Due Justice

Chapter 34

Tampa, Florida

Monday 8:05 a.m.

January 25, 1999

Psychoneuroimmunology: the scientific study of the mind/body connection.

So much of the last century had been devoted to the study of how the human brain works that theories abounded.

From Freud’s study of “hysteria” and psychological dysfunction to Csikszentmihaly’s studies on human happiness and optimal experience, an astonishing number of theories had been explored.

Physical examinations of Einstein’s brain have been going on since it was retained for study after his death.

Goal setting and visualization are now de rigueur not only for athletes, but for salesmen, doctors, even day care providers.

Our popular culture has intuitively believed that attitude can cure cancer, although it’s never been proved.

Imagine the impact on all of society if Morgan’s theory had been proved by the scientific method. This would not only be The Silicone Solution, it could be the beginning of a solution to all illness and all achievement.

Man could truly control his own destiny. It would stir more moral debate than cloning, put physicians out of business, cause the gross national product to soar.

And the theory would make the scientist who popularized it immortal as well as rich.

Morgan’s solution was so simple that, like the concept of ulcers caused by virus, and colds caused by germs, it would take years before the world would accept it. It would be controversial and next to impossible to prove empirically.

But Robin was right, too. Morgan’s theory wouldn’t end implant litigation. Too many had too much at stake for that.

No.

The Silicone Solution itself was worth killing for, but it just didn’t feel right to me.

Trust your intuition, Kate says.

Greed is a common motive for murder, sure. But this murder was powered by passion.

Before removing the disk from the computer I looked at its directory structure and tried to decipher it.

Everybody has their own way of naming computer files, and some of his I could figure out.

“Rpt.dr1,” “Rpt.dr2,” were easy:  drafts of his reports.

“Cronin.pat” and “mem.pat” were a little tougher, but when I called them up on the screen, they turned out to be lists of patients participating in Morgan’s study who had received Cronin and MEM type implants. “Cronin.rup” and other similar files contained data on patients who claimed their Cronin type implants ruptured, and so on.

I examined the entire disk, reviewed files I couldn’t figure out by their names. Everything was related to his report, and once I figured out Morgan’s system, I would normally have skipped the rest.

But I decided to be thorough rather than impatient, just this one time.

As much as I like to believe in divine insight, or brilliant flashes of genius, I’m sorry to report that thorough, like slow and steady, wins the race.

Eventually, neck screaming through tense muscles, I found it. Buried in the sub directory containing files labeled “.pay”:  A list of women who had paid Morgan, amounts paid, and when. His very own accounts receivable list.