inconsistent with a seizure, except that there were therapeutic levels of his seizure medication in his blood. But that doesn't mean he didn't have a seizure. It was too long from the time of death to determine whether his muscle enzymes were elevated, like they would have been immediately after the seizure."
"But the fact that the levels of his meds were where they should be - isn't that a little odd? Did the coroner comment on it?"
"He commented on it to the extent that he said it was a little odd. That was it. There was nothing else to suggest any other cause of death. There was nothing at all to suggest foul play. So the coroner signed it off as probable seizure. He didn't have anything else to hang it on."
Jeff held up his hand. "Okay. Somebody tell me what's going on."
So I told. Everything, right through my silly thought that I might have been followed last night. Kevin was interested to hear what the computer crimes detective had said yesterday.
When I finished, Jeff said, "Okay, let's recap. Your buddy dies under what the coroner refers to as 'odd' circumstances. Then you get a letter from said buddy, suggesting that he's in danger of some sort and passing his investigation of these two articles on to you. Then you request said articles and weird shit starts happening to you. Your computer goes wonky three days in a row, one of the doctors shows up in person to question you, another of the doctors shows up at the funeral and turns out to be your dead buddy’s boyfriend, you visit the scene of the death and your tires get slashed, and then someone follows you home last night. All of that sounds pretty suspicious to me."
"But there are alternate explanations of everything so far." Pete started ticking off on his fingers. "There's no evidence that Dan didn't die of a seizure. You said he'd had a head injury and had some emotional problems as a result; his paranoia could be explained that way. You saw your friend Diane using your computer; she could be punking you for some reason. The doctor that visited you told you that he was worried about patent infringement. The doctor at the funeral had reason to be there, assuming he really was the boyfriend. You said yourself that your tires might have been slashed because of your bumper sticker. And you also said yourself that the guy following you turned off well before you did, and you had decided he wasn't following you after all. Although..." He folded the fingers he'd been counting on into a fist. "The circumstantial evidence for something going on is starting to pile up."
Kevin: "But it is circumstantial. There's no solid evidence of anything yet."
Abby: "But there may be, after the UCLA cops finish with your computer."
Me: "Yeah, and I'm afraid that will show that Diane was responsible. That would be bad."
Jeff: "Have you found anything in the articles yet to explain what Dan might have been getting at?"
"Nope. Although, on the copy of the article I found in his desk, he had written BULLSHIT in capital letters over the top of the statistics section. I need to see if I can figure out what the statistics show and why he might have said that. But right now, that's all I have to go on."
"I might be able to help you with that." Pete glanced at me as he picked his way around a couple of rocks. "I did recently finish a dissertation for which I had to do a lot of stats. It's moderately fresh in my mind."
"That would be great. I was going to try to figure it out with help from the Internet, but I'm sure it won't take as long for you."
He laughed. "Well, I wouldn't be too sure about that, but I'll do my best."
We were back home by mid-afternoon after dropping Pete off. Jeff needed to start for home, and I was tired again. Kevin and Abby left again to go to Abby’s sister’s for a cookout. Abby had invited me, but I begged off. I’d spent my evenings reading this stupid medical article, and I was getting behind on my other reading.
"But the fact that the levels of his meds were where they should be - isn't that a little odd? Did the coroner comment on it?"
"He commented on it to the extent that he said it was a little odd. That was it. There was nothing else to suggest any other cause of death. There was nothing at all to suggest foul play. So the coroner signed it off as probable seizure. He didn't have anything else to hang it on."
Jeff held up his hand. "Okay. Somebody tell me what's going on."
So I told. Everything, right through my silly thought that I might have been followed last night. Kevin was interested to hear what the computer crimes detective had said yesterday.
When I finished, Jeff said, "Okay, let's recap. Your buddy dies under what the coroner refers to as 'odd' circumstances. Then you get a letter from said buddy, suggesting that he's in danger of some sort and passing his investigation of these two articles on to you. Then you request said articles and weird shit starts happening to you. Your computer goes wonky three days in a row, one of the doctors shows up in person to question you, another of the doctors shows up at the funeral and turns out to be your dead buddy’s boyfriend, you visit the scene of the death and your tires get slashed, and then someone follows you home last night. All of that sounds pretty suspicious to me."
"But there are alternate explanations of everything so far." Pete started ticking off on his fingers. "There's no evidence that Dan didn't die of a seizure. You said he'd had a head injury and had some emotional problems as a result; his paranoia could be explained that way. You saw your friend Diane using your computer; she could be punking you for some reason. The doctor that visited you told you that he was worried about patent infringement. The doctor at the funeral had reason to be there, assuming he really was the boyfriend. You said yourself that your tires might have been slashed because of your bumper sticker. And you also said yourself that the guy following you turned off well before you did, and you had decided he wasn't following you after all. Although..." He folded the fingers he'd been counting on into a fist. "The circumstantial evidence for something going on is starting to pile up."
Kevin: "But it is circumstantial. There's no solid evidence of anything yet."
Abby: "But there may be, after the UCLA cops finish with your computer."
Me: "Yeah, and I'm afraid that will show that Diane was responsible. That would be bad."
Jeff: "Have you found anything in the articles yet to explain what Dan might have been getting at?"
"Nope. Although, on the copy of the article I found in his desk, he had written BULLSHIT in capital letters over the top of the statistics section. I need to see if I can figure out what the statistics show and why he might have said that. But right now, that's all I have to go on."
"I might be able to help you with that." Pete glanced at me as he picked his way around a couple of rocks. "I did recently finish a dissertation for which I had to do a lot of stats. It's moderately fresh in my mind."
"That would be great. I was going to try to figure it out with help from the Internet, but I'm sure it won't take as long for you."
He laughed. "Well, I wouldn't be too sure about that, but I'll do my best."
We were back home by mid-afternoon after dropping Pete off. Jeff needed to start for home, and I was tired again. Kevin and Abby left again to go to Abby’s sister’s for a cookout. Abby had invited me, but I begged off. I’d spent my evenings reading this stupid medical article, and I was getting behind on my other reading.
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