From behind Barnum, Leonard said, “We have other drugs in the pipeline, Mike, but AV/AS is why Wall Street loves us.”

Barnum's large pink face was just inches from Seeley's. “If you lose our case-”

“I'm not planning on losing your case,” Seeley said. “But you're the ones who came looking for me to run this trial. If you changed your mind, now's the time to tell me.”

Barnum paced the small room. He had a sluggish way of responding, and Seeley didn't know if the silence was deliberate or if he was just slow.

Leonard leaned back in his chair. “What Ed's saying is, we're betting the company on this case. If-”

Barnum said, “How does the case look to you?”

“Bob Pearsall did a good job putting it together.”

“That's why I hired him. I don't want any loose ends.”

When Seeley didn't respond, Leonard said, “There aren't any loose ends, are there?”

“There's Lily Warren.”

Annoyance crossed Barnum's face. “Who?”

Leonard said, “The woman who thinks she invented AV/AS.”

“Oh,” Barnum said. “The crackpot.”

It was what Palmieri had said, but Seeley thought it was more likely that the description came from Barnum.

Leonard said, “Why should that be a loose end?”

Seeley said, “Even if she's not on St. Gall's witness list, she could be a problem.”

“There won't be a problem.” Barnum's impassive face moved in front of Seeley so that he again lost eye contact with his brother. “St. Gall already stipulated that Alan Steinhardt invented the vaccine first.”

The information stunned Seeley. When two companies flog their researchers around the clock to come up with a cure for the same disease, it is no accident when they arrive at virtually identical drugs, sometimes within days of each other.