Jupiter’s Bones. Faye Kellerman

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ doubt it.” A grimace. “She was only fifteen.”

      “Was your father inclined to seduce women?”

      Europa stared at him. “Why are you asking about Dad’s sexual proclivities?”

      “Your father’s death is under investigation.” Decker tapped his pencil. “I was just wondering if your father could have angered someone—like an irate husband or jealous boyfriend.”

      Europa immediately broke into laughter. It was so abrupt it took Decker by surprise.

      She said, “Lieutenant, the more appropriate question is who in this world hasn’t my father angered. Before he disappeared, he must have burned every bridge in existence. Often my brothers and I would muse that he had disappeared because he had done something even more nefarious than ruin careers—which, by the way, was a favorite hobby of his.”

      Quickly, Decker turned a page on his notepad. “Your father ruined careers?”

      Europa started to speak, then stopped herself. She peered at him with intense blue eyes. “Somehow you suckered me into talking about our family’s sordid saga. Although what it has to do with Dad’s death, I don’t know. No, Lieutenant, I really don’t think he murdered anyone. Back then, my brothers and I were engaging in childish fantasy, giving my father an exotic alibi to excuse his devastating and inexplicable behavior.”

      But Decker was persistent. “How did your father ruin careers? Did he sabotage experiments? Did he steal someone else’s research?”

      Europa stared out of the window. “No, nothing illegal. If he had done that, he wouldn’t have been so feared. Instead, he decimated within the proper channels.” She hugged herself. “To understand my father’s potency, you’d have to know the academic world.”

      Decker said, “I’ve heard its moral accountability falls somewhere between politics and Hollywood.”

      “You’ve got it.” Europa gave him a beleaguered smile. “In academia, to be associated with the right people is all-important. And Dad was the right person to know. His stamp of approval added prestige to anything it touched. He was on the board of many scientific organizations and peer-review journals. A good word from him could immediately advance a career just as a well-placed barb could set it back ten years. During his scientific years, Dad doled out much more criticism than praise. He had brought down many a promising career with a single, snide comment. Presenting a paper to Emil Euler Ganz was an ordeal akin to being placed on the rack. A few of Dad’s remaining colleagues have enlightened me as to how truly sadistic he was, taking pleasure in smashing someone’s life’s work.”

      Decker formulated his question. “Of all the people your father … offended—”

      “Ruined.”

      “Is there any specific person that sticks in your mind?”

      “No. My older colleagues might be able to help you.”

      “I’ll ask around,” Decker said.

      “Approaching my father’s colleagues might be akin to entering the enemy camp.” She smiled. “Maybe not now that he’s dead. I’m sure they got their revenge witnessing my father’s downfall in cosmology. Since Emil Euler Ganz had become an object of derision, Dad’s enemies could discredit his previous criticism of their past work.”

      She seemed bitter. Decker asked, “When you entered the field, did they hold your father’s behavior against you?”

      She thought for a moment. “I’m sure a few did. Mostly, people felt sorry for me. As a girl, I had been abandoned by him. As a scientist, I was now saddled with this embarrassing nutcase called Father Jupiter. In reality, even before Jupiter my father had lost his scientific luster.”

      “Why was that?”

      “He was espousing some way-out theories even before he took his famous hike. Now, the few times I’ve spoken to him, his mind was as scientifically sharp as ever. But we kept our conversation on neutral ground, never talking about his postulations.” She got up and poured herself another cup of coffee. “Which are not as crackpot now as they were then.”

      Decker asked, “What kind of crackpot theories did he hold?”

      Europa returned to her desk. “It’s a long story as well as a complicated one.”

      “I’ve got time. Try me.”

      “How’s your working knowledge of physics?”

      “I know Newton had three laws of motion.”

      “That’s a start.”

      “Actually someone at the Order clued me into that one.”

      “Who?”

      “Someone named Bob.”

      “Ah …” Recognition. “Tall, thin … I think now he sports a beard.”

      “Goatee.” Decker tried to hide his surprise. “Does he have a last name?”

      “Changes with the wind. When I knew him, it was Robert Ross.”

      Decker wrote it down in his notes. “Where do you know him from?”

      “From Southwest. We were fellow students—actually dated for a couple of months. He was a fanatic admirer of Emil Ganz the scientist. With my father gone, I was his sole link to the great man. But when Dad was resurrected as Jupiter, Bob went directly to the source. At one time, he had a working brain. By now I’m sure it’s mush.”

      “He impressed me as being sharp. But what do I know?”

      Europa shrugged. “Maybe.”

      Decker regarded her with a swift glance. She wasn’t as separate from the Order as Decker had thought. She had kept in contact with her father via phone, she had dated one of the members, and had been best friends with her father’s woman. Also, she remembered Pluto, albeit not fondly. And this was what she admitted to. Who knew what she wasn’t telling him. He said, “Explain your dad’s whacked-out theories.”

      She sighed heavily. “Dad had developed some far-out theories about teleportation and time machines into alternative universes—a combination of H. G. Wells and Beam me up, Scotty.” Again, a sigh. “Not that this bears any relevancy to your investigation.”

      “Actually, it may be very relevant,” Decker answered. “Maybe he chose to end his life because he believed that he was transporting himself to a better place with a time machine.”

      “Even so, why would that be relevant to the police?”

      “Because we have to make sure no one tries to follow in your father’s footsteps. I don’t want another Heaven’s Gate—not anywhere and certainly not in my district.”

      “How can you guarantee that?”

      “With adults, we can’t. Kids are another story.”

      “I see your point.” She held up a finger. “So you are СКАЧАТЬ