, I know. It’s preposterous. But we can’t have something like this getting around. Not now. People Tweet these kind of stupid rumors in seconds, and that’s how these things take off. The stupider, the quicker. Just anybody. And it’s what she’s saying. And loudly.”

“Shouldn’t go jumping to conclusions, I know. But she could be having some kind of mental issue here. Hallucinations even. That can happen. Maybe something with her medication. Maybe we need to get her checked out.”

“That’s what I’m wondering. You’re probably right. But she’s got that boy from marketing with her, and she says he’s seen the certificate as well. I haven’t spoken with him, but she’s saying something about how Doctorjee signed it with a different name. Apparently, the sister gave a perfect description. And the writing on the certificate’s the same. Something about the letter G.”

“Wasn’t hearing voices, attacked by bats, alien life forms, or anything?”

“She said Frank Wilson gave a second opinion.”

“There you go then. You know, Marcia, this could even be, well, you know… Poor woman.”

“Most likely. But she’s absolutely going up the wall, and we simply can’t have this kind of thing now. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. She kept croaking, ‘He’s evil, he’s evil.’ It was most disconcerting.”

US 101 South, Mendocino County, 16:52

FOR THE last ten minutes the Sentra had climbed eight hundred feet toward Rattlesnake Summit, thirty miles south of Garberville.

“Sir, yes, I know. I can explain. I can.”

“Explain? Explain? Hope you can fucking explain. Had your phone off, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”

“You want to speak with Dr. Mayr? She can fill you in.”

“No, I don’t. I do not.”

He had turned his phone off—at lunchtime in Ukiah—in a last hope of squaring the circle. Doc Mayr wanted one thing, and Hoffman something else. So, whatever he did would be wrong. “I think it’s the signal, what with all these mountains. It wasn’t off. Honestly, it wasn’t.”

“Now, you listen here, Ben. ‘No problem,’ you told me. ‘Trust me,’ you said. ‘It’s all under control,’ you said. Do we have a problem? Yes, we do. Is anything under control? No, it ain’t.”

The car reached the summit and began to descend, freewheeling toward the town of Laytonville. “But he definitely signed it. He definitely did. I mean, he was visiting with Helen Glinski as her doctor. The sister totally described him, and we got his handwriting. And she totally described Dr. Wilson. Dr. Mayr wants to speak with you now.”

“Well, I don’t want to speak with her. This is between you and me. We’re working this out, like back in the day.”

“No problem.”

“No problem? Okay, we gotta go beyond keep saying, ‘No problem.’ We got to cool it. You listen to me, here’s what you do. You open a window now, and you get a good breeze going through that car. You gotta get cool and calm. Cool and calm.”

“I’ll pull over.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Ben checked the mirrors, signaled to alert a tailgating Subaru, slowed, and pulled in at a gate. “Dr. Mayr wants to speak with you now.”

“No. Don’t give her the phone, you hear me? Do not give her the phone. I need more time.”

Ben killed the engine, locked the parking brake, and ignored a wrinkled hand in his face. “Okay, I’m listening.”

“Listening cool and calm. It’ll all make sense, I know it. Soon enough, it will. Now, don’t think I’m mad at you for taking the old girl up there. Even though I told you not to do that. Must have been tricky. Can mess with your head, what with her being a senior member of staff.”

“That’s about how it was. Very true.”

The afternoon sun was dropping toward the mountains. Fast-moving vehicles jolted past.

“Now, first thing. You made any calls, or send anything? I won’t be mad at you, but I need to know. Either of you. I know about the old girl calling Marcia, because Marcia’s called me.”

“No, sir. Like I said, the signal was bad.”

“Haven’t talked to Dr. Honda?”

“Only earlier.”

“How much earlier?”

“Before midday, I guess. On the way up here. She’s cool, like I said.”

“Okay. That’s okay. Now, you don’t call her again. Or anybody. No WhatsApps, texts, emails, Instagrams, Facebook posts. You sent anything like that today?”

“Nothing.”

“So, no more from now on. And don’t take any calls either. Got that? Now you can turn your phone off. In fact, do turn it off, right after this call, and keep it that way till we got this all explained.”

“Sure.”

“That’s good. I can’t give it you on the phone.