The Third Twin - Ken Follett [98]
She woke up with her fingernails digging into the palms of her hands and the insistent chime of her doorbell in her ears. It was six AM. She lay still for a moment, savoring the relief that washed over her from the realization that it was only a dream. Then she jumped out of bed and went to the entry phone. “Hello?”
“It’s Ghita, wake up and let me in.”
Ghita lived in Baltimore and worked at FBI headquarters in Washington. She must be on her way to the office for an early start, Jeannie thought. She pressed the button that opened the door.
Jeannie pulled on an oversize T-shirt that reached almost to her knees; it was decent enough for a girlfriend. Ghita came up the stairs, the picture of a fast-rising corporate executive in a navy linen suit, black hair cut in a bob, stud earrings, large lightweight glasses, New York Times under her arm. “What the hell is going on?” Ghita said without preamble.
Jeannie said: “I don’t know, I just woke up.” This was going to be bad news, she could tell.
“My boss called me at home late last night and told me to have nothing more to do with you.”
“No!” She needed the FBI results to show that her method worked, despite the puzzle of Steven and Dennis. “Damn! Did he say why?”
“Claimed your methods infringed people’s privacy.”
“Unusual for the FBI to worry about a little thing like that.”
“It seems the New York Times feels the same way.” Ghita showed Jeannie the newspaper. On the front page was an article headed
GENE RESEARCH ETHICS:
DOUBTS, FEARS AND A SQUABBLE
Jeannie was afraid the “squabble” was a reference to her own situation, and she was right.
Jean Ferrami is a determined young woman. Against the wishes of her scientific colleagues and the president of Jones Falls University in Baltimore, Md., she stubbornly insists on continuing to scan medical records, looking for twins.
“I’ve got a contract,” she says. “They can’t give me orders.” And doubts about the 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