Free Out of the Sun by Robert Goddard

happened to you, David?" he asked, crouching forward in his chair and gazing into his son's softly closed eyes. "Did you inject the insulin into your bloodstream? Or did somebody else? The same somebody who pushed Mermillod from the Metro platform and tampered with the heating system at Kersey's apartment? The same somebody who could be hunting down your other friends while you lie there and I sit here, while they run and we wait? Is that what '
    He looked up and saw Iris standing in the doorway, fresh flowers cradled like a child in her arms, a smile frozen on her face. She had heard what he was saying, but seemed not to know how to respond. They stared at each other for a long silent moment. Then she lay the flowers gently down on a table, their cellophane wrapper squeaking above the respiration of the ventilator, and drew up a chair facing Harry across the bed.
    "Hello, Iris. Surprised to see me?"
    "A little."
    "Ken confident he'd seen me off, was he?"
    "He thought he'd made you understand, yes."
    "But he never mentioned this." Harry took the newspaper cutting from his pocket and passed it across to her. "Nor did you." He saw her swallow hard as she scanned it. "Why was that?"
    "How did you find out?"
    That doesn't matter. What matters is what it means."
    "Nothing. It means nothing."
    "Come on, Iris. What was David doing at Globescope? What were all these people doing?"
    "I don't know. I've absolutely no idea."
    "Haven't you even wondered?"
    "Globescope predict the future. Companies even some governments pay them to forecast economic developments. David worked on something called predictive modelling. What else is there to say?"
    "Did he work with Kersey and Mermillod?"
    "He may have done. He never mentioned their names to me. Why should he? I wasn't that interested."
    "Aren't you interested now?"
    "I'm interested in doing what's best for David."
    "So am I."
    "Then do as Ken asked. Leave us alone."
    "How can I when you seem so reluctant to find out the truth?"
    "The truth is that David took an overdose of insulin, probably accidentally. If somebody had ... if somebody had done what you obviously suspect.. . there'd have been signs of a struggle in his hotel room. But there weren't any. He'd have had ample time to get medical help in those circumstances anyway. Unless you're suggesting he was bound and gagged till the insulin took effect to stop him raising the alarm. Again, there'd have been signs. But there weren't. There wasn't a mark on him. Not one. He was alone when it happened, Harry. Don't you see? This journalist is just cobbling together a story to fill a space. There's nothing to it."
    "So you think these two deaths are .. . purely coincidental?"
    "What else can they be?"
    "Why was David sacked by Globescope?"
    "He wasn't, as far as I know. He told me he'd resigned, in order to concentrate on '
    "Higher dimensions? A talking point at his dinner with Adam Slade, no doubt. Something else you omitted to mention."
    "Because of how you might react, Harry. Because of how you are reacting. Mr. Slade was actually most solicitous. And as helpful as he could be. Whether he really does have these powers he claims I rather doubt. But there's nothing sinister in his meeting David to discuss them."
    "What about Donna Trangam's flying visit? Don't you see anything sinister in her sudden departure?"
    "Not at all. She had a teaching post at Berkeley to return to. Once she'd satisfied herself there was nothing she could contribute to David's treatment, she and Mr. Hammelgaard '
    The Dane was here too?"
    "Briefly. Then he went back to Princeton. What's so strange in that? They're friends of David. They wanted to help him. But they realized they couldn't."
    They told you that, did they?"
    "Not in so many words. I only met them once. Here, a few days after David's admission. I wasn't in a state to take much in, but it seemed obvious She broke off and pressed two fingers to her forehead, then said in a calmer voice: They simply went