“Let’s hope this was the right thing to do,” Tony said. He, Nancy, Christina and Sarah were sitting in Tony and Nancy’s room when the unknown man had called. “We really know nothing about him,” Tony continued, “the news that we know his location, albeit only his momentary location, could make him blow a fuse and do something stupid or, as you anticipate, make him think and appreciate your honesty.
“There are no guarantees in life,” Christina replied. “I have to get a better feel for him. Whatever he decides now, it will tell us something about him.”
Five minutes later Sarah’s cell phone rang and the officer from the Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence told her that Mike’s cell phone had been switched off and couldn’t be traced at present. The officer also confirmed that a trace barrier has been placed on the four cell phone numbers Sarah had provided him with twenty four hours earlier. When exactly, Sarah asked, had the barrier been activated? Twenty two hours ago, she was told.
Sarah thanked the officer and told Tony, Nancy and Christina, “Even if he has the same connections that we have, he can’t trace the locations of our phones. Besides, the officer I’ve just spoken to has now included a trace watch in his mobile phone surveillance system for Mike, his mother, Vanessa and Steve’s numbers. As soon as one of their cell phones is used, I will be advised.”
“Does any of us have any suggestion who the man you were talking to could be?” Nancy asked. She looked at Christina, Tony and Sarah and saw three people shaking their heads.
“Okay, what do we know about him?” Nancy continued. “ – Or maybe I should rephrase that question: what can we assume we know about him?”
“Assuming,” Christina started, “that he is the boss of the organization we are dealing with, we can then further assume that he is responsible for the death of four people: the publisher and the three painters. He is after a recipe for eternal life. That recipe is written on four antique sheets and we can assume that he is in the possession of these sheets; actually, he is possibly in possession of both the original sheets, which he took from the four painters, and the copies, which he may have found in the publisher’s apartment before he blew it up. But nevertheless he seems to think that it is possible that there is a fifth sheet, or a fifth piece of information, that he needs for the completion of the recipe. This could mean that the four sheets which he has don’t make sense to him. Why could that be?”
Tony continued, “The fourth painter, Jean, said that the sentences on the sheets were in a language he didn’t understand. This could mean they were in Latin or any other ancient language, but it could also mean they were written in a code and the man believes that Christina might have the key for the code. This could be the reason why he fell for her bluff so easily.”
“Good point,” Christina agreed. “We also know that he has five hostages: Mike’s mother, Mike, Vanessa, Steven and a ninety three year old lady.”
“What about his personality?” Sarah asked. “The phone conversations between Christina and him were weird, to say the least.”
“Yes, they were weird, kind of bizarre, and I can’t make up my mind about what I should think of him. Is he a man with a strange sense of humour? Is he a man who enjoys playing games? In this case he could be ice cold and utterly unpredictable.”
“This is what we should assume,” Nancy added.
“Okay,” Christina continued, “let’s definitely treat him as very dangerous and unpredictable; maybe even as a man who may enjoy the pain other people suffer as a result of his games.”
“What else?” Tony asked.
“He is logical and in this context he can also be very honest,” Nancy concluded. “After Christina had challenged him several times with her demand that he suggest a way of meeting that does not put his or her life at risk, he suggested that they meet pretending that they are unarmed and alone, at the same time implying that this may not be the case.”
“He has a very faint accent, at least I think he has one,” Christina added, “but I don’t have a clue what accent it could be; Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Croatian, French, even Turkish I wouldn’t exclude. And, I think he is lonely or he feels lonely when he feels rejected. I have no rational explanation for this assessment, it is just something I felt twice, just for a second, when I rebuffed him on the phone.”
“Maybe he likes art,” Sarah suggested.
“Could be,” Mike agreed, “his last phone call came from the Louvre.”
“We can assume that his people tried to kill Mike several times in New York,” Sarah added. “We can also assume that one of his people tried to kill Jean, which was prevented by Tony thanks to his quick reaction and the brilliant throw of his breakfast plate. What we don’t know is why he tried to have Mike and Jean killed. In fact, the attempts to kill Mike and Jean make the least sense of everything that has happened so far.”
“True,” Tony contemplated, “what would he have gained if he had succeeded in killing Mike and Jean?”
There was no answer. By the time the attempts to kill Mike and later Jean were made, the man was already in the possession of the recipe for eternal life. Why did he see a need to kill two more people?
“Is there anything Mike and Jean have in common?” Tony asked. “Anything that could explain this mystery?”
Again, there was no answer.
This time it took three days before the man phoned again. By that time Christina had concluded that he would not phone again, that she had played her hand of cards badly, so to say, that she perhaps had provoked him too much by revealing her knowledge about his location when he made the last call.
This time when he called he didn’t use Mike’s cell phone. He probably used a new phone with a new SIM card, perhaps even a phone which for whatever technical reason could not be traced easily. His voice was calm as during the previous calls. As before, there was no introduction. He asked, “What makes you think your boyfriend is still alive? Think about it. I tried to kill him in New York, wouldn’t I have killed him right away when I got hold of him a few days ago?”
“He was still alive when my friend entered the room where he was kept in the elderly lady’s house,” Christina replied.
“This was only a few hours after I caught him. In the meantime several days have passed.”
“Let’s put it this way, I think he is still alive.” There would be no point in me continuing this game, Christina thought, if I couldn’t believe that he is alive. “But tell me, why did you try to kill him in New York?”
Instead of answering, he said, “I have decided that I will trust you and I ask you to trust me. On that basis I suggest we have lunch today and talk things over. We can both take a pistol along, just so that we don’t feel naked. We have none of our people lingering in the background. Just you and me. The idea is to talk, not to kill.”
Christina thought about his suggestion for a moment, before she replied, “I will have one person lingering in the background. You can have the same. If this is okay with you, let’s have lunch today.”
“ – How can you be sure that I don’t have several people lingering around in the background?”
“Because,” Christina replied, “I trust you.”
“You really do?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Okay, let’s have lunch. Would you like to decide about the venue?”
“How about the Garden Restaurant in the Hotel Particulier Montmartre at two pm? They serve lunch until four pm, but from two pm onwards the place is no longer busy.”
“Good choice,” the voice beside Christina’s ear said. “I’ll see you at two pm. It is a warm day. I won’t wear a jacket. I will wear a white shirt, blue trousers and carry a black satchel with a pistol inside in my left hand.”
“Great. This means my people can shoot you on arrival,” she replied.
“I trust you,” he replied
“I will wear the same colour combination as you and a pistol in my black handbag.”
�
�That’ll make it easy for my people.”
“We both have a weird sense of humour. Whether we have anything else in common, we shall see. See you at two pm,” Christina said and ended the conversation.
45
Christina arrived at quarter to two at the agreed location. She had booked a table under an outdoor umbrella. She knew the restaurant’s garden area and had specified where she would like the table and umbrella to be placed. She was dressed up as an overweight eighty year old lady who found it hard to walk and therefore was guided by the taxi driver to the table she had reserved. For a fifty euro tip the driver was more than happy to assist her. At the table she asked the driver if he would like to share the table with her for half an hour. He could drink or eat something or both and she would reward him for his kindness with a further tip, this time with two hundred euros. The driver said two hundred euros were too much for such a small favour; another fifty euros would be sufficient. She told him not to worry. A few minutes later the driver ordered a glass of orange juice and salmon sandwiches. The old lady ordered a glass of tomato juice.
As the driver told her about his many experiences as a taxi driver, she spilt some of her orange juice on the table, she dropped her handkerchief on the floor and in an attempt to pick it up she knocked her knee against the leg of the table. She moaned and complaint and the waiter asked her if she needed medical assistance. She asked him why he asked her such a stupid question. She pointed out that she was an old woman in pain, which was a normal condition for old women. At one time she got up and tried to move the umbrella to another position. If it hadn’t been for the quick reaction of the taxi driver the umbrella might have fallen on top of the people on a nearby table.
After twenty minutes there was hardly anybody in the garden area who was not aware of the old lady and the middle aged man in the corner area.
All the time, as Christina played the awkward old lady, she scanned her surroundings. She was pretty certain that she had discovered two men who were lingering in the background. She had not yet seen a man who could be the man she was waiting for. This could mean two things: either he was not here or he was also disguised. At quarter past two Christina gave the taxi driver four hundred euros and asked him to stay another two or three minutes. She wanted to say hello to someone she said. The taxi driver refused to take the money. She yelled at him, “What is it with you young people?! Can’t you respect an elderly lady’s wish! Do you always think you must know everything better!” The driver looked shocked and took the money. Whispering to the driver she said, “Don’t worry. Sometimes I yell. I don’t really mean it. So, please stay for a few more minutes until I am back and thanks very much for everything.” The driver managed to whisper back, “You are welcome.”
Christina got up and walked to the two men she had identified earlier. It took her awhile to drag her old body to their table. At the table she grabbed a chair, sat on it and said to the men, “Please join me at my table; I will then tell you where your boss can find the lady he is meant to meet here.” Without waiting for an answer she got up and pulled one of the men up and asked him to assist her on the way back to her table.
The man assisted her. The other man followed hesitantly. At her table she asked the two men to take a seat. To the taxi driver she said, “Merci monsieur et au revoir.” The taxi driver looked confused and left. To the two men at her table Christina said, “At this very moment there are guns pointing at you. Just phone your boss and tell him that you are sitting at a table together with the lady he wants to meet.” One of the two men took his cell phone and dialled a number. With a quick movement Christina took the phone away from him, moved her chair back a yard, put the phone on her ear and said, “Can you see us?”
“I can see you,” a familiar voice said.
“Okay. Then come to the table please, let’s stop this stupid game and let’s have lunch.”
After a brief silence the voice said, “Okay.”
After half a minute Christina said to the two men at her table, “He is not coming, is he?”
“No, I don’t think so, one of the men said.”
“What about you?” Christina asked.
“He will kill us together with you. In his eyes we have failed.”
“This is not good. – Listen, which side are they going to shoot from?”
“From your right.”
“I am not a fat old lady, as you probably have realized by now. I am fat and overweight because I am wearing several bullet proof vests. When you see me getting up, you jump behind me to my left. You have to be fast. If we are lucky the bullets will hit me and not you. When I am up I will run inside the restaurant through the open door behind me on my right. I am a fast runner, so don’t waste any time, stay in my shadow.”
“Okay.”
Christina was just about to get up and run when she saw a slim and fit looking elderly man in a white shirt and blue gabardine trousers appearing behind the two men at her table. The man said, “My dear lady, you are in real life as unpredictable as on the phone.” To the two men at her table he said, “I am sure the lady doesn’t mind if you return to your original table.” They returned to their previous table. “The elderly man said to Christina, “May I join you?” Christina smiled and replied, “Please, I have been waiting for you to join me for the past thirty minutes.”
“You fooled me for the past thirty minutes. I watched you and I saw an annoying old woman. I didn’t see a young lady in white and blue.”
“Life is unpredictable. But we have finally met and maybe we should order lunch.”
“I agree,” the man replied, “have you already decided what to order?”
“No, I have been too busy looking for you and keeping an eye on your shadows.”
A waiter arrived and asked if they were ready to order. “Good timing,” Christina said. “What do you recommend?”
The waiter was the same who had asked her earlier if she needed medical assistance. He looked at her surprised. When Christina noticed his look she said, “I go through phases. Old people often do. Sometimes I am terribly irritated and quite unbearable, then suddenly I am back to normal. Now I am normal. Please do accept my apology for all the hullabaloo earlier.”
“No hulla… what?” the waiter said.
“Trouble, for all the trouble earlier.”
“No trouble, madam, definitely no trouble. But you asked me for my recommendation. Well, the chef has lots of Carre d'Agneau left in the kitchen (roasted rack of lamb served over a roasted garlic rosemary demi-glace garnished with flageolet beans) and asked all waiters to recommend Carre d'Agneau as main course. However, if the chef had asked me to recommend what I really prefer, then I would definitely have recommended Magret de Canard Sauce Cerises today (roasted duck breast with a sun-dried cherry red port wine demi-glace sauce). I tasted it, it is fresh, tender and its flavour is unbeatable.”
“Ha, ha,” the elderly man laughed. “You should become a politician. I suspect the chef has lots of Magret de Canard Sauce Cerises left in the kitchen and what we really should order is Carre d'Agneau. “
“Monsieur, please keep your voice down. This could get me into a lot of trouble.”
“I am in a trusting mood today,” Christina declared, “I have what you recommend, Magret de Canard Sauce Cerises, and with it please a glass of your best rose wine.”
“All right,” the elderly man said, “Since this is all about trust, I will join you in your trusting spirit and have the same.” At this point he looked around and said, “By the way, you discovered my people, where are yours?”
45
Tony, Nancy, Christina and Sarah met in Tony and Nancy’s room. So far Christina hadn’t told them that she had received another call earlier in the day and met the man for lunch. It was seven o’clock in the evening and she had returned from lunch two hours ago. She had a long hot shower, then a cold one and then another hot one. After that she sat in an armchair for nearly an hour and listened to the world. Mike
had told her how he did it and she had tried it a few times. She knew the process but that didn’t mean that she could replicate Mike’s experiences.
“I have met the man”, she told the other tree. “We had lunch together.”
“Are you serious?” Tony asked.
“Let me begin at the end, at what he told me half-way through the dessert. We had nougat cheesecake, by the way. Very delicious. He told me his name, Alberto, but pointed out that this, most likely, is not his real name. He said he didn’t know his real name. He doesn’t remember anything what had happened in his life prior to his thirty second birthday.
“Did he tell you why he doesn’t remember?”
“Amnesia. The last thing he remembers, he told me, was that he finished the New York Marathon. The next thing he remembers is a hospital bed and a doctor. Subsequent scans and tests by a neurologist concluded that he had most likely had a mini stroke which resulted in amnesia. Initially there was hope that he might recover, but now, after over forty years, this was a hope he had given up on.”
“Can we go back a bit please?” Nancy asked.
“I guess we should,” Christina agreed. “You want to know how it is possible that I had lunch with him. The short answer is he phoned me, we agreed to have lunch and to trust each other. We then didn’t exactly trust each other, but we managed to sort that out and then had an interesting lunch.”
“What do you mean by ‘didn’t exactly trust each other’ and ‘managed to sort that out’?”
“Well, we agreed to take our pistols along and have one of our people in the background.”
“And did you?”
“No, I didn’t bother. I had no pistol with me and nobody in the background. I was disguised as an annoying old woman in the company of a taxi driver. He initially didn’t turn up at all but two of his guys were on the lookout for me. Anyhow, I can give you the details some other time. In the end we sat at a table opposite each other and had lunch.”
An Almighty Conspiracy – A novel, a thriller, four people doing the unexpected Page 18