Chromosome 6

Jack and Laurie went to the coffee urn. “He’s been in a weird mood for the last couple of days,” Jack whispered.

Laurie glanced back at Vi

“That was a strange reaction,” she agreed. “I noticed he was nervous around me yesterday.”

Jack and Laurie’s eyes met. They regarded each other for a moment.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Laurie asked.

“Maybe,” Jack said. “It kind of fits. He certainly has access.”

“I think we should say something to Lou,” Laurie said. “I’d hate it to be Vi

Conveniently for Laurie, her week-long rotation as the day chief was over, and Paul Plodgett’s was starting. Paul was already at the desk, going over the cases that had come in the previous night. Laurie and Jack told him they were pla

Laurie was more politically minded than Jack, and it was her opinion that they should approach Calvin about their vacation plans before they talked with Bingham. Jack bowed to her better judgment. Calvin’s response was to merely grunt that they could have given more notice.

As soon as Bingham arrived, Laurie and Jack went to his office. He regarded them curiously over the tops of his wire-rimmed glasses. He was clutching the morning mail, which he was in the process of going through.

“You want two weeks starting today?” he questioned with disbelief. “What’s the rush? Is this some sort of an emergency?”

“We’re pla

Bingham’s watery eyes went back and forth between Laurie and Jack. “You two aren’t pla

“Not that adventuresome,” Jack said.

Laurie sputtered with laughter. “We’re sorry not to have given more notice,” she said. “The reason for the haste is because last night both of us were threatened over the Franconi case.”

“Threatened?” Bingham questioned. “Does it have anything to do with that shiner you’ve got?”

“I’m afraid so,” Laurie said. She’d tried to cover the bruise with makeup but had only been partially successful.

“Who was behind these threats?” Bingham asked.

“One of the New York crime families,” Laurie said. “Lieutenant Louis Soldano offered to fill you in on it as well as talk to you about a possible mole for the crime family here in the medical examiner’s office. We think we have figured out how Franconi’s body was taken from here.”

“I’m listening,” Bingham said. He put the mail down and leaned back in his chair.

Laurie explained the story, emphasizing that the Spoletto Funeral Home had to have been given the accession number of the unidentified case.

“Did Detective Soldano think it wise for you two to leave town?” Bingham asked.

“Yes, he did,” Laurie said.

“Fine,” Bingham said. “Then you’re out of here. Am I supposed to call Soldano or is he calling me?”

“It was our understanding that he was going to call you,” Laurie said.

“Good,” Bingham said. Then he looked directly at Jack. “What about the liver issue?”

“That’s up in the air,” Jack said. “I’m still waiting on some more tests.”

Bingham nodded and commented: “This case is a goddamned pain in the ass. Just make sure I’m informed cf any breaking news while you’re away. I don’t want any surprises.” He looked down at his desk and picked up the mail. “You people have a good trip and send me a postcard.”

Laurie and Jack went out into the hall and smiled at each other.

“Well, it looks good,” Jack said. “Bingham was the major potential stumbling block.”

“I wonder if we should have told him we’re going to Africa because of the liver issue?” Laurie asked.

“I don’t think so,” Jack said. “He might have changed his mind about letting us go. As far as he’s concerned, he wishes this case would just disappear.”

Retiring to their separate offices, Laurie phoned the Equatoguinean Embassy about the visas, while Jack called the airlines. She quickly learned that Esteban had been right about the ease of getting a visa and that it could be done that morning. Jack found Air France happy to make all the arrangements, and he agreed to stop by their office that afternoon to pick up the tickets.

Laurie appeared in Jack’s office. She was beaming. “I’m begi

“Fine,” Jack said. “We leave tonight at seven-fifty.”

“I can’t believe this,” Laurie said. “I feel like a teenager going on my first trip.”

After making arrangements with the travel and immunization office at the Manhattan General Hospital, they called Warren. He agreed to get in touch with Natalie and meet them at the hospital.

The nurse practitioner gave each of them a battery of shots as well as prescriptions for antimalarial drugs. She also urged them to wait a full week before exposure. Jack explained that was impossible. The nurse’s response was to say that she was glad they were going and not she.

In the hall outside the travel office, Warren asked Jack what the woman meant.

“It takes up to a week for these shots to take effect,” Jack explained. “That is, except for the gamma globulin.”

“Are we taking a risk, then?” Warren asked.

“Life’s a risk,” Jack quipped. “Seriously, there’s some risk, but each day our immune systems will be better prepared. The main problem is the malaria, but I intend to take a hell of a lot of insect repellant.”

“So you’re not concerned?” Warren asked.

“Not enough to keep me home,” Jack said.

After leaving the hospital, they all went to a passport photo place and had snapshots taken. With those in hand, Laurie, Warren, and Natalie left to visit the Equatoguinean Embassy.

Jack caught a taxi and directed it to the University Hospital. Once there, he went directly up to Dr. Peter Malovar’s lab. As usual he found the aged pathologist bent over his microscope. Jack waited respectfully until the professor had finished studying his current slide.

“Ahhh, Dr. Stapleton,” Dr. Malovar said, catching sight of Jack. “I’m glad you came. Now, where is that slide of yours?”

Dr. Malovar’s lab was a dusty clutter of books, journals, and hundreds of slide trays. The wastebaskets were pere

With surprising speed, the professor located Jack’s slide on top of a veterinary pathology book. His nimble fingers picked it up and slipped it under the microscope’s objective.

“Dr. Osgood’s suggestion to have this reviewed by Dr. Hammersmith was crackerjack,” Dr. Malovar said as he focused. When he was satisfied, he sat back, picked up the book, and opened it to the page indicated by a clean microscope slide. He handed the book to Jack.

Jack looked at the page Dr. Malovar indicated. It was a photomicrograph of a section of liver. There was a granuloma similar to the one on Jack’s slide.

“It’s the same,” Dr. Malovar said. He motioned for Jack to compare by looking into the microscope.

Jack leaned forward and studied the slide. The images did seem identical.

“This is certainly one of the more interesting slides you have brought to me,” Dr. Malovar said. He pushed a lock of his wild, gray hair out of his eyes. “As you can read from the book, the offending organism is called hepatocystis.”

Jack straightened up from looking at his slide to glance back at the book. He’d never heard of hepatocystis.

“Is it rare?” Jack asked.

“In the New York City morgue I’d have to say yes,” Dr. Malovar said. “Extremely rare! You see it is only found in primates. And not only that, but it is only found in Old World primates, meaning primates found in Africa and Southeast Asia. It’s never been seen in the New World and never in humans.”