Chapter 52.

Wilson didn't press the issue as we took the elevator back up to our offices. When I walked into mine, Thirteen was waiting for me.

"Chase told you about the snag we hit this morning?" she asked.

I nodded, staring at her so she'd feel compelled to go on.

"We've gotten the complete DNA sequences for our patients and they're even more confusing. They all have defects in the same chromosome after all, but not at the same site, and the defects themselves are different. Some are deletions, some translocations."

"But they all manifest hyperacusis?"

"Yes."

"In the same way?"

She hesitated. "You think there are variations in the syndrome or possibly even different syndromes that have been lumped together under the same name? And that they're related to the differences we're seeing?"

I was glad I didn't have to spell it out for her. "We have a lot still to learn about how chromosomes control the functioning of the human body. There've been other diseases that have been shown to actually be several different problems, but initially look the same. Who knows what's possible? Maybe some of the patients have the same abnormality and the same version of the disease, different from all the others."

"We're going to have to fine tune the analysis of our data and wait until we have results for several more subjects. Jess is looking into the statistical implications of what we're finding, but we'll need to consider more specifics."

"Good. This might turn out to be even more interesting than we first thought."

"It already is." She turned and left.

A thought had occurred to me while I was talking to Thirteen. Before I did anything else, I started a new computer search, this time on the genetic defects linked to other diseases. Most illnesses had a range of severity, even if they couldn't be separated into different diseases. Had anyone ever reported related variations in the defects? If that was so, we were on the right track.

A brief search didn't turn up anything definitive, but I wasn't giving up that easily. I turned off the computer, knowing I'd come back to it later. First I had something else to do.

I took out my phone and called Bonnie.

"House! I was just about to call you!"

"I've been thinking about the places you showed me yesterday, and I think I want to make a bid on the one on Irving."

"Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." I could picture her biting her lip as if she was afraid to break the news to me. "Someone else has made an offer on that place."

"Then I'll make a better offer."

"Better than two forty?" Bonnie asked.

"Is that the current bid? Two fifty," I said without hesitation. I'd already decided we wouldn't go higher than two seventy-five, but we could take our time getting to that figure.

"Well, since she made the offer first, I'll have to let her know," she warned.

"You do that and then get back to me." I smiled as I closed the connection. It wouldn't be long for her to call Jess, and then call again to tell me about Jess counteroffer of two fifty-five.

My next visitor was totally unexpected. Petey Giordano burst through my door, obviously looking for a fight. "OK, what's going on?"

"What d'ya mean?" I had no idea what burr had gotten under his saddle this time.

"I hear there's a study going on about this disease I supposedly have, but no one ever consulted me about it!"

"You're suddenly a doctor?"

"No. But I'm a patient. This is supposed to be some big deal study and I want in!" He banged my desk with his fist for emphasis.

"I have no objection. The more subjects we have, the better. And we already have enough results for you that we won't even need to do any more tests." I didn't tell him that I thought it was appropriate for him to be included. After all, he and his son were the basis for us to be doing the study in the first place.

"Go find your sister and tell her I said you're in."

"That's it? You're not going to argue with me?"

"Why should I?" I just wanted him to leave already. "Go."

He walked away slowly. I wasn't sure what he'd expected, but I hadn't given it to him and it looked like it left him perplexed. That's when I decided it might be fun to play with his mind. I picked up the phone and called Chase. "Petey's decided that we can't do the study without him. Why don't you use it as an excuse to torture him?" I expected that Chase of all people would love the chance.

"How do you mean?"

"I told him that we wouldn't have to do any more tests, but why don't you come up with a few that you've suddenly decided are absolutely necessary. Tests I know nothing about."

"I'd be delighted," Chase said and I could hear the grin in his voice.

Just as I expected. What I didn't expect was Jess' reaction. Twenty minutes later, she came storming into my office. I wondered at first if her belligerence was part of the plan to throw everyone off track. "What kind of game are you playing, House?" she demanded.

Since I was in the middle of several, I wasn't sure which she was referring to, so I took a stab. "Petey is a perfect candidate for the study."

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

I narrowed my eyes at her as I tried to discern what was eating her. "I offered Bonnie two fifty, just the way we planned."

"Yes, I know, and I made my counteroffer. Really, House, you're not getting it."

"Obviously not. What's this about?"

"I had everything set up for the study, spreadsheets, metrics, everything, and then you go changing the rules?"

"You've seen the results. We have to fine-tune your metrics. All statistics and data are good for is a way to twist results to support whatever conclusion you want."

"Obviously you have a rather low opinion of accounting practices. They don't lie, and you can't make them lie."

"Tell that to the banks!" I knew I had her there. She couldn't be so naïve as to think that everyone was on the up and up the way she seemed to be. "Didn't your father ever have you fudge things on his tax returns? How many sets of books did he have you keep?"

"You're questioning my integrity?" She didn't shout, but that made the anger in her voice that much scarier.

I knew I'd gone too far when the storm in her eyes acquired lightning bolts that she was aiming my way. I had to diffuse the situation and fast, but I didn't know how. "No, I'm not questioning yours. Your father's maybe, and that of the statisticians, economists, businessmen and other accountants."

"I've heard that you've been known to twist facts to convince a patient to allow a procedure you're certain will save their lives, or at least get you your diagnosis. But I can't believe you'd falsify medical data just to prove your point!"

She was right of course, on both counts. There were times when results justified the lies used to get to them, but even I drew the line on what I'd be willing to lie about. "You're right." The words seemed strange to me. The number of times I've admitted that someone else was correct, and consequently, I was wrong, could be counted on one hand. "But that's why we need more precise data points. We need to be sure our results have value. If we can hone in on the exact correlation between the genetic markers and the disease, the study will mean so much more."

"I guess."

I needed a metaphor, one she'd appreciate. "Have you ever seen those puzzles where a photograph is zoomed out so far you don't have any idea what you're seeing? Or the ones where the picture is magnified hundreds of times and you're given just a couple of pixels? You can't tell what it is then, either. We need just the right level of magnification so that the pattern becomes clear."

She nodded in understanding. That's when I caught a glimpse of Wilson watching us from out in the hallway, and wondered how much he'd seen and how I'd be able to spin it.