by Malcolm Rose
Avoiding the imposing arch, he swooped down for a closer scan that would define the shape more accurately. He also bathed the subject in visible light and compared the features with his database. The subject definitely matched Holly Queenan.
Because Malc did not have an investigator’s direction, he did not consider stopping Holly Queenan and asking her some questions. He moved away and upwards, through a ring of bats using echolocation to pinpoint their prey, and continued his scan.
When he finished surveying the stadium, he dived down much nearer to the ground. He drifted over the cavity where he had earlier detected a fox and a Nile monitor at the request of his forensic investigator. This time, his scan did not reveal any living forms in the hole. He moved on towards the terminus again. As soon as he reached it, he turned and executed a third sweep.
After two hours and seven minutes, Malc was not cold, bored or disheartened. Concluding the process at the cab terminus, he logged his failure to provide any valid data. He was about to run logic programs to decide if there was a rational next step when a lone cab drew into the Hounslow loop.
Chapter Twenty-Five
In the early hours of Thursday morning, there was still no sign of Luke or a substitute investigator. Too fidgety to sit down or take off her coat, Jade stood in Luke’s apartment. She felt more anxious than tired. She hadn’t even managed to doze in the cab. Concern for Luke was keeping her awake and alert. “I know how his brain works,” she said to Malc. “If he thought someone was after him, he’d be pleased in a way. It’d mean he was closing in on whoever did it. So, who was the last person he interviewed?”
“When considering specific details of a case, I respond only to Luke Harding,” Malc replied.
Exasperated, Jade shook her head and looked around. “Where is he?”
“His current whereabouts are not known.”
“Right. So, talk to his assistant instead.”
“There is no such official position. The Authorities will not accept...”
“Think about it, Malc. Spoilsport released a computer virus – probably to knock you out – and then went for Luke. He’d only do that if he thought Luke was a threat. If you want to get Luke back as much as me, you don’t have to tell The Authorities what you’re up to. You just have to tell me who he spoke to last. Now would be a good time.”
Malc hesitated for a split-second before answering. “Ian Pritchard.”
“Who’s he?”
“A veterinary surgeon. He is not considered a suspect.”
“What did Luke say to him?”
Malc did not explain their conversation. He simply played back his recording of it.
Jade listened carefully and then said, “If this man’s not a suspect, why did Luke ask him if he used Telazol or whatever it was called? The tranquilliser.”
“It is the role of a forensic investigator to direct interviews. I am not required to justify individual questions. However, Luke Harding appears to be establishing that the presence of Telazol and a syringe barrel at Hounslow cab terminus had an innocent explanation.”
Jade shook her head. “Luke’s never managed to hide anything from me. I can read his voice. When he said, ‘So, you couldn’t do the operation,’ he was suspicious. I can hear it, clear as day. He was fishing for more information, wondering if this vet was telling the truth,” she said. “What you’ve got to do now is check if there ever was a sick hippo at the animal sanctuary.”
“It is highly unlikely that the keepers are available at this time.”
“Malc! Set their fire alarm off. Get them up. I don’t care. Search their computer or whatever you do. Just get an answer. Has Pritchard done an operation on their hippo?”
Jade paced up and down impatiently for six and half minutes.
Then Malc announced, “I have confirmed that Battersea Green Animal Sanctuary has not requested any veterinary procedures on a hippopotamus for at least one year.”
At once, Jade made for the door. “Come on! We’re going to this vet’s place.”
****
Dawn was still over three hours away. Malc’s metal coat was reflecting moonlight and his small red light flashed faintly. The animal clinic was quiet and dark. Jade didn’t have a clue what she was doing there but she thought that the answer lay with the vet who had lied to Luke. She turned to Malc and whispered, “Let’s try round the back.”
Creeping quietly, she made her way round the house to the rear but came to a halt at the corner and sniffed the air. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a small outbuilding with a screen of trees and smoke rising gently from its chimney.
“It is a pet crematorium.”
At once, Jade froze. Her spine was tingling horribly and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up.
“FI Harding was aware of this facility. During a game of darts, he asked the veterinary surgeon about disposal of animal remains.”
Jade could barely speak. “I think I know why. It’s a perfect cover for getting rid of...” She couldn’t finish the sentence. She gulped and stared at the grey smoke drifting towards black sky.
Insensitive to her distress, Malc said, “Cremation is a plausible way to remove almost all traces of a body.”
“Does that mean...? No! It can’t be Luke!”
Malc closed in on the brick building but the door was padlocked and there was no window. Instead, he glided across the garden.
“What are you doing?” Jade whispered urgently.
“I am scanning the earth for objects of significance.”
“Why?”
“Because I am programmed to search out evidence of a crime.”
Jade was horrified by Malc’s cold-blooded response. “We’re talking about Luke, not a crime!”
“My metal detector has located a buried watch, a pairing ring, and the hinges and metal clasps from a briefcase.”
“So what?”
In his flat tone, Malc answered, “These concealed artefacts match precisely the items carried by Libby Byrne when she disappeared.”
Jade opened her mouth to say something but she found it hard to speak. She would never get used to Malc delivering an emotional punch with such composure. She took a deep breath and swallowed. “Is there anything belonging to Luke?”
“Nothing detected.”
Jade looked around again and then crossed the lawn towards the back of the surgery where there was a door and a window. The grass deadened her footfalls but the last two steps were on paving stones so she tiptoed. Cupping her hands around her eyes, she peered through the glass but she could not distinguish anything inside.
The back door opened, making Jade jump. She cracked her head on the window and let out a pained, “Ow!” Before she could recover from the shock, Ian Pritchard had grabbed her. His right arm pressed heavily and uncomfortably into her throat. In his left hand, he held some sort of metal instrument.
“You know what this is, don’t you?” the vet said, waving the stubby rod that Jade had never seen before.
It was Malc who answered. “It is an electrical device used to stun animals before they are killed.”
“Yes. So, stay away or she gets it.”
“I am not programmed to protect Jade Vernon.”
For a moment, Pritchard was taken aback. “What? You’re not an FI, then!”
Jade struggled to say, “No.”
“Who are you?”
Jade knew better than to tell Spoilsport that she was the Games’ musician. He had a grudge against anyone connected with the sports project and, even now, Jade could hear the Principal of the Sheffield Music Collective saying that she should think of herself as part of the Hounslow regeneration scheme. “I’m Luke’s friend.”
Ian looked back at the Mobile Aid to Law and Crime. “Aren’t you programmed to protect an FI’s friends?”
“Not without a specific instruction. In any event, my defensive systems have not resumed normal operation after the virus attack.”
Jade c
ould hardly believe it. Why was Malc such an honest simpleton? He’d left no scope for bluffing. Now, Pritchard knew that Malc couldn’t zap him with a laser or anything. Freed from danger, the vet could do anything to her. No wonder she could feel him chuckling silently to himself.
“What have you done to Luke?” she blurted out.
“He’s a good darts player, isn’t he? Pity.”
“What have you done to him?”
Ian followed her gaze until he saw the chimney and then he laughed aloud. “You think that’s him, there. Reduced to a puff of smoke, is it? Well, maybe you’re right.”
“No, you’re just mocking me.” Jade was confident because she listened to people’s voices. She knew when they weren’t telling the truth.
Pritchard tightened his arm around her neck. “You’re right. He’s an FI. That makes him special. He deserves a memorial.”
“What do you mean?” Jade’s indignant shout came out as a strangled croak.
Ignoring her, the vet stared at Luke’s mobile. “If I know the rules, you can’t do anything without an FI. Certainly not arrest anyone.”
Uncharacteristically, Malc faltered before replying, “Correct.”
“This is going to be easier than I thought...”
Playing for time, Jade said, “Tell me. Why are you doing all these things?”
For a few seconds, the vet was silent. Jade guessed he was probably wondering if there was any harm in answering her question. “I heard what Harding’s machine said. It’s found Libby Byrne’s stuff. That means it’s got evidence against me.” He laughed quietly. “It won’t matter when I destroy it and get rid of you. Anyway, I’ll tell you because I’m proud of what I’ve done. Those idiot builders couldn’t be bothered to wait for me to get to William Underwood’s reptile house. They brought it down, crushing and killing the poor creatures.” He paused, plainly still affected by the massacre of the old man’s pets. “They did it to make an airport so I brought one of their planes down to show them how it felt. That satisfied me for a good while but then the old anger came back. It nagged at me that I missed getting the woman responsible, so I brought some of her buildings down as well and got her at last. An animal tranquilliser when she turned up for work and then cremation.” He shook his head and snorted. “But that’s not the end of it. The builders sprayed the place with herbicide and all sorts of other pesticides, even knowing it deformed frogs, so I did the same in their swimming pool.”
“What about Luke? What’s he done? Nothing!”
“He was an FI. He was on their side.”
Jade caught her breath when she heard the past tense. “Was?”
“He was on the verge of figuring it out. Very clever. I had to get rid of him.”
“What have you done to him?”
Ian laughed again.
That was it. Jade wasn’t prepared to take any more.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Without warning, Jade jabbed her elbow violently into the vet’s stomach.
Momentarily winded, Ian stepped back.
That was a mistake because it gave Jade the space she needed. She took aim, swung a leg, and kicked him as hard as she could.
Ian gasped, groaned and fell to the ground. He let go of the stun gun and curled up like a wounded animal.
Jade didn’t know exactly what she was doing but she made for the back door. Perhaps Luke was hidden somewhere inside.
Malc followed her indoors and turned on the lamp.
At once, Jade was overwhelmed by the smell of animals and surrounded by cages. Some small cages contained wounded birds, gerbils and hamsters. Bigger cages housed rabbits, an endangered cat and a sick chimpanzee. The largest cage held an ailing panther. Then there were several sealed tanks teeming with reptiles and amphibians. Each enclosure had its own perfect atmosphere, with humidity and temperature carefully controlled. So many snakes, lizards, frogs and toads couldn’t possibly be ill, Jade thought. They were more likely to be Pritchard’s pets than his patients.
Speaking over the whimpering and scratching sounds, Malc said, “I cannot encourage you to break the law but a shotgun is propped behind the door. You may use it for self-defence, if required.”
Jade got to it in time. She grabbed the rifle in both hands and readied it for firing just as the door opened and the vet staggered inside. Jade had used guns in sport at Birmingham School. Even so, she shook as she lifted the weapon and pointed it at Pritchard. She had never aimed one at a person before.
“Where is he?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Ian smiled. “I keep shotguns in case I have to put something down in a hurry to stop its suffering. Is that how you think of me, eh? Do you want to put me out of my misery?”
“What have you done to Luke?” she snapped.
“I don’t think you’ll fire. You don’t have what it takes to put anything down, do you?”
He was right and he could probably see it in her eyes.
“Killing saps you,” the vet said. “Believe me, I know. Rats, I don’t mind, but anything else... Today, I had to kill a wounded fox by the stadium.” He shook his head sadly. “Tragic. The builders’ fault. It fell down their hole.”
Jade wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but she recognized someone who no longer cared what he did to other human beings. He’d given her an idea, though.
“You’re right,” she said. “I couldn’t kill anyone, but...” She swung the shotgun round and aimed it at the largest tank, a writhing mass of snakes. “I’ll tell you what I could do. I could blast your precious reptiles.”
“No!” He stared first at Jade and then at the tank she was threatening to shatter.
“Where’s Luke? That’s what I want to know.”
Ian did not reply.
She shuddered as she asked, “Have you cremated him?”
The vet shook his head.
“What then?” Deliberately, she made sure that Pritchard could see her forefinger beginning to squeeze the trigger. Now, there was nothing to be read in her eyes apart from determination.
“All right!” he snarled. “Don’t hurt them. I’ll tell you.”
Not daring to relax, Jade said, “Go on, then.”
“He’s in the arena – where we played darts. I immobilized him with Telazol.”
“What’s that going to do to him?” Jade demanded to know.
Pritchard shrugged. He didn’t care. “Byrne didn’t come round. Just as well, when you think what happened after that.”
Jade scowled at him. “You’ve got other plans for Luke. What?” She poked the rifle towards the reptile enclosure.
“He might not survive. If he does – if he wakes up – he’s not going to last long. I doused the whole room with glycerol and nitric acid.”
Keeping her eyes on the vet and the rifle trained on the reptile tank, she said, “Malc?”
“What is your enquiry?”
“What’s he done to the room?”
“Mixing glycerol and nitric acid makes nitroglycerin. It is an unstable explosive that is sensitive to impact and friction.”
“What are you saying?” she yelled. “If Luke steps on it, it’ll go off?”
“Confirmed.”
“A little chemistry comes in handy, doesn’t it?” Ian said with a sneer.
Full of disgust for the vet, Jade snapped, “You’re a monster.” Then she took a deep breath. “Okay, Malc,” she said. “We’re going to rescue him. Somehow. But...” She nodded towards Pritchard. “What do we do with...?”
Ian smiled. “It’s a dilemma, isn’t it? You want to go to your FI and you want me locked up. But you can’t have both because it,” he said, pointing at Malc, “can’t do a thing without Harding. It can’t even arrest me.”
The mobile replied, “This house is surrounded by security guards.”
“What?” Pritchard spluttered. “But...”
Surprising them both, a female voice emerged from Malc. “This Mobile Aid to Law and Crime has been streamin
g video to me – the Deputy Head of Criminology – ever since it discovered artefacts belonging to the missing Libby Byrne. It has enabled me to take the place of a forensic investigator and I am satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to charge Ian Pritchard with the murder of Libby Byrne, the mass murder of the passengers on Flight GGW17, and the malicious wounding of Brooke Adams. Further charges, relating to property damage, electromagnetic disruption, FI Luke Harding and two deaths in Hounslow Stadium, are pending. I have authorized the arrest.”
The door burst open and, before Jade could react, Ian Pritchard was surrounded. It all happened so quickly. The vet was bundled away and a guard took the shotgun off her.
Jade was left with an empty feeling. There was a vacuum where Luke should have been.
****
In the cab, the same female voice said, “You have done well, Jade Vernon. The Authorities thank you. But it is now time for you to return to normal. A very experienced forensic investigator has been released from other duties. She is expected to arrive at eight thirty to take charge...”
“Eight thirty!” Jade exploded. Outside, there wasn’t yet a hint of dawn. Eight thirty seemed a long way off. “You heard what Pritchard said. Luke could wake up any moment and...”
“I understand your concern, Ms Vernon, but the task ahead is very dangerous. It requires qualities and specialist skills you don’t have.”
“But...”
“If the floor is coated with a substance that detonates on the impact of a shoe, how do you proceed?”
“I stay out and send Malc in.”
“If FI Harding is immobilized, how do you wake him?”
Still refusing to give in, Jade said, “He’ll respond to my voice.”
“And if he doesn’t?” asked the detached voice of The Authorities.
