so many face-lifts that her mouth was drawn into a taut, unremitting
smirk. Behind her was Dr. Waller Anderson.
Raymond’s and Waller’s eyes crossed for a fleeting moment as the doctor
guided his patient to the receptionist and gave instructions of when he
should see her next.
Raymond assessed the doctor. He was tall and had a refined look that
Raymond sensed he possessed as well. But Waller wasn’t tanned. In fact,
his complexion had a grayish cast, and he looked strained with sad eyes
and hollow cheeks. As far as Raymond was concerned, hard times were
written all over his face.
After warm goodbyes to his patient, Waller motioned Raymond to follow
him. He led down a long corridor that gave access to the examining
rooms. At the end he preceded Raymond into his private office, then
closed the door after them.
Waller introduced himself cordially but with obvious reserve. He took
Raymond’s hat and coat, which he carefully hung in a small closet.
‘Coffee?’ Waller asked.
‘By all means,’ Raymond said.
A few minutes later, both with coffee, and with Waller behind his desk
and Raymond sitting in a chair in front, Raymond began his pitch.
‘These are tough times to be practicing medicine,’ Raymond said.
Waller made a sound that was akin to a laugh, but it was bereft of
humor. Obviously he wasn’t amused.
‘We can offer you an opportunity to significantly augment your income as
well as provide a state-of-the-art service to select patients,’ Raymond
said. For the most part Raymond’s presentation was a practiced speech
that he’d perfected over the years.
‘Is there anything illegal about this?’ Waller interjected. His tone was
serious, almost irritable. ‘If there is, I’m not interested.’
‘Nothing illegal,’ Raymond assured him. ‘Just extremely confidential.
From our phone call, you said you would be willing to keep this
conversation just among you, me, and Dr. Daniel Levitz.’
‘As long as my silence is not felonious in and of itself,’ Waller said.
‘I will not be duped into being an accessory.’
‘No need to worry,’ Raymond said. He smiled. ‘But if you do decide to
join our group, you will be asked to sign an affidavit concerning
confidentiality. Only then will you be told the specific details.’
‘I don’t have any trouble with signing an affidavit,’ Waller said. ‘As
long as I’m not breaking any law.’
‘Well, then,’ Raymond said. He put his coffee cup on the edge of
Waller’s desk to free up his hands. He fervently believed that hand
gestures were important for impact. He started by telling about his
chance meeting seven years previously with Kevin Marshall who’d given a
poorly attended presentation at a national meeting that dealt with
homologous transposition of chromosome parts between cells.
‘Homologous transposition?’ Waller questioned. ‘What the devil is that?’
Having been through medical school prior to the revolution in molecular
biology, he was unfamiliar with the terms.
Raymond patiently explained and used for his example the short arms of
chromosome 6.
‘So this Kevin Marshall developed a way to take a piece of chromosome
from one cell and exchange it for the same piece in the same location of
another cell,’ Waller said.
‘Exactly,’ Raymond said. ‘And for me it was like an epiphany. I
immediately saw the clinical application. Suddenly it was potentially
possible to create an immunological double of an individual. As I’m sure
you are aware, the short arm of chromosome six contains the major
histocompatibility complex.’
‘Like an identical twin,’ Waller said with growing interest.
‘Even better than an identical twin,’ Raymond said. ‘The immunological
double is created in an appropriately sized animal species that can be
sacrificed on demand. Few people would be able to have an identical twin
sacrificed.’
‘Why wasn’t this published?’ Waller asked.
‘Dr. Marshall fully intended to publish,’ Raymond said. ‘But there were
some minor details he wanted to work out before he did so. It was his
department head that forced him to present at the meeting. Lucky for us!
‘After hearing the talk, I approached him and convinced him to go
private. It wasn’t easy, but what tipped the scales in our favor was
that I promised him the lab of his dreams with no interference from