“Ted, why do you do this to me?” Jack complained. “You know perfectly well I have no idea what I’m looking at with these things.”
Ted ignored Jack, while he searched for another similar piece of celluloid. He found it under a laboratory budget he was working on. He handed the second one to Jack.
“Hold them up to the light,” Ted said.
Jack did as he was told. He looked at the two sheets. Even he could tell they were different.
Ted pointed to the first sheet of celluloid. “This is a study of the region of the DNA that codes for ribosomal protein of a human being. I just picked a case at random to show you what it looks like.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Jack said.
“Let’s not be sarcastic,” Ted said.
“I’ll try,” Jack said.
“Now, this other one is a study of Franconi’s liver sample,” Ted said. “It’s the same region using the same enzymes as the first study. Can you see how different it is?”
“That’s the only thing I can see,” Jack said.
Ted snatched away the human study and tossed it aside. Then he pointed at the film Jack was still holding. “As I told you yesterday this information is on CD-ROM so I was able to let the computer make a match of the pattern. It came back that it was most consistent with a chimpanzee.”
“Not definitely a chimpanzee?” Jack asked. Nothing seemed to be definite about this case.
“No, but close,” Ted said. “Kind of like a cousin of a chimpanzee. Something like that.”
“Do chimps have cousins?” Jack asked.
“You got me,” Ted said with a shrug. “But I’ve been dying to give you this information. You have to admit it’s rather impressive.”
“So from your perspective it was a xenograft,” Jack said.
Ted shrugged again. “If you made me guess, I’d have to say yes. But taking the DQ alpha results into consideration, I don’t know what to say. Also I’ve taken it upon myself to run the DNA for the ABO blood groups. So far that’s coming up just like the DQ alpha. I think it’s going to be a perfect match for Franconi, which only confuses things farther. It’s a weird case.”
“Tell me about it!” Jack said. He then related to Ted the discovery of an Old World primate parasite.
Ted made an expression of confusion. “I’m glad this is your case and not mine,” he said.
Jack placed the sheet of celluloid on Ted’s desk. “If I’m lucky, I might have some answers in the next few days,” he said. “Tonight I’m off to Africa to visit the same country Franconi did.”
“Is the office sending you?” Ted asked with surprise.
“Nope,” Jack said. “I’m going on my own. Well, that’s not quite true. I mean, I’m paying for it, but Laurie is going, too.”
“My god, you are thorough,” Ted said.
“Dogged is probably a better word,” Jack said.
Jack got up to go. When he reached the door, Ted called out to him: “I did get the results of the mitochondrial DNA back. There was a match with Mrs. Franconi, so at least your identification was right.”
“Finally something definitive,” Jack said.
Jack was again about to leave when Ted called out again.
“I just had a crazy idea,” Ted said. “The only way I could explain the results I’ve been getting is if the liver was transgenic.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jack asked.
“It means the liver contains DNA from two separate organisms,” Ted said.
“Hmmmm,” Jack said. “I’ll have to think about that one.”
COGO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Bertram looked at his watch. It was four o’clock in the afternoon. Raising his eyes to look out the window, he noticed that the sudden, violent tropical rainstorm which had totally darkened the sky only fifteen minutes earlier had already vanished. In its place was a steamy sunny African afternoon.
With sudden resolve Bertram reached for his phone and called up to the fertility center. The evening tech by the name of Shirley Cartwright answered.
“Have the two new breeding bonobo females got their hormone shots today?” Bertram asked.
“Not yet,” Shirley said.
“I thought the protocol called for them to get the shots at two p.m.,” Bertram said.
“That’s the usual schedule,” Shirley said hesitantly.
“Why the delay?” Bertram asked.
“Miss Becket hasn’t arrived yet,” Shirley explained reluctantly. The last thing she wanted to do was get her immediate boss in trouble, but she knew she couldn’t lie.
“When was she due?” Bertram asked.
“No particular time,” Shirley said. “She’d told the day staff she’d be busy all morning in her lab over at the hospital. I imagine she got tied up.”
“She didn’t leave instructions for the hormones to be given by someone else if she didn’t arrive by two?” Bertram asked.
“Apparently not,” Shirley said. “So I expect her at any minute.”
“If she doesn’t come in the next half hour, go ahead and give the scheduled doses,” Bertram said. “Will that be a problem?”
“No problem whatsoever, Doctor,” Shirley said.
Bertram disconnected and then dialed Melanie’s lab in the hospital complex. He was less familiar with the staff and didn’t know the person who answered. But the person knew Bertram and told him a disturbing story. Melanie hadn’t been in that day because she’d been tied up at the animal center.
Bertram hung up and nervously tapped the top of the phone with the nail of his index finger. Despite Siegfried’s assertions that he’d taken care of the potential problem with Kevin and his reputed girlfriends, Bertram was skeptical. Melanie was a conscientious worker. It certainly wasn’t like her to miss a scheduled injection.
Snapping up the phone again, Bertram tried calling Kevin, but there was no answer.
With his suspicions rising, Bertram got up from his desk and informed Martha, his secretary, that he’d be back in an hour. Outside, he climbed into his Cherokee and headed for town.
As he drove Bertram became increasingly certain that Kevin and the women had managed to go to the island, and it angered him. He berated himself for allowing Siegfried to lull him into a false sense of security. Bertram had a growing premonition that Kevin’s curiosity was going to cause major trouble.
At the point of transition from asphalt to cobblestones at the edge of town, Bertram had to brake abruptly. In his mounting vexation, he’d been unaware of his speed. The wet cobblestones from the recent downpour were as slick as ice, so Bertram’s car skidded several yards before coming to a complete stop.
Bertram parked in the hospital parking lot. He climbed to the third floor of the lab and pounded on Kevin’s door. There was no response. Bertram tried the door. It was locked.
Returning to his car, Bertram drove around the town square and parked behind the town hall. He nodded to the lazy group of soldiers lounging in broken rattan chairs in the shade of the arcade.
Taking the stairs by twos, Bertram presented himself to Aurielo and said he had to speak to Siegfried.
“He’s with the chief of security at the moment,” Aurielo said.
“Let him know I’m here,” Bertram said, as he began to pace the outer office. His irritation was mounting.
Five minutes later, Cameron McIvers emerged from the inner office. He said hello to Bertram, but Bertram ignored him in his haste to get in to see Siegfried.
“We’ve got a problem,” Bertram said. “Melanie Becket didn’t show up for a scheduled injection this afternoon, and Kevin Marshall is not in his lab.”
“I’m not surprised,” Siegfried said calmly. He sat back and stretched with his good arm. “They were both seen leaving early this morning with the nurse. The ménage-à-trois seems to be blossoming. They even had a dinner party late into the night at Kevin’s house, and then the women stayed over.
“Truly?” Bertram questioned. That the nerdy researcher could be involved in such a liaison seemed impossible.