“I’m not sure of anything at the moment.” Shockley stood. “Your police business has caught us all off guard.”

“Our police business?” Marge said. “Is that your way of saying Dr. Sparks’s murder?”

“Yes, Detective. Exactly.” Shockley walked over to the door. “I do have business to tend to. If you both don’t mind, it’s getting late. Do call if you have further questions. If I’m not available, you can always leave them with my secretary.”

Marge and Oliver exchanged glances. They were being unceremoniously dismissed. Oliver shrugged. They both got up and thanked Shockley for his time.

“You drive or I drive?” Marge asked.

Oliver flipped her the keys. “We didn’t learn too much, did we?”

Marge opened the door, slid in the driver’s seat, and reached over to unlock the passenger door. Once Oliver was belted in, she started the motor. “We learned that Decameron replaced Berger in the Curedon trials. If Shockley’s to be believed…that he didn’t complain to Sparks about Berger…I’d like to know why Sparks yanked Berger from the trials.”

“Yeah, that’s something.”

Marge pulled the Matador out of the vast parking lot chock-full of Japanese subcompacts. She turned left, onto the lone boulevard leading to the freeway. “I wonder how Berger felt about it…being cut from Curedon.”

“Maybe it was Berger’s decision.”

“Nah, Sparks made all the decisions regarding Curedon. The rest just followed orders.”

“And Berger resented Sparks for making the switch.”

“Possibly.”

“And that’s a motivation for murder?”

“What if money was involved? Whoever worked with Sparks got a piece of the profit?”

A good point, and Marge told him so. She took the on-ramp to the 405 North. “You know, Scott, you put money together with big egos… you get a powder keg.”

“Man, ain’t that so. I’ve never seen people so full of themselves.”

“Guess you play the part of God long enough, you begin to believe your own method acting.” Marge switched over to the left-hand lane. “We also found out that Shockley preferred Decameron over Berger. That says a lot.”

“You’re right. Berger must have been a real obstacle for Gordon Shockley to prefer a gay blade like Decameron.”

“Yeah, Scotty.” Marge fidgeted. “I want to talk to you about that. You think it was wise, bringing up the gay thing?”

Oliver grinned. “Made Shockley feel real uncomfortable. You know, Marge, sometimes you just gotta go for it. I had to get to the prick, and I did. He began to talk a little after that. Plus, he lost that smug smile of his.”

“What if it gets back to Decameron?”