“That’s reassuring,” Bingham said. “We have to decide if we are going to defend you or not. Of course, it has some bearing whether or not our insurance will cover a judgment against you. If it won’t, then you’ll probably have to defend yourself, which could be expensive, I’m afraid.”

“My motives were definitely not malicious,” Jack said, as his heart skipped a beat at the prospect of having to defend himself. With Laurie on leave and the extra expenses of JJ’s illness, he didn’t have money for a lawyer. “I didn’t go to the chiropractor’s office with any other intent except to find out if he had seen my patient professionally, and whether or not he had manipulated her cervical spine.”

“What was the cause of death again?” Bingham asked.

“Bilateral vertebral artery dissection,” Jack said.

“Really!” Bingham commented, as if he’d heard it for the first time. Immediately, his eyes glazed over. It was a physiological reflex for him whenever his brain sifted through the thousands of forensic cases in which he’d been involved over his extensive career.

Although Bingham could struggle at times with remembering recent events, like the cause of death of Keara Abelard, which Jack had mentioned only moments earlier, his distant recall was encyclopedic. A moment later he blinked and roused himself, as if waking from a trance. “I’ve had three cases of VAC,” he reported.

“Were they caused by chiropractic manipulation?” Jack asked hopefully. Still, it was becoming clear to him that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his private life separate from his professional life if he wanted to avoid being put on administrative leave or worse. He was going to have to admit to JJ’s illness and his difficulty dealing with it. Only then might Bingham and Calvin excuse his unthinking behavior the day before.

“Two of them were associated with chiropractic care,” Bingham said. “The other was idiopathic, meaning we never did find out. Now, let me tell you . . .” For the next few minutes, Jack and Calvin had to listen to Bingham retell the stories of his three VAD cases. Although it was always impressive to hear the level of detail Bingham could remember, at the moment Jack found it tedious at best, yet common sense told him not to interrupt. Having decided to reveal John Junior’s cancer, he was eager to do it and get it over with.

At the moment Bingham finished his detailed remembrance, Jack began his mea culpa of sorts. “A few moments ago I said I didn’t want to explain how my behavior at the chiropractor’s office was personal. I’d like to amend that.”

“I’m not sure I want to know if you were acquainted with your VAD patient personally,” Calvin growled.