Morrison Knows B

Chapter 289: Morrison Knows B Dr. James Morrison's Hopkins office phone rang seven times before anyone picked up. Okafor had the call on speaker, one hand over the receiver as if he could physically hold the man in Baltimore. Margaret's office had gone silent except for Ethan's keyboard and Catherine's breathing through Leah's phone. The B-SEAT transfer sat in manual review, not stopped, not released, waiting like a knife above a string. "This is Morrison," a man's voice said at last. Okafor did not introduce himself gently. "Dr. Morrison, this is Special Agent Okafor with the FBI. Federal agents are on their way to your office. Do not leave the building." The line hissed. "I have patients," Morrison said. "You have fifteen altered birth records, seven offshore payments, and a Geneva contact attempt that happened after we identified you," Okafor said. "You can speak with us under a proffer today, or you can let Geneva decide how much you are worth alive." Leah heard the doctor's breath change. Margaret wrote one word on her legal pad and turned it toward the room: pressure. Morrison said, "I want counsel." "You should have counsel," Okafor said. "You should also know we are prepared to offer limited immunity for truthful testimony on Fourth Generation structure, funding, and hospital operations. That offer narrows if you run, delete records, warn another doctor, or let Geneva move first." Another silence. Ethan's screen showed the Hopkins hospital directory. Morrison's badge access had just opened the physician parking garage. "He's moving," Ethan said. Okafor's voice hardened. "Dr. Morrison, put your phone on speaker and stop walking." Morrison said, "I am not part of this anymore." The polished doctor voice cracked on anymore. Diana looked up from Martha's 2003 note. "That is not denial." Margaret said softly, "No. It is history." Okafor leaned closer to the phone. "Then start proving you are out. Are you Dr. X?" Morrison made a sound Leah could not classify, half laugh, half surrender. "That designation was not supposed to leave Geneva." Catherine whispered, "Oh God." Leah's hand tightened around the back of a chair. Fifteen children. Fifteen families. Fifteen names that had been turned into administrative errors by a man who now sounded tired of being afraid. "Answer the question," Okafor said. Morrison said, "Yes. Johns Hopkins. Fifteen records between 2008 and 2014. I was Dr. X." No one celebrated. The room absorbed the confession with the care of people handling glass with blood on it. Margaret slid a second note toward Okafor: Board names. Okafor said, "You attended Fourth Generation meetings." Morrison answered, "Annual meetings. Not all of them." Okafor said, "Real names, Doctor. Not designations." Morrison's voice dropped until Leah had to lean forward to hear him. "Teacher A was Dr. Eleanor Vance. Teacher B was Sarah Chen. Teacher C was Robert Sterling. Teacher D was Patricia Walsh." Diana's pen stopped. "Walsh." Margaret asked, "Washington?" Morrison answered as if she were on the call instead of Okafor. "Yes. Policy and child-welfare research. She trained government-placement students. She hated the Voss test but stayed after the vote." Leah felt the old rage rise, hot and useless, and forced it into listening. Okafor said, "Funders." "Funder A was James Hunt Sr. You know that. Funder B was Sir Edward Blackwood." Ethan shut his eyes once. The Ariston chart had just become a person. Diana said, "Blackwood voted no on the Voss test." "He voted no because it was crude," Morrison said. "Not because he wanted the system to stop. He funded government penetration later. He said institutions were cleaner than families." The sentence landed harder than a confession. Leah saw Catherine's fellowship file, the family photograph request, the courier envelope downstairs in another building. Cleaner than families. Okafor continued. "Funder C." "Li Wei. Pacific Holdings. Hong Kong. Hospital expansion after 2012. Stanford, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles. He liked medical systems because records could be made to agree with anything." Diana turned to the Stanford list without being asked. "Meridian," Ethan said. Okafor repeated it into the phone. "Who owns Meridian Trust?" Morrison hesitated too long. Okafor said, "Doctor, that hesitation is the difference between witness protection and obstruction." "I never met the Meridian owner," Morrison said. "Designation Funder D. Liechtenstein trustee shield. Chen knew the contact. Walsh may know. Blackwood definitely knows." Margaret asked, "Coordinator A and B?" Okafor relayed the question. "Pemberton and Hale," Morrison said. "You already flipped them. They were operational and legal logistics. I was Coordinator C after 2008 for hospital expansion." Margaret's face did not change, but Leah saw the victory: the structure had names now. Not enough to end it. Enough to make hiding harder. Ethan's laptop chimed. "Morrison's badge stopped at the parking garage. Agents are two minutes out." Okafor said, "Dr. Morrison, agents will meet you before you enter your car. Keep both hands visible. Say nothing except that you are invoking the proffer offer and requesting counsel." Morrison asked, "Will Geneva know?" "Geneva already knows," Leah said before she could stop herself. Morrison heard her. "Then you need Walsh before she burns her files." Margaret leaned forward. "Why?" "Because Walsh kept the government student ledgers," Morrison said. "Teacher D objected to the family experiments, but she built the placement system better than anyone. If Chen is accelerating February placements, Walsh's list tells you which agencies, which fellowships, which children." The room moved all at once. Diana reached for the Washington file. Ethan opened a new trace. Okafor spoke to the Baltimore field team, then to the duty judge, building warrants out of Morrison's words before the words cooled. Leah stayed still because Catherine had gone quiet. "Catherine?" Leah asked. "The family envelope," Catherine said. "The doorman says it has a return label." Margaret's eyes sharpened. "Do not read it aloud in the lobby." "I am not in the lobby. Protective detail brought it up in an evidence bag. The label says Meridian Education Services." Ethan looked at the B-SEAT transfer, then at the Morrison call still open. Morrison whispered, "That is Funder D's courier arm." Okafor swore under his breath. "We need Walsh now." On Ethan's screen, an alert appeared from the Stanford payment search Diana had started. Four names. Four payment clusters. One name highlighted by a fresh offshore transfer dated that morning: Dr. Susan Chen. Diana went pale. "Not Sarah. Stanford Chen." Leah looked at the still-open phone, the evidence bag on Catherine's line, and the new doctor name glowing on Ethan's screen. Morrison had given them the Board. The system had answered by opening another hospital door.