Read Jamie Brodie 01 - Cited to Death for Free Online Page A

approve.”
    “Hmph. They do look like staunch conservatives.” Diane linked her arm through mine. “Let’s get out of this room. These flowers are making my nose run.”
    Shortly, everyone filed outside and stood somberly as the casket was carried out. The ceremony was brief; the standard ashes-to-ashes spiel. Oddly, there was no mention of Dan’s military service. Diane and I were heading for the parking lot when someone called to us.
    “Excuse me.” It was the man in the expensive suit. Expensive shoes, tie, everything. Including, unfortunately, strong cologne. Drakkar Noir: one of the worst offenders when it came to my lungs. I tried not to breathe deeply.
    “I’m sorry – I overheard you introducing yourselves to the family.” He smiled thinly, but his gaze was belligerent. “I thought I knew all of Dan’s friends. I’m Benjamin Goldstein. Dan’s lover.”
    An odd choice of words these days . Did he want to shock us? “We’re so sorry for your loss. We were in library school with Dan.”
    “Ah.” Goldstein surveyed both of us and didn’t seem impressed. “You’re not medical librarians.”
    “No.” What an ass . “Are you?” I could do belligerent too.
    Goldstein snorted. “I’m on the clinical faculty at USC School of Medicine.”
    A doctor. No wonder . Suddenly it hit me. Benjamin Goldstein. The authors of the second article were Oliver, Wray and Goldstein. B. Goldstein. Holy shit . The picture was suddenly a lot more complicated.
    “Oh, how wonderful.” Diane stepped in as I tried to control my facial expressions. “Were you close to Dan’s family?”
    “God, no.” Goldstein’s face twisted with disgust. “Pathetic, right-wing Christian losers. Their precious son couldn’t be gay, no matter what he said. They never accepted him for who he was. We’d been together for nearly two years, and this is the first time I ever saw them. He’d cut ties with them almost completely, but as soon as he was gone they swooped in and took control of everything. If they’d known who I was, I’m sure they would have had me removed.”
    Well, that could explain the belligerence . I stood up a little straighter and looked right at Goldstein. “I’d like to have seen them try.”
    Goldstein looked at me in surprise, then barked a short laugh. “I wish they had. Dan would have loved it.” He shook his head. “I have to go. Thanks for coming.” He turned and strode away.
    Diane watched him go, then turned to me. “Well. I don’t 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