“Ahhhh!” Lou said, becoming much more interested. He leaned forward on his desk. “I’m beginning to like this very much, especially considering the matrimonial association between the Spoletto and the Lucia people. This could be something important. It kind’a reminds me of getting Al Capone on tax evasion. I mean, it would be fantastic if we could get some of the Lucia people on body theft!”

“Of course, it also raises the specter of an organized crime connection to illicit liver transplantation,” Jack said. “This could be a frightening association.”

“Dangerous as well,” Lou said. “So I must insist on no more amateur sleuthing on your part. We take over from here. Do I have your word on that?”

“I’m happy to let you take over,” Laurie said. “But there is also the issue of a mole in the medical examiner’s office.”

“I think it’s best I deal with that, too,” Lou said. “With the involvement of organized crime, I’d expect some element of extortion or criminal coercion. But I’ll deal directly with Bingham. I shouldn’t have to warn you that these people are dangerous.”

“I learned that lesson all too well,” Laurie said.

“I’m too preoccupied with my end of the mystery to interfere,” Jack said. “What did you learn for me?”

“Plenty,” Lou said. He reached over to the corner of his desk and hefted a large book the size of a coffee-table art book. With a grunt, he handed it to Jack.

With a look of confusion, Jack cracked the book. “What the hell!” he commented. “What’s an atlas for?”

“Because you’re going to need it,” Lou said. “I can’t tell you how long it took me to scrounge one up here at police headquarters.”

“I don’t get it,” Jack said.

“My contact at the FAA was able to call someone who knew someone who works in a European organization that doles out landing and takeoff times all over Europe,” Lou explained. “They also get the flight plans and store them for over sixty days. Franconi’s G4 came to France from Equatorial Guinea.”

“Where?” Jack questioned as his eyebrows collided in an expression of total confusion. “I never even heard of Equatorial Guinea. Is it a country?”

“Check out page one hundred fifty-two!” Lou said.

“What’s this about a Franconi and a G4?” Laurie asked.

“A G4 is a private jet,” Lou explained. “I was able to find out for Jack that Franconi had been out of the country. We thought he’d been in France until I got this new information.”

Jack got to page 152 in the atlas. It was a map labeled “the Western Congo Basin,” covering a huge portion of western Africa.

“All right, give me a hint,” Jack said.

Lou pointed over Jack’s shoulder. “It’s this little tiny country between Cameroon and Gabon. The city that the plane flew out of is Bata, on the coast.” He pointed to the appropriate dot. The atlas depicted the country as mostly uninterrupted green.

Laurie got up from her chair and looked over Jack’s other shoulder. “I think I remember hearing about that country one time. I think that’s where the writer Frederick Forsyth went to write Dogs of War.”

Lou slapped the top of his head in utter amazement. “How do you remember stuff like that? I can’t remember where I had lunch last Tuesday.”

Laurie shrugged. “I read a lot of novels,” she said. “Writers interest me.”

“This doesn’t make any sense whatsoever,” Jack complained. “This is an undeveloped part of Africa. This country must be covered with nothing but jungle. In fact, this whole part of Africa is nothing but jungle. Franconi couldn’t have gotten a liver transplant there.”

“That was my reaction, too,” Lou said. “But the other information makes a little more sense. I tracked Alpha Aviation through its Nevada management corporation to its real owner. It’s GenSys Corp in Cambridge, Massachusetts.”

“I’ve heard of GenSys,” Laurie said. “It’s a biotech firm that’s big in vaccines and lymphokines. I remember because a girlfriend of mine who’s a broker in Chicago recommended the stock. She’s forever giving me tips, thinking I’ve got tons of money to invest.”

“A biotech company!” Jack mused. “Hmmm. That’s a new twist. It must be significant, although I don’t quite know how. Nor do I know what a biotech firm would be doing in Equatorial Guinea.”

“What’s the meaning of this indirect corporate trail in Nevada?” Laurie asked. “Is GenSys trying to hide the fact that they own an aircraft?”

“I doubt it,” Lou said. “I was able to learn the connection too easily. If GenSys was trying to conceal ownership, the lawyers in Nevada would have continued to be the directors and officers of record for Alpha Aviation. Instead, at the first board meeting the chief financial officer of GenSys assumed the duties of president and secretary.”

“Then why Nevada for an airplane owned by a Massachusetts-based company?” Laurie asked.

“I’m no lawyer,” Lou admitted. “But I’m sure it has something to do with taxes and limitation of liability. Massachusetts is a terrible state to get sued in. I imagine GenSys leases its plane out for the percentage of the time it doesn’t use it, and insurance for a Nevada-based company would be a lot less.”

“How well do you know this broker friend of yours?” Jack asked Laurie.

“Really well,” Laurie said. “We went to Wesleyan University together.”

“How about giving her a call and asking her if she knows of any connection between GenSys and Equatorial Guinea,” Jack said. “If she recommended the stock, she’d probably thoroughly researched the company.”

“Without a doubt,” Laurie said. “Jean Corwin was one of the most compulsive students I knew. She made us premeds seem casual by comparison.”

“Is it all right if Laurie uses your phone?” Jack asked Lou.

“No problem,” Lou said.

“You want me to call this minute?” Laurie asked with surprise.

“Catch her while she’s still at work,” Jack said. “Chances are if she has any file, it would be there.”

“You’re probably right,” Laurie admitted. She sat down at Lou’s desk and called Chicago information.

While Laurie was on the phone, Jack quizzed Lou in detail about how he was able to find out what he had. He was particularly interested and impressed with the way Lou had come up with Equatorial Guinea. Together, they looked more closely at the map, noticing the country’s proximity to the equator. They even noticed that its major city, presumably its capital, wasn’t on the mainland but rather on an island called Bioko.

“I just can’t imagine what it’s like in a place like that,” Lou said.

“I can,” Jack said. “It’s hot, buggy, rainy, and wet.”

“Sounds delightful,” Lou quipped.

“Not the place someone would choose to vacation,” Jack said. “On the other hand, it’s off the beaten track.”

Laurie hung up the phone and twisted around in Lou’s desk chair to face the others. “Jean was as organized as I expected,” she said. “She was able to put her finger on her GenSys material in a flash. Of course, she had to ask me how much of the stock I’d bought and was crushed when I admitted I hadn’t bought any. Apparently, the stock tripled and then split.”

“Is that good?” Lou asked facetiously.

“So good I might have missed my opportunity to retire,” Laurie said. “She said this is the second successful biotech company started by its CEO, Taylor Cabot.”

“Did she have anything to say about Equatorial Guinea?” Jack asked.

“For sure,” Laurie said. “She said that one of the main reasons the company has been doing so well is that it established a huge primate farm. Initially, the farm was to do in-house research for GenSys. Then someone hit on the idea of creating an opportunity for other biotech companies and pharmaceutical firms to out-source their primate research to GenSys. Apparently, the demand for this service has trampled even the most optimistic forecasts.”

“And this primate farm is in Equatorial Guinea?” Jack asked.