The Soul of the Matter

by Bruce Buff

  Nancy gasped. Evans stopped to give her a glass of water and time to absorb the revelation that her husband had most likely been abducted. Dan wondered if any of the security cameras had picked him up outside the building, despite his own precautions.

  After Nancy sipped the water, she asked, “Have you identified the two men?”

  “We’re working on it. From here, Dr. Bishop was driven to the site where his body was found. Shortly thereafter, someone placed a call to 911 reporting a suspicious truck with propane tanks inside it at the same site. The call was meant to generate an emergency response to the scene as quickly as possible, perhaps with the intent to get Stephen out safely. Video shows the presence of other vehicles at the site as well. All except the panel truck left in a hurry right after the call went out over the police radios. An examination of the site indicates that Dr. Bishop ran from one location in the basement of the building to the spot where he was found. Footprints indicate that he had jumped several times at nearby windows. It looks like he was trying to escape when the scaffolding broke loose and parts of the damaged foundation fell on him.”

  Dan watched Nancy steel herself and take another sip of water while Evans waited. Little of this was new to Dan. He was waiting for Evans to say something that would be hard for Dan to explain—perhaps that a security camera had an image of him from somewhere he had been that night. Dan knew something was coming.

  Continuing, Evans said, “Constructing this timeline was straightforward, though it took time to examine the video and other records. But we’re still left with many questions. Lawson, what do you think they are?”

  “Aren’t they obvious?” Dan answered, recognizing that his answers would be assessed for signs of information he hadn’t shared as well as his earnestness to help.

  “Probably, but with your knowledge of Dr. Bishop, you might be able to shed better light on what transpired,” Evans replied matter-of-factly.

  “Well, then, who followed Stephen and why? Did Stephen know them? Did they abduct him, or did he go willingly? What took place in the building’s basement? Why did they leave without Stephen? Was he dead or dying before they left?” At the last words, Dan’s voice lowered, then he said, “And of course, who placed the call to 911, and why?”

  “That’s right. Let’s start with the last one. What can you tell me about that, Lawson?”

  “Nothing. Got anything on the other missing pieces?” Dan replied. Nancy looked at him.

  “Mrs. Bishop, what about you? Do you have any idea who might have placed the call? Records indicate you spoke with Dan Lawson around the same time.”

  “That’s not new information. I told the police in the very beginning that I had called Dan when I became worried about Stephen. I don’t know who placed the 911 call,” Nancy answered, her voice choked with tears.

  Dan walked over and put his arm around her. He looked at Evans and asked, “What more do you need from her?”

  “We’d like her to take a good look around and see if anything’s missing or there’s anything unusual.”

  Composing herself, Nancy said, “That’s fine. I can do that.”

  “Thank you,” Evans said, getting up and walking toward the door, a stack of papers in his hand. Looking back over his shoulder, he said, “Lawson, let’s give Mrs. Bishop her privacy as she looks through Dr. Bishop’s office.”

  Dan followed him into an adjoining room.

  Evans pulled several pages from the stack he was carrying, and handed them to Dan. They were pictures of a woman, stooped in pain, outside the burning fusion center. Pointing at an enlarged image of her head, Evans asked, “Do you recognize her?”

  “No. Who is she?”

  “Sousan Ghardi, an Iranian-born scientist. She was a director at the lab and, as far as we know, the only survivor of the blast.”

  “Why are you trying to connect Stephen to this?”

  “Too many coincidences and a worsening situation. The lab explosion is causing serious international problems. High-yield fusion took place in a reactor that wasn’t supposed to be capable of it. Fuel was used that shouldn’t have been. This was a civilian program gone rogue. We don’t know how they did it. Our adversaries think that the US pulled a fast one with a new weapons program and got caught. Tensions are dangerously high and getting worse. Spooks and goons are running rampant. Middle Eastern countries feel threatened by a new power program that could kill world oil dependency. All of this is off-the-record and not to be shared with anyone.”

  “I take it you think this Sousan Ghardi played a role in this?”

  “It’s one of our stronger hypotheses. It would help a whole lot if we could ask her about it.”

  Evans handed Dan another picture and said, “At a different location, we got a good shot of someone we think was near the scene at the time of Stephen Bishop’s death. You recognize him, don’t you?”

  It was a solid, hard-looking man, possibly with eastern European features. His face was fuzzy, though the image was sharp enough to show a prominent scar. Before Dan could look closer, Evans said solemnly, “We crossed paths with him early in your career. He’s known internationally as Sergei.”

  With a shocking flash of recognition, Dan involuntarily reached for the scar on his left arm, recalling the KGB agent, the pleasure he took in killing Pavel and Katya Sarasov. That night, Sergei had the coldest look Dan had ever seen.

  “Yeah, it’s the same guy,” Evans said. “You got anything we can use to nail him?”

  “No, but you can bet I’ll be looking. He’s another one who has got a lot to answer for,” Dan said sharply, still determined to keep Stephen’s work out of Evans’s reach.

  “Stay out of this unless you want to wind up like your friend. Sergei is not someone you mess with and survive, especially twice,” Evans warned.

  “Don’t forget, I bailed you out of a few jams, including that night,” Dan remarked.

  “It’s gratitude for that, and probably misplaced trust, that keeps me from letting others in my agency have their shot at you now. Make sure you don’t do anything that makes either of us regret that.”

  Briefly, Dan considered telling Evans what he knew, but Dan was sure Stephen had died trying to protect the secrecy of his work. Dan had an obligation to fulfill, and it began with finding Galileo.

  Before Dan could reply, Nancy walked in said, “Nothing seems amiss, Agent Evans. Stephen didn’t spend much time here after he took the HBC position.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Bishop. Lawson, I’m sure we’ll be touch.”

  That they would be, soon, and asking tougher questions, Dan thought.

  Chapter 47

  DAY 11

  EARLY MONDAY MORNING

  Dan arrived at the Bishops’ house as the sun was rising above the treetops, replacing the shortening shadows with its bright light.

  Inside the house, a curtain of darkness was descending. Dan heard Nancy’s deep sobs in the study. She looked up from the window seat and tried to speak as Dan entered the room. Her lips moved in only small, quivering contortions.

  Dr. Alighieri was there with her arm around Nancy’s sagging shoulders. For the first time, Dan looked at Trish without feeling dissociated, like there was something that had shifted reality around her. Instead, she looked like her substance had changed and she was no different from anyone else—just as ordinary, just as broken, as Nancy. There were tears at the corners of her eyes, and sadness had cast its pall on her as well.

  With slow movements, Trish walked over to Dan and whispered near his ear, “Ava’s cancer has returned. It shouldn’t have, but it did, appearing unnaturally fast in her bloodstream. She’s in the hospital now. We don’t know. We just don’t know.” He could tell that Ava was not merely another patient for her.

  His body went cold. He couldn’t hear anything. Color went out of his vision.

  After a moment, D
an gathered himself, sat down next to Nancy, and put both arms around her. She tilted her head against the left side of his chest, as though his heartbeat could compensate for the life she felt draining out of her world.

  In a few minutes, exhausted by the effects of her sobbing, she breathed regularly, sat up with stoic posture, and wiped the last tears away.

  Trish’s eyes alternated slowly between Nancy and Dan.

  After taking and holding a deep breath, Nancy said, “Dan, the last time Ava was sick, Stephen was working on getting a treatment that was a potential miracle cure, in case all else failed. We were lucky and didn’t need it then. We may now. Stephen and I need you to find it for our daughter’s sake. You were a good field agent once, and I’m sure you know people who can help. I don’t know how much more Ava can suffer, or what I’ll do if she doesn’t get better. Will you help us?”

  Again, Nancy spoke of Stephen in the present tense, as though he still existed. Whether or not that was true, Dan now had another obligation to fulfill, another answer to find. For a long time, his life hadn’t felt valuable or important. Even though that had only started to change, he was completely willing to sacrifice everything for Nancy and Ava. That purpose, that intent—even if it was solely temporal and transitory—filled him with more determination and energy than he had ever had before. He would not allow fear and despair to drag him down, nor keep him from what he needed to do.

  “Of course, I’ll start immediately,” Dan said, thinking of the organization that Stephen had mentioned was helping with foreign development of potential treatments.

  “Thank you.”

  “What do I need to do? Contact places that might have it?”

  “Trish has already done that. None of them know about it, including HBC. I don’t know how to say this, though I don’t think it will be a much of a surprise to you, but Stephen was involved with non-conventional researchers. He wouldn’t tell me more. One of them must know something about the treatment.”

  Without acknowledging what he knew, Dan asked, “Where should I look and how will I recognize it?”

  “I don’t know.” She sighed. “Perhaps something in Stephen’s journals will guide you. Talk to his associates. Maybe someone at the National Institutes of Health will know something. Keep in touch with HBC. They’re still looking. Or maybe you have other information sources that can be helpful,” Nancy said, referring to his intelligence sources. “And Trish will help, too. She was working with Stephen to set up trials to test the treatment once he got it. She may be able to recognize it. ”

  Dan thought of Stephen’s work and the information he was trying to decode. He wondered what Nancy knew about that. He was also mulling over what he had read in Stephen’s journals, the places he’d have to visit trying to find Galileo, the chances he would have to take, his past discomfort with Trish.

  Turning toward Trish, Dan said, “Thank you, but I work better alone. I have unconventional methods and need to be able to move fast. Besides, you’ll obviously have to stay at the hospital and take care of Ava. When I find it, I’ll get it to you right away.”

  As Trish started to reply, Nancy interrupted and said, “Dan, your chances of success are far greater with her than without. She knows Ava’s cancer, has research experience, and can evaluate medical information. You can’t do any of that. And she can supervise Ava’s treatment from anywhere, at any time.”

  Too true, Dan thought. For some reason, Dan had felt Galileo would provide him with whatever missing information Dan needed to access Stephen’s work and whatever could come from that, including a treatment. But he couldn’t count on passively waiting for someone who might or might not appear, whenever that might be. Or if, in the end, this Galileo would know anything about the treatment Ava needed.

  “What about your hospital responsibilities?” Dan said to Trish.

  “I’m on sabbatical for the summer. Years of nonstop, intense learning followed by a practice in pediatric oncology takes its toll.”

  “It will probably involve traveling and meeting with unusual people and organizations.” Thinking of Sergei, and others, Dan added, “And it may get intense at times.”

  “I climb rock walls,” Trish replied with a stone face.

  Nancy added, “Good. You’ll need those skills working with Dan.”

  The words sounded to Dan like echoes of Stephen.

  “One more thing,” Dan added. “I’m going to clear my friend’s name.”

  “I know you will. The best friendships, like yours, transcend death,” Nancy said as she stood up and gave Dan a hug.

  “Let’s continue this conversation later, after I’ve had time to think,” Dan said as he headed toward the basement. Nancy and Trish followed as he walked downstairs and into the theater room.

  Chapter 48

  Using the tools of his former trade, Dan completed an electronic sweep of the theater room. With what had transpired, it was reasonable to think one of the agencies and operatives that was investigating Stephen’s death might have placed a bug.

  Satisfied that everything was clean, Dan closed the door and sat down facing Nancy and Trish. Nancy was as composed as she could manage, though the edges of her body seemed to sag. Trish looked ready for action.

  Looking at Trish, Dan asked, “How will you be able to recognize the treatment Stephen spoke of, even if we’re lucky enough to find it?”

  “To prepare for potential medical trials, Stephen told me enough about its characteristics that I’ll be able to review and evaluate its possible effectiveness. Apparently, it’s only been tried a few times in confidential, unauthorized trials in other countries where US scientists don’t have access.”

  Dan replied, “Do you know where he expected to get the treatment from?”

  “No. He said he was pulling a lot of strings, and it might come back on the people helping him if they knew. I accepted that,” Trish answered.

  “As well you should have,” Nancy said, with enough hesitation and waver in her voice that Dan could tell she was trying to convince herself of this as well.

  Trish asked Dan, “Do you know anything about who outside of HBC Stephen was working with?” Her narrowed eyes took hold of Dan and briefly gave him the same probing feeling as when they had first met. He shrugged off the invasive sensation as he thought of what to say.

  He surprised himself with a more direct answer than he had intended. “Stephen told me that he had found information in DNA that could transform our knowledge of life. He didn’t say what it was and I haven’t seen it. He told me that someone outside of HBC may contact me about Stephen’s work. I have no idea who, when, or where.” Looking at Trish, he continued. “A little while ago, I thought that could have been you, but now I know that it isn’t.”

  He paused to gauge their reactions. Nancy had a knowing look, with an upturned eyebrow that hinted that she was aware that he knew more than he was telling. He couldn’t read Trish; her face was serious but betrayed nothing. Though he had said it wasn’t her, he wasn’t certain. He’d keep a close watch on her for any clues.

  Going on, Dan said, “I’ve been trying to find his other work files, without success. If there was something at HBC, no one has mentioned it, and I think we would know by now. The only other thing we have to go on is his journals—and Trish, don’t tell anyone I have them or they could be taken. I’ve read parts and found indications of Stephen’s progress at different points, though the journals don’t describe anything in detail. One thing that does stand out is that about fifteen months ago, Stephen visited a series of places that appear linked to whatever breakthrough he thought he had made. They’re all over the country, but one is right here in Boston. Unless anyone has better ideas, I plan to start by visiting the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s evolution exhibit later this morning.”

  Nancy’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand what that would have to do with
modern medical treatment.”

  “Nor do I,” said Trish.

  “Well, it’s nearby, we have to start somewhere, and it seemed to have had a big impact on him. Perhaps someone there hooked Stephen up with someone else,” Dan said. While Ava’s well-being was his top interest, he also wanted to find out what Stephen had decoded and how he had done it. Perhaps the places he’d visit would be helpful with that, and maybe Galileo would be at one of them.

  “What are the other places?” Trish asked.

  “One is the Salk Institute in San Diego. They are a worldwide leader in biological research, so that makes sense. A few places are obscure conference centers that Stephen just called. Others are the types of research centers you’d expect him to work with. Another is the Discovery Institute, headquarters of what’s referred to as the intelligent design movement. They are not a serious scientific center. I don’t know what Stephen could have wanted with them. But perhaps they referred Stephen to one of the nearby research centers.”

  Nancy said, “You plan on visiting all of them?”

  Dan said, “I’ll start with the ones that seem to have the strongest connections to what we are looking for or that seemed to have made a significant impact on Stephen. Going in person will be important for getting their attention and assessing their reactions.”

  Standing up, Dan said to Trish, “If you’re coming, let’s get started. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

  “I can grab my things in a few minutes,” Trish answered.

  “If I’m going to be successful, I’m going to have to try to get into Stephen’s head, find out what he was thinking. That will require understanding the impact of his religious views on his actions, and it won’t be easy for me. I’ll need all the help from you that I can get,” Dan said to Nancy.