Jake dropped Pam off at the airport two days later. He’d cleared his calendar and was ready to make Holly Singer a full-time project. Starting with a look through her texts and emails. The cops would have gotten them when they investigated her supposed suicide, so what he needed was someone who could get him copies of the police records. An old friend in the Bureau.

He placed a call to Rob Harlow.

“Well, if it isn’t Jake Lawrence,” Harlow answered. “And to what do I owe the honor this time? Got another drug trafficker for me?”

Jake chuckled. “I’m the one who needs a favor this time. Do you remember the big fraud case about Alzheimer’s research at the Langmere Institute? And the young woman who killed herself?”

“Sure, it was all over the papers. Quite the high-profile academic scandal.”

“Well, what you read isn’t real. I’m good friends with the head of the lab, Pam Weller, who everyone thought was responsible along with the postdoc who committed suicide. The fact is, the fraud story isn’t true. Pam’s innocent and I’m trying to figure out what really happened. So I’d like to get copies of the postdoc’s emails and texts.”

“Which you want me to get for you? Shit Jake, you know that’s going too far.”

“I know, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to. You remember that asshole we took down on Long Island, right?”

Harlow sighed. “Yeah, I know. You saved my ass that time. How often are you going to call in that marker?”

“Only as often as you make me use it.”

Harlow snickered. “Alright, alright. You said this Pam Weller’s a friend. Is this business or personal?”

“It’s as personal as it gets. She’s important to me.”

“Okay, I’ll get them for you. But if Weller’s innocent, are you thinking the postdoc’s death might not be a suicide after all? Maybe something like the murder cover-up in the industrial fraud mess we worked a few years back?”

“It’s possible,” Jake said. “I’m just going to have to see what I can dig up.”

“You’ll bring me in on it if something’s there, right?”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

• • •

A thumb drive with copies of Holly’s texts and emails for the last two years was delivered to Jake in Gloucester the next morning. For good measure, Harlow also sent him a copy of the Brookline police report.

It took Jake a full day to work through two years’ worth of texts and emails, and in the end the results were disappointing. There were clear boyfriend exchanges with a Dave Fitzgerald up until about a year and a half ago, when Holly had apparently terminated the relationship. There were a couple of messages after the breakup, which appeared amicable and gave Jake no reason to suspect the former boyfriend.

Since breaking up with Dave, Holly had had occasional dates but nothing that seemed to have developed into a significant relationship. Other than that, she seemed to go out to eat regularly with a half dozen or so people with Langmere or Harvard email addresses. Probably other students or postdocs. And of course there were a variety of emails to Pam and others in the lab talking about experiments and writing their paper. But nothing like what he was hoping to find. No new boyfriend or confidant to whom Holly revealed anything about her plans for the drug or spoke about her troubles with the misconduct committee. And no one she’d contacted the day of her death.

There was one exchange that looked interesting, though. Holly had written to an Eric Prescott several months ago about meeting at a Gordon Conference, right around the time she and Pam had the big argument about authorship. Prescott had said he’d be happy to see her there, although there were no further messages between them after that. Still, it might be worth talking to Prescott to see if they’d met at the conference.

Googling Eric Prescott showed he was a distinguished professor at the Institute for Advanced Neuroscience. The research summary on his lab website described him immodestly as “a leading researcher at the forefront of understanding Alzheimer’s disease,” and listed a series of honors and awards to back up the assertion. It also had links to several articles about him in newspapers and magazines like Newsweek and Time, which Jake knew was not a general feature of scientist’s websites. So Prescott liked talking to the popular press. Jake smiled to himself and called Prescott’s office.

A woman answered. “Professor Prescott’s office, who’s calling please?”

“My name is Steve Morgan. Is Professor Prescott available?” Jake asked.

“I’m sorry, he’s in a meeting. Can I help you?”

“I’m a journalist working on an article about research on Alzheimer’s disease and I was hoping to have the chance to interview Professor Prescott. After all, he’s the leading authority in the field. I’m sure he’s extremely busy, but I’m in Boston for just a few days and very much hope we can set something up. I’d hate to miss the chance to get his input.”

“I see. Well yes, I’m sure he’d be happy to help you with that. Let me see, I can make some time on his calendar tomorrow afternoon at three. Would that be possible for you?”

“That’s perfect, I’ll see you then. Thank you so much.”

Jake ended the call, amused at how easy it was to break through barriers when an ego was involved. Then he decided to call Pam. Maybe she knew something about Holly having met Prescott. And besides, she’d been in Michigan almost three days now. It’d be good to talk to her.

• • •

Pam was sitting on the only comfortable chair in her room at a Victorian bed and breakfast, her home for the next couple of weeks, looking over the list of nearby restaurants. She was trying to decide between pizza and Chinese when the phone rang. She was excited to see the call was from Jake and grabbed it before there was time for a second ring.

“Hi Jake, good to hear from you.”

“I’m glad I caught you. How’re things going?”

“The drugs will be in soon and we’re all set to do the chemistry analysis when they arrive. What’re you up to?”

“I’ve been working through Holly’s emails—”

“What! How in the world did you get those?”

He chuckled. “Another old FBI trick, or in this case an old friend. Anyway, I didn’t find any real smoking guns. But there was an exchange I’m curious about. Back at the beginning of June, she wrote to Eric Prescott saying she had some exciting new results and asking to meet with him at a Gordon Conference. Does that ring any bells?”

“No, I didn’t know anything about it. And it sounds kind of screwy. I’d been pretty forceful about telling everyone in the lab that the results with aneurinide had to be kept quiet.”

“She sent the email on June fifth. I checked the date list you gave me, and that’s the same day you had the authorship argument with her.”

Pam got up and started pacing the room. “I’ll bet she contacted him because she was pissed at that. I wonder what was on her mind. Are there any further exchanges between them? Her attitude seemed to improve once she got back from that meeting. Maybe Prescott knows something.”

“Yes, my thought too,” Jake said. “So I have a meeting with Prescott tomorrow to see if I can find out more about what went on at that conference.”

“How’d you swing that? Prescott only talks to people who can help him.”

“I could tell from his website that he liked seeing his name in the press, so I posed as a reporter wanting to interview him for a story.”

She laughed. “You certainly pegged him quickly.”

“Told you I’m good at this. But before I meet with him, give me a little more background. What’s he like?”

“Arrogant, as you already figured out. I don’t know him well. He’s more senior than I am and never had much time for me. He’s made some important contributions to Alzheimer’s research and is generally considered a candidate for a Nobel someday. Very much into political maneuvers as well as the science.”

“Your drug will make you a candidate for a Nobel, too. How would Prescott feel about that?”

“Royally pissed, I imagine. He’s a very competitive guy.”

“That’s what I figured,” Jake said. “Okay, that’ll help when I talk to him. Now tell me about the Gordon Conference he and Holly went to. I googled it and saw that Prescott was the keynote speaker.”

“Yes, and that’s quite an honor. Gordon Conferences are very prestigious.”

“I noticed it was held at a prep school in New Hampshire. Doesn’t seem like very comfortable accommodations for big name scientists.”

“No, that’s for sure. The Gordons are designed to promote lots of informal communication, not for luxury. People are assigned double rooms in the dorms with communal bathrooms. And sleeping in dorm room beds is definitely not for grownups. When I go to them, I usually find a room at a nearby hotel instead.”

“That makes sense. And probably what Prescott did too. Well, it’ll be interesting to talk to him tomorrow and see if he remembers anything about Holly. I’ll let you know how it goes.”