2156

by C M Dancha

  Raul finished sabotaging the evidence as Rollie fell into his office desk chair. After a minute or two, Rollie found enough energy to make a copy of the primate lab recordings for the last two days. This time frame overlapped with Callie starting to work on why Maxine killed the frog. He figured it was better to have too much video and audio data rather than too little.

  He got up to go home but only got halfway to the office entrance. He went back to his desk and brought up the primate lab recordings again. For the hell of it, he did a search back to 4 p.m. and started the recording. For the next twelve minutes, he watched Callie feed, play and talk to Maxine. Throughout this entire time, Maxine was in her enclosure. At 4:12 the recording went black and stayed that way.

  He agreed with Raul. Someone had manipulated the recordings and then killed Callie. There was a good chance the murderer let Maxine out of the enclosure to make her the primary suspect in Callie's murder.

  Rollie left Phoenvartis and headed home for some well-deserved sleep. As he walked the Zurich streets, he repeatedly thought about why and how Callie was killed. He had already eliminated Maxine as a suspect. He wasn't an animal psychologist, but the way Maxine looked as she sat next to Callie's body suggested a grief-stricken friend. Plus, the way she went berserk when tranquilized reminded him of a ferocious guard dog trying to protect its master. The murderer had to be a human, someone Callie knew and would have invited into the lab without trepidation.

  But why would anyone want to kill Callie? She was a terrific lady. Maybe a little headstrong but that was no reason to kill her. And, bringing to light a possible flaw in Maxine's personality was another ridiculous reason for murder. There had to be something about Callie's research which scared the bee-Jesus out of whoever was responsible for her death.

  Rollie planned to review the primate lab recordings after a good night's sleep. Hopefully, he could pick out what Callie had seen in Maxine's behavior to explain the killing of the frog. He wished he had asked Callie whether her discovery exonerated Maxine or pointed to a psychological problem. Without that one clue, his investigation was going to be twice as difficult. The odds were against him because he didn't know the real jungle Maxine. Plus, Callie probably hadn't put the subtitles on the recordings so Rollie would know what she and the ape were talking about. This was going to be an almost impossible task, but what choice did he have?

  His puppy greeted him at the door and then ran around the apartment until he was out of breath. Rollie fed him a couple pieces of the turkey sandwich he made for himself and then tried to play ball with him. He only had enough energy to throw the dog's favorite ball a couple times. The puppy could have retrieved the ball a couple hundred times but Rollie needed sleep more than play with his buddy.

  Rollie fell into bed and was asleep within five minutes. The puppy was wide awake but laid still, content to be with his master.

  A telepathic communication with Grandma LeeLee started immediately. She had been waiting for him to enter the psychic state where he was receptive to her messages. Her message was simple and to the point. “Don't clone the World Council host samples. Use the samples received in the antique maple box with the "H" chiseled into the cover.” This same message repeated itself over and over for the next eight hours of sleep. The only thing which changed was the way the message was presented. In one scene, the World Council host samples were destroyed by fire. In the next scene, they were thrown into a bottomless pit. They were destroyed thirty to forty unusual ways during the night. There was no question the samples were from a host Grandma LeeLee and her God considered evil.

  Using the host samples from LeeLee was also presented in several different ways. In one scene, a smiling Grandma LeeLee was sitting in her favorite rocking chair on the porch of her Macon home. In her lap was the maple box with the engraved "H." Grandma LeeLee slowly spoke the words, "Use This Now" over and over. In another scene, Rollie saw an army of angels flying through the heavens. The lead angel, who was carrying the maple box, is surrounded by dozens of angels triumphantly blowing horns of victory. The message of using LeeLee's box is very clear.

  "Rollie, Rollie, wake up darling."

  He could hear a woman's voice pleading with him, but he couldn't see her. How could he hear her voice when he was now underwater trying to swim to the surface? The more he struggled to reach air and safety the louder and more desperate her pleas became.

  "Rollie, wake up. You're having a bad dream."

  He broke the surface of the water and his eyes opened to find Gretchen and the puppy staring down at him. His skin and clothes were coated with a heavy layer of sweat; or was it water?

  "Oh, thank God. You scared the hell out of me. Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

  Slowly, reality took over. He recognized his apartment, his girlfriend and dog. He reached out and held Gretchen's hand to make sure she was real, and he wasn't dreaming any longer.

  "What did you say, Gretchen?"

  "I said, do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

  Rollie lifted himself onto his elbows so he could get a better look at her and everything in the room.

  "Yes, I guess I do. My grandmother wants me to do something for her."

  Gretchen was puzzled. She knew Rollie had a grandmother and the woman was eccentric but what was he talking about?

  "It's nothing, Gretchen. I guess I'm still in La-La Land."

  Gretchen wiped the sweat from his forehead and gave him a glass of ice water.

  After a couple of sips, he handed the glass back to her and said, "Callie was killed last night."

  Gretchen didn't know if he was serious or still dreaming. "Who is Callie?"

  "The woman Raul and I were with a couple nights ago at your tavern."

  "What? That nice looking, older woman? Are you sure you're awake? Did that..."

  "I'm awake, Gretchen. She was either killed by a replicant ape or someone murdered her and made it look like the ape was responsible. I'm guessing she was murdered, and it wasn't the ape."

  "My God, Rollie. Who told you this?"

  "Helmer and I found her dead in the lab."

  "Oh, I'm so sorry. I know you thought she was special. What, what are you going to..."

  "What time is it?"

  "It's about 9:30. What time do you have to be at work?"

  "I should have been there about two hours ago. Listen, I've got to get going. I'm sure the examiner and Raul will want to talk with me, plus I've got a lot of preparation work to do for tomorrow's test. Let's plan to have dinner tomorrow night. I'll fill you in on everything then. Okay?"

  Gretchen took Rollie's head in her hands and kissed him on the forehead. "Let me know when and where and I'll be there. And, be careful, okay?" Gretchen playfully squeezed and shook his head to make sure he understood how concerned she was for his safety.

  As she left the bedroom on her way out of the apartment, Rollie called, "Keep the Callie thing to yourself, okay?"

  He wasn't sure she had heard him until she exaggerated her walk and wiggled her butt.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Milkweed and Confessions

  As Rollie entered Phoenvartis, Raul was escorting a couple of men through the lobby to the front doors. Both men carried large satchels like the doctor bags in old black and white movies from the 20th century. To Rollie, their bags plus shabby, wrinkled clothes added up to government lackeys.

  Rollie waited at the security desk for Raul. When he finished with his guests, he spotted Rollie and came over to talk with his friend.

  "Glad you could make it today. Those guys were from the medical examiner's office. They wanted to talk to you but I'm not going to call them back. You can talk to them later."

  "Did they figure out who killed Callie?"

  "You're jumping way ahead, Rollie. This is the beginning of their investigation. What they know so far is that Callie was hit very hard in the temple. She had a huge black and blue contusion on the left side of her head. We didn't see i
t because it was hidden under her hair. Anyhow, they had the body removed and taken to the morgue, so they can do an autopsy. It will be several days before they reach any conclusions. In the meantime, one of Zurich's finest will be doing the investigation."

  "You mean a cop?"

  "No, this guy is an investigator attached to the medical examiner's office. There aren't many places that have police departments with detectives any longer."

  "Do you think he'll find out who killed her?"

  "I don't know, Rollie. I have no idea whether he's competent or not. The medical examiner speaks highly of their investigators, but that's his opinion. As a precaution, I'll be running my own investigation."

  "Good. That makes me feel better. By the way, where is Maxine's body?"

  "I think it's on the way to be cremated."

  "That's a mistake, Raul. At least her brain should be kept and examined for any anomalies, like a tumor. Can you stop the cremation?"

  "I'll try. But I can't guarantee it. Even if I can stop it, who is going to remove her brain? The medical examiner won't do it. Will you do it?"

  "I'll find someone, Raul. If need be, I'll do it. See if you can delay the cremation, okay?"

  The two men parted. Rollie headed to his office and Raul went to his. Trying to stop the cremation of Maxine's body was way down Raul's priority list. There was still a lot of work to be done in preparation for becoming a former Phoenvartis employee.

  As Rollie sat down to review his communications, an incoming call from Sophia flashed on his network board. The events of the last twelve hours had been so disturbing he didn't feel like talking with her but knew it had to be done. There was good reason to believe he might not get another chance.

  "Hello, Sophia. How do you feel?"

  "I'm much better, Rollie. Thanks for asking. Are you doing anything tonight?"

  "Not yet. I've got to prepare for a big day tomorrow, but I should be able to get the prep work done by the end of today. Are you asking me to dinner?"

  "Yes sir, I am. The lady in black will meet you at the Schwarzenbach Tavern at seven o'clock. Until then, my dear."

  The reference to the lady in black had been an ongoing, endearing code phrase between the two lovers. It marked the beginning of their relationship. It would also mark the end of their liaison if she wore it again to the Schwarzenbach. The selfish side of his personality hoped she would wear the black outfit because she was so damn sexy in it. But that might also mean she thought they were still an item. Either way, he needed to make sure that she understood they were done.

  It was now noon and he had six hours to get everything done before his dinner with Sophia. His priority was meeting with Claude and Helmer to make sure everything was ready for the human cloning. He also had to put Grandma LeeLee's host samples into the World Council thermal box and reseal it, so it appeared exactly as Klaus received it. What he should do with the World Council host samples was another dilemma. He needed to give this some deliberate thought and not make a rash decision. In the meantime, he would hide them in his office. Any extra time before dinner would be devoted to reviewing the primate lab recordings. This could take days, even a week or more. He was looking for a needle in the haystack. But it was so important to determine what flaws, if any, clones had in their personalities.

  "Ingrid, are you out there?"

  "Yez sir, master. Eyes out here."

  Rollie laughed at her portrayal of a long-past slave from old America. Every so often she came up with an unexpected antic funny enough to put a smile on his face.

  "Ingrid, you're watching too many of those old black and white movies; no pun intended. Would you get ahold of Claude and Helmer and ask them to be in my office at one o'clock for a pre-clone meeting?"

  "Will do. By the way, I forgot to tell you how sorry I was to hear about Callie."

  "Thanks, Ingrid."

  "Hang on a minute, Mr. Sweats."

  In the background, Rollie could hear a muffled conversation taking place. "Mr. Sweats, there is an investigator here to see you. Says he is from the medical examiner's office."

  "Okay, send him in and tell Claude and Helmer 1:30 instead of one o'clock."

  Into Rollie's office walked a young man with long blonde hair hanging down past his shoulders. It had been years since Rollie had seen a man with such long hair. Rather than wearing the typical food stained, wrinkled clothes of most government workers, this guy was dressed like a male model. His suit was precisely tailored with a beautiful white shirt and matching tie. The tie was another thing Rollie couldn't remember men wearing except in old movies. The investigator's height of about six and a half feet and broad shoulders reminded Rollie of a football tight end.

  "Mr. Sweats, my name is Jason Milkweed. I'm with the medical examiner's office and I'd like to ask you a few questions about the death of a... a Ms. Weeks."

  Rollie knew Jason was waiting for a wisecrack about his last name. With a name like Sweats, there was no way Rollie was going to attack this guy's last name. Without comparing any personal history, Rollie knew the two men shared years of ridicule, badgering, and torment from neighborhood kids attacking their odd last names.

  But the investigator's last name wasn't the most unique thing about this young man. Rollie couldn't get over this man's appearance. His baby face reminded Rollie of the faces painted on angels in old Russian and Greek Orthodox churches. It was unblemished, rosy-cheeked and more feminine than male. Rollie stared at the man with a boy's face as he shook his hand.

  "Mr. Sweats, can we get started? This shouldn't take long."

  "Uh, sure. Have a seat. Would you like something to drink or smoke?"

  "No thank you, sir. Do you mind if I record this interview? I talk with so many people it's hard to keep straight what each person has said."

  "No problem. I'd rather have it recorded than write a statement."

  "Good. Thank You. Mr. Sweats, can you tell me what happened yesterday between the hours of, let's say, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.?"

  For the next twenty minutes, Rollie walked Jason Milkweed through everything he could remember leading up to, during, and after Callie's death. During his entire statement, Milkweed didn't make one comment, ask one question or change the expression on his face.

  When Rollie finished, Milkweed asked, "Mr. Sweats, tell me again why there was an African ape in your building. I'm not sure I understand why you were cloning an ape as opposed to any other animal."

  Rollie spent another five minutes putting in layman's terms the similarity between primates and humans. He then explained Callie's ability to talk to monkeys and how invaluable it was in getting feedback from a clone. He tried to avoid mentioning how Maxine was a precursor to understanding possible psychological problems in human clones.

  "Interesting. Who determined if the ape's enclosure was secure enough to hold her?"

  "We built the enclosure to Callie's recommendations. Raul Hakala then approved the construction for safety and security." Rollie embellished his answer somewhat by claiming that Callie provided detail specifications for the enclosure. For some reason, he felt like Milkweed was pointing a finger of blame at him for an inferior way of housing the great ape.

  "A couple more questions, Mr. Sweats. First, tell me again why you went down to see Ms. Weeks in the lab and why Mr. Stanke went with you."

  "I ran into Helmer by coincidence and asked if he would like to see Maxine. He hadn't seen the ape since she was taken out of the cloning machine and wheeled down to the primate lab." Rollie paused for a moment trying to remember what else Milkweed had asked. "Sorry, what else did you ask me?"

  "I wanted to know why you went to the lab at that particular time."

  "Ah, yes. I went because Callie asked me to. She wanted to discuss some recent observations she made of Maxine's behavior."

  "What were those observations again?"

  "I don't know, Mr. Milkweed. She didn't tell me when I spoke to her before going to the lab and she was dead when I got there." Rol
lie was starting to get irritated with Milkweed. His questions and demeanor were structured to entrap Rollie in a lie or conflicting answers.

  "One last question, Mr. Sweats. You said earlier that Mr. Hakala stayed behind in the lab after you and Helmer left. How long did he stay in the lab?"

  "I'd say about three to four minutes."

  "Could it have been ten to fifteen minutes?"

  "Absolutely not. Five minutes at the max."

  "What was he doing in the lab?"

  "I thought you had one more question!" Milkweed didn't react to Rollie's sarcasm in any way. He just waited for Rollie to answer.

  "I have no idea what he was doing in the lab."

  "Didn't he tell you when he came out?"

  "Mr. Milkweed, I already answered your question. Listen, I have another meeting now with some coworkers who I can see standing in the hall. So if you have any more questions send them to me verbally or in writing and I'll respond when I can. Nice meeting you."

  Rollie stood up and walked around Milkweed to invite Claude and Helmer into his office. He had enough of Milkweed and hoped his rude behavior would be crystal clear to the investigator. Milkweed followed Rollie to the door to leave but not before he said, "Mr. Stanke, good to see you again."

  As soon as the ReLife team sat down, Claude asked, "Who was that?"

  "An investigator from the medical examiner's office."

  "What did he want?"

  "He's investigating Callie's murder."

  "Murder? I thought the ape killed her. Are you saying she was killed some other way?"

  "That's why he was here, Claude. His job is to answer that question. Helmer, I see you have already spent some time with Mr. Milkweed."