Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“We’re private investigators looking into the deaths of Dr. Jones and Dr. Weiss, your wife’s coworker.” Justin took a step closer, moving beside Gabriel. “Did you know Dr. Weiss?”
“Kevin? Yes, he came over to our house a few times. He…I’d heard about his death. I-I-I just didn’t give it much thought in relation to Kristen’s.” He stopped and rubbed his face, then suddenly looked around himself as if realizing they were all still standing on the front porch. “Here. Come in.” He stepped out of the doorway, waving them inside.
Gabriel led the way into the house, glancing over the family photos that adorned the wall of a happy couple soon joined by a tiny little girl with a full head of black hair and wide dark eyes. Judging by the progression of photos, their daughter couldn’t be more than two years old now.
Devon ushered them into a living room that was in disarray with a child’s toys and a basket of clothes that was in the process of being folded. There was also an old pizza box on the coffee table. The widower made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat as he quickly threw the clothes spread across the sofa into the basket. He set it off to the side with a weary sigh. He grabbed the box and turned to Justin and Gabriel.
“Sorry. I guess I’ve let things go since…I’ve never been very consistent about the housework. At least, not without Kristen there to hound me about things. She was always more organized than me.”
“It’s okay, Mr. Jones,” Gabriel said gently. “We’d only like a few minutes of your time.”
“Do you want some coffee, Mr…umm?”
“I’m Mr. Prescott and this is my partner, Mr. Mallory.” Gabriel motioned to Justin, who remained near the entrance of the house.
“Mr. Jones, did your wife talk about her latest project with Iaso?”
Devon’s hands tightened around the pizza box he was holding. “I knew that it was supposed to be a cancer treatment, but oncology was her specialty. She was putting in a lot of long hours over the past month for it.”
“Was she hopeful that the treatment would work?”
Putting the box back on the table, Devon sat on the edge of the couch and frowned. “Not really, but you have to understand my wife. She had worked on successful projects before. She’s not normally hopeful or disappointed. It’s all about the data. She used to say that every failure eliminated all the useless noise from life, getting her closer to the truth.”
“In her final weeks, did you notice anything different about your wife?” Justin asked. “Did she seem anxious or worried?”
“Yeah, she was pissed.”
Gabriel straightened at his words and looked over at Justin, who also appeared mildly surprised. “What do you mean, pissed?”
“Just that. She was angry. She was convinced that someone was fucking with her data.”
“How?”
Devon placed his elbows on his knees and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t know,” he replied in a muffled voice. “I’m not sure she knew either. She was just sure that someone was messing with her data, deleting information from patient records. There was something about a patient who died during the trial and the autopsy information was incomplete.” He paused and heaved a heavy sigh. “The last two weeks before she died, she wasn’t sleeping. She was barely home at all.”
“Was your wife scared?” Justin asked.
Devon’s head popped up, and he stared at Justin for a few seconds, his brows pulled together over his long, narrow nose. “Scared? I…I don’t know. I didn’t think so. She was upset. The drug had been submitted to the FDA against her recommendation, and she was sure that someone was falsifying the data.”
“Did she tell anyone?”
“Yes, of course. She reported it to her boss, Dr. Elba, as well as the chairman…that bastard Dane Hamilton. No one was listening to her.”
Gabriel sat in a chair near Devon and met the man’s eyes. “Did she tell Dr. Weiss?”
Devon nodded. “Yes. He didn’t take her seriously at first, but then he started noticing things when the third person died.”
“Did your wife have any notes on her work here at the house?” Justin asked, and Gabriel’s heart sped up with hope, only to have it crushed a second later when Devon shook his head.
“No, not that she kept here. Anything she was working on was kept on the laptop, and Iaso confiscated it from the accident.” Devon paused and frowned at Gabriel and then Justin. “But you don’t think it was an accident. You think someone…killed my wife?”
Gabriel looked over at Justin, not sure how much to tell the grieving man. Was it kinder for him to think that it was just a cruel accident or better to know the truth, that someone put a hit out on his wife because she had the power to stop it from hitting the market?