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he found the exit hole and a large bloodstain, explaining the driver’s injuries. From the spent shells in the front footwell it looked like the driver had got in on the action as well, presumably firing through the small sliding partition in the bulkhead. Probably him that had shot the man on the gurney then, but forensics would tell him that when they got here. There didn’t seem to be any evidence of shots having been fired from outside the van.
    As he climbed out of the back he saw that a KHNV news truck had arrived and was setting up. The crew were busy taking statements from the onlookers but when the reporter saw him she called over. Lars waved her away. No sense getting his face on TV before he’d had a chance to think this through. After checking to see how Jed and Larry were doing he went back inside the hospital to see if there was any news on the survivor.
    When he got to the operating room he was met with a commotion. One of the nurses shouted at him as she ran past that the man who had been taken to surgery had reacted to the blood transfusion they had given him. No-one else was free to explain further so Lars went in search of the hospital administrator.
     
    He found Doug Whitley in his office, sitting behind an impressively cluttered desk. The administrator waved him to a seat opposite.
    ‘So Doug, what’s happening with this guy you’ve got in surgery?’
    Whitley had just heard the news himself. He had been a trauma surgeon at the hospital for ten years before he had assumed his current role. He knew there were only a few reasons why a patient might react to a transfusion in that way.
    ‘Well, Lars, it sounds like they’ve gone and given the guy the wrong type of blood. That’s unusual, though. Transfusing someone incorrectly can be fatal, so the lab’s pretty damned careful about typing blood before a transfusion’s given. I’ve never known Sue to make a mistake like that. Hold on there while I give her a call.’
    The administrator dialed the extension for the lab, pushing the speaker button to allow Lars to listen in. The phone was answered on the first ring.
    ‘Sue, Doug here. What’s going on with the John Doe we’ve got in surgery?’
    ‘He’s definitely rejecting, Doug. I’ve just completed a re-type but the results are the same – O Neg – and I’ve double-checked with the OR that that was what they gave him. I’ve already started a reverse grouping but checking his serum type will take some time. Listen, I have to go. I’ll call you back the moment I know more.’
    Without waiting for a response she put the phone down.
    Lars thought for a moment. There was something about this he just wasn’t getting. He forced his mind to run through what he knew, to see if the answer might lie somewhere in that information. The man had been strapped to a gurney in the back of the van. Whatever he’d been doing there, someone had expected that he would need medical treatment. Not for a gunshot wound, though. That hadn’t been part of the plan. But if they weren’t treating him for a gunshot what had they been doing with him that required all the medical equipment? And the drugs? He reached into his pocket for his notepad. Flipping to the page where he’d jotted down the names he asked the administrator whether there was anything there that might be relevant. The first few didn’t draw a response. When he got to the fourth name Whitley reached for the phone.
    ‘Sue, Doug here again. The sheriff found a bunch of drugs in the back of the van they pulled this guy out of. The only thing on the list I don’t recognize is something called H-Lectin. Know anything about it?’
    Lars was sure he heard the lab technician swear under her breath.
    ‘Yep, Doug it’s a reagent, one used to test for the H antigen.  Listen, I need to call the OR back right now. If they were carrying H-Lectin because of this guy it’s likely he has a rare blood type, which could explain why he’s reacting to the