“I got some results for you, Jack,” Ted said. “But I’m afraid it’s not what you want to hear, so I thought I’d come down and tell you in person. I know you’ve been thinking you’ve got a liver transplant here, but the DQ alpha was a perfect match, suggesting it was the patient’s own liver.”

Jack threw up his hands. “I give up,” he said.

“Now there was still a chance it was a transplant,” Ted said. “There are twenty-one possible genotypes of the DQ alpha sequence, and the test fails to discriminate about seven percent of the time. But I went ahead and ran the ABO blood groups on chromosome nine, and it was a perfect match as well. Combining the two results, the chances are mighty slim it’s not the patient’s own liver.”

“I’m crushed,” Jack said. With his fingers intertwined, he let his hands fall onto the top of his head. “I even called a surgeon friend of mine and asked if there would be any other reason to find sutures in the vena cava, the hepatic artery, and the biliary system. He said no: that it had to be a transplant.”

“What can I say?” Ted commented. “Of course, for you I’d be happy to fudge the results.” He laughed, and Jack pretended to take a swipe at him with his hand.

Jack’s phone jangled insistently. Jack motioned for Ted to stay, while he picked up the receiver. “What?” he said rudely.

“I’m out of here,” Chet said. He waved to Jack and pushed past Ted.

Jack listened intently. Slowly, his expression changed from exasperation to interest. He nodded a few times as he glanced up at Ted. For Ted’s benefit he held up a finger and mouthed, “One minute.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jack said into the phone. “If UNOS suggests we try Europe, give it a try.” He glanced at his watch. “Of course it’s the middle of the night over there, but do what you can!”

Jack hung up the phone. “That was Bart Arnold,” he said. “I’ve had the entire forensics department searching for a missing recent liver transplant.”

“What’s UNOS?” Ted asked.

“United National Organ Sharing,” Jack said.

“Any luck?” Ted asked.

“Nope,” Jack said. “It’s baffling. Bart’s even checked with all the major centers doing liver transplants.”

“Maybe it wasn’t a transplant,” Ted said. “I’m telling you, the probability of my two tests matching by chance is very small indeed.”

“I’m convinced it was a transplant,” Jack said. “There’s no rhyme or reason to take out a person’s liver and then put it back.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Jack said.

“You seem committed to this case,” Ted commented.

Jack gave a short derisive laugh. “I’ve decided that I’m going to unravel this mystery come hell or high water,” he said. “If I can’t, I’ll lose respect for myself. There just aren’t that many liver transplants. I mean, if I can’t solve this one, I might as well hang it up.”