The Art of Forgetting (24 page)

              Had Kaz documented the injections given to the three nameless mice in the computer log? The issue had not been discussed between them. Knowing Kaz’s lifelong adherence to protocol, he probably had recorded them, and they’d be sunk. But even if he hadn’t, Norbert and Nguyen were nobody’s fools, and they knew exactly what they were looking for. They’d be able to cross-reference the number of injections administered with the number of vials of prion still locked in the fridge and do the math. Either way, they’d soon know. He whipped his wrist and the lid of the lighter snapped shut with a crisp metallic clunk. Opened it and lit it again.

              Two minutes later there was a knock at the door.
That was quick
, Lloyd thought. They didn’t have time to look in the fridge. Meticulous as ever, Kaz must have documented the injections, like a good lab technician ought to.

              “Come in,” Lloyd said taking his feet off the desk.

              Norbert and Nguyen stepped in the office with grave expressions. Nguyen seemed to be almost bowing, while Norbert fidgeted with something in his pocket.

              “We hope we’re not becoming a nuisance,” Dr. Nguyen said.

              “Not at all professor,” Lloyd said.

              “Your record keeping is impeccable,” Nguyen said, turning to Dr. Norbert who nodded in agreement. “There’s just a minor discrepancy…”

              “We’re sure it’s a simple clerical oversight, but your assistant wasn’t able to clear it up,” Norbert said.

              “Isn’t one of you supposed to play the bad cop?” Lloyd asked.

              “What?” Nguyen said, the ends of his eyebrows rising.

              The two inspectors exchanged a look. Norbert cleared his throat, took his hand out of his pocket and wiped his mouth.

              “Listen, Lloyd,” Norbert said, “I remember you in physiology class your freshman year of medical school, running labs on anesthetized dogs. I remember the seriousness with which you conducted yourself. Let me say, on a personal level, that I think these accusations against you are simply ludicrous. But there’s a new Chief of Staff, Lloyd, and even we tenured professors are being asked to dance a new jig. I think I speak for the both of us when I say that we’d like to return to committee with the most favorable report possible. But we can’t alter the facts.”

              “I appreciate your candor,” Lloyd said.

              Norbert drew a heavy breath and said, “Your log would suggest that three mice were injected with prions on June the eighth. If that’s accurate, it would mean that the injections were delivered after Dr. Lasko’s directive to suspend active research in your lab.”

              “Mr. Volkov could not verify the accuracy of the date,” Nguyen said.

              “He wouldn’t be able to,” Lloyd said. Norbert and Nguyen appeared puzzled. “I recorded those entries myself. Kaz knows nothing about this.”

              “Could it be you entered the wrong date?” Norbert asked.

              “There’s no mistake,” Lloyd said. “Make your report to committee. Let me just make one thing clear: if anyone is to be reprimanded here, it is me. Leave Kaz out of this. He’s done nothing wrong.”

              The inspectors left looking demoralized. Lloyd shook their hands warmly, walked them only as far as the door to his office. Their silence was telling. As he watched them cross the laboratory on their way out, Lloyd decided that he needed to stay one step ahead of the game. One step ahead of Lasko.

              Chapter 23

             
W
ith the inspectors gone, Kaz was preparing to place a mouse in the tower maze. He turned at the sound of Lloyd’s footsteps and smiled feebly.

              “
Hola amigo!”
Kaz said.

              “
Hola amigo?”

              “I’m practicing my Spanish. What do you think of my pronunciation?”

              “You sound like the Terminator,” Lloyd said. “How are we doing?”

              “
Comme ci comme ça
.”

              “That’s not even Spanish. Listen
amigo
, I need
las
keys to
el
refrigerator,” Lloyd said.

              “The keys to
the
refrigerator?” Kaz asked.

              “Do we lock up any other fridge?”

              “But – if you don’t mind I ask – why compadre?”

              “There’s something I have to do. And you don’t need to know anything about it.”

              “But Lloyd –”

              “Listen Kaz, I’ve already dug a hole for myself and there’s no need to drag you down with me,” Lloyd said.

              Kaz furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

              “I don’t want you to lose your job.”

              Kaz scowled and swatted the air with his palm. “Bah! You think I’m worried about a job?”

              “This is
my
battle. I’m doing this and I don’t want you to be involved.”

              “At least tell me…”

              “Look,” Lloyd said, “I have to take the prions. For safe-keeping.”

              “You sure about this?”

              “If they want to get rid of me that’s one thing, but I can’t let them take the prions,” Lloyd said.

              “What are you talking about?”

              Lloyd shrugged. “They put me on academic probation. I think they’ll suspend my privileges next. Someone’s out to get me.”

              “Probation?” Kaz palmed his jaw with his thick hand. “This is serious. How can I help?”

              “Just don’t tell anyone I’m taking the prions. No one needs to know. And if anyone finds out, you didn’t know anything about it.”

              Kaz nodded and removed a key ring from his belt. “Make sure they stay cold. There are ice packs in the freezer for transport.”

              “Thanks Kaz.”

              “And Lloyd, be careful. Don’t do anything stupid.”

              “It’s just for safekeeping. Until the smoke clears a little.”

              He placed the vials in a sealable sandwich bag, wedged ice packs on either side of the bag and wrapped the whole thing in a towel. He shoved the package in his backpack just as the door to the lab opened. It was Nick De Luca, looking dapper in a suit with a yellow silk handkerchief in his lapel pocket that flawlessly matched his necktie.

              “Dr. Copeland, so glad to see you, as always,” De Luca said.

              Lloyd zipped up the backpack. “Can I help you?”

              “I was hoping I could help
you
.” De Luca looked around the lab. “I noticed you leave your door unlocked during the day.”

              “That’s so we can get in and out,” Lloyd said casting his glance to Kaz.

              “Yeah, but… you might not be the only ones, see?”

              “That’s true. You just walked in. Maybe we should start locking it.”

              De Luca laughed. “You gotta love a man with a sense of humor.” De Luca’s eyes fell on the backpack. Lloyd instinctively placed his hand over it. “Going somewhere?” De Luca asked.

              “I was just on my way out,” Lloyd said.

              “Well, I’ll just be a minute then.”

              “I don’t have a minute.” Lloyd wanted to be sure the vials stayed cold for the ride home. With the temperatures starting to soar, even a short ride might be enough to spoil the prion solution, and he was planning a little more than a short ride.

              “Let me walk out with you, then,” De Luca said and reached for the backpack. Lloyd pulled it out of his hands. De Luca shrugged.

              Lloyd flung the backpack on his right shoulder and the two men walked out into the hallway heading for the elevator.

              “I’m glad we can talk, you know, alone.” De Luca gave a jerk of his head.

              “There’s nothing I can’t discuss in front of my lab technician.”

              “Maybe this something you should,” De Luca said. “I hate to keep bothering you with distasteful matters, but…  How should I say this?”

              Lloyd glared at him. The backpack seemed to be heating up on his shoulder. He thought he could feel it sweating through his shirt, or maybe it was just his own back that was perspiring.

              “We caught you on video-tape again,” De Luca said. “And this time you don’t come out looking all swashbuckling if you know what I mean.”

              “I
don’t
know what you mean,” Lloyd said. For an instant he glimpsed at an irregular ceiling tile over De Luca’s shoulder and quickly locked eyes with him again.

              De Luca smiled. “There’s no cameras on this floor. See, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that, but I did. Now, all the elevators have cameras, so we’re not gonna get on this car. You can get on the next one, as soon as we’re done talking.”

              The elevator door opened with the sound of a bell chime. The two men stood on the landing without saying a word until the stainless steel doors met in the middle again.

              “You’re in a boat-load of trouble,” De Luca said. “A friggin’ Exxon-Valdez-oil-tanker full of trouble as a matter of fact and it doesn’t look like there’s many people interested in exposing their gizzards for you.”

              “But let me guess,” Lloyd said. “You are.”

              “That’s right.”

              “And why would that be?” Lloyd asked.

              “Very good, Dr. Copeland, very good,” De Luca smirked. “First rule in security: trust no one.”

              “And what’s the second rule?”

              De Luca rubbed his chin. “I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!  I don’t think there is a second rule,” De Luca said. “Come by my office tonight – my private office, over at the café. I want to show you something.”

              The other elevator door opened. Lloyd stepped on and looked out at De Luca still standing on the landing as the doors shut. Half-way down to the ground floor he wished he hadn’t stepped on the elevator alone. What if De Luca went back to snoop around his lab, question Kaz?  Sure, Kaz could handle himself. He had Red Army blood still flowing through his veins despite all the organic veggies he devoured, and he could pick up a snoop a mile away in foggy weather. But the mere idea of De Luca looking into his affairs was so… unappealing.

              He hurried down the hallway toward the parking garage. From a distance, he saw Mark O’Keefe’s red head bobbing well above those of the surrounding crowd. He quickly turned a corner and made his way down an alternative route. There was no time to waste on pleasantries and he had hardly seen Mark since the day of the barbecue. He’d want to squeeze Lloyd for information on the status of him and Erin.

              At last, he stepped into the parking garage, placed his arms through the straps of the backpack, mounted the bike and tightened the straps. It was early afternoon and the roads were free of traffic. Something told him not to take a straight route home. He kept checking his rear view mirrors with an odd presentiment. He headed well north, past River Forest, tracked back on Des Plaines road, headed east and looped around the northern part of Oak Park before stopping in the deserted alley in front of his garage door. He pulled up alongside the Subaru and had the motorized garage door shutting even before he was off his bike.

              He stepped up next to the garage door and perked his ears to hear if any car might drive by. There was only the sound of a pigeon cooing and gurgling in the alcove above his garage.
I’m being ridiculous!

              Lloyd bounded up the stairs and zipped open his backpack on the kitchen counter. The ice packs were still frozen. See?  He had worried for nothing. He placed the vials on a butter tray. They fit just right. He let out a sigh of satisfaction. He slid the tray on the top shelf of his freezer, moving a bottle of Tequila aside to make room. He turned the dial of the thermostat to its lowest setting, shut the freezer door and calmly headed down the stairs. Halfway down, he stopped.

              How could he be so stupid? Why did he leave the vials in plain sight? He imagined Erin standing in front of the fridge asking, “Hey, Lloyd, what are these things?”

              He turned around and ran back up the stairs, took the vials out, tossed the butter tray in the sink and placed the vials on the counter. He scanned the contents of the freezer. There was an unopened carton of Rum and Raisin ice cream. He took it out, flipped open the lid, peeled off the clear plastic liner covering the ice cream and used a spoon to dig a trench, eating the first couple of spoonfuls and tossing the next two in the sink. He wedged the vials in the crater he had created and replaced the lid on the carton.