Chapter 29: Justice and Cold Beer

Maureen Darling ended the call and looked across the desk at her daughter. Deirdre had dropped by the DA's office to hear about a wish she had made.

"I spoke the DA of Val Verde County. They have the DNA results and they're matching. The bodies are in their freezer. Nobody claimed them so far. We can fly down and the coroner will let you view them. Should I call Joey or would you like me to fly with you? I won't let you fly alone, so if that's your idea you better think again."

"Not Joey!" Deirdre fairly squeaked. "I can't demand that of him."

Maureen squinted at her daughter. "He told you?"

Deirdre's face became a rigid mask. "He told me that they were found. He's got work to do before his graduation and I already claimed two days of his time. Besides, it would be awkward traveling together."

Maureen was contrite. "Sorry, stupid idea. Will you still fly with me? Being who I am may help."

"That would be nice of you, Mom. Only, I have to fly back on Monday. What are the connections to Val Verde anyway?"

"I would think through Houston. Let's check."

Maureen called a travel agent who promised to call back. Meanwhile they ate the lunch Deirdre had brought. Twenty minutes later the agent called back with the flight information. If they left early on Saturday, at six-fifteen, they could be in Houston by half past eight. A regional flight would see them to Del Rio, the seat of Val Verde County where the coroner's office was.

Maureen made reservations for three, plus Carla. When Deirdre looked her question, she smiled.

"I've never been away with Numi. She can watch Carla while we tend to your business."

Deirdre smiled. "That's great, Mom. I like Numi. I can relate to her."

"You still can't forgive Karen?"

Deirdre thought about it, but then she shook her head sadly. "No. In my book, she's the Nº3 culprit. She brought two felons into our house to satisfy her drug habit."

"Don't you think she paid the price for it?" Maureen asked gently but the hard look in Deirdre's eyes gave her the answer.

"No, Mom. I paid the fucking price. She got her head bashed in. That was terrible for you but for her it was over in the blink of an eye. I'm still paying for her stupidity after four years, and Joey does as well. I have the fucked up mind. I woke up screaming for months. All so she could keep her fucking muscle tone.

"So, I'm sorry, Mom, but I can't forgive her. Not yet. Maybe when I've pieced my life back together."

Maureen nodded. "Numi keeps saying the same. I just feel, knowing what she went through as a child with her father, there were reasons for how she was."

"Give me a break, Mom! How often did you rant about that sort of excuse from the people you're prosecuting?"

Maureen squinted at her daughter. "A double standard, huh? I just can't forget that Karen was the first person who ever accepted me for what I am. She was the one who taught me to stand up for myself."

"Mom, I'm not mad at you. I know how much she meant to you, and I'm sorry for the loss you suffered and for the hurt. I just can't see her the same way. To me she was always that embarrassing, loud-mouthed woman who scared away the other kids. To you she was an inspiration but to me she symbolized my outcast status."

"Still those issues, huh?"

"You bet, so let's better drop it."

"Yes, that's nothing we can resolve. So, you wanna call Joey and tell him where you're going?"

"I'll tell him later. We'll have coffee. I'm to meet Professor Harland. I must at least pretend to do what I was sent over for."

"So we're set? I'll set the alarm for four o' clock; that should give us time enough."

"You'll see me tonight. It's not like I'm moving in with Joey right away. Not for a long time. I just want to get to know the man he has become."

"You'll be impressed," Maureen said earnestly.

"I am already. That's one of the problems. He's got a kid, he runs his own life and looks after his sister, and he's already on the board as a serious scientist. I can't help asking myself what he can possibly want of me."

Maureen reached out and touched her daughter's cheek. "Have a good look in a mirror, and you'll have half the answer. Kiss him like you used to, and you'll have the other half. He loves you. He doesn't need reasons."

"I'm afraid he is still trying to live up to the nice guy image. I don't want his pity or his sense of duty."

"At least give him a chance. Allow for the possibility that he simply cares for you."

After lunch Deirdre took a bus to the shopping district. Right after Christmas, Maureen had given her a debit card with a monthly limit of $1000. Deirdre had her fellowship which covered most of her expenses, and she had barely used a fifth of that allowance. Now Maureen had urged her to spend at least some of it.

Deirdre found a few shirts and blue jeans she liked and she even bought a little make up. A separate USB number pad for her laptop was also on her list, to crunch numbers more effectively. In an outdoors clothing shop she saw a beautiful Fjällräven Greenland hiking jacket and she actually called Maureen before she went in to buy it. After almost three years of extreme economizing she felt decadent when she left the store with a $340 jacket.

By now it was time to visit Joey on campus and she took a cab to save time. She was almost at UPenn when she realized that she had strolled through Philadelphia for an entire day without a shred of fear. A wave of gratitude washed over her while she thought about what Joey had done for her. She knew how much it had cost him emotionally. When they met in the department cafeteria she therefore crushed him with a violent hug.

"I just realized it, Joey: I strolled the streets and I wasn't afraid. Not one bit. You have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you!"

"Thank you for saying that. You know, it helps me, too, in a way, coping, I mean. So, let's pick up some coffee. Andy is already waiting. Hey, neat jacket!"

"Thanks. I just bought it. Mom insists that I should spend more of her money."

They filled three coffee mugs and Joey carried them on a tray while he led the way to the Microbiology Department and to Andrew Harland's office. They entered and Deirdre felt a slight rush of panic. Two men were in a narrow office with her.

"Can we leave the door open, please?" she whispered to Joey. He nodded.

Fortunately, Andrew Harland did not look frightening at all. He looked like a serious contender for the Slob of the Year award, wearing washed out, ratty blue jeans with various lab dye stains all over the thighs. His left index finger was also dyed blue, probably with Coomassie Brilliant Blue as Deirdre suspected. He wasn't tall either, perhaps five-eight, and less than one-hundred and fifty. Her nerves calmed.

"Hi, so you're Parker's spy?" he greeted her with a grin.

Deirdre blushed pink.

"Or should I say the siren who came to lure my best student to the Western Shores and to his ruin."

He did have a weird sense of humor Deirdre decided.

"In that I failed miserably," she admitted deciding to play along. "I had to ask for asylum at Johns Hopkins due to my failure."

"Anyway, how is James? More importantly, how is Gwen?"

"Gwen got her tenure two years ago. She works on Caenorabditis elegans development. Dr. Parker is doing okay, as far as I can judge that."

"Beautiful review you wrote for him," Harland smiled.

Deirdre stared. She had not told a thing to Joey about the review. Harland laughed at her surprise.

"How do I know? Easy. I read most of James's papers and he never was one to write overly lucid texts. The review was so far off from his usual ramblings that it had to be somebody else. I showed it to Joey and he confirmed that it was your writing."

She cast an accusing glance at Joey who shrugged. "Come on, Deirdre! We wrote three or four papers for Mr. Joyner. I know your writing when I see it."

"So, my dear, how may we help you? I'm afraid we cannot allow you inside the Level 3 unit to perform some hands-on experiments, but Joey and I can give you any information you need."

This, Deirdre could handle. She had a check list of questions and statements which she ran by Harland and by Joey, and they answered them openly. Harland seemed to be an extremely easygoing, laid back sort of lab chief but he was very much up to date with what was going on in his unit.

Smiling inwardly Deirdre realized that Joey had moulded his own presentation style on Harland's low key attitude. Nothing like the pomp and flourish with which James Parker celebrated his presentations. Harland conveyed information and he offered opinions, but he never pontificated. Deirdre felt a little envy at Joey for having such a great mentor.

At one point, Deirdre became wide awake. They were discussing the cultivation after the gene transfer and there was a discrepancy to how she had learned this.

"Why add the antibiotic after another day, not immediately?" she asked.

Harland answered. "It takes a day to fully express the antibiotic resistance. You add the pressure too early and the cells die."

For a moment Deirdre lost the thread. That was exactly what she had suggested when her own gene transfer experiments had failed repeatedly during the practical course she had taken in Parker's lab. Parker had dismissed it.

"That's neat," she said. "Dr. Parker will be happy to hear of this trick."