Chapter 35 Section thirty-four

Griski kissed his wife goodbye at the front door. "I'll call you if I come back for lunch at noon." "If I come back, I can go out to lunch with you." Treya deliberately put on a sad look, pouted her mouth, "A year ago, in order to have lunch with me, you would spend The morning is spent figuring out how to get there. You plan your entire day around it.” "I know, but we're married now, and you're pregnant. It's only natural, the romance is passing with the normal days of oil, salt, sauce and vinegar." She put an arm around his neck and brought her mouth to his ear. "So how was last night?"

"Last night?" Grisky scratched his chin, pretending to be remembering, "Last night?" She punched his stomach with her elbow. "Oh, sorry." Then, smiling at him, "Try to come back for lunch." He rubbed his stomach, closed the door and went back into the kitchen, where Hardy was sitting at the table waiting for him.Hardy had called him an hour earlier and offered to drive Griski to work, even though he himself usually drives to work with his wife.But Hardy thought he might have gotten something out of the Markham case, though he couldn't say exactly what, and maybe Abramovich could help with his thinking.At this moment, Abra got over the chair and was about to sit down.

Hardy tapped his fingers on the table.After about twenty seconds, Griski spoke. "You want to stop that?" he added, "Ross looks like he's in some kind of trouble, doesn't he?" After a minute, he reaches for a piece of paper in front of him. It's Michael Andreotti." "This guy is new to me," Hardy said. "It's Portola's superintendent. He'll talk to you if I ask. He's fully cooperating with the investigation of these homicides. I could even go with you. Where did you get this thing from?" of?" "Jeff Elliott couldn't flip a coin and try his luck to solve this mystery. He said maybe I could do it, and of course I'd love to have it."

"True, but where did it come from in the first place?" "It's something from Markham, through Driscoll and then through Elliott." "Is it an intact thing?" "Yes, but I think it's true." "At this point," Griski said, standing up, "I'm going to take this thing seriously." The last time I met Griski, Andreotti's body had been tense, his nerves were on the verge of collapse, but now he no longer feels this way about his visit, just like the walking dead. Zombies are generally unresponsive.He didn't even bother getting up from the chair behind his desk, and he didn't want to know who the strange man with Griskie was. Hardy didn't look like a cop, or a D.A., or even Not even a reporter.Anyway, he felt that he just didn't have the strength to move his body anymore.He worked the night, dealing with his annoying nurses, who were becoming distraught either because of the rumors or because they realized they could use this moment to get them better pay.The ship was going to sink anyway, and he saw no way to prevent that ending.

The two men who came now threw him another problem.He had a preternatural resistance to it.He had suffered such a blow that his toes were troubled out of order, and they wanted him to solve the wren's problem for them.It was ridiculous, really, if he had the energy to laugh. "See MA, re: recom. on SS. vs. MR memo 10/24." "I don't know what that means," he said. For the next few lines, Hardy leans forward slightly for Andreotti to look at. "We believe that MR is representing Malachi Ross. Does that help your understanding?" In his own work experience, Griski had encountered too many investigations that could not go on, and he was in a stalemate for a while, and he was also aware of this sign here.He reached for the piece of paper and faced Andreotti again. "See Michael Andreotti's suggestion on SS. Compare Malachy Ross' memo dated October 24. Will this help you understand? What is SS?"

This time, Andreotti answered without any hesitation. "Slustop." "Then what's your suggestion?" "Forget it, that's not my suggestion. I'm just an administrator, but PPG suggests—" "Sorry to interrupt," Hardy said, "What is PPG?" Andreotti narrowed his eyes slowly, sucked in a breath, and let it out again. "Parnassus Physician Corps. Basically, they are all doctors working here." "Okay." Griski continued on as planned. "And what did they suggest about Slustorp?" "It is that we have been using trial drugs in large quantities without restriction, and maybe we should temporarily formulate a policy to use these drugs with confidence after collecting more pharmacological and safety data of trial drugs. Looking back now Look, that's really wise advice."

"But you didn't enforce it?" Hardy asked. "No. Ross didn't take this opinion into account. He wrote a long memo justifying his position. I have it here. The drugs I buy are absolutely pharmaceutical. I don't Not a doctor, but some of the senior staff were horrified that our medical director would release anything like Slustorp. So as usual, we compromised and Malachy got what he wanted s things." "You're not very interested in him." Griski's words were clearly not a problem. But Andreotti only raised his shoulders slightly, with a noncommittal look. "People are after money, and money has been tight here for a long time..." He shrugged again. "If he doesn't do it, someone else will."

"Only two weeks ago, that man was Markham," Hardy reminded him. "No, that's still Rose. Rose has a lust for money. Markham just wants to make a profit. There's a difference." "What's the difference?" Griski asked. "Well, in the case of Slustorp, there's no point in arguing about it because it's just an experimental drug that hasn't passed clinical trials. But Roth saw it could do us a favor in a year. Saving a million dollars hits the nail on the head. He's willing to risk it, even if it could lead to bloodshed." "Isn't Markham like that?"

"Sometimes, but not as much as Ross. Do you think Markham was the one who broke the news about baby Emily to the press? Don't even think about it." He pointed to the paper in Hardy's hand again. , "Anyway, I'm guessing that's why he wrote himself the note. He thinks Ross went too far down that road again." "How about you, Mr. Andreotti?" Griski asked. "What do you think?" Another weary sigh. "I know it's always going to sound off-putting, but I'm a manager. I resist that temptation. I follow instructions from above."

But Hardy got what he needed, and already had a clue on another matter. "If you may, sir," he began to translate the second note like Grisky, "talk to Ross and complain about his meddling in Portola. The Parnassus Physician Corps suggested last month, It has to be an ultimatum." "That's the way it is." It's no secret to Andreotti.Speaking of this matter, he actually seemed to be slightly refreshed. “There was a time last year when Ross started coming to the hospital a lot. He called these visits just dropping in. It started by checking out the procedures for everything our physicians do, from births and deliveries to surgeries to emergency procedures. , followed by a suggestion that a dollar should be saved here and a dollar there. Then it even goes so far as to warn doctors that they should be tactful in treating their patients. Now, when you realize that even the humblest common man in the mercy of God And with a little bit of self-respect, you can imagine how popular these visits were. Eventually, Parnassus' corps of doctors issued an ultimatum that he had to stop doing it, and mostly demanded that he It's all done. At least it's enough to satisfy them."

"But not quite?" Hardy wanted to find out. "Yes. But his so-called drop-in visits have dropped from twenty a month to about five, and he's stopped giving direct orders in favor of masquerading them as suggestions." "Do you have any records of the days when he was here? The exact dates?" Hardy asked. Andreotti thought for a moment. "No, I don't think there's any way. How could we have one? He's not an employee working here, so there won't be any personal records. He's just dropping by. Why are you asking?" "No reason, just curiosity." Hardy deliberately vaguely said, pushing the other pieces of paper to Andreotti across the table. "If I could spare a few minutes of your time, Mr. Andreotti, do these notes remind you of anything else?" The manager reached for the notes, and quickly read them one by one. "I don't know what Madras means, but Balsons is the name of a drug manufacturer. Most of their drugs are low-margin over-the-counter. They're not really a big player, but I've heard a rumor Said they just got some important approval from the FDA." He flipped to the next note, stared up at the ceiling and thought, "Benefits is Patrick Foley. He's the company's legal counsel. I don't Know who the DA refers to." Griski knew whom to refer to. "District Attorney." A gleam flashed in Andreotti's eyes, but he didn't comment on it, and turned to the last note in silence. "See Coz. re; punitive dismissal - MR. All files. Prep. rpt. to board. Severance?" "Coz is Koznew, and she's the personnel director." He buried his head for a moment to decipher the rest of the words, and then slowly raised his head, "Tim is going to let Ross go, isn't he?" Grisky's lips were drawn tight. "It's too early to draw conclusions, sir. Thank you very much for taking the time for us though." During the drive to the Embarcadero Center and Parnassus headquarters, they planned how to introduce Hardy to the company's legal counsel, saying that Hardy was working with the district attorney. lawyer.If you don't strictly pick out the words, this statement is true from any angle.Patrick Foley received them at the door, and after seeing them enter the door, he turned his head and glanced at both ends of the corridor before closing the door.Before they had a chance to explain the purpose of their trip, Foley spoke up. "I was going out when you found me, but my date is over there in Chinatown. Maybe we can walk and talk." Five minutes later, they were in Portsmouth Square, surrounded by Buddhist pagodas, tai chi practitioners, adult products and cars waiting for a space outside the garage .The sky has been covered with thick clouds overnight, and although there are faint sunlight shining through the clouds, the air in the morning still makes people feel chilly. Foley's head looked shiny even in dim light.There are just a few thinning blond hairs on his head and a small beard of the same color on his chin.Thin shoulders and a slightly bulging belly give him a look at what a life behind a desk and financial pressure can do for a young man.If that was the case, he looked nowhere near forty.When he finally sat down on a piece of concrete in a garden in the park, he was out of breath. "Sorry," he said, "I don't want to talk about it in there. Sometimes walls have ears, and you have to be careful." "What are you talking about?" Griski asked pleasantly. "Well, Susan said you're investigating a homicide. I'm guessing it has something to do with Mr. Markham, or some other death at Portola Hospital. Though I have to admit that my job is almost exclusively corporate matters, But I don't know that the information I have will be useful to your investigation. If it were me, as a police officer of the court, I would take the initiative to come to the door as a matter of course." Griski gave him an unceremonious look. "Do you talk like that at home?" Before Foley could react, Hardy asked, "Do you really think your office is bugged?" The two men were left and right, and he was almost confused.He didn't know which question he should answer, so he asked a question himself. "Is this about Mr. Markham?" The truth is, neither Hardy nor Grisky had a good idea what the talks were going to be about.Nothing that would explain the meaning of the initials MR didn't even appear in Markham's note.So while they both suspected that Ross was involved, they were reluctant to spill any information about that suspicion right now. "Do you know what the word 'Saratoga' might mean, Mr. Foley?" "You mean the city on the peninsula next to San Jose? I think there's a place by that name in New York State, up north, I believe. Is that it?" At this moment Hardy and Grisky sang together as if they were performing a double reed.Hardy followed up with questions. "Have any of those cities featured in your work?" Foley turned his head to his other interrogator and considered for a moment before answering. "I can't think of a time when they might have been," he said, trying to sound as sincere as he could. "We don't do business in either place. Maybe some patients live there, but that might be a bit of a stretch to say." It's too far away from this." Grisky asked, "So the name hasn't come up recently? Saratoga? Could it be something Mr. Markham discussed with you?" Foley raised a hand to his head and frowned, looking like he was trying to find something to do with it in his mind. "Maybe it's not just Saratoga," Hardy guessed, "but something related to Saratoga?" As soon as these words came out, things took a turn for the better, and the floodgate of Fuli's memory opened. "Ah," said Foley, "that's the name of an airplane. Sorry. I thought of Saratoga, and I thought of Cupertino. I grew up there, and then I thought of Bellarmine. But that was the name of an airplane. A rudimentary model of the time when President John F. Kennedy was a household name." Hardy and Grisky exchanged glances, and the captain spoke knowingly. "Does the company plan to purchase an aircraft?" "No, Mr. Ross. That's what brought the matter to my attention." "In what way was it brought to your attention?" Hardy asked. During this round of questioning, Fuli was actually already uneasy, looking left and right.He wiped the sweat that might only exist in his imagination on his broad forehead, and tried his best to show a smiling face, but he didn't seem to be very successful, so that what was hanging on his face was just a stiff smile that made people laugh and cry . "Forget it, it's a dead end, really." Griski's tone was too severe to resist. "Let's judge and judge it. What's going on?" "One evening, quite late, I think the summer was almost over, Mr. Markham called to see if I was still working, and then asked me to go upstairs to his office. It was kind of unusual, not that I was working late, but he was there at the time. I remember it was pretty dark, so it must have been nine or nine-thirty. Although So he told me to close the door as if someone else was working there and might be eavesdropping on our conversation. "After I sat down, he said he wanted our conversation to be 100 per cent private, between the two of us, not to anyone else. He said it was a very difficult question and he didn't know how What position to deal with it, even if he knew the truth, he should have written proof of his actions in case he needs a record of them someday when he goes downtown to make a case." "What does he want?" Hardy asked. "Even he didn't quite know. Finally, he mentioned his consideration that he should hire a private investigator to investigate Mr. Rose's finances." Griski continued to apply the pressure, pressing disagreements on the issue. "What made him take this step?" "Several things, I think, but the most recent one was the Saratoga." Foley grew emotional about the story he was about to tell, as if he had finally found a chance to let his pent-up air out. For a quick, physical and mental relief, "It seems that a week ago, Mr. Markham and Dr. Ross went to Las Vegas to attend a medical conference, and one night they went to a party together. They've been close friends for years, you know, and apparently they went out together later and had a few drinks alone just to chat about some personal stuff. Over the next few hours, Dr. Ross maybe drank a little too much, obviously talked to mr markham about his bad financial situation, i mean his personal financial situation, parnassus is another thing, it's bad enough on its own gone." "So Rose was crying on Markham's shoulder?" Griski asked. "Essentially, what it is. Tell him he has no money left, no savings, and that his wife spends it much faster than he earns it. After alimony to his first wife and maintenance of the second He's on the verge of breaking down, flanked by his second wife's lavish lifestyle. He doesn't know what he's going to do." Hardy knew a thing or two about this from Bracco and Fisk's investigative report on Nancy, but it would be nice to hear it from another source. "So what does Markham suggest about that?" "Usually, I guess it would go something like this: cut expenses in some places, live within the income budget. It's not as if Dr. Ross is going to lose his job. He still has a good income and a regular income. Cash flow, but that's not the point, it's our meeting that night." "What is it?" Grisky asked. Foley had sat long enough on that hard, cold concrete.He stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and raised his wrist to look at his watch. "Earlier that afternoon, Mr. Markham's wife called him and it was..." Foley decided not to explain the idea, which Hardy speculated was something to do with Ankinson, "Anyway, His wife called and asked if he had heard the news. Dr. Ross had just sold his old plane at a discount and bought a brand new one, a Saratoga. He and his The family was planning to fly it to Lake Tahoe for the weekend, and Rose’s wife called and asked if they would like to fly the whole family with them.” "'Do you know what a brand new Saratoga is worth, Pat?' he asked me, 'half a million dollars, something like that, depending on how well it's equipped. So,' he went on, 'I pretended to happen to meet Mal at the restaurant and told him I'd heard about the plane, but I was curious,' he continued, 'how did you pay for it?' "And Dr. Ross either couldn't remember exactly what he said when he was drunk that day, or he thought he could tell his friend the truth without any problem, and he just smiled and said something like:' Money is God'." Now that he had said these words in his heart, the big stone on his heart was now a small badge on his body, so he felt extremely light all over.He covered the top of his head with his hand again, and tried to smile again, but this time it was a little more natural than the first time. "That's the way it is," he said. "Mr. Markham wanted my opinion on some issues, like what we should do as a company, how we should go about it. He thought there was a possibility—Ross The doctor took bribes or got kickbacks from the drug list, but he has no proof. He just can't figure out how Dr. Ross got half a million dollars. He's already talked to his wife and--" "Kara?" Grisky couldn't wait to figure out what this sign of communication between husband and wife meant. when." "Oh yes, they were inseparable for a very long time. They talked about everything until their... problems arose. Kara even came to the company sometimes and attended board meetings, and she knew There's more going on at the company than some of us. It annoys some people, but no one bothers to say anything about it. And it doesn't look like she's the source of internal boardroom secrets. She's blunt and stubborn, But she’s got a really smart mind, a lot of business acumen. Whatever comes to her mind, she’ll say it right there and let us deal with it.” This information allowed Hardy to clear up a small mystery in his mind.He had been baffled by the "Dis. w/c." part of the note, and had concluded it must refer to Coz in Personnel.But now, maybe c refers to Kara.Still, he wanted to bring Foley back to the topic of Markham's move. "So what did you two decide to do in the end? You said it was going to end anyway." It was an unpleasant memory for Foley. "I told Mr. Markham that if he did believe that Dr. Ross was doing something like this, we should probably take this to the D.A. and the taxman and have them look into it from the plane." "But you didn't do that," Griski said. "Why?" Foley didn't need to think too much about this question, but he still thought about it for a while before giving an answer. "The simple answer is that Mr. Markham called me over the next day before I could do anything. He said he had confronted Dr. Ross face-to-face. Their friendship required He did. Ross told him he was supposed to share the good news with him as soon as it happened, but unexpectedly, the money for the plane came from his wife's natal family Yes. An aunt or something died suddenly and left them a fortune." A morning breeze brought up a small cloud of dust and car exhaust, and they all turned for cover.With his right hand in his pocket, Hardy faced the corporate counsel and said, "When you feel hopeless about this, what do you do?" "I didn't do anything. I got stopped by Markham." "Then do you trust him? Do you trust Markham?" "That's a different matter from that question." But Griski wasn't interested in this benign answer. "Well, then, I have a question for you, Mr. Foley. What were you thinking then? What are you thinking now?" The poor man's face suddenly turned crimson.Hardy thought his blood pressure was high enough to make his ears bleed at any time.This surge of anger took him nearly ten seconds to think about how to respond to their questions. "I have no evidence of any wrongdoing, and you understand that. I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I should clarify that." "Like you didn't accuse anyone of bugging your office?" Hardy said gently, "but here we are a quarter of a mile away. We don't care how you go about Your statement is defensive. Tell us what's on your mind." It didn't take long for this question, and Fuli quickly answered it. "Ross also has some things from Markham. Maybe when we were preparing to do this, the two of them shook out some dirty things together. I don't know, maybe it's more important than this." Something from before. Anyway, he threatened to expose Markham, and they were deadlocked, and the relationship was at an impasse." "And he heard the conversation between you and Markham exactly, because those offices were all bugged?" Griski's scar on his lips tightened. "I guess so." "Why didn't you clean up that place properly?" This time, the message in Foley's eyes was that it was simply impossible, especially if Ross gave the order to eavesdrop, and he now had everyone's every move in his hands. "If you don't get along with Dr. Ross at work, bad things are going to happen to you," he said, adding, to make himself more plausible, "I'm still You have to think about your family." Here it comes again, Hardy thought, the sad but familiar formula.Today is undoubtedly becoming a day for clichés - first Andreotti said he was only doing it to obey orders, now Foley said he did it out of consideration for his family.For a moment, the question of why he was here swirled in Hardy's mind.Why would I stay here without a client, standing against a defense lawyer?Even if there is no risk of personal safety, it is also risking the threat of unrest.He couldn't give a comprehensive answer to this, but he knew one thing - he would not use his family as a shield, or use his job to excuse himself.He's doing what he has to do, and that's what he finally found for himself.This seems like the right thing to do.This reason is enough. Hardy remained behind Grisky as he tried to get his next search warrant signed.Rio Comoro was the judge on duty today approving the warrant, and it turned out to be the worst of luck to meet him.He will not sign a warrant to search Ross's home or his office.This dark-skinned Judge Comoro, with a cropped head and a square face, looks like an Aztec chief in Mexico. I have encountered more such things.But this is not a private matter between individuals, this is the law. "I will not sign a search warrant on this case again through my hands because the plausible grounds are weak and getting weaker. Over the past few days I've been coaxed and coaxed and listened to the bullshit that's pure bullshit, signing a search warrant for everyone who comes here and saying their brother or sister might have the power to kill someone at the Portola hospital motive. That doctor you thought did it last week, Captain, you remember? Or that nurse who probably poisoned half the county? But then, just last night, Marlene told me that The secretary also had a motive." "That's out of my office. I—" Comoro raised his hand to give him a warning. "I don't care. Give me a reason, Captain. Does that remind you of anything? I'm not going to issue a single search warrant, and I might remind you that it's a gross violation of any civil right. , unless there is a conclusive basis, that is to say, there is conclusive evidence that the occurrence of the case occurred at the same time period as the case, and it can be proved afterwards that the case occurred.” Grisky suppressed his arrogance. "That's what we hope to find with a search warrant." "But you've got to get at least something before you can look for more evidence. Those are rules, and you should know that as well as I do. But if you don't—" Comoro snapped at Hardy. He raised a finger, "I may not be as good as your defense lawyer friend in this point, he is very familiar with every small and harsh regulation of criminal procedure, and I believe he will let you keep up with the situation The latest change. Needless to say, it is the fact that the named party on this written statement is not some dumb man without power and lawyers, but the CEO of one of the major contracting contractors in the city. According to From this point of view, you are very wrong, even if you ask, I will answer this way." "Your Excellency." Even if the situation is not good, Hardy believes that he should try his best to fight for it. "Dr. Ross is the answer to the most basic question in a murder investigation: who is the beneficiary. It is not just that he succeeded Marca. Mister Mu's salary and position—" Comoro didn't lose his temper, but kept the anger in his heart. "You don't think you can lecture me legally, Mr. Hardy. Some fantasy writers have a lot of fantasies about murders in this case. I know exactly what the term beneficiary means, and You have only a half-knowledge of the Latin words used in this law. If you want to use this as a basis for exercising this judicial power, my advice is to change your career. Have I made my point clear, for both of you statement?" He stared directly at the two of them now, and he didn't even have the patience to pretend, "Find more grounds, otherwise there will be no search warrant. This is my final decision!" "I hope he's not a judge." Somehow, the peanuts magically reappeared in the drawer of Gritters' desk, and the little pile of peanut shells in front of Hardy kept growing." I'm going to kill him." "Don't stump you because he's a judge. Killing a judge is like killing a citizen. If you're going to do it, do it. I'm the head of the homicide squad, after all. I bet I Likely to lose most of the evidence. No, the evidence was destroyed before we even tried. Imagine if we did this - I would lose all the evidence ...and you heard what the lord said - no evidence, no warrant. There's no way I'm even going to arrest you, though I hate to miss this part. Maybe I can arrest you and then have to release you for lack of evidence you." Hardy broke open another peanut shell and popped out the peanut kernel. "That's the longest, most coherent string of words you've ever said together." "When I was in high school, I did the line 'Friend, Roman, Peasant' in the play Julius Caesar. That's how you talk yourself out of it." "But you don't play them in makeup. There's a difference." Gritters shrugged. "Not to that extent. You'd be surprised if you did." "Have you played Marc Anthony?" Griski shrugged again. "It was a language school. We did Othello the next year, and they wouldn't let me play him because he was dark." "Didn't you point out to them that you were dark too?" "I thought they'd seen it with their own eyes. But I guess not." "So you've been discriminated against?" “肯定是那样的。不可能恰好有别人更适合扮演那个角色。” “你就忍住不要说了。如果你没有得到那个角色，而且你是黑皮肤的人，那才是原因所在。不要再往下说了。事实会让你得到解脱的。你在旧金山已经生活了多长时间了，还用得着我跟你讲那些规则吗？我敢说即使在所有这些时光都过去之后，你也可以就你所受的痛苦和磨难向某人提出补偿的请求并且变得富裕起来。我可以为你详细撰写那些文书，而且或许我也可能变得富有起来。我敢说，你会是一个了不起的奥赛罗。” “大学一年级那年，我也没有得到夏洛克这个角色，因为我是半犹太血统。” 哈迪咯咯地笑出声来。“你成为一个警察就毫不奇怪了。去为不公平而战斗。” “算了吧，”格里斯基面无表情冷漠地说，“不是这个原因就是因为姑娘们喜欢那套制服。” “你们学校演出了不少莎士比亚的作品。” 格里斯基慢慢地享受着一粒花生米给他带来的满足。“那是不同的时代，”他说，“都是过去的日子了。”