Chapter 39
“Have a seat, Detective Avery will be with you shortly”, the receptionist told us after I explained my case.
There were rows of plastic chair along the walls, along each side of the room. “Homeland security” said a stemma hang on the wall opposite to the one where we were sitting. I sat with my legs slightly open, leaning my elbows on my knees, my head dropping. Then I looked up again. I read “Homeland security” over and again each time I raised my head, with the compulsive greediness with which I intake every written word when I am stranded in a waiting room with nothing to do. There was a watch on the wall along which we sat, and I turned every now and then to check the time.
“You’ll be fine”, Jack said patting my shoulder, “I’ll wait here when you go inside”.
I nodded, wishing he could follow me in the detective’s office.
Marian Avery walked in the room after a while. It seemed to me like I had been waiting for at least half an hour, but I caught a glimpse of the watch before following her along the corridor to her office and I saw we had been in the room for no more than 10 minutes. Jack smiled when he saw me turning back, with pleading eyes and pale, as he told me months later, recalling that night.
“Have a seat”, Detective Avery told me when we got to her office. I landscaped the room, rolling around my eyes discretely, recording the shape and colour of the functional objects in the room: a phone, a window, a stapler, the neon lights. And a picture. I noticed the frame first, and then who was captured in the image. I gasped with surprise.
“Is that your kid? I met her at the lake. She told me her name…”, I paused a moment, trying to remember it. “Mirth, that’s it. She was there alone, waiting for a dog. I dropped her home”
Marian Avery looked at me hard and long, and I noticed her eyes had the same colour and shape as Mirth’s eyes, but they were harder, and defensive, and now they were studying me attentively.
“She was alone, you say?”, she asked
“Yes”, I replied, realizing a second after I answered that perhaps I had given away her daughter’s secret.
Marian Avery sighted.
“She’s a smart kid, but she shouldn’t be running around alone at night”, her voice softening
I wondered how she knew we met during the evening, since I hadn’t said anything about the time. She kept her eyes down for a moment, lost in her own thoughts. Then she raised her eyes, unnerved for the briefest instant before recomposing herself.
“So, Ms. Celati, what is bringing you here?”, she asked, hands joint, and her eyes locked again on mine as they had been when I told her about Mirth.
“I am not sure about what is happening…”
“Why don’t you start by telling me all the facts that made you suspect there is something wrong”, she said with a controlled tone
I told her about the polymer, Sandeep’s strange behaviour, the journalist wanting to see someone to discuss the dead patients at the Cross cancer center, the deaths at the NY cancer center and the possible connection between the two.
“I don’t have any sound proof that the polymer I synthesized has been misused, but there is something fishy in what is happening…”
Detective Avery listened to me without interrupting, and was silent a moment longer after I finished. Her face remained plain, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“Is the cross cancer center the only place where someone got a hold of your polymer?”, she asked at last
“No, I also took it to the DNA research center to run some analyses”
“Are you the only one who works with this polymer in your company?”
“No, I am collaborating with some colleagues”
“Can I have their names?”
“Alice Spears and Brad Briggs are my closest collaborators. Mike Vanderbilt also collaborated with us on this project, although he is not fully involved”
Detective Avery nodded, taking notes.
“And what about your boss?”
“Janna McMurrich”
“Is that your boss’s name?”
“Yes”
“Did you discuss your concerns with the colleagues involved?”
“Yes. Alice is actually the one who told me that we should talk to the police if we couldn’t understand what was happening. I spoke with her while coming here, she said she will drop by tomorrow. Brad also knows I am here. He is worried, but I guess he is still hesitant to accept that there is something wrong”
She nodded again.
“And what is your boss’s opinion?”, she asked
“I don’t know too well. I try to avoid talking to her, and even if I did I wouldn’t learn much more regarding her opinions”
Marian Avery arched her brows.
“I don’t like my boss”, I said shrugging my shoulders and smiling apologetically
“Why is that?”
“She is the boss and I am below her, that’s how she conceives our relationship. I hope this part of the conversation can remain strictly private, or I’ll have to do some job-hunting very soon”
“Every part of our conversation is strictly private, unless we bring this case to court. And even then nobody will be interested in knowing how you feel about your boss, unless you decide to threaten or kill her”
Now it was my turn to arch my eyebrows.
“What?”, I asked shocked
Marian Avery smiled, looking amused for the first time since I met her.
“But since I don’t expect you to kill or threaten your boss nobody except me will know you dislike her”
I was tense, I had come here to receive help and I felt that this detective was messing me around instead. A surge of hostility rose within me. Marian Avery sensed it, her smile died on her lips and she looked at me seriously.
“I always treat people respectfully”, she said, as if she had read my thoughts.
I nodded, feeling empty and tired all of a sudden.
“I also spoke about my polymer with a researcher in Italy, Mauro Mori”
“So he involved in the project?”
“No, my boss doesn’t even know I am in contact with him. I signed a disclosure policy when I got hired, and I could be fired for giving out information about our technologies. But I had to email this person, you see. He studies the effect of chemicals on bacteria, and I think he can help me understand what is going on, at least from a scientific standpoint”. I spoke quickly, almost defensively.
“And has this…ehm…Mauro Mori helped you after all?”
“Somewhat, yes. Our communication has just started though, and solving scientific questions takes time”
Marian nodded.
“Ok, thank you for taking the time to come here. I will look into this, call me if you notice anything else or remember details you forgot to tell me tonight”
“I will”, I said. “So what should I do now? I mean, should I keep doing my research as if nothing happened?”
“For the time being, yes. Avoid going to the cross cancer institute though. I will call you with further instructions in the next days, if I have any”, she said and stood up, shaking my hand
She saw me to the hallway. Before leaving I turned around to thank her, and it was only then I noticed that her face was strained, and shaded by worries thoughts I hadn’t perceived earlier.