FIFTEEN
Adeline stared at her father for a long moment, then opened her mouth to speak, closed it again, and finally spoke slowly, carefully.
“You’re telling me that Absolom—”
“Was an accident. One we never imagined. In fact, the entire experiment, from the very beginning, is something we never thought would work in the first place. Never in a million years did we dream Absolom would work. The truth is, we’re double frauds.”
Adeline held her hands up. “If you didn’t think it would work, why even create it?”
“Money.”
“Money?”
“We needed money.”
“Who?”
“All of us. Everyone in the original group: me, Elliott, Constance, Nora, and Hiro. For different reasons.”
“What exactly are you telling me?”
“I’m telling you that the most celebrated scientists in the world began as nothing more than a group of desperate people who were basically trying to scam a venture capital fund.”
“Back up, Dad. To the beginning.”
Sam exhaled. “Did you know Elliott and I have been friends since college? We were roommates our second year and after.”
“No. I thought you were friends because they lived next to us in Palo Alto.”
“Just the opposite. Elliott was one of the reasons we bought the house next door—it was in pre-foreclosure, and he found out about it before it hit the market. Elliott and Claire had their first child the year after we graduated college, so you probably thought they were older since Charlie was about eight years older than you.” Sam took a breath. “Anyway, the point is, we’ve been close for a long time. Back before Absolom, Elliott was doing research on quantum entanglement. His work was really amazing. He was studying how the Higgs interacted with gravitational waves and dilated time—”
“Dad. English, please.”
“Right. Suffice it to say, Elliott was doing groundbreaking research. With a lot of potential. But he had problems at home.”
“Charlie.”
“That’s right. I don’t know how much you remember about those years, but Charlie was in and out of substance abuse programs and rehab facilities. Elliott and Claire had spent virtually every last dollar they had, and Charlie was still in terrible shape. Elliott was desperate.”
Adeline nodded. “And so were you back then.”
“I was.”
“Because of Mom.”
“That’s right. Every day, I watched her get sicker. She put a brave face on, but we were facing some tough decisions too. The only treatment options left for her were complete long shots. Nothing that was covered by insurance. Nothing we could afford on my university salary.”
“And the others? Hiro, Constance, and Nora?”
“We were at a conference in London, the five of us, at dinner, just commiserating about our various money problems. Just colleagues complaining about their lot in life to others going through the same thing.”
Sam interlaced his fingers. “Nora’s parents were aging and in poor health. Their financial advisor had swindled them. Took every last dollar they had saved their entire lives. Nora wanted to keep them in an assisted living facility, but she couldn’t afford it. She had already drained her savings. They were going to be evicted, and she had no idea what she was going to do.”
“And Hiro?” Adeline asked.
“He was deep in debt and at risk of losing his house. But Connie had it worst. She was sick.”
“Even back then?”
“She’s been sick a long time. She needed money for a new therapy.”
“What’s her diagnosis?”
“I can’t say.”
“You don’t know?”
“I know. I just won’t betray her confidence. That secret is hers alone to tell.”
“Is that why she never married and never had kids?”
“Yes,” Sam said. “It is.”
“What about Daniele?”
“She wasn’t at the dinner where we hatched our plan. At that point, none of us had ever met her in person.”
“She wasn’t one of the original group?”
“No.”
“So she wasn’t in financial trouble?”
“No. Just the opposite, actually. She was what got us out of financial trouble.”
“She’s not a fraud, then?”
Sam laughed. “As it turns out, she is a fraud—or became one—but not for the same reason the rest of us are.”