Lexington Park, Maryland, Wednesday…

Jay thought a moment.

"The money goes out from Dalton to Richter. Does the money originate in Dalton? Or does it come from another source?"

"There's no way I can get that info. You're thinking someone was using Dalton just to hide the money transfer? Like a terrorist organization?"

"Or something. Let me call Kalidas."

She took out her list of random numbers. Calling from Dolores' house would not make it as secure on one end but at least she was halfway protected.

Kalidas picked up immediately. Jay passed on what they discovered.

"Tell Bouncer he's a doll," said Kalidas. "I know someone in finance at Dalton. They may be able to find out if someone was passing money through the company to Richter. Give me a few minutes."

It took half an hour. When she rang back, Kalidas' expression was clearly one of excitement.

"US Treasury Department checks, and I don't think they were tax refunds," she said. "The government was using Dalton to pass money directly to Richter, over and beyond what he was getting from his scientific funding. Now, why do you suppose they were doing that?"

"Because he was working on something he shouldn't work on?" suggested Bouncer.

"Or possibly he was blackmailing some government agency as a price for keeping quiet?" suggested Jay.

"Well, I think they were cloning human beings," said Kalidas. "I still don't understand why. And I don't understand why the DHS is persecuting me. I'll have to admit that my research was at least twenty years behind Richter's. That doesn't make me feel good, though that's the way it is. I came in the back door, so to speak, by attacking the transplant rejection problem."