"Let me guess, drawn on his reelection campaign funds. ' Of course.

"So what's the point? " "Well, seems to me people who've looking to end it all don't drop a bundle on cosmetic surgery. Sounds more like someone who's looking toward the future.

'"Possibly. Or someone who's unhappy with himself, tries plastic surgery to improve his looks, finds out it doesn't make him feel the least bit better, so he dives for the dirt."

"Spoilsport, " Gerry muttered.

"Leave the second-guessing to the shrinks. Got anything concrete? " "Yes. An odd little correlation popped out of the database. What if I told you that both Lane and Schulz had plastic surgery this summer? " Ketter shrugged. So? ' '"And what if I told you they both used the same surgeon? " "Same response. These Old Boys go to the same dentist, the same chiropractor, eat at the same restaurants, have the same personal trainer, sometimes the same mistresses. So why not use the same plastic surgeon? Who's the doc? " "Duncan Lathram." Ketter stared at him a moment. "Well now, " he drawled. "Seems I've heard that name before. And I do believe I heard it from you. Or am I wrong? " "No, you're right."

"Seems to me you had yourself a bit of a hard-on for this Doc Lathram a while back." '"We had a disagreement. That's all. ' More than a disagreement, actually.

Duncan Lathram had flat out refused to operate on Gerry's face after the car accident. It had been a very bad time for Gerry. The worst.

And Lathram's brush-off had almost put him over the edge. He still smarted from the sting of that rejection.

"You seemed pretty heated up at the time, if I remember." '"Look.

The computer spit out the correlation on its own. I didn't go looking for it. But you've got to admit it seems a little strange that a congressman and a senator both die a month or so after plastic surgery performed by the same doctor."