by Matt Rogers
Chapter 43
They arrived back at the office and were met at the door by Craft and Sons themselves.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you all right?”
Both detectives looked at each other because they really weren’t sure what they were. They had hung around the blood bank with Priscilla and Vincent to watch what was on every channel. The other networks would never learn how their broadcasts had been infiltrated and the news interview of Nat Hallowed by Channel Five aired in their place.
“Did he just say his name was Nat Hallowed?”
“Yes” Priscilla had answered.
“Our Nat Hallowed?”
“Yes.”
“Why is he all green and bug-eyed? Our Nat was black and tuxedoed.”
They would sit in stunned silence as the Alien explained himself and then left shortly afterward. They never questioned either Priscilla or Vincent because they secretly knew the answer. They inherently knew all the answers. Everyone associated with Nat Hallowed was somehow, someway not like the rest of Humanity.
“Did you know?” Craft asked.
“Know what?” Smith answered.
Craft gave him a look as though questioning the sanity of the detective for questioning the question.
“Did you know Nat was an Alien from Heaven?”
“Nope, I thought he was a rude butler with secret police powers and an art of hanging up on people.”
Craft wanted to ask more but thought better of it. The man had, after all, given him license to purchase a brand new yacht and could be given a little leeway in the after-case interrogation.
“Wesson?”
“Yes, Mr. Sons?”
“Will you walk with me for a bit?”
Wesson had never been asked to walk with Sons before so he wasn’t sure how to respond. He obviously responded in the affirmative after thinking about it because to do so in the negative would’ve been inconsiderate and rather stupid.
“All right, we did as you asked and sent our people to check out the arrivals at the three airports in question.”
Wesson had made an obvious leap to judgment when he viewed the previous man-servant revealing himself to be, in fact, an Alien and had done what he thought appropriate; keep tabs on anyone the Heaven’s felt were important. Since Nat wanted to know the whereabouts of Johnny Johnson then he was pretty sure the rest of Humanity would be interested also.
“What did you find out?”
“They never arrived.”
Wesson thought that would be the answer. He’d seen enough attempts to elude the authorities when the LeTorque purchased seven tickets on three different flights he surmised they had no intention whatsoever of using them. Why would they need tickets in the first place? They were wealthy enough to buy any plane they wished. Wesson added the deductions and weighed the probabilities until he was certain of the answer; if the LeTorque did not want to be found they were not going to be found.
Sons was watching Wesson digest the information until a sufficient time passed and he could no longer control himself.
“Where do you think they are?”
Wesson stood for a while in quiet contemplation and then told the man with new-found unlimited resources what he thought.
“I think they’re in Antarctica.”
Sons face must have registered stunness for the detective with the iron stomach continued.
“Look, I think what we came across was something entirely different than what it appeared. Think about it. As soon as we start the case the world goes crazy. As soon as we find Mr. Johnson the world is on the nuclear edge. As soon as we pass Mr. Johnson’s message to Nat Hallowed he decides to reveal himself as an Alien and sends everyone home. Why do you think he did that?”
“What? Send everyone home?”
“No, stop a nuclear war.”
Sons pondered the question but other than altruism he couldn’t come up with an answer.
“I don’t know?”
“I think you do. Why did the LeTorque buy tickets to countries in Latin America?”
Sons thought again and the answer hit him like a flash.
“Because they’re on their way to Antarctica.”
“Exactly, and why Antarctica?”
Sons thought again.
“Because it’s the one place in the world where you’re guaranteed to outlast a nuclear war?”
Wesson smiled because he was then positive he was right. Sons didn’t own half the best detective agency in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex because he couldn’t put two and two together.
“Yes, I think the LeTorque basically told Nat they were heading to Antarctica and he stepped in to stop a nuclear war.”
The hard part, the confusing part, the important part, was why?
“Are you saying you think he stopped a nuclear war because the LeTorque were leaving the blast zone?”
It sounded weird to Wesson when Sons put the question to him so he thought a little deeper on the subject. Why would Nat Hallowed, a man pretending to be the servant of LeTorque, go out of his way to try and find Mr. Johnson and then when he was located go further out of his way and reveal himself to be something else? He could only come up with one conclusion.
“I think the LeTorque and especially Mr. Johnson were somehow behind all the troubles. I think the LeTorque were trying to start the nuclear war. I think we were hired as some sort of diversion to keep Nat satisfied someone was on the lookout for Mr. Johnson.”
The look he got from Sons went through a couple of emotions in the time it took for the man to think it through. Amazement, doubt, anger, denial and then the last.
“Um, Wesson?”
“Yes?”
“You don’t plan on mentioning that to anyone, do you?”
“Nope.”
He wasn’t a fool. Unlimited funds were only unlimited if moral clauses remained undisturbed.
