“From everyone. Company executives feared litigation. Unions feared layoffs. Researchers feared losing funding. Attorneys on both sides wanted numbers supporting their arguments.”
“So somebody changed results?”
“I never proved that.”
“What did you prove?”
“That the data had become scientifically unreliable.”
That was less cinematic than a grand conspiracy.
But more believable.
“Why didn’t you publish that?”
“I tried.”
He smiled sadly.
“Harlow terminated the study.”
“Because it was unreliable?”
“Officially.”
“And unofficially?”
Mercer looked toward the rain.
“Because nobody liked the answer.”
“What answer?”
“That we didn’t know.”
He looked at me.
“People imagine corporations always want a favorable result. Sometimes what institutions want most is certainty. Uncertainty frightens everyone.”
I thought of my father.
“What does this have to do with Claire?”
“She discovered something personal in the records.”
My pulse quickened.
“What?”
Mercer walked to a cabinet.
He removed a folder.
“I have kept this for twenty-seven years because your sister asked me to.”
