“I do.” Nox waited for Dr. Dante to lift his head. “You cared.”
“If I cared I—”
“You stayed because you were afraid of what would happen to us. You worried about Koda. You didn’t want us mistreated.”
Dr. Dante pushed up his glasses and wiped his eyes with his fingers and thumb.
“You told Dr. Echols it didn’t matter how much New World raised your salary. You couldn’t justify what they did to us. You threatened to go to the press. He told you New World would destroy your life and bankrupt you in the process.”
Dr. Dante closed his eyes.
“And they did, didn’t they?”
“They didn’t bankrupt me.” And he said it like not losing everything he had was an achievement.
“Only because if they had, it would have meant court, exposure, and possibly the wrong kind of attention.” Phillips shrugged. “Internal memos we recovered from the server.”
Dr. Dante swallowed hard. “Yeah, I figured it was something like that.”
“Why do you think Dr. Echols and New World were so desperate to keep you?” Nox said.
“I… I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. Because when you two argued the week before you left, Echols told you that the next step in his research needed you because you, and I quote, ‘had instincts.’” Nox had seen it whenever Dr. Dante interacted with Koda. He’d felt it whenever Dr. Dante worked with his team. The ultimate proof had been how Echols struggled after Dr. Dante left, resorting to drastic and evasive means to meet his goals. If Dr. Dante had stayed, they probably would have succeeded in six months instead of fumbling for three years.
“I’m sorry you had to hear all that.”
“I’m not.” Nox meant it. If he hadn’t, he would have never completely understood how much Dr. Dante had suffered and why he’d risked his well-being for people, people who were technically dead and buried. “I know you can come up with a theory about how they changed the VrK and a way to destroy the curs. And I’d be willing to bet any theory you come up with would be closer to the truth than any other scientist could do with all the fancy equipment in the world.”
“Hypothesis.”
Nox frowned a little. “Huh?”
“A theory is a scientific principle that explains phenomena already supported by data. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation based on limited information. In this case, the information is very limited and even anecdotal; therefore, all I would have is a hypothesis.”
Nox chuckled. “Then I want to hear yourhypothesis.”
Dr. Dante twisted his hands in his lap.
“Please, Dr. Dante.”
“You don’t understand. I need more information. I have nothing. Absolutely nothing to start with.”
“There were tissue samples taken from the cur you killed,” Phillips said.
Dr. Dante lifted his head. “What? When?”
“Somewhere between when you killed it and before I got there to do a walk-through.”
“What parts of the body were the samples taken from?”
“I believe one was brain tissue. Entry was made through the muscle that attaches the head to the neck. The other was an incision in the axilla.”
“What’s an axilla?” Dekker said.
“Arm pit.” Dr. Dante turned a little in his seat. “Where was the incision located on the neck?”
“Ventral, close to the spinal cord. There was also evidence that samples of your blood were removed from the scene.”