Page 28 of Operation: Sharp Angel

“I’m not sure. We rarely work open police cases, but we do in some situations. Shepherd will make the decision.”

“Will you get any input into that decision? Or, for that matter, will I?”

“Yes, to both, I’m sure,” Tessman answered.

She felt better knowing that there would be a discussion. She would certainly ask his boss to keep them on the case, as well as the police, if the case was reopened. She was anxious to meet him and talk with him in the morning.

“Did you get into Well-Life to talk with anyone there yet?”

“No, we tried as private investigators, but they turned us down cold. If Shepherd approves it, we could go in as federal agents, but I suspect they’ll hide behind their lawyers and insist we have a subpoena or court order of some sort to even talk to anyone there. Then we’ll have to guess if who they give us access to is really anyone Nick or Nicole worked with directly, which is what we want. And as far as what Nick was working on, I’m sure they’ll cry trade secrets to deny us the inquiry.”

“That’s frustrating,” she said.

“Detective Davis didn’t have much more success, even with his badge.”

“I’m sorry I had no names of their coworkers to share with you or the police. Nick, of course, was very tight-lipped about anything work-related, and Nicole worked quite independently. She didn’t come out and say it, but I got the impression the marketing department had become a competitive environment, so she had no real friends in her department. They weren’t a team. Well, they weren’t since my mom died, anyway,” she said.

“What do you mean? What did your mom have to do with it?”

“My mom was one of the founders of the company.”

Tessman was shocked to hear this. Why didn’t they know before now? “I don’t recall seeing her name in any of the company documents we looked at.”

“She went by her maiden name at work, Fuller, Dr. Madeline Fuller,” Becca said.

Tessman had recalled seeing her name. It just hadn’t dawned on any of them that her date of death lined up with Becca and Nicole’s parent’s deaths. “Does Davis know your mother had worked there?”

Becca shrugged. “I don’t know if it ever came up. Does it matter?”

“I don’t know,” Tessman said. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped out a text to both Brielle and Jackson, informing them of this revelation and asking Brielle to look into her mother. “What exactly did she do there? Was she an MD or a PHD?”

“Actually both. She was an MD specializing in cancer treatment, which led her to cancer research. She lamented that the treatments were killing as many patients as the disease. She believed there had to be a better treatment, and she was also interested in preventive measures and was looking for more natural, healthier alternatives to the harsh chemicals.Well-Life Pharmaceuticals was founded with grants and private investments with both aspects in mind, better, less caustic treatments and a mission to discover preventive formulas for those most at risk of developing terminal diseases, not limited to cancers.”

Tessman’s thoughts were wildly all over the place with this conversation. “And what exactly was her role?”

“Head of research,” Becca said. “She had oversight over all the chemists in the entire company. If she was still alive, she’d know exactly what Nick had been working on.”

“When your mom died last year in that plane crash, who took her place at work?”

“I don’t know,” Becca said. “It wasn’t Nick, I know that. He went for the position but didn’t get it. And he was not happy about that. From what Nicole said, he should have gotten it. He would have been Mom’s pick to succeed her and not just because he was her son-in-law. Mom always said that Nick shared her moral compass regarding research. She said he had the same low tolerance for risk that she did.”

“Becca, this could be important. Can you write down all of this information and anything else you can think of that is related to Well-Life? Anything and everything about your mom and Nick, past things they worked on that you may know of. I mean, after a drug is out on the market, certainly they’d be able to talk about it.”

“Yes, though the number of drugs my mom worked on over the years is in the hundreds.”

“Concentrate on the last few years for them both,” he said.

“Sure. I can type something up after I take a shower. I still want to just stand under hot water for at least a half hour,” she said with a small grin. “But I am a bit revived, so sleep can wait until I get you some notes.”

“Have them ready for our meeting with Shepherd in the morning,” he said. “Did you want more?” He pointed to her empty plate and bowl. He’d eaten all the food he’d had on his plate as well.

“No, thank you. I’m full,” she said. “You were right. I was hungry, no matter what happened tonight.” She paused and gazed at him with appreciation and admiration. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” he asked.

“Do the job you do and not be jaded, disgusted by people’s actions, or suspicious of everyone and everything.”

“Who says I’m not?” he posed with a grin.

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