"And found the file on Jantac?"
Leapman remembered and winced. "It was a real kick in the guts. The crucial decisions were made back in 1985, a couple of years before I joined the company. Dr. Masuda had done two years of testing here in Japan in her research into alcoholic comas, using the same compound as PDM3 under the proprietary name of Jantac. I learned that Manny had personally axed the research after Dr. Masuda detected liver damage that was caused by Jantac. The name Jantac was deleted from our list of drugs under research. I was deeply shocked when I learned this. By this time I'd staked my career and my personal savings in the same lousy drug."
"Didn't you inform Churchward?"
"No." Leapman shook his head, and it was an expression of regret. "I faxed him some of the other studies I found, but I kept quiet about this Jantac bombshell. I hoped it might not be the serious problem it first appeared to be. Sometimes Manny Flexner was too cautious for bis own good. He took no risks whatsoever with drugs. Every drug has ADRs, and I argued to myself that alcoholism causes liver damage anyway, so maybe those Japanese results wouldn't show up to the same degree in patients who drank in moderation. Alaric Churchward's brilliant work on Alzheimer's didn't have to be jettisoned just because Manny was so ultracareful."
"All right, you rationalized," said Diamond, becoming impatient. "What did you do about it? Altered the records, for a start."
"That was no problem. I could do that sitting in my office and I did."
Diamond refrained from pointing out that he should also have gone down to the basement where the old file cards were kept.
"Computer records are simple to wipe," Leapman was saying. "But this had a human dimension."
Diamond gave a nod. "And you can't wipe humans so easily."
Leapman glared in defiance. "I am not a killer. Sure, I could foresee problems with Dr. Masuda. She was a real risk if she got to hear about PDM3. It was quite possible that she had a grudge against Manflex for what happened. I made some inquiries and learned that after her research was axed she stopped work altogether. She hadn't gone back since. So I flew to Yokohama to see her."
"Independently-without telling the mafia?"
"Yes. My idea was to buy her goodwill. I'd get her back to work on coma research, using some safe drugs we'd developed recently. Then I would change her file to make it appear that we'd continued to sponsor her without a break. But there was a complication."
"Naomi?"
"Excuse me?"
"The child. Naomi is what I call her."
"Ah. I understand. Yes, discovering that the little girl existed was a real shock, and even more so when I found that she was autistic. She needed round-the-clock attention. The only way I could get Dr. Masuda back to work was by finding a surrogate mother. Well, I discussed it with Dr. Masuda. After seven years of caring for a kid who doesn't respond one bit, she was ready for a break if we could find someone. I agreed to meet the cost. She already knew a woman in the University who'd had a kid who died. She'd wanted to adopt, but she was a single parent and the adoption agencies wouldn't play ball."
"Mrs. Tanaka?"
"Right. There was no question of letting her adopt, but we were willing to let her care for the kid. In fact, she could take her on a vacation. It worked out quite neatly in theory. Mrs. Tanaka knew the kid a bit. I put up the money for a trip to England, to get-what name did you give her?"
"Naomi."
"… to get Naomi right away at the time I was planning to unseat Manny Rexner. PDM3 was going to be the resignation issue and it had to be watertight"
"But why. Why go to so much trouble over a little girl?"
"Because she was the living proof that Dr. Masuda quit researching in 1985.1 could buy Dr. Masuda's silence, but I couldn't explain away the child if someone did some digging."
"Who did you fear? Manny?"
Leapman shook his head. "He was unlikely to make the connection with Jantac, even though he dumped it himself. He wasn't really a scientist. No, the people I feared were outside the company. The medical press, the stock market analysts, our rivals in the drug industry. They're damned quick in dredging up anything adverse they can find on a new drug. Nothing was published on Jantac, but somebody somewhere could have heard a whisper."
"So you sent Mrs. Tanaka to London with Naomi."
"It seemed like a neat solution, but she fucked up everything. Everything. Maybe those adoption agencies knew something, because Mrs. Tanaka couldn't cope. An autistic child was all too much, and one day she panicked and abandoned her in Harrods. The next thing it was ail over the British press and on TV. It was a news story. There was even an item in the New York Times. Far from hushing up the child's existence, we'd got it all over the media. Our billion-dollar project was about to blow up in our faces, all because of one small girl."
"But nobody knew the child's identity," Diamond reminded him.
Leapman erupted. "For God's sake! Every tabloid in England and Japan wanted to know who the dumb kid in Harrods was. It was a great human interest story. Our papers carried it. The only question was which smart-ass reporter would be the first to trace her mother."
"Through Mrs. Tanaka? You're telling me that's why Mrs. Tanaka had to be murdered?"
"Listen, I was facing annihilation myself. Soon as one of those guys got to Mrs. Tanaka she would blow the whole project. She'd tell them about the arrangement with Dr. Masuda. The connection with Manflex would be out in the open. All those wiseguys looking for some flaw in PDM3 would be alerted. I had to act fast, and I couldn't do it alone."
"So you explained the problem to your mafia friends and they put out a contract on Mrs. Tanaka."
"Not my friends. And I was never a party to murder,"
"But you kept them informed. She must have got in touch with you before she flew to New York with Naomi."
"Listen, you've got to understand that these people were breathing down my neck. When Manny committed suicide and nominated David to succeed him, my plans went-"
"Out of the window?" said Diamond with the suggestion of a smile, but he could hardly have expected a laugh from Leapman at this point in his story and he didn't get one.
"I was horrified when I heard what they did to Mrs. Tanaka. Appalled. And, you know, first of all, I thought the kid must be dead as well."
"I never heard of the mafia killing a child."
"Well, no."
"But they didn't object to throwing me in the Hudson and leaving me for dead," Diamond added.
"You were too close to the truth. When you fixed that meeting with David Flexner, they had to act."
"Yes, how was that done? Am I right in thinking Flexner's room was bugged and you tipped off your mafia friends?"
"Listen, by that time, I was being threatened too. Those people don't forgive anything."
"But that's how it was done?"
"Essentially, yes." He hesitated. "Should I apologize?"
Diamond shrugged. He could be magnanimous now. "And what exactly was the purpose of coming here to Yokohama?"
"Quite simply, to liquidate Dr. Masuda. I want to make it clear that I came under coercion. I was under constant threat of being murdered myself. Those two who traveled with me were mafia hit men. I was to lead them to her and Naomi would be used as bait. They planned to drive into the country, kill Mrs. Masuda and abandon Naomi."
"Do you really think they would have let you live?"
Leapman pondered this for a moment. "Maybe not. Like I said, I'm glad it's over. I don't mind giving evidence when all mis comes to court. I've been a damned fool, Mr. Diamond, but I was never a willing party to the violence."