Free Senate Cloakroom Cabal by Keith M. Donaldson Page A

on the back of the card. Please feel free to call me. I should be home after 7:00.”
    I gave him my card, and said, “I will be working from home tomorrow. This has my cell number. We can confirm tomorrow evening’s meeting more easily this way. I’ll walk you out.”
    When I returned to my desk, I buzzed Mary.
    â€œMr. Horne has gone. I have some reading to do. If there are no cries for my body or soul, I’m going home. The last couple of days are catching up to me.”
    â€œI think that’s an excellent idea. Is your fax machine working?”
    â€œYou know, I’m not sure. The copier and printer part work. I guess it does. We have a dedicated line for the computer. Let me get that for you. You can give it a try.”
    â€œBefore you go, call Mr. Probst. They’ve had a couple of network requests.”
    â€œAs long as they’re not for today or tomorrow. I want to coast into a restful weekend.”
    â€œYou’re sounding too sensible—are you sure you are you?”
    â€œI’ll call Mr. Probst, check in with the boss, and then check out with you.”
    â€œI’m in awe,” Mary said.

17
    â€œT yler, he do good. Eat good,” Anna told me. “He sleep now.”
    I nodded. “I have some reading, for work,” I said, holding up the manila envelope.
    â€œOkay,” Anna said, and went to the kitchen.
    I sat down with Horne’s envelope and extracted about a dozen or so letter-sized pages. I curled up in the corner of the sofa and scanned the first page, and then the second, of Michael’s synopsis. It became immediately clear there were multiple issues.
    Dalton and Horne speculated that heavy pressure was being put on the FDA to disapprove Tutoxtamen, a drug that early testing showed to be a potential miracle cancer-cure drug. There were questions about senatorial ethics. Horne speculated pharmaceutical lobbyists were buying Senate cooperation to get this drug rejected. Why would they want that? I thought they lobbied for their members, not against them.
    Also included were pages on drug pricing, formularies, and Medicare.
    The brief spelled out staggering results the cancer drug had on humans and, before that, on animals. The drug had received outstanding grades. Horne had put a lot into synthesizing what must have been copious pages. I’d have to thank him.
    A familiar itch began creeping up my spine. If these tests were true, and that’s a huge if , then why were nonscientific senators so against the drug? According to what I was reading, the FDA hadn’t questioned the test results until recently. What was to be gained or lost here? Who would benefit financially? Who might not? The old saying follow the money was not to be ignored. I tried reading more, but I couldn’t concentrate. My mind was on fire with the multiple issues. Whose ox was being gored?
    Was something really wrong with the drug? I would need an unbiased expert. The closest I’d ever been to the drug industry was getting a prescription filled. Jerry needed to look at this. He might see some legal issues or know how the FDA works.
    I didn’t normally have the time or opportunity to discuss my work with Jerry until after I’d written the story. The rare times we could kick things around, I enjoyed it. He was an excellent sounding board, agree or not. He certainly had helped during the serial killings. Jerry was also good at pulling me out when I got in deep and when I couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
    I heard Tyler. Anna must have gotten him up. I looked at my watch, I’d been at it for nearly two-and-a-half hours, and it was nearing Anna’s time to leave. I heard Tyler again. It sounded like he was talking to Anna. I heard her soft voice, but not her words. I wondered if she was teaching him Spanish.
    There would have been a time, not too long ago, when I would have resented any domestic activity getting in the way of