We'll be leaving Friday for a trip with out travel trailer to Texas and I'm not sure when I'll have access to post the next chapter, so enjoy this one. And I thrive on reviews!

Chapter 63.

I went looking for Jess, ostensibly to thank her for sending the information that Chase told her to pass on to me, but actually to report on my progress on the murder mystery front, and my strange conversation with Ellie. I knew Jess would be alone because I'd left my Fellows occupied with test subjects. But when he reached the room, she wasn't alone. Ellie was there with the baby, and the two women were playing with him.

"I don't pay you to flirt with infants!" I said as I barged in.

"Sorry, House." Jess smirked at me and went right on tickling the laughing ten-month-old. "What did you want?"

"Do I have to want anything to stop by here?"

She harrumphed.

"I wanted to let you know that I got the list of test subjects."

"You came all the over here for that? You could have called or e-mailed me."

We were both aware that Ellie was listening intently to our conversation. That's probably what made it even funnier. "I was passing by, on my way back from the interview room. Did you know that one of today's control group is the mother of a teenager who was murdered recently?" I was sure Jess would get the message. It was like we were talking in code. As insightful as Ellie seemed to be, never in a million years would she know what we were talking about.

"How awful for her!" Ellie said. I should have realized that, as a new mother, she'd be particularly horrified.

"She must be devastated," Jess agreed.

"Yeah, well, not so much that she didn't decide that the best she could do would be to volunteer for our study."

"You can't know how she feels. To lose your child! The poor woman." Ellie held Christopher closer to her. "We think we can protect our children from everything, and then we hear about something like this. Do they even know who did it?"

"I don't think so. She said the cops are still investigating."

"You asked her?" Ellie shook her head. "I know now what you mean about him," she told Jess.

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"That you're a heartless, misanthropic jerk." Jess shrugged. "I thought everyone knew that."

This was working out better than I thought, so why did hearing Jess say that hurt? "Bet your boyfriend is much more sensitive."

"It wouldn't be hard." She glared at me. "Is that all you wanted?"

I nodded. "I'll leave you ladies to whatever you were doing, but Jess, may I remind you, you are on the clock."

"Don't worry. I'll do my job, probably better than you do yours."

"Now, now, you two. Stop bickering!" Ellie said. "You sound like an old married couple."

"Not a chance!" Jess said before I could.

"Well, I've heard enough from both of you. We don't want to hear it, do we Chris?" In response, the baby reached for her nose, making Ellie laugh. "Guess he doesn't care one way or the other."

I'd reached the door when Chase arrived. "Finished with the interviews?" I asked him.

"I'm taking a break."

I could hear Christopher gurgling in the background, but I wasn't sure whether it was because of something his mother or Jess were doing, or the sight of Chase. The blond Aussie walked past me with a grin on his face. "I'm glad to see you, too, Buster."

"Buster?" I turned. "That's what you're calling him now?"

"It's better than 'hey, you'."

"He's got a perfectly good name."

Chase chuckled, but Ellie looked bewildered. "El, he's just being House. Ignore him," Chase advised.

"He and Jess got into it just before you arrived. She didn't ignore him."

Chase looked from me to Jess and back again, then shrugged. "You learn to either dismiss the things he says or come up with good counter-arguments. Either way, doesn't matter."

"You've argued with him? He's your boss. And he knows so much!"

"I know a lot too. You learn to pick your fights with him. It doesn't pay to waste your energy when you know up front that you'll lose. Unfortunately he's usually right."

"Proving how much the Aussie knows."

"I learned from the best. Weren't you leaving, House?"

"Yeah, not that this wasn't fascinating," I said as facetiously as I could. I slid the door open and walked out. Only when I'd reached my office did I allow myself to smile. That went well, I thought. Both Chase and Ellie were now convinced of the animosity between Jess and me. I was sure that news of our argument would spread through PPTH like wildfire, buying us time until move-in day.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly as I continued to research the Philips family. The husband headed a company that constructed strip malls, the kind that lined every major road in Jersey. I knew that the construction industry had a lot of mob connections. Was Jared killed because of something his father did or didn't do? Was the teenager even the intended victim? It seemed more likely that it was his father. But he'd been killed in his own bedroom, which supported the fact that the killer got the person they wanted.

So, instead of quenching my curiosity, the more I learned the more intrigued I was with the entire case. If this were a TV show or movie, the culprit would be the little old lady neighbor who killed the kid because she was afraid he'd grow into a callous man like her husband had been before she killed him. But this was real life. It would be messier and more complicated than any story. I wished, not for the first time, that I had an ear listening in at police headquarters. The press coverage of the murder was sparse, and had already been relegated to a paragraph every few days buried deep in the local newspaper.

The reporter who'd been the most persistent, who couldn't seem to let go of the story, was a woman named Angela Rogers. Could I get her to talk to me, to let me know whatever details she had that she hadn't included in her articles?

I called her paper. "Hello, this is Dr. Dailey from Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital," I told the person who answered. "I'd like to talk to Angela Rogers." The caller ID would confirm that I was calling from the hospital.

"Angela's not here," I bored voice said.

I needed a way to have return my call that wouldn't give anything away. "Please have her phone me." I gave her the hospital number. "She can ask to speak to my associate, Dr. House." I added my extension. "I'd like to talk to her about a former patient, Jared Philips." That should pique her interest. I ended the call and sat back with a smile. I put aside my research for a while, knowing I could resume it after I spoke with Angela, and maybe something she could tell me would give me another approach to take.

I closed my eyes to think about what I'd learned already. The next thing I knew, my phone was ringing. I sat up straighter and picked it up. "Dr. House."

"This is Angela Rogers. I had a message from a Dr. Daily. Do you know what he wanted to ask or tell me? He mentioned Jared Philips."

"Ah, yes. Jared was a patient of Dr. Daily's until his untimely death."

"And?"

"We noticed that you're obsessed with the case."

"Certainly not obsessed." She hesitated before going on. "I reported on a similar case in Scranton before I came to Princeton so I guess I've been more interested than some."

"What happened in Scranton?"

"They never found out who the murderer was. I just hope in this case that they will. Jared's parents and brother deserve to know why he was taken from them."

"Have you looked into the father's business connections?" I knew it wasn't the kind of question a doctor would ask, but she had to have information sources that I didn't, and I might as well find out what she knew.

"You think it was mob related?"

Angela was quick. She'd go far in the news field. "Or anyone else who was corrupt."

"Why do you and Dr. Daily want to know?"

"Jared seemed to be a good kid. He handled his health problems well." I was guessing but she didn't have to know that. "I...we're as curious as you are."

"What was wrong with him?" she asked, her reporter's curiosity showing.

That was something I hadn't been able to determine, but I could make an educated guess. "He had an autoimmune disease. He may be dead, but HIPAA prevents me from revealing any details."

"Can I quote you on that?"

"I'd rather you didn't. Again, HIPAA."

She chuckled. "I guess that's the doctor's version of taking the fifth."

"Not exactly. Well, thank you for talking to me." Before I closed the connection, I decided to add, "I'll let Dr. Daily know what you said."

"You do that. And, Dr. House, I'll give you a call again with any updates."