Jamie Brodie 01 - Cited to Death

even know what to say about that. Want to get a cup of coffee?”
    “I’d better not.” I hadn’t been paying attention, but now I realized that I was a little too short of breath. “I need to get back into air conditioning. You can owe me one.”
    “Okay, rain check it is.” Diane patted me on the arm. “Let’s get you back to safety.”
    On the way back to campus, I tried to sort out what I knew. I’d now met two of the three authors of the second article. Benjamin Goldstein seemed to be grieving over Dan, but did he know Dan was questioning the article he wrote? I only had Goldstein’s word that he and Dan were still together. Had Dan confronted him with some kind of evidence? If they were still together, why would Dan be investigating his boyfriend’s work?
    And then there was Dr. Oliver. He seemed awfully paranoid about the possibility that someone would copy his research. Would he be willing to kill someone to protect it? Surely not. He seemed the type who would rather bankrupt a patent infringer in court.
    None of it made sense. And I still didn’t know if there was anything unusual at all about Dan’s death, much less a murder. I needed to ask Kevin to check on the autopsy report.
    The smog, flowers, and cologne had done a number on me. I used my inhaler in the car, but it wasn’t helping as much as I’d like. By the time we got back to Westwood, it was nearly 4:30. I picked up my laptop from my office, and called Dr. Loomis to tell her I’d finish out the day working from home.
    When I got home, though, it occurred to me that there was something better to do. I could go to Cedars and see if I could get a look in Dan’s office. Maybe he’d left something there that would give me a clue or two about how to solve this puzzle he’d dumped in my lap.
    Because I was going to solve this.
    I turned around and went out to my car.
    The parking lot at Cedars was pretty full. I got a spot near the street, but far from the door. I went into the lobby and checked the directory, then headed for the stairs.
    I walked into the library and looked around. It was a small space, with books on one wall, journals on two walls, and computers in the center. There was a reception desk, but no one was there. There was a door in the far wall, with Dan’s name posted on it. I tried the handle; it was unlocked.
    I eased into Dan’s office, leaving the door open. If anyone showed up, I could claim that I was looking for someone to help me. Dan's office was small, much smaller than mine, and crammed full: books, journals, scattered computer equipment, and too many chairs for the space. His desk was so close to the back wall that it was hard to see how a person could slide into the chair behind it. I was going to try, though.
    I squeezed behind the desk and looked around. I doubted that Dan would have left anything lying around in the open, but I scanned the items on the surface of his desk just to make sure. There was a textbook to the right - "Essentials of Stem Cell Biology." So he was reading up on the subject. Interesting. He could have passed that off as being interested in Ben's work without raising suspicion.
    I slid open the drawer to my right. It held an unorganized mashup of office supplies. The drawer to my left contained a stack of printer paper. The drawer in the center was locked. I got up and checked out in the hallway; no one was in sight. I went back to the desk, pulled a paper clip out of the jumble of office supplies, picked the lock on the center drawer, and found what I was looking for.
    Inside the drawer were two items. One was a 5x7 picture of Dan with Ben. They seemed to be on a tropical island. They were holding frozen drinks with umbrellas in them and had their arms around each other. They looked happy. Dan’s piercings were nowhere to be seen. Apparently he’d made a few changes in his life. So Dan was out at work, but Ben wasn't? I couldn't think of any other reason for Dan to be hiding the picture. Ben hadn’t hesitated to mention his relationship with Dan at the funeral. But if Ben was out and proud at work, I thought Dan would have displayed the photo. Or - maybe he and Ben had split, but Dan still had feelings for Ben and had kept the picture.
    The other thing in the drawer was a manila folder. I slid it out of the drawer into my lap and closed the drawer quietly. Inside the file folder was a copy of Oliver's article. There were several places throughout it where Dan had underlined