  Jaeger [Geom. Dedicata 44 (1992), 23-52] discovered a remarkable checkerboard
state model based on the Higman-Sims graph that yields a value of the Kauffman
polynomial, which is a quantum invariant of links. We present a simple argument
that the state model has the desired properties using the combinatorial $B_2$
spider [Comm. Math. Phys. 180 (1996), 109-151].
