‘Okay, Elmer? Maybe they can pick me up there in an hour or so. It’s never very quick in hospitals.’
Elmer backed out, agonizing over his dilemma. Fishback shut the door.
‘I’m obliged to you,’ said Dryden.
The phone rang. Fishback picked it up, listened, said ‘yeah’ a couple of times, and put it down. ‘That was the stewards’ room. They’re bringing over your junkie. She just won the 400 metres in a time two tenths outside the U.S. record.’
A sound principle of merchandising practice is to exceed people’s expectations. Events in San Diego so far had slotted neatly into Dryden’s plan, but it was time to introduce another check against the predictable.
Dr. Fishback had not driven more than a few minutes along Park Boulevard in his Chrysler, with Goldine, white-faced, still in her tracksuit and clutching a bag containing her clothes, seated in the rear, when Dryden, at his side, said, ‘I don’t suppose the hospital would look on this as an emergency. They get a lot of casualty work Saturday evenings, I expect.’
‘At the General, they keep busy most times,’ said Fishback. ‘No need for us to trouble them in emergency, however. This is a simple analysis.’
‘Do you work in the hospital, by any chance?’
Fishback shook his head. ‘I practice in a clinic in La Jolla,’ he said with pride.
‘Nice,’ said Dryden. ‘The culture center.’
‘I guess you could say that. We have the University, of course, the Museum of Art—’
‘Is there a hospital out that way — to save you driving to the General? Seems to me one lab is as good as another for a test like this.’
Fishback thought about it. ‘We have the Salk Institute out there. They’d run a test for us. Hey, how about your friend? You told him to pick you up at the General.’
‘To be truthful, it’s easier if he isn’t around,’ said Dryden. ‘I wouldn’t want to put my exclusive at risk, if you understand me. I’ll catch up with Elmer all right. And I’ll see Miss Serafin gets back to her people after the test.’
‘Suits me,’ said Fishback. At the next intersection, he followed the signs for Highway 5.
The springing of a drug test, as Dryden had anticipated, had caught the consortium unprepared. After the 400 metres, a marshal, one of the dowagers in plastic raincoats, had rushed Goldine to the medical room with Klugman in tow, but she had very firmly closed the door on him before he could catch a glimpse of Dryden. And while Klugman had raced upstairs to report to Serafin, Fishback and Dryden had whisked Goldine to the car. The marshal had collected the clothes from the dressing room and delivered them to the car at the stadium gate.
The people at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies administered the test with the minimum of fuss. Before Goldine was taken by a female analyst to pass a specimen, Dryden put his hand on her arm and told her confidentially, ‘This is a safeguard for you. Don’t be anxious. You’ve nothing to fear.’ Having said that, the thought crept into his mind after she had gone that if Klugman or someone had taken fright at the weather conditions, they
‘How about that?’ said Fishback. ‘Could I have that in writing? Nobody’s going to believe this.’ He turned Dryden’s way. ‘Sorry about your exclusive, friend, but there it is. Happens Miss Serafin is just one fabulous running machine.’
All this labeling. Artifact monster, machine...
‘I just have to accept that I made a mistake,’ said Dryden. ‘Dr. Fishback, I’m sorry to have put you to all this trouble. There’s not much I can do to compensate you, but if anyone
‘Doing my job, that’s all,’ Fishback magnanimously said.
As soon as Fishback had left, Goldine turned to Dryden. ‘We must call a cab, get back to San Diego.’
‘Easy,’ murmured Dryden. ‘Why the panic?’
Her eyes widened in surprise. ‘Doc. He won’t know what happened. If I don’t check in quick, he’ll go crazy.’
‘He’ll have heard about the test,’ Dryden pointed out. ‘He knows these things can’t be hurried. Look, you’ve had a harrowing time. You need to unwind. We’ll walk a little. Twenty minutes more won’t make any difference.’
‘Will you clear it with Doc when we get back?’ she dubiously asked.
‘Leave it with me. There won’t be any problem,’ he promised. ‘They’re delighted you ran so well this afternoon. And when they hear you got a clearance on the dope test, they’ll be over the moon.’
The stress lines in the center of Goldine’s forehead began to soften.
‘I’m afraid I missed the last race,’ Dryden casually continued. ‘How did it go?’ He picked up her bag and moved toward the door, and she came with him.
