Mind Switch

by Lorne L. Bentley

  “Of course; he saw me put some men’s shoes and pants into a bag at the office. I had purchased them at the local Goodwill store during my lunch break and stored them temporarily in my desk drawer. I was switching them to a bag to take them home when he spotted me. I used them as a disguise when I eliminated poor Mr. Flynn. I knew that Don saw me transfer them, but when I read his mind it was obvious he didn’t know what they were all about. I kept my eyes on him, though, and he ultimately starting putting two and two together. When he called you, I overheard his call. He was an easy subject so I just had him erase the call from his cell phone, then I removed his memory of ever having called you. No reason to eliminate good old Don.

  “Lieutenant,” she continued, “I still don’t understand how you knew I was The Marvel?”

  “Well,” Fred said, “when I eliminated Ms. Black from the list of suspects, I asked myself who was the person that pointed me to her. If the fingerprints on your stove were not placed there by her, then who else would have had access to your apartment? I became convinced that neither The Marvel, nor a trained CIA operative, would have been so careless as to leave fingerprints in an area that could be found easily by the cops. So the fingerprints had to be planted, and it had to be you, trying to shift guilt to her. No other conclusion was possible! Additionally, as a CIA operative, she would have easily defeated your inexpensive door lock without having damaged your front door in the process. A simple credit card would have done the job.

  “The case, of course, would have been further cemented when I eventually would have found that you were a user of Chanel Number 5.”

  “I don’t understand, Lieutenant. I don’t use Chanel Number 5.”

  “But the scent of it was all over the rope you used to eliminate Mr. Flynn!”

  Donna laughed. “I purchased that rope from a female clerk at the local hardware store. It was her perfume that you must have identified. You never could have traced that rope to me.”

  “Regardless,” Fred said, “I was still able to link the murders to you.

  “And now,” he continued, “please tell me why you stole the company’s secrets and sold them to the Chinese? Was it for the money?”

  Her face flushed a bright red. “How could you say that? I am a good American! I would never commit a traitorous act such as that! I thought you knew me better than that.”

  Fred was bewildered at what he was witnessing. Here was a person as amoral as any that he had ever met in his entire life, as well as being a classic example of a sociopath; yet she was upset because she was accused of being un-American.

  “Lieutenant, if you don’t have any more questions, I think your time has come. It has been great fun but I skipped breakfast to come here, and I’m getting hungry. In my case, work always has come first. By the way, as I promised, I won’t harm Maureen.”

  On her last comment, Fred felt some comfort. “Well, please don’t tell her that I don’t drink coffee!”

  Donna laughed. “Five seconds to live and you still retain a sense of humor.”

  She walked up to Fred and placed the gun on the left side of his head. She said, “Goodbye. If there’s a next life, I truly hope it will be good for you.”

  Her finger grasped the trigger.

  Fred did not move. He had nowhere to go, escape was not possible! He remembered the ability he seemed to have at reading other people’s minds during his poker games. Maybe if he concentrated enough, he could somehow stop Donna from firing the gun.

  As her neurons started to send command signals to activate the tendons in her trigger finger, she stopped abruptly. A hint of perspiration formed on her brow. She grunted. Her finger would not move. “Damn gun!” she cried out.

  Fred smiled. “Damn, it’s working!” he yelled. But at that moment, another voice rang out.

  Chapter 76

  “I’m sorry, Donna, but your problem is not the gun. It’s me!” A coarse voice penetrated the stillness of the warehouse. Donna didn’t understand, she knew no one else was in the warehouse, she had seen to that when she entered the warehouse an hour ago.

  Out of the darkness at the far end of the warehouse strolled Marvin Atwell.

  “What … what are you doing here?” she cried out.

  “Lieutenant Harris called me yesterday. He told me about the situation he was in and asked for my help. I didn’t commit myself at the time but after thinking it over, I said to myself, why not?

  “I arrived at the warehouse about an hour before you did, Donna. In fact I have used my time constructively. I recorded your entire confession. Lieutenant Harris didn’t ask me to do that, but you have always been a bit of a bitch, Donna. I think it would be nice to see some other cute face manning the front desk for a change while you spend your remaining years in solitary confinement; or with any luck, six feet underground.”

  Donna turned her gun toward Atwell.

  “Sorry, Donna, my skills have been gradually refined over the past two decades, so I certainly won’t permit you to fire at me. Now why don’t you be a good girl for once in your life, and toss your gun on the floor?”

  It was not a question, it was a command; Donna’s arm involuntarily shot forward, her fingers simultaneously released the gun. Her head had not moved from its initial position of looking directly at Atwell. Her movements were awkward, like those of the newly created Frankenstein monster just understanding how to use his foreign new body.

  Donna’s face contorted. She continued to stare at Atwell.

  “Oh, that won’t work, Donna. You can’t enter my mind, but as you can see I can freely enter yours.” Suddenly both her arms flung up in a surrender position and then a moment later they violently moved downward, stopping only as they were involuntarily placed behind her back.

  “Cuff her, Lieutenant; she’s all yours!”

  Fred said, “Thanks, I really wasn’t quite sure you would show up when I phoned you. I knew you were the only person who could enter the warehouse without Donna knowing it; and you may well be the only person in the world with skills superior to Donna’s. You were my only and last hope.”

  “Yes,” said Atwell, “but you must now realize that Donna has to be eliminated. Or, as an alternative, we can incapacitate her so that she can never again use her powers. The third choice would be for me to stay with her 24 hours a day and keep her under my control. Frankly, I would rather miss a Tampa Bay Buccaneer playoff game or be forced to watch another Steven Seagal movie than spend another moment with her. So, bluntly speaking, the third alternative does not appeal to me.

  “I brought a strong sedative with me that will work on her temporarily. I also know a great surgeon who, let’s say, does not always work on the same side of the law as you do. The Science Division knows the exact spot in the brain where Donna’s unique capabilities are located. The operation to remove those capabilities is comparatively simple. So, Lieutenant, if you would agree to look the other way for once in your life, we can either let Donna remain as a very bad girl with extraordinary powers that will threaten you and your wife for the rest of your lives, or choose to remove her as a constant burden from society. It’s your choice, Fred”

  *

  Fred felt that he had really had no options.

  Less than eight hours later, Donna was recovering from her surgery. She would have no memory of those eight hours, and no clue as to where the freshly stitched wound on her head had come from. All she knew was that her powers had mysteriously disappeared; and no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to restore them. Her head was still throbbing when Fred brought her to the station.

  He invited the chief and the DA into the conference room to hear the tape recording. Atwell had selectively stopped the tape recording, so that the segment that dealt with Donna’s operation, and the portion that disclosed Mr. Atwell’s hidden contribution to the crime’s solution, was not and never would be available to prying investigative ears. Fred explained to the chief that he had wrestled the gun away from Donna; and in the ensu
ing struggle Fred’s tape recorder had been turned off.

  It was up to the DA to find a way to have Donna’s tape confession accepted into evidence during the jury trial. After all, her Miranda rights had never been given to her; and her confession had been recorded without her knowledge or consent. As an addition to the confession, the DA, could of course, use Fred’s testimony, since he was a material witness. However the DA chose to do it, it was going to be entirely his problem.

  As far as Donna’s jury trial, and her constitutional right to have twelve independent peers judge her, Fred knew that if Atwell showed up, with his superior powers none of them would function independently. Fred suspected that in such a scenario, without exception, every jury member would be somehow compelled to find Donna guilty. Afterwards, not one member of the jury would be able to explain why they voted the way they did. They would have all suffered from some strange short term amnesia. Reporters seeking a news story as to why the verdict went the way it did would have their questions unanswered. Fred felt a tinge of guilt when he envisioned what was about to happen to Donna; but at the same time he believed that maybe the ends really are worth massaging the means, at least sometimes. For once, Fred’s strong black and white moral and ethical code had started to turn slightly gray. However, Fred strongly doubted that Atwell would show. He had disappeared after his encounter with Donna at the warehouse.

  With respect to who the spy in the company was, Fred recalled that Donna had said something to him that might have fingered the guilty person. If Fred was correct, Donna would attempt to use that special knowledge to plea bargain; she might even get off scot-free if the feds felt her testimony would help catch and convict a national spy. Fred could not under any condition allow Donna to go free, even though her potential danger to society had been significantly degraded since her operation.

  He contacted Debra Black and asked to see her. When they met in a coffee, shop, he explained that she was no longer a suspect. He further told her the story of Donna’s involvement in the murders. He said, “Although I came to give you some good news, I am really here for you to do a favor for me. Consider it payback if you so desire.”

  She said, “That depends, what’s your request?”

  “You guys in the black world have been working on your own to try to determine the individual selling secrets to the Chinese. I also know your skinny compatriot would never agree to what I am going to ask you to do.”

  “Ask away!”

  “I believe I know who your spy is; at this point it’s a pure gut instinct but I need the opportunity to verify my suspicion. When I am ready to identify the spy, you will take over the case, and the Sarasota police will fade from the scene. I assume, once you have arrested this person you will have a federal prison ready?”

  “Of course, it’s an espionage crime which comes under federal statutes; local law officials should have no part in it.”

  “Ok, I would like you to come with me when I interview someone in the Science Division. Don’t worry; I won’t reveal your real CIA connection unless you agree to it. I will advise them that I’m there as part of the murder investigation I am conducting. I suspect everybody in the firm knows that by now anyway. If I’m successful, we should have our spy shortly.

  “Right now, however, I have to go home. I’ll call you, and we’ll meet tomorrow at my office in preparation for our visit to AU.”

  Miss Black nodded, not entirely sure what she had agreed to.

  *

  Fred raced home just in time to receive the late morning mail. Maureen was standing next to the front door as he entered. She was holding an unopened envelope. She said, “The writing on this envelope looks like yours.”

  Fred said, “It is, but this will be one of my secrets.” He went to the fireplace and struck a match, lighting the edge of the envelope. He waited in a kneeling position until all that remained of his suicide letter was grey crumbling ash remnants. Maureen watched silently with a questioning look on her face.

  Fred got up slowly after he was sure all evidence of his suicide note was gone. He turned around and walked toward Maureen. He said, “I’m taking rest of the day off; we have a lot of catching up to do. Tomorrow I have one more final piece of business, but tomorrow is tomorrow.”

  Both Maureen and Fred felt that a great weight had been lifted forever from their lives. Maureen for the first time in almost a month was safe from an unknown killer, and Fred had finally captured an elusive sociopath. With nothing to burden them, they made passionate, tireless love more than once during the night.

  Chapter 77

  The next morning Miss Black accompanied Fred to the Science Division. Mr. Dodd was all smiles as he greeted them at the door.

  Fred said, “Please tell your secretary that we don’t want to be disturbed.”

  Dodd’s smile faded. He said, “This sounds serious.”

  “It is; it’s very serious,” Fred said.

  After Dodd relayed Fred’s requirement to his secretary, Fred began. “Mr. Dodd, I know that your division has developed some type of coded program, basically an ESP chip that can be inserted into one’s brain to provide them with limited ESP capability.”

  Miss Black interrupted. “Lieutenant, you have no authority—”

  “—Please Miss Black, be quiet for a moment. We are not releasing any state secrets, I’m sure Mr. Dodd knows all about this, after all this is the area where the capability was developed.”

  Dodd said, “I can’t talk about that.”

  Fred said, “Yes you can, you must. Either you, or one of your people, released an unauthorized copy of it to the Chinese.” Fred was bluffing but he had to get Dodd to talk about the chip. If a threat was the only way, Fred thought, so be it.

  “But you’re talking about a top secret project,” said Dodd. “I have no authority to discuss it with you.”

  Miss Black interrupted as Fred had hoped she would. “Yes, you can talk about it.” She showed him her CIA badge. She turned toward Fred, “I hope you’re happy now that my true identity has been revealed.”

  Fred said, “The time has come to open this up; up to now your clandestine efforts haven’t borne fruit.” He directed his next statement to Dodd. “You now have authority to talk. How many of the chips did you make?”

  Dodd paused, still not sure if he should release classified information. Finally he said, “We made two of them.”

  “And where did they go?” Fred asked.

  “One went to the CIA as a deliverable product,” Dodd replied.

  “And the other …”

  “We had to make a duplicate in case there was a problem found in the original. We could then test it out in our lab to see where the problem was.”

  “That was not my question,” Fred said. “Again, I ask you; where is the other chip?”

  ‘“I shouldn’t tell you this.”

  Miss Black said, “Look, Dodd, you have no choice. Who received the second chip?”

  “Well, the contract didn’t authorize us to produce a duplicate, so I’m reluctant to say.”

  Miss Black said, “Come on, we know there was a second made, we are well beyond that stage! Now who has it?”

  Dodd said, “But I will be fired for this!”

  Exasperated, Fred said, “Better fired than spending the rest of your days in prison. Now who did you give the damn chip to?”

  “It was Mr. Schultz,” Dodd sighed.

  Fred said, “Thanks, I suspected as much. Now, Miss Black, I need to see Mr. Schultz alone. I promise I will provide you with all the information you need, as well as the guilty party, within a few hours.”

  Miss Black said, “Lieutenant, we now know the guilty party is Mr. Schultz; and we don’t have any time to waste.”

  “You promised that you would trust me on this,” Fred replied. “Believe me, I will have your guilty party by tonight.”

  Miss Black fell silent, but her silence communicated tacit concurrence.

  Chapter 78

&
nbsp; Fred went directly to the Schultz house without following his normal protocol of calling first.

  The maid opened the door and upon seeing Fred, she grimaced. “I’m not sure Mr. Schultz will see anyone right now, sir.”

  “I’m afraid you have no choice. Where is he?”

  “In the upstairs bedroom, sir, but … .”

  Fred ignored the admonition and bounded up the stairs to Schultz’ bedroom.

  Schultz was propped up in bed with two pillows behind him, reading a scientific journal. “Well, Fred, I hadn’t expected you. What’s going on?”

  “I’m afraid it’s not a pleasure call, George. I know you have an extra copy of the ESP chip developed by your Science Division. Where is it?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Fred. We were only authorized to produce one of those, and that single chip is in the hands of the CIA. Now, if one of my employees indicated something else, I need to—”

  At that moment Mrs. Schultz entered the room. “Lieutenant, what in the world are you doing here?! I told you Mr. Schultz was not to be disturbed anymore. If I have to contact your superiors, that is precisely what I will do.”

  Fred ignored her threat. “Mrs. Schultz, actually I’m glad you’re here. You saved me time to visit you next. I was asking Mr. Schultz what he did with the missing ESP chip. But you know where it is, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, now please leave.”

  “It’s too late, Mrs. Schultz, I know you provided it to the Chinese. I also suspect it was a type of gift to them; I’m sure you weren’t paid for it. Now we don’t want to involve your husband in this, do we?”

  Mr. Schultz said, “Fred, don’t blame my wife. The chip is in my safe.”

  “No, I think not,” Fred replied, “Right, Mrs. Schultz?”

  Mrs. Schultz responded with a meek, “No, it’s not there. I’m sorry, George.”

  Mr. Schultz had no idea what was going on.

  Fred directed his statement to Mrs. Schultz. “You hate war, don’t you, Mrs. Schultz? And you believe that the only way we can prevent it is by having parity in weapon systems across the globe. You believe that if any single nation holds a military advantage, it will use that advantage in a premeditated venture. By giving the chip to the Chinese, you felt it would help equalize the military playing field, didn’t you?”