The sum of all fears - Tom Clancy [284]
"No."
"No, what?"
"No, she has made no such comments, to the best of my knowledge."
"Comments on her husband, his behavior, changes in the way he's acting?"
"No. I know Jack pretty well, too. I really like the guy. He's evidently a good husband. They have two great kids, and you know the story on what happened to them some years back as well as I do, right?"
"Correct, but people change."
"Not them." Katz's comments had the finality of a death sentence.
"You seem quite certain."
"I'm a doctor. I live by my judgment. What you are alleging is crap."
"I'm alleging nothing," the investigator said, knowing it was a lie, and knowing that Katz knew it for a lie. He'd judged the man correctly from the first moment. Katz was a hotheaded, passionate man unlikely to keep any secret he deemed unworthy of being kept. Probably one hell of a doctor, too.
"I return to my original question. Has Caroline Ryan acted in any way different from, say, a year ago?"
"She's a year older. They have kids, the kids are growing up, and kids can be a bother. I have a few of my own. Okay, so she's gained a pound or two, maybe - not a bad thing, she tries to be too thin - and she's a little tireder than she ought to be. She has a long commute, and work is hard here, especially for a mother with kids."
"That's all, you think?"
"Hey, I'm an eye-cutter, not a marriage counselor. Not my field."
"Why did you say you're not a marriage counselor? I never brought that up, did I?"
Clever son of a bitch, aren't you? Katz thought, letting go of his mustache. Degree in psychology, maybe more likely self-taught. Cops were pretty good at reading people. Reading me, even! "Trouble at home for a married person generally means a troubled marriage." Katz said slowly. "No, there has been no such comment."
"You're sure?"
"Quite sure."
"Okay, thank you for your time, Dr Katz. Sorry to have bothered you." He handed over a card. "If you hear anything like that, I'd appreciate it if you called me."
"What gives?" Katz asked. "If you want my cooperation, I want an answer. I don't spy on people for the fun of it."
"Doctor, her husband holds a very high and very sensitive government position. We routinely keep an eye on such people for reasons of national security. You do the same thing, even if you don't think much about it. If a surgeon shows up with liquor on his breath, for example, you take note of it and you take action, correct?"
"That doesn't happen here, ever," Katz assured him.
"But you would take note of such a thing if it did happen."
"You bet we would."
"Glad to hear it. As you know, John Ryan has access to all sorts of highly sensitive information. Were we not to keep an eye on such people, we would be irresponsible. We've - this is a highly sensitive matter, Dr Katz."
"I understand that."
"We have indications that her husband might be acting irregularly. We have to check that out. Understand? We have to."
"Okay."
"That's all we ask."
"Very well."
"Thank you for your cooperation, sir." The investigator shook hands and left.
Katz managed not to flush until the man was gone. He didn't really know Jack all that well. They'd met at parties perhaps five or six times, traded a few jokes, talked about baseball or the weather or maybe international relations. Jack had never begged off on an answer, had never said I can't discuss that or anything.
Pleasant enough guy, Bernie thought. A good father by all accounts. But he didn't know the man at all.
Katz did, however, know Cathy as well as he knew any other doctor. She was a thoroughly wonderful person. If one of his kids should ever need eye surgery, she was one of the three people in the world whom he would trust to do the fix, and that was the highest compliment he could pay to anyone. She'd backed him up on cases and procedures, and he'd backed her up. When one needed advice, it was the other who got asked. They were friends, and associates.