Webster said, “Computer boys really have a clever way of phrasing things, calling the break-in a cuckoo’s egg. I’d just say someone was messing with my shit.”

Marge smiled. “Scott, all our information is based on Leonard’s ex-mistress. Hardly an objective source.”

“Not true,” Oliver said. “Decameron knew something was going on with the data. Because all of a sudden Curedon’s success rate dropped and the death rate rose. Only now we know why. Shockley was fudging the numbers—”

“Why would he do that?” Webster asked.

“To make the data look better or worse or something. Because he’s doing hanky-panky with Berger. The cuckoo’s egg had been traced to somebody at New Chris. It ain’t Decameron or Sparks. Who else is there?”

“How about Elizabeth Fulton?” Martinez said.

“But she wasn’t seen hanging around Fisher/Tyne, talking to Shockley.” Oliver clenched his fists. “Look, we know Berger was once a cheat. Say Shockley and Berger are doing some kind of research fraud. Azor Sparks found out. Shockley had him popped. Then Decameron and Leonard found out. Now they’re gone. See a trend here, folks?”

“On a superficial level, yes, there is a connection,” Decker said. “I do feel certain that Sparks’s homicide is related to this new one. Because all the homicides involve shooting and stabbing…weird MO to have both.”

“Absolutely, they’re all connected,” Oliver announced.

“Okay, so Berger was a cheat,” Webster said. “Why would Shockley mess his job up to do hanky-panky with Berger?”

“Fisher/Tyne was in on it,” Oliver said.

“Where’s your evidence?” Martinez asked.

“I don’t have evidence,” Oliver snapped. “If I had evidence, Shockley would be behind bars.

Decker said, “I don’t know if this is worth anything, but it’s interesting to note that Berger admitted his past errors right away. Maybe he wanted to keep us rooted in his past instead of concentrating on his present.”

“Exactly!” Oliver clapped his hands in triumph.

Marge said, “Fisher/Tyne cut the deal with Sparks for a lot of money. With Sparks gone, maybe Shockley figured he could redo Sparks’s contract and continue Curedon research with Berger at a reduced price.”

Martinez said, “Wouldn’t Sparks’s contract with Fisher/Tyne still be in effect with his widow?”

Marge said, “That’s the point. It was bad enough paying Sparks, but he at least developed the drug. Who wants to give all that money to his widow, especially when she can’t help the drug through its laboratory bumps? Scott’s suggesting that maybe Shockley was fudging the trial numbers, making them look bad to get Sparks’s Curedon contract stopped. Then maybe he and Fisher/Tyne would rewrite a new contract with Berger at a much lower fee.”

“But it’s Sparks’s drug,” Martinez countered. “You can’t steal his drug. There has to be some kind of patent law.”