The Third Twin Page 0,92

ethics of her work will not shake her resolve.

Jeannie had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. "My God, this is awful," she said.

The report then moved on to another topic, research on human embryos; and Jeannie had to turn to page nineteen before she found another reference to herself.

A new headache for college authorities has been created by the case of Dr. Jean Ferrami of the psychology department at Jones Falls. Although the university president, Dr. Maurice Obell, and leading psychologist Prof. Berrington Jones both agree her work is unethical, she refuses to stop - and there may be nothing they can do to compel her.

Jeannie read to the end, but the newspaper did not report her insistence that her work was ethically blameless. The focus was entirely on the drama of her defiance.

It was shocking and painful to be attacked this way. She felt hurt and outraged at the same time, the way she had when a thief had knocked her flying and snatched her billfold in a supermarket in Minneapolis years ago. Even though she knew the reporter was malicious and unscrupulous, she was ashamed, as if she had really done wrong. And she felt exposed, held up to the scorn of the nation.

"I may have trouble finding anyone who will let me scan a database now," she said despondently. "Do you want some coffee? I need something to cheer me up. Not many days start as badly as this."

"I'm sorry, Jeannie, but I'm in trouble too, for getting the Bureau involved."

As Jeannie started the coffee machine, she was struck by a thought. "This article is unfair, but if your boss spoke to you last night, it can't have been the newspaper that prompted his call."

"Maybe he knew the article was coming."

"I wonder who tipped him off?"

"He didn't say exactly, but he told me he had had a phone call from Capitol Hill."

Jeannie frowned. "It sounds as if this is political. Why the hell would a congressman or senator be interested enough in what I'm doing to tell the FBI not to work with me?"

"Maybe it was just a friendly warning from someone who knew about the article."

Jeannie shook her head. "The article doesn't mention the Bureau. Nobody else knows I'm working on FBI files. I didn't even tell Berrington."

"I'll try to find out who the call came from."

Jeannie looked in her freezer. "Have you had breakfast? I have cinnamon buns."

"No, thanks."

"I guess I'm not hungry either." She closed the refrigerator door. She felt despairing. Was there nothing she could do? "Ghita, I don't suppose you could run my scan without your boss's knowledge?"

She did not have much hope that Ghita would agree. But the answer surprised her. Ghita frowned and said: "Didn't you get my E-mail yesterday?"

"I left early. What did it say?"

"That I was going to run your scan last night."

"And did you?"

"Yes. That's why I've come to see you. I did it last night, before he called me."

Suddenly Jeannie was hopeful again. "What? And you have the results?"

"I sent them to you by E-mail."

Jeannie was thrilled. "But that's great! Did you look? Were there many twins?"

"Quite a lot, twenty or thirty pairs."

"That's great! That means the system works!"

"But I told my boss I hadn't run the scan. I was scared and I lied."

Jeannie frowned. "That's awkward. I mean, what if he finds out, at some time in the future?"

"Exactly. Jeannie, you have to destroy that list."

"What?"

"If he ever finds out about it, I'm finished."

"But I can't destroy it! Not if it proves me right!"

Ghita's face set in determined lines. "You have to."

"This is awful," Jeannie said miserably. "How can I destroy something that might save me?"

"I got into this by doing you a favor," Ghita said, wagging a finger. "You have to get me out of it!"

Jeannie did not see that it was entirely her fault. With a touch of acerbity she said: "I didn't tell you to lie to your boss."

That angered Ghita. "I was scared!"

"Wait a minute," Jeannie said. "Let's stay cool." She poured coffee into mugs and gave Ghita one. "Suppose you go into work today and tell your boss there was a misunderstanding. You gave instructions that the sweep should be canceled, but you later found it had already been carried out and the results E-mailed."

Ghita took her coffee but did not drink it. She seemed close to tears. "Can you imagine working for the FBI? I'm up against the most macho men in Middle America. They're looking