While Justice Sleeps(101)
She laid the bank records down, moving to a sheet emblazoned with the Federal Reserve’s emblem. The report indicated that the transfers came from a federal account. The next page, as official-looking, traced the origins to the Department of Homeland Security. The Science and Technology Directorate.
Proof, she realized, that the U.S. government had made hundreds of millions in payments to Hygeia, Ltd. She shuffled back to the memo. The payments from the directorate had never been duly authorized, and they’d ceased abruptly. Soon thereafter, so did financial statements for Hygeia.
Chromosomal research conducted in secret and disavowed by TigrisLost.
The weaponization of genetic research to target lineage.
Hundreds of millions in funding from the U.S. Treasury to Hygeia—without authorization.
Major Will Vance, biochemist assigned to CBIRF.
Afghanistan. India. The world’s largest Muslim populations within easy reach.
A missing scientist. A missing budget analyst. A dead nurse. An attempted murder.
A Supreme Court justice desperate to save his only son.
The scientists at Hygeia had used American dollars to engage in research that violated every national or international treaty she could imagine, let alone the basic tenets of morality.
The glaring question was simple. Did the president of the United States know what had been done under his watch?
Avery cleared the web browser cache and powered off the computer. She returned to the conference room and summoned Noah to join them. “I got the download from Mr. Money. This is what he sent me.”
She dropped the papers on the conference table. Jared read first, then passed pages to Ling as he finished, and she passed them over to Noah. Unable to sit, Avery prowled the room, the quiet punctuated by the inevitable gasps and sharp inhalations that traditionally marked discoveries.
“I know what we imagined, but this is proof,” Ling exclaimed. “This is Josef Mengele territory.”
“The funding ended before the merger,” Jared pointed out, looking up from a balance sheet. “When Ani Ramji started leaking information about the program.”
Avery had already come to the same conclusion. “According to the timeline I’ve charted,” she said as she opened a notebook onto the table, “Hygeia started to draw attention from the Indian government. When the CEO of Hygeia realized they were on his trail, he turned to Advar for rescue. Moved the research under their umbrella. Homeland Security had to abort the project and cut off funds.”
“Then Advar attempts to merge with GenWorks. If the merger succeeds, the president’s archenemy, Nigel Cooper, will have access to data proving his administration sanctioned research into biogenetic genocide.”
“More than research,” Ling corrected with alarm in her voice. “According to Papaleo’s memo, Hygeia did more than theorize. They perfected the technology—a biogenetic virus that can kill anyone with the wrong chromosomal mutation.”
Noah asked the question first: “Do we think President Stokes was complicit, or did Major Vance act alone?”
“The person who can tell us is Ani. He’s the one who blew the whistle and tipped off Justice Wynn,” Avery said. She thought of the video of Wynn’s commencement speech, which she had rewatched the night before in her apartment. “If the justice’s speech at the commencement is to be believed, he clearly thought President Stokes was a part of the conspiracy.”
“Which Ani can confirm, if you can figure out where he is.”
Avery had been replaying Ani’s riddle in her mind, but to no avail. Where the other scion of justice is known but not seen. Where the world meets. Over and over, Justice Wynn and Ani had met online in a virtual world of battle, signaling to each other using the phrase “in the square.” Like the constellations in Jared’s room at the cabin, the clue had to be more obvious than she realized. Justice Wynn believed she would figure it out.
Ling asked, “Is there any place that is like a chess game? An amusement park or something.”
Jared shook his head. “I thought about Bangkok, where they set that musical. We could try it, but I don’t know where we’d start. Besides, I can’t imagine the judge being a fan of theater.”
“No, he would make sure I could connect the dots. A place where we could meet with Ani, and one that we could get to quickly. I doubt he’d send us to Thailand, or India, for that matter. It has to be more domestic. A square that we’d be able to find.” Then, like a final move, she understood. “A nation of favor and folly. Where justice is known but rarely seen,” she murmured.
“What?”
“Something he said to me the day he had me sign something in his office.” Another mystery she hadn’t solved yet. Turning her thoughts back, she explained, “He said that America was a nation of favor and folly. Where justice is known but rarely seen. What if he was being literal?”
Looking around for confirmation of their mutual confusion, Ling asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Folly. A nation of folly. Seward Square,” Avery explained, growing more excited. “Let me borrow your laptop, Jared.” Bemused, he slid the computer to her, and all three watched as she typed. Pages sprang up, and she quickly scanned the contents. She exhaled and leaned back in her chair. “I knew it.”