Henry showed them through to the boardroom and brought them coffee and bottles of spring water. Jenna and Dan sat down at the shiny mahogany table with Aarif and Kavita. Aarif’s nose had not been fractured out of alignment but the paramedics had given him a cold compress to hold over it. Both of his eyes were already swollen like dark red plums, and Nathan had told him to go home, but he had insisted on staying. He was determined not to miss any of the stages of Sukie Harris’ stem cell treatment.
Nathan remained standing, looking out of the window at the downtown skyline. The sun had come out, and was glittering on the river, and the pale blue sky was streaked with thin horses’ tail clouds. The scene reminded Nathan of some of the illustrations he had seen in books of mythology, with strange creatures flying around the spires of medieval cathedrals.
Jenna said, ‘This is where you do your research, Professor? Here at the Schiller building?’
‘That’s right. Schiller have been funding me for nearly a year now.’
‘And what exactly is it that you’re working on?’
‘Is that relevant?’
‘I don’t know. Is it?’
Nathan turned around. ‘It’s no secret. I’ve been trying to recreate mythical creatures. I believe that their stem cells could help us to treat some incurable illnesses.’
‘When you say mythical creatures …?’
‘Creatures out of mythology. Basilisks, wyverns, gryphons. Right up until the Middle Ages there were dozens of them – from the adlet, which was like an Inuit werewolf, to the ziz, which in Jewish mythology was a giant bird whose wings could block out the sun. Some of them were purely imaginary, but many of them really existed. You saw that bird in my laboratory. My researchers and I created that bird only a few days ago. Or shall we say re-created it. It’s a phoenix.’
‘A phoenix? Are you serious? Isn’t that the bird that sets fire to itself, to get reborn?’
‘That’s the one.’
‘So is there any kind of connection between your re-creating a phoenix and Mr Kasabian catching on fire?’
Nathan pulled out a chair and sat down. The surface of the table was so shiny that everybody sitting at it was reflected like the figures on playing cards.
‘Unlike the phoenix, Detective, I don’t think there’s any chance that Ron Kasabian will be coming back to life.’
Jenna looked at Nathan narrowly. He hadn’t really answered her question, and she felt the same way about him that she had felt back at Temple University Hospital – that he wasn’t giving her the whole picture. Maybe not lying, exactly, but failing to give her some critical facts. She was convinced that there was a link between the death of Eduardo Delgado at the hospital and Ron Kasabian’s immolation here at Schiller Medical Research, and she suspected that Nathan knew what it was. The question was: why was he being so guarded?
Dan opened his notebook. ‘The way that the victim was burned – could we run over it again? He came into the laboratory, right? How long was it before he combusted?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Nathan. ‘Only a couple of minutes.’
‘Did he say anything before he caught fire?’
‘We exchanged a few words, yes.’
‘Just a few words? You didn’t argue? It looks like your two assistants here both suffered some injuries.’
‘They sustained those when Mr Kasabian caught fire. They fell.’
Jenna turned to Aarif. ‘You fell flat on your nose? You didn’t put out your hands to save yourself?’
Aarif shrugged. ‘I tripped over a stool. I hit my nose on the edge of the bench.’
‘And how about you?’ Jenna asked Kavita. ‘I’ve attended more domestic disputes than you’ve had hot dinners, young lady, and I know a slap when I see it.’
‘That was Professor Underhill,’ said Kavita. ‘I hit my head and he thought I was unconscious so he slapped me to bring me round.’
Jenna stared at her disbelievingly for a moment, but then she turned back to Nathan. ‘Prior to catching light, did Mr Kasabian complain of feeling strange, in any way?’
Nathan shook his head.
‘Was there any chemical in your laboratory that could have accidentally set him alight?’
‘Only methanol, and he would have had to empty a whole bottle over himself and set himself alight with a match.’
‘Or somebody would.’
‘What are you trying to suggest? That one of us killed him?’
‘I don’t know. Did you? The circumstances are highly suspicious, to say the least. And to be quite frank with you, I don’t buy this falling over on your nose and this slapping story. Did you and Mr Kasabian have any kind of dispute?’
Nathan said, ‘Yes. We’d had a serious disagreement over money. Mr Kasabian had recommended to the Schiller board that they discontinue funding my research.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘This morning, though, he came in to tell us that he had changed his mind, and that our funding would continue – at least for the time being.’
Jenna sat back, tapping her ballpen on the tabletop. ‘So there was no longer any bone of contention between you? No reason for you to argue, or to get physical?’
Nathan shook his head.
Jenna’s cellphone played ‘Blanket On The Ground’. She said, ‘Excuse me,’ and flipped it open.
‘Mom? It’s Ellie. OK if I stay over at Hermione’s tonight?’
‘What about your homework?’
‘It’s Friday, Mom. I can do it tomorrow.’
‘Did you eat lunch?’
‘I had vegetarian pizza.’
‘How much? Come on, tell me the truth.’
‘I had one slice. But I ate all of it, I swear.’
‘OK, then. But make sure that you eat something at Hermione’s. I’ll call you later, when I finish work.’
She snapped her cellphone shut. She looked across the table to see Nathan smiling at her.
‘Kids,’ he said.
Jenna refused to smile back. ‘I might need to talk to you again, Professor, once the medical examiner has taken a look at Mr Kasabian’s remains, and I get a full report from the fire department.’
‘OK,’ said Nathan. He checked his watch, and then turned to Aarif and Kavita. ‘Right now we have a pressing appointment with a certain young lady, don’t we, compadres?’