“Because you were the only person I’ve talked with about my thesis for years. And you are certainly the only person I’ve said anything to about ‘fudging.’ Dr. Mason wouldn’t have come up with the idea on his own.”
“It wasn’t me,” Ava snapped. “Maybe it was your old girlfriend who you ignored. Maybe she wanted to get back at you.”
“It wasn’t Leslie,” Noah snapped back.
“Then I don’t know who the hell it was,” Ava said. “Now I want to work out. So if you don’t mind, I’d like you to leave.”
His emotions in turmoil, Noah walked out of Ava’s house. When he’d entered, he’d felt perplexed, depressed, and anxious. Now he felt perplexed, depressed, and angry. Despite Ava’s protestations to the contrary, she had to be the one who brought the stupid thesis issue to Dr. Mason’s attention. Yet her suggestion about Leslie ate at him even though he was sure she could not be involved. She’d never acted angry when she left. If anyone had been angry, it had been Noah, but even he had been angry at himself not Leslie.
He pulled out his mobile phone as he headed up Revere Street toward his building and called her. He had no idea if she’d answer, but at least it was after 5:00, so he was reasonably confident he wouldn’t be disturbing her at work.
“What’s up?” Leslie responded after only two rings. “Are you okay?”
Noah assured her he was okay and explained that the reason for his call was just to ask her if, by any chance, she had ever said anything to anybody about his Ph.D. thesis, particularly recently.
“Absolutely not,” Leslie said. “To tell you the honest truth, I completely forgot the whole story about your thesis until you brought it up on Saturday. I’d never given it any significance that you’d had to estimate some figures to get it in on time since you made the effort to replace them with the real ones when they were available. Besides, I’d never say anything to anybody about your thesis. I don’t even remember the name.”
“Okay, good,” Noah said. “I just wanted to be sure.”
“I’ve been thinking about your situation ever since we hung up on Saturday,” Leslie said. “Are you interested in what I’ve been thinking?”
“I guess,” Noah said.
“The more I think about it, the more certain I am that your erstwhile friend Ava has to be responsible for raising the thesis issue.”
“I thought the same thing, since you and she were the only two people I’d ever confided in about it. Five minutes ago, I asked her point blank whether she’d done it, and she denied it.”
“So she finally contacted you?” Leslie said.
“No, I went to her house and rang the bell.” He was too embarrassed to mention the FedEx ruse.
“Was she at least friendly?”
“No. She said she was still angry at me.”
“Did you believe her denial?”
“To some degree,” Noah said. “She didn’t hesitate in the slightest. She even mocked me for suggesting such a thing.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t do it,” Leslie said. “And if she was the only other person who knew about this thesis issue, it would have had to have been her who spilled the beans. Yet it does seem out of keeping with how you described your relationship and certainly out of proportion to your going on her computer without permission.”
“I did something else that I didn’t tell you about,” Noah said. He went on to admit that he’d gone to her boss behind her back with minor but nagging concerns about her professional performance in a couple critical situations.
“Ouch,” Leslie said. “To my way of thinking, that could be interpreted as betrayal more than accessing her computer, especially if she is as dedicated to her work as you say. How did she find out you went to her chief? Do you know?”
“He told her.”
“Double ouch,” Leslie said. “Now all this is making more sense. If she did blow the horn on your thesis, it could be a kind of sick tit-for-tat by forcing the surgery department to question your ethical competence.”
“That’s gone through my mind,” Noah said.
“Is there a reason to question her competence?” Leslie asked.
“No,” Noah said, “not really. She’s a well-trained anesthesiologist who is religious about keeping up with her specialty. She’s done thousands of cases at the BMH over the last five years. I’ve been told she passed her written and oral anesthesia boards with flying colors, which is no mean accomplishment. And to be hired by the BMH, she had to be seriously vetted. There is no doubt about her general competence.”
Noah reached his building but hesitated going inside. He was afraid he’d cut Leslie off.
“Did you see the lawyer today?” Leslie asked.
“I did, but it was a bust. He must have just graduated from law school and got assigned all the crap cases. I can’t imagine he’ll be any help.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
After saying goodbye, Noah hung up. Once inside his building he began to slowly climb the stairs. His legs felt strangely heavy again, as if they didn’t want to return to his apartment any more than he did.
31
MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 7:15 P.M.
After getting into his apartment, Noah peeled off his damp shirt and tie, turned on the window air conditioner in the bedroom, and collapsed on his couch. It had been a discouraging day. Even the phone call with Leslie hadn’t cheered him. Instead it had increased the anxiety and irritation he felt about Ava. And Ava’s continued overtly defensive reactions whenever he tried to voice his misgivings about her three anesthesia deaths only heightened the concerns he had about her anesthesia training. It could have been so easy for Ava to reassure him, and if she had, he never would have even considered the misguided idea of going to Dr. Kumar, which ended up aggravating the situation. One way or another, Noah thought that the issue of Ava’s sensitivity to questions about her professional training and competence demanded more attention if for no other reason than to take his mind off his own problems. It was also a type of therapy for his smoldering resentment in how Ava was treating him.
The question for Noah was how to go about doing it. Since Dr. Mason was the only other person who questioned Ava’s competence, Noah thought for a fleeting moment about approaching him to ask if his opinion was based on anything other than using Ava as an easy mark for the Vincent case. The idea of attempting to have such a conversation brought a smile to Noah’s face as he considered the absurdity of it. He doubted if the vain blowhard would even talk to him other than to gloat that he’d succeeded in getting Noah dismissed, and Noah couldn’t imagine the conversation staying civil. Noah knew that he’d be unable to resist demanding to know who had alerted him to the Ph.D. issue.