Soul Identity

by batchelder, dennis

  Feret turned to Bob and saluted him with the glass. “I call upon our present and future souls to stop all who may oppose the new order. Let us drink to the futures of our newest centuriat and his beloved organization, and may all who drink be cleansed of their mistakes.”

  Everybody raised their glasses in the air. Just as Archie’s and Ann’s reached their lips, Val thumbed the remote.

  “You still filming?” she asked.

  “Of course. When will they—”

  Archie fell first, crumpling to the floor. Ann followed a second later. A gasp went up from the audience, and Elizabeth shrieked from the back.

  Val and I rushed up to the stage. I dialed Madame Flora’s number and shouted into it. “Send an ambulance to the Soul Identity front lawn—two people have collapsed!”

  Val pushed Brian out of the way and reached Ann’s body. She straightened Ann’s neck and put her fingers to her throat. “No pulse, and no breathing!” she yelled. “What about Mr. Morgan?”

  I knelt next to Archie. Bob was already there, his eyes wide in shock. “Is Mr. Morgan dead?” he asked.

  I checked Archie’s neck. “None here either,” I yelled back to Val. I looked at Bob. “It looks like it.”

  Bob grabbed his knees and crumpled his body into a ball. He started rocking back and forth, moaning.

  Elizabeth rushed up to Ann. “Mommy!” she cried. “Mommy, wake up!” She shook Ann’s shoulders.

  Brian and Feret stood at the stairs to the dais and kept the rest of the audience back.

  I dialed John the security guard’s cell number. “John, it’s Scott again. There’s been a terrible accident here in the tent. Two people have collapsed.”

  “Oh my God,” he said.

  “I called an ambulance,” I said. “Let it through the gates, okay?”

  “No problem,” he said. “It’s just coming up now.” I could hear the sirens through the phone.

  I hung up and checked my camera. It was still filming. I held it down low and pointed it at Brian and Feret, still blocking the stairs.

  Val walked over to James and helped him sit down. “What happened?” he shouted.

  Those closest to them quieted down and listened to her response.

  Val raised her hands in a helpless gesture. “They both just collapsed.” She looked at Feret with tears in her eyes. “What have you done?” she yelled.

  Feret put his chin up. “I have spoken the truth,” he said in a ringing voice. “Mr. Morgan and Ms. Blake have paid the ultimate price for their treachery. This signifies the start of the new order.”

  Sirens punctuated Feret’s speech, and an ambulance backed up to the side of the tent. Rose and Marie, almost unrecognizable in their wigs and orange uniforms, dragged a stretcher out of the back. They placed Ann on it and hauled her out. They came back with another stretcher and loaded Archie.

  “I want to come with you!” Elizabeth screamed.

  The twins looked at each other, and Marie pulled a hypodermic needle out of her pocket. She popped off the plastic top and jabbed it into Elizabeth’s arm.

  “Ouch!” Elizabeth rubbed her arm. She wore a dazed expression.

  “That was a sedative to calm you down,” Rose said. “I’m sorry, but there’s no room in the ambulance.”

  Elizabeth nodded, and the twins climbed into the back and slammed the doors. The ambulance roared off, sirens blaring.

  I held the camera at my waist and swung it back toward Feret and Brian. They wore little smiles as they walked over to Bob and Elizabeth.

  Feret turned to me. “We’ll take care of these two, Mr. Waverly. Take Ms. Nikolskaya and kindly get off my property.”

  I nodded. “Bob, give me your keys,” I said.

  Bob only moaned.

  I reached down and pulled the limo keys out of Bob’s pocket. Val and I walked out of the tent.

  I shut off the camera. “Let’s hope we have a good recording.”

  “Let’s hope Mr. Morgan and Ann are okay,” Val said.

  I nodded. “Let’s find them and get to Venice.” We got into the limo and drove out of the gate.

  thirty-two

  Dad pointed at a smoking crater. “That’s the volcano right there.” He leaned his forehead against the airplane window. “You can see why they canceled the flights in and out of Iceland.”

  My parents sat with Val and me around a small table.

  Rose and Marie came by. “How’s the flight?” Marie asked.

  Mom looked around. “Do rich people always fly in such style?”

  Rose giggled. “We wouldn’t know—it’s our first time too.”

  The twins moved on to talk with Berry, Madame Flora, Ann, and Archie at the table behind us.

  “You made me a WorldWideSouls member?” Dad asked Val.

  She nodded. “Level four. You have three predecessors in your illustrious soul line.”

  “Is that good?” Mom asked.

  “Apparently so,” I said. “WorldWideSouls invited only members at level three and above to Venice.”

  He nodded. “What are we going to do in the meeting?”

  “We need to trap Feret with your questions.” I said.

  “Why us?” Mom asked.

  “Because Feret won’t recognize you,” I said.

  She frowned. “What are we supposed to wear in Venice?”

  “George and Sue have arranged everything,” I said.

  “At least we’re rescued from the hot springs, and the same old conversations with the same old people,” Dad said. “How long will we be in Venice?”

  “Maybe five or six hours,” I said. “Then we fly home.”

  “Or we die.” Ann stood in the aisle. “You ought to try it, it’s quite exhilarating.”

  Archie came up next to her. “Now, Ann, just because we are considered dead does not mean you have to be so morbid.” His eyes twinkled. “Besides, we shall be returning to life soon.”

  “What was it like?” Mom asked.

  “The last thing I remember is putting that glass to my lips and thinking that Val had better press that darn button.” Ann rubbed her shoulder. “Next thing I knew we were flying to Iceland.”

  I grinned. “So you don’t remember all the confessions you made as you were waking up?”

  “I’ve got no confessions to make, darling. Go bark up some other tree.” Ann smiled. “But I would like to see the movie you took. Can you play it for us?”

  I nodded. “It’s on my notebook. Just a sec.”

  Val closed the shades. We clustered around the screen as the video began to play.

  I hit pause when Brian poured the champagne. “Watch his hand,” I said. “He’s about to drop the poison into the two middle glasses.”

  I advanced the video a frame at a time, and we watched two tiny white pills plop into the champagne.

  “That sneaky little bastard,” Archie said with a snarl.

  “He’s not done yet,” I said. We saw Brian climb onto the stage and pass out the drinks. “Watch him guide Feret.”

  Brian shook his head, and Feret shifted to take the left glass.

  The camera jerked around as James came down the aisle. “Here’s James almost spoiling the whole surprise,” I said.

  “My goodness, how old is he?” Dad asked.

  “A bit older than me,” Archie said. “James is a fixture at Soul Identity.”

  We saw James climb on stage and ask for a glass.

  “He doesn’t seem to like Brian very much, does he?” Mom asked.

  “They’re not the best of friends,” Val said. “You should have seen them in the elevator together.”

  We watched Feret give James his glass. I smiled. “Here’s where we see Archie’s genius.”

  Archie frowned. “Genius?”

  I paused the video. “You don’t remember?” I asked.

  Archie shook his head.

  “Must be the thiopental,” Madame Flora said. “It is an amnesiac, after all. Show us, Scott.”

&nbs
p; I hit play. Archie offered his poisoned glass to Feret and Feret refused it.

  Archie smiled. “That was brilliant of me.”

  We listened to Feret’s toast.

  “Boy, he’s arrogant,” Dad said. “This guy’s due for a fall.”

  “That’s the idea,” I said. “Have we seen enough?”

  “Not by a long shot. I want to watch my collapse,” Ann said. “How often do you get to see your own death?”

  “I was hoping to skip that part.” Archie said. “But then again, why not?”

  We watched Archie’s and Ann’s fake sips and their immediate collapse. “Notice how Feret is not surprised in the least,” I said.

  “Let me see that again,” Ann said.

  I rewound and replayed the collapse.

  “That’s why my shoulder hurts,” she said. “I banged it right there on the chair.”

  “Archie, watch what happens next,” I said.

  Archie peered at the screen. “Who is that bending over me?” he asked.

  “Feret,” I said. “He’s only there for a second.” I advanced the movie frame by frame, and we watched Feret slip the fake overseer ring off Archie’s finger.

  Archie looked down at his hand. “I did not even realize it was gone.”

  I resumed the video. We watched Elizabeth’s and Bob’s anguish.

  Archie turned to Ann. “Their shock and grief seem genuine.”

  Ann nodded, but she didn’t say anything.

  Then the twins made their entrance.

  “I like our wigs,” Rose said.

  “But we can lose the uniforms—they’re freaky looking,” Marie said.

  We saw Marie inject Elizabeth. Then Feret acting nasty with me and Val as the video ended.

  George and Sue stood waving outside of customs at Venice’s Marco Polo airport. I introduced them to Berry and my parents.

  “Is everything ready?” Archie asked.

  “Of course,” George said. “Now I need you all to climb aboard the water taxi—we’re going to the staging area.”

  “Staging area?” Val asked.

  Sue sighed. “George has been tagging everything with a nickname, and it’s driving me crazy. The staging area is the house we rented.”

  “Which just so happens to back up to the Soul Identity amphitheatre. Right behind the stage.” George beamed. “Get it? Our staging area.”

  “I can see how it could wear you down, Sue,” I said.

  George was undeterred. “Even better than that, our staging area has its own concealed entrance,” he said.

  Sue rolled her eyes. “He means it has a boat garage.”

  “Which we need, since two of our company are supposed to be on ice in the Sterling morgue,” George said.

  Ann shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”

  It was almost two in the afternoon, and the new order planning session was winding down. We had been eavesdropping for the last hour from George’s staging area.

  I cleared my throat. “Is everybody ready?”

  “We are,” Dad said. He and Mom wore semi-formal outfits.

  “Tell me what you’re going to do,” I said.

  He smiled. “We’re taking the water taxi out and walking back to Soul Identity so I can register.”

  “Then we’re going to walk around San Marco,” Mom said. “I want to see the Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, and the Clock Tower.”

  “We’ll join the meeting by three.” Dad looked at Val. “My eyes will scan?”

  She nodded. “But be there by three.”

  I turned to Archie and Ann. “Are you two ready for your resurrection?”

  They both nodded.

  I turned to Berry. “How’s the speech?”

  “As good as it’s going to get,” he said.

  “Val?” I asked.

  “I’ve been able to penetrate the audio video control for the amphitheatre,” she said. “We’ve been watching the proceedings, but we’ll be able to switch to our own feed whenever you’re ready.”

  “And I poked into the WorldWideSouls scheduling system and added a two thirty meeting in Feret’s office for Feret and Brian,” I said.

  “I would think that they see enough of each other,” Archie said.

  “We need them both around when Val and I shatter their world,” I said.

  “Maybe they will give up when you show them what we know.” Archie looked hopeful.

  I shrugged. “Stranger things could happen, I suppose. But I doubt it—they’re in this all the way.”

  He nodded. “Mr. Feret would say ad vitam aut culpam.”

  Dad smiled.

  Archie stood up and cleared his throat. “I wanted to say thank you to everybody for their dedication to our organization.” He put his hand on Berry’s shoulder. “And I want you to know that when we prevail, Soul Identity will change for the better. Mr. Berringer, Ms. Blake, and I have agreed that the reforms will start tonight.”

  As everybody left, I turned to Val. “Ready to see the bad guys?”

  She shuddered. “Are we going to be safe?”

  “Of course,” I said. “And if we’re not, George will be listening.”

  She nodded. “We still have half an hour.”

  “Then we’ll have time for a slight detour,” I said. “I want to see the Ponte delle Tette.”

  As we crossed the Grand Canal, Val asked, “So what’s so cool about the Ponte delle Tette?”

  I smiled. “I read a story about it on the Net this morning.”

  She held my arm as we walked. “Tell it to me.”

  “First of all, Ponte delle Tette translates to Bridge of Boobs.”

  “Boobs?”

  “It’s the closest match.”

  She shook her head. “Go on.”

  “It was the early fifteen hundreds, and the city senate was in an uproar about the growing number of homosexuals who had moved in.”

  She smiled. “Venice was a happening place back then.”

  “It seems so. The conservative senators wrote some tough laws against anybody caught engaging in homosexual behavior. Several citizens were hanged.”

  “Oh my.”

  “After a couple of years, the senate realized that they were losing the battle. They established a new committee to determine the causes of homosexuality and issue a report and recommendations on what could be done to eradicate it.”

  “They had committees back then?”

  I smiled. “Now get this—the report said homosexuality was increasing because Venice’s young men didn’t have enough opportunity to enjoy the city’s ladies. They needed more exposure.”

  We stopped walking, and I pointed. “That’s the Ponte delle Tette over there. It leads to Carampane, Venice’s sixteenth century red light district. The prostitutes lived in these buildings overlooking this canal. This bridge was the way in.”

  She turned to me. “Exactly what kind of exposure did the report recommend?”

  I smiled. “They asked the ladies of Carampane to appear topless in these windows and entice the young men to enjoy the fruits of good old heterosexual behavior. Five hundred years later, it’s still known as the Bridge of Boobs.”

  “So did the law work?”

  I shrugged. “The Web page didn’t say. I don’t even know if the story is true, but we had a good walk, saw some of Venice, and talked about boobs. What more could I ask for?”

  She led me to the middle of the bridge and gave me a long kiss.

  I pulled back after a couple of minutes. “Wait a minute, this isn’t the bridge of kisses.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “Come back here.” She grabbed my hands and placed them under her blouse. “Kiss me again.”

  thirty-three

  Brian glared at Val and me. “You’re not welcome here.” He tried to close Feret’s office door, but I kicked out and bounced it open.

  “I think you want to hear what we have to say.” I pushed him out of the way.

  Feret looked up from his des
k and sighed. “What are you two doing in Venice? We have so much to do, and no time to worry about your suspensions. You’re trespassing.”

  “Guilty as charged.” I stared at him. “Guilty like you.”

  He put down his pen. “Of what, might I ask?”

  “Murder,” I said.

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Brian said. “Mr. Morgan and Ms. Blake were our dear friends, and we are totally devastated by their passing.”

  “Save the theatrics, Brian,” I said. “Your boss here just told your new order planning team that Archie and Ann’s deaths were the direct result of their refusal to share the truths with Soul Identity members.”

  “Do you dispute my statement?” Feret asked.

  “Not at all,” I said. “You’re deadly accurate. I just want to understand what ‘direct result’ means.”

  He stared at me for a moment before answering. “Mr. Morgan and Ms. Blake paid the ultimate price for their refusal to support our new order.”

  “And who charged that price?” I asked.

  Feret shrugged. “They either died of shock when they realized they were wrong, or a higher power took their lives.”

  “Maybe it was two little white pills in their champagne glasses,” I said.

  Feret waved his hand as if brushing away a fly. “Mere conjecture on your part.”

  “Your video shows Brian correcting your choice of glasses,” Val said. “It looks premeditated.”

  Feret shrugged. “It is an interesting theory.”

  “Is it true?” I asked.

  He stared at me. “Does it really matter? As you told your friends at Ms. Blake’s house, I hold all the cards.”

  “You do,” I said. “But can you tell the real cards from the jokers?”

  He smiled. “All right, I’ll show you what I’ve got. I’m holding the executive overseer and depositary chief positions, a delivery man who can never be fired, an overseer ring, and several thousands of loyal and even fanatical members.”

  Brian smirked. “Sounds like a royal flush to me.”