Free Tony Dunbar - Tubby Dubonnet 03 - Trick Question by Tony Dunbar Page B

about to say something, but then he compressed his pink lips and said, “Nope.”
    “Thanks anyway,” Tubby said. “You may see me or my people poking around over the next few days. Have you been asked to testify for the prosecution?”
    The doctor frowned. “Yes, I have, though it will undoubtedly be very inconvenient.”
    “What did they ask you to testify about?”
    “Catching your client playing with the mice, as you say.
    “Is that what they are, in these cages?”
    “Yes, come on, I’ll show you.”
    He led Tubby across the lab to where shoebox-sized cages stacked a dozen high ran the length of a wall. Each had a plastic label on the door, and inside were white, furry creatures. Some you’d call mice, some rats, and some were hamsters or rabbits. The sides of the gray metal cages were solid so they couldn’t see each other, but tiny pink noses wiggled through the screens of many of the hutches. The occupants made little squeaks and fluttering noises.
    “Here’s the farm,” Dr. Swincter said fondly, a shepherd looking over his tiny flock by night.
    “What do you do with them?”
    “Basically we infect them. Some we dissect, and others we cure. We’re a mean bunch of bastards, right?”
    Tubby shrugged. He noticed the freezer cabinet across the room and studied it with fascination.
    Dr. Swincter looked disappointed not to get more of a reaction.
    “I thought Valentine found Cletus touching the animals. What exactly did you see?” Tubby asked.
    “It was Valentine who caught him. He saw Cletus tampering with some white mice.”
    “Tampering?”
    “He was sitting right behind you, according to poor Whitney. On the counter. He had a mouse in each hand, and he was petting them with his thumbs.”
    “How did that affect your experiment?”
    “Well, for one thing, we didn’t know which mouse was which. So we had to guess what cages they came from. And naturally the whole experiment was suspect since we didn’t know how many others he might have been taking out and switching around. We had about forty subjects then.”
    “So then what did you do?”
    “We had to burn them all and start over.”
    Tubby’s stomach flopped over.
    “Well, thanks for the interview, Doctor. I’ll be going now. Have a good class.”
    Swincter appeared satisfied at having grossed out a lawyer. He shook Tubby’s hand and turned to walk away.
    “Doctor,” Tubby said. Swincter looked back.
    “Where do you keep the check-ins?”
    “In the freezer, Mr. Dubonnet. Same place they found Dr. Valentine.”
    He turned again, and Tubby left. As he walked out he noticed that there was now a guard at the security desk, a stocky Mediterranean-looking man with a policeman’s hat and a “Medical Center Security” patch on his chest. He lifted one lazy eye and nodded to Tubby as he walked past.

CHAPTER 14
    Ever since their first “date” on Christmas Eve, Baxter had started showing up at Denise’s apartment unexpectedly. She found it unsettling but wasn’t sure what to do about it. He was her coach, and he was very physical.
    “Hit me back,” he commanded one time, and started sparring with her. He slapped her cheek so hard it made her eyes water.
    She was so surprised that she reacted automatically and gave him a shot with her left fist that put a little blood on his lip.
    “God damn!” he yelled, and he socked her in the gut with such force that she fell backwards onto the floor.
    He pinned her there and entered her violently.
    It was the first time she had ever hit a man, and she wondered what she could accomplish if she was prepared.
    It wasn’t always bad, of course. Sometimes Baxter really seemed to care.
    He asked her once about how her day had gone, and she told him about a sweet note she had gotten from one of her third-graders and some other cute stories he seemed to listen to.
    She told him about her dispute with her uncle over the family business, and about going to see a lawyer.
    “Ever since my father died,