CLOSE TO MADNESS by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“If Dr. Alarcon's hiding something, it’s not going to be in a public paper,” Kari said, pulling up a university database that required her father’s login credentials to access. “We need to look at the edges. Conference proposals, grant applications, academic disputes.”

The screen filled with a dizzying array of institutional links. It was a digital fortress. Ben, sitting at his own desk, was taking a different approach, running Alarcon’s name through a law enforcement database that cross-referenced property records and financials. The only sounds in the squad room were the quiet, rhythmic clicking of their keyboards.

“Nothing,” Ben said finally, pushing back from his desk with a sigh of frustration. “Her finances are spotless. Lives in a condo near campus, drives a four-year-old sedan, no liens, no major debts. She’s either clean or she’s very, very good at hiding her money.”

“It’s not about money,” Kari said, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she clicked on a link titled 'Internal Review Board: Fieldwork Proposals.' “It’s about her work.”

The documents were dense with academic jargon and bureaucratic procedure, but after another twenty minutes of scrolling, she found a pattern. A series of grant proposals, all authored by Alarcon. Each one sought funding for research into enhancing specific psychoactive compounds in peyote, framed as a way to create more targeted therapeutic treatments.

“Ben, look at this,” she said.

He joined her and leaned over her shoulder. Kari pointed to a series of notations in the margins of one proposal. “REJECTED: Methodology deemed insufficiently sensitive to non-quantifiable spiritual aspects.” Another had a comment from the ethics committee chair: “Proposed interventions risk commodifying a sacred rite. Recommend observational approach only.”

“The chair of that committee is Miles Bennett,” Ben said, reading the name at the bottom of the memo. “He didn’t tell us he’d been fighting with her for years.”

“He was protecting the university,” Kari said. “She’s not just studying the medicine; she’s actively trying to change it. And the system is telling her no.”

It was a plausible motive: Dr. Alarcon's professional ambition, thwarted by the ethics committee, could have festered into a powerful resentment. That bitterness could easily fuel a desire to prove her critics wrong, creating a compelling reason for her to conduct her own secret, unsanctioned experiments.

“We need to find her assistant,” Kari said. “Marcus Stone. He’s the one who would know if her official research and her actual research are two different things.”

“He’s not going to want to talk to us,” Ben said.

“Then we have to convince him.”

Kari found his information in the online student directory: a campus email and a shared office number in the basement of the Life Sciences building. She dialed the office number. It rang four times, then went to a generic voicemail. A dead end.

“Let’s try his email,” she said. She drafted a message, carefully wording it to appear non-threatening.

Mr. Stone,

We are conducting a follow-up investigation and would appreciate a moment of your time to clarify a few details regarding Dr. Alarcon’s fieldwork. This is a routine inquiry. Please let us know when you might be available.

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