Pia looked at the tubes in each tank and saw blood leaving and entering both bodies. These individuals were being kept alive and their blood was being processed and analyzed. She looked more closely at the woman, and on her forearm, she saw tattooed numbers, much like the ones she had seen on the Chinese runner. She kicked herself for not following up on that lead at the time. For a moment she tried to imagine what the numbers meant, but instead her mind kept returning to the blood. If it was subject to so much attention in this room, Pia reasoned she should look at it herself. She now had a sneaking suspicion about what was going on, but she needed to prove it.

While pretending to look at the clipboard, Pia studied the room and the other workers. She could see they were wearing more protective clothing than she: full-barrier protection with gowns and booties as well as masks and hoods. Pia made sure she stood with a tank between her and the techs so that they couldn’t see she was wearing street shoes and no gown over her scrubs. The lines carrying blood to and from the bodies pierced the huge containers and had ports, so Pia knew that if she found a syringe, she could draw a sample.

Halfway across the room Pia saw an equipment unit with all sorts of material, including beakers and other glassware, as well as tubing and, she presumed, syringes. But to reach them, she would have to walk toward the other workers. There was no chance they wouldn’t see she wasn’t properly attired and that she was out of place there. In short there was no chance, in her mind, that she wasn’t going to be found out no matter what she did.

•   •   •

AFTER PIA HAD left his house. Zach Berman had barely moved. He didn’t even untie himself immediately. He felt angry, humiliated, excited, unnerved, but mainly frustrated all at the same time. His anger came mostly from Pia’s leaving and from her brazen willfulness in taking those photos after he had specifically warned her not to. Yet he wasn’t truly worried that she had done it, after all, what could she possibly do with them? Pia seemed to think she had some ridiculous idea that having the photos would somehow work to her advantage. What was she going to do? Post a picture on a social media page? All it showed was him with his shirt off and a blindfold over his eyes. Big deal! It might be mildly embarrassing for a time, but most important it wouldn’t have any effect on the Chinese dignitaries he was dealing with. They all had mistresses, and they all played around. In that regard they were more like the French.