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“How closely does Origins Laboratories work with Lumina International?”
“They’re an investor.”
“So you don’t work closely with them?”
“I never work with them. My old supervisor took a job with them in Geneva. The headquarters.” Her gaze drops to Sage’s hand over hers. “I was close to him.”
“Has he remained in contact with your project?”
“No.”
It could be my imagination, but Tristan appears relieved.
“And your supervisor’s name?” He reaches in his coat pocket for his phone.
“William Salo.”
He taps the name into his phone.
Knock. Knock.
Max raps his fist against the doorframe to get my attention. I wave him inside. “Tristan, this is Max Hawkins. He’s a colleague of mine.”
Max peers in Sloane’s direction. “How’s the sleeping beauty?”
“Grumpy,” I mumble low enough the women can’t hear.
“Well, I think I’ve had the most pressing questions answered,” Tristan says. “Nice to meet all of you. My department would appreciate inclusion on any reports or summaries.”
“Absolutely. We appreciate your help,” I tell him. “I’ll walk you out.”
At the elevator, I ask Tristan, “Based on what she said, what do you think?”
He shrugs into his sports jacket as we wait for the elevator. “I think our suspicions were correct. Someone believed Sloane Watson was compiling a whistleblowing report. If your write-up clarifies that wasn’t her intention, and you share it widely, or post it in a hackable location, whoever hired Solonov should call off the hounds.”
“Are you going to research further?” He raises a questioning eyebrow. “Isn’t the black-market organ trade of specific interest to Interpol?”
“It’s a prevalent societal problem, but not one with simple solutions. If you get your hands on the report she compiled, send it to me. The databases she accessed to pull the data might lead us somewhere. But, if I were you, I’d focus on ensuring interested parties don’t believe she possesses any damning material. It’s a billion-dollar trade.” His brow creases. “Her presence in Cambodia is an odd turn of events. The order to keep her alive is intriguing. If you gain more information, please do share. But if you’re asking about Interpol’s next steps?”
I stare him head on for an answer.
“She’s most likely correct about the compound. Intel has indicated migrant captives are sourced for organs. Interpol won’t engage without evidence of a crime crossing borders, and right now we have none. My best guess is if they are using those people for organs, they’ll use them for medical trials too. The cancer component.” He raises one eyebrow. “That’s what caught my attention. It would have to be preliminary testing, of course. Something off the record. Only useful if it paves a smooth path through for on-the-record clinical trials.” He scratches his nose. “I’ll continue looking into that angle. A scandal of that nature could bring down a pharmaceutical giant. Do you know much about pharmaceutical companies, Mr. Williams?”
“No.”
“Think money. Loads of it. Of course, this is supposition.”
“But why target Sage?”
“From what I’ve read of the case, the men who came after Sage wanted her alive, right?”
“Yes.”
“And those men were not Anton Solonov. But they were the kind of men Solonov would hire if he chose to outsource a project. My guess is someone, either Solonov or the party who hired Solonov, put out a hit with a higher reward if Sage was brought in alive. She’s a more useful tool for coercion if she’s alive. Yes? The thing about these contractors is that they don’t always do reliable work. They often get caught. Or killed. As was the case here.”
“If someone wanted Sloane unharmed, does that say to you that whoever is behind this knows her?” Why else insist she be unharmed?
“It’s conceivable someone cared for Sloane. Didn’t want her murdered.” He crosses his arms over his chest and his lips purse. “On the outset, this doesn’t appear to have been well planned. Reactive to a situation. I’ll investigate this William Salo fellow. Look for connections. Lumina is a sizeable multi-national conglomerate, but their main skillset is helping pharmaceutical companies bring products to market. They act as a third party guiding the clinical research. The coincidences make for an intriguing case. But, I’ll be honest with you, I’m not optimistic I’ll uncover anything. If my theory is correct, and this was all about preventing external scrutiny, possibly blocking that peer review she was gunning for, then they’ve had plenty of time to destroy evidence.”
