Free Death Benefit by Robin Cook Page A

feel intimidated by Rothman. She knew that teratomas, a kind of developmental tumor, were something feared by stem cell biologists.
    For a moment Rothman faltered. He had not been expecting to be interrupted in his prepared remarks. Except for the sound of moving fluid emanating from all the organ baths, a brief silence reigned.
    “No teratomas at all,” Yamamoto said, coming to his boss’s aid. He was well aware of his boss’s quirky personality.
    As if he had forgotten the students’ and Yamamoto’s presence, Rothman’s attention diverted to the appearance of a small blinking light accompanied by a pinging noise coming from the control panel of one of the baths. Without a second’s thought or explanation, Rothman headed in its direction, slipping his goggles back on as he walked.
    “That’s an alarm that some aspect of the bath’s parameters has started to change,” Yamamoto explained.
    The students watched him go. Lesley and Will were awed at having been in the famous researcher’s presence and having survived without being belittled. Pia was impressed by the alarm: “What would have happened if no one had been in here to hear the alarm?”
    “Not a problem,” Yamamoto said. “All information is followed in real time by the university’s mainframe, and Dr. Rothman and I have apps on our iPhones such that we would have been instantly alerted.”
    “Earlier Dr. Rothman talked to me about a problem with the tissue culture fluid,” Pia said. “Was he referring to the fluid in these baths?”
    “I’m sure he was,” Yamamoto said. “We’ve been having a continuing problem maintaining the correct pH balance. Did he ask you to look into the problem? Because if he did, it would be a great help. It’s not been a particularly big problem, but neither of us has had a chance to look into it. I know I’d feel a lot better if we could solve the issue.”
    “I’ll give it my best,” Pia said. “The problem is I’m starting at ground zero. I’ve had no experience whatsoever with tissue culture.”
    “That didn’t seem to bother you in relation to salmonella,” Yamamoto said.
    Pia smiled behind her mask. She took Yamamoto’s comment as a compliment. “What about Lesley and Will? Maybe it would be appropriate for them to give me a hand.”
    “That’s a great idea,” Yamamoto said. He looked at Lesley and Will. “How does that sound to you?”
    Both students shrugged. “Sounds good,” they said in unison.
    As they left the organ bath unit, Pia turned just before exiting. She looked back at Rothman tending to the bath. The pinging had stopped. Once again the thought of the mad scientist in his lair popped into her mind, and once again she shuddered. She’d visited the future in this room and was excited to become a part of it. At the same time she knew instinctively that there could be a dark side. Biological science was advancing almost too fast, and the problem with science is that it cannot be unlearned.

6.
    GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT
MARCH 1, 2011, 3:30 P.M.
     
     
    E dmund Mathews went to answer the front door of his waterfront mansion in an extra-exclusive enclave of the already-exclusive Connecticut town of Greenwich. It was unusual that he was alone in the house, but his wife, Alice, had gone to the city with a girlfriend on a shopping expedition, and the au pair, Ellen, wasn’t back from school with Darius yet. There was no gardener on the grounds, no workman in the house, nor were there any painters, decorators, deliverymen, mechanics, cooks, or anyone else anywhere on the property. The $10 million house was quiet and unattended, just the way Edmund liked it.
    This will be Russell, Edmund thought. Edmund and his partner, Russell Lefevre, had decided to take this Tuesday off because their work was about to get crazy. This was going to be the last free day they would have in months, and it seemed like now he was losing some of his free afternoon. Russell had called a few minutes earlier,