Livvy was determined not to ask again. Her partner, who seemed to be uncommonly comfortable with long, thoughtful silences, hadn’t opened up on the trip over to Josephson’s downtown clinic, either, and after pressing him once at the start of the trip she resolved to wait him out, although she found herself drawing breath and then having to press her lips together to hold back a question at least once a minute.
“Not yet,” was all Chris said at the beginning of the ride, glancing at her face. “One question will just lead to another. Let’s finish with this, first.”
The clinic’s two receptionists were more forthcoming, and Livvy found that she hadn’t misread her sources on Josephson’s unpopularity at work.
“Yeah, if you find him murdered in an alley we’ll all gather after the funeral for the best office party ever,” said one receptionist.
“And if he suffered first, we’ll all chip in for champagne and a cake, with ‘Karma’ printed on it, and sparklers,” added the other.
“That bad, huh?” said Livvy. “What about the other practitioners and researchers?”
“You can try, sweetie,” said the older receptionist, “But the man didn’t like to mix, and I’m not just talking about socially. He didn’t share. Work, I mean.”
It was true, Livvy found. None of them knew anything useful. Livvy believed it. Not only were they required by law to tell her anything pertinent, but everyone’s story was consistent and they seemed to hold him in aversion, which means they should have been happy to share any information that might be detrimental or pertinent to his disappearance. Josephson was a secretive man.
The younger receptionist filled a D-card with the records of Josephson’s recent appointments and his client lists, and then took her to show her Josephson’s suite: his office, laboratory, and clinic spaces. That’s when the trail got especially tortuous.
Chris was also trying to find staff members who might have worked with Josephson most closely, and quickly got the impression that no one had much in the way of useful information. According to the office manager, Josephson rented facilities and utilized the assistance of the clinic’s staff for both research and performing enhancements and resets, but beyond giving simple orders he wasn’t communicative.
“We got rent from him for the facilities, and took percentages for any appointments, but it was pretty much automatic,” the office manager said. “If you want to know about his work, the best one to ask might be Brian,” she added.
This, Chris soon learned, was good advice.
“So the doctor wasn’t big on remedial work? Not much for helping out the common people?” Chris asked shortly into his questioning of the head lab tech, Brian Clifford.
“Are you kidding? He talked like they, or I guess I should say we because I think he would include me, should be rounded up and sent to Antarctica or something, anything to keep them from taking space away from… well, people like him. And as far as people having children, especially people who couldn’t afford to be plugged into Longevity and might have more than one or two… He was like one of those guys from ancient history. You know, the ones who thought people should stick to their own kind or class or whatever you call it, and expose the babies on the hillside as soon as the food supply got low. Have you met his girlfriend yet?” Brian gave him a knowing look. “It s like I half expect her to offer to tip me.”
“What can you tell me about his current research?”
“I can tell you he was especially careful to keep things locked up when he wasn’t around, and he wasn’t the type to tolerate any questions,” Brian said.
“But when you worked with him, you must have had some idea…?”
“You got me there.” Brian gave a slightly sheepish grin. “Look, I was just curious; it’s not like I was trying to steal any ideas. I’m going for a molebiol degree and I just wanted to see if I could figure it out.
“Some of it was just weird, you know. I mean, the guy is brilliant, but he was always looking for ways to make people seem younger. You know, even though Longevity puts the brake on senescence, there are ways of telling biol age if you do the right tests. I thought at first that he was just looking for ways to make someone look younger. You know, in case someone got started late (here he looked a little apologetically at Chris, who thoughtfully hid his amusement) or for some reason couldn’t afford resets for a while, being able to make them look younger might be useful.
“Then I started thinking that he was trying to figure out ways to beat the tests, which would be illegal, wouldn’t it? He never used that research on anyone, though, as far as I know,” Brian added scrupulously. “And it wouldn’t matter anyway, would it? Since full scans serve as unbeatable identity records. You guys know when everyone was born, and what their allotment should be. No way to beat that.”
“Uh huh,” Chris said. “That’s the idea.”
“Anyway, with Josephson, it was all a little creepy. The weirdest part, though, was when he worked on things that would make people seem older, if you can believe that.”
“Not just look older, but for the testing?” Chris asked.
“Yeah. Why would anyone want that?”
“Maybe he was just curious about these things,” Chris said. “Is that possible?”
“Could be,” Brian said doubtfully. “He did love his research. I always had the feeling that it really pissed him that he wasn’t allowed to experiment on people. I mean, the guy liked money, don’t get me wrong, but I think what he really got off on was playing around with this stuff. Made him feel god-like, I guess. It certainly wasn’t to help people.”
“Was he working on this ‘weird stuff’ with anyone else? Another doctor or a tech?”
“No. He basically worked on his own, except for the times when he really needed a tech. The way we had it arranged was, when he needed someone, he called me for a tech, and I’d come in. We used to take turns working for him, because no one wanted to be stuck with it all the time, but the last year or so everyone begged me to do it, because I could handle it. Over the years we had some good techs quit because of him, and I got tired of interviewing replacements and listening to complaints. I figured as head tech, I had to do it.”
“And did he ever talk about his work, to anyone?”
“Other than rant at techs when they weren’t quick enough, no. The guy didn’t like to explain things, even when he needed to. No patience, if you know what I mean.”
“Then how do you know about the weird stuff?” Chris asked.
Brian smiled outright this time. “A guy like that will be a little careless with leaving memopads around if the only one to see them is a tech. He’d just figure that we couldn’t understand. And mostly, a tech wouldn’t. It’s just that…”
“You’re going for a degree, and he’s not interested enough in the staff to know that,” Chris said, grinning. “And you made a point of being a little slow on occasion, just to aggravate him.”
Brian laughed. “Got me again. Hey, if you ever met the guy, you’d understand. I let him rant. I figured he might blow the lid off and do us all a favor.”
“In fact, I met Dr. Josephson decades ago, and I still remember it as an… unwholesome experience. What my partner would call ‘a seriously bad dude,’” Chris said.
“Whatever that means. Your partner, huh? Now that’s what I call lucky,” Brian said. “A rare prize, that one.”
“You’ve been very helpful. If you want to make an impression, you can give me, or if you prefer, Livvy, a call if you hear anything else, and most especially if you hear from Josephson,” Chris said.
Almost as though on cue, Livvy came into the small break room that Chris had appropriated for interviews and both men turned to her attentively.
“We’re late, McGregor,” she said, after granting Brian an apologetic glance. “It seems that someone with a key, maybe even Josephson’s key, came by and evaded security and removed all of the doctor’s research notes. Not a freak of a memopad left behind.
“The office manager told me that only the doctors have the keys and codes, and they all have a unique key and code for their own lab space. My Masterkey didn’t work. After I got the warrant I had to get an Enforcement locksmith to get in.
Client lists, appointments, and licensed protocols were all supposed to be made readily available to LLE upon request. The facility got their license under that understanding. Research notes were more problematic. If they were in a licensed facility then not even LLE had a right to confiscate them unless, as in the present case, there was reason to believe they could be connected to a crime. The connection here was slim. Technically, as an LLE detective, Livvy wouldn’t need a warrant in this situation, but it was a good idea, in case Josephson reappeared and started making an issue of it. Researchers doing proprietary work that might lead to a licensed enhancement protocol could get testy. To Josephson, getting testy would probably mean a drawn-out legal battle.
What was noteworthy here was that all of Josephson’s notes were missing.
Chris turned back to Brian. “True? No one else has the codes? How about cleaning staff? Security?”
“We don’t have security personnel, it all done with locks and codes, and all the cleaning is done during the day. We aren’t any more paranoid about security than anyone else, but that’s just the way it’s done. The doctors set their own hours, and if they need a tech, they arrange to have them come in. Like I said, we used to take turns putting up with Josephson’s tantrums until I took them all on me. The system is set up so that the doctors can change their codes daily, if they want.”
Chris stood up and turned to Livvy. “You’ve got the client list and appointments for the last two years?”
Livvy held up a D-card. “Five years. He was more of a researcher than a clinician so there aren’t that many.”
“Then let’s go,” he said, and turned to shake Brian’s hand. “Thanks. Like I said, you’ve been very helpful.”
Picking up on another cue, Livvy reached over and shook Brian’s hand as well, saying, “Yes, thanks.”
Before getting back into the car, Livvy said, “I promised not to mention it to any of her coworkers, but the receptionist who took the call from Josephson last Friday admitted that she made a mistake. She was supposed to have cancelled his appointments for this week as well, and had to admit it when his client threw her fit yesterday. The other receptionist knows about it, and said they’d gotten busy so it had slipped by. I think they’d admit it to the office manager, but they’re all a little afraid of him. Josephson. The mistake was fortuitous. Without it, we wouldn’t even know he’s missing.
“Do you think they’ll call if they hear from him?”
“Oh, I think so,” Chris said. “In fact, I’m sure of it.”
When they were both settled back in the car, Chris sat in silence for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision.
“It’s probably time for me to answer your questions from earlier today, but we need privacy and I might want to refer to some of my files if you have any additional questions. Do you mind coming to my place?”
“McGregor, I thought you’d never ask,” Livvy said, and had the pleasure of watching him do a double take before she added, “It’s after 5 and if we had any lunch it’s slipped my memory. Do you have anything on hand besides dog food?”