“Another one of Eldin’s special projects. I never really worked with him on that one. He’s obsessed with the idea of life on other planets.”
“Even if he had to put it there himself?” De Cremonese asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Could he be working on terraforming another planet?”
“Mars.” Lancaster laughed. “If he could, he would. He often theorized about the idea.”
“Do you know the status of his space-faring capabilities?”
“I know what Amie told me, and I guess it is public knowledge. Logynous has rockets that commercially put satellites in orbit around Earth. But that’s about it. I do know Eldin’s been working on a new space-faring system that should bring people back to the moon, but I never heard Amie talk about anything ready for use, or even testing.”
“Indulge me and let’s say he was a lot further in his space-faring endeavors. How would he go about it?” De Cremonese asked.
Lancaster thought for a moment. “Well, I guess the same way as we did many times before in the early days. First of all, you need to be able to keep your development a secret. Second, you need people. People you trust—a lot of people you trust. Then you need third parties. I guess if you have enough of them manufacturing and delivering semi-finished products, they wouldn’t have to know what they were really working on. Then you need a location. You can’t use a location known to people. Too much risk. Then—” Lancaster suddenly silenced.
“What is it?” Bishop asked.
Lancaster took a deep breath. “Well, about a week ago, Eldin visited me. Come to think of it, that was the first time Amie was supposedly visiting her mother. He brought some papers for me to sign.”
“You still do business together?” Bishop asked.
“Not really. We finished up everything we did in business together ten years ago. This was private. You see, when we were a few years into business together, we thought it was a good idea to buy cheap property all over the world. Later, we bought such investments through our corporations, but the first ones were bought as private citizens. Those properties, belonging to us together, were never properly transferred.”
“Large pieces of property?” De Cremonese asked.
“Some large but mostly small pieces of land or investments in small businesses like hotels.”
“And he brought you the transfer papers to sign last week,” De Cremonese concluded.
Lancaster nodded. “He did. For the last remaining properties.”
“And did you sign?” Bishop asked.
“Of course. I signed everything else away ten years ago, so why not the rest?”
Bishop shifted to the edge of his seat. “You think there could be something on one of those properties?”
“Well, let me tell you this. Nobody knows we owned—and now he owns—those properties. So, if you were going to do something you didn’t want people to know, then yes. Come to think of it, there was one other thing that might connect. Earlier, when Eldin was here, he told me he had to leave the country in a hurry for some kind of research, and he didn’t expect to be back soon. I believe he used the word indefinitely. He told me he was finishing up a big project, and he hoped Amie would be back soon to take over again. I didn’t think much of it at the time. He’s known to talk vague and in riddles. But, now, I’m not so sure.”
“Do you remember the locations of those properties?” Bishop informed.
“Sure. There were four of them. One is in the heart of rural Madagascar, another is somewhere in southeast Sri Lanka and the last two are on the Galápagos Islands. We owned a small island and a hotel there.”
“Do you have exact details on the properties? Copies of the deeds, perhaps?” Bishop asked while taking out his phone.
“I think I can help you with that.” Lancaster rose from his chair, walked to the wall and removed a folder from between two books.
“Here.” He gave the folder to Bishop. “Last week, I spent almost a day looking for it when Eldin needed to make copies. But I just remembered. Quite warm between Moby Dick and Anna Karenina.” Lancaster smiled.
Bishop opened the folder. “Do you mind if I take pictures?” he asked, holding up his phone.
“Be my guest.”
Bishop quickly took pictures of the small stack of documents.
“Can you please let me know if you find out anything about Amie?” Lancaster asked.
“Sure,” De Cremonese agreed, looking around the room. “So, you don’t have a computer or phone?”
Lancaster shook his head as both men rose from their chairs. “Sorry.”
“No problem,” Bishop assured him. “I’m sure we’ll find a way. Thank you for your hospitality, and I wish you all the best here on your own.”
“Same here,” De Cremonese added, shaking Lancaster’s hand.
“Not a problem. I must admit, it’s been a welcome change to see some friendly faces. I hope you’ll find mine and your friend.”
“We’ll do everything we can and let you know.”
Bishop and De Cremonese left the cabin.
“What a way to live.” De Cremonese looked back at the cabin and waved to Lancaster in the doorway.
“I guess it’s an extreme form of celibacy,” Bishop concluded.
“It sure isn’t my way,” De Cremonese replied.
Bishop steered the Jeep away from the lake and over the ridge, giving it one more look in the mirror. Maybe next time I’ll bring a fishing rod.
Chapter 28 – The Three Islands Dilemma
Granite Bay, CA
The afternoon sun rays tried to work their way through the overgrown coastal line of Granite Bay. Below the treetops, the white Jeep drove from the narrow Park Road onto Douglas Boulevard where the tree line ended.
Bishop was suddenly blinded by the sun, and he put on his sunglasses.
“Finally, some decent road.” De Cremonese ran his fingers through his hair, straightening it. “Where are we going?”
“I suggest we stop where we can get something to drink, eat and talk quietly. Then we’ll take it from there.”
De Cremonese looked at his phone screen. “There’s a Farmhouse about a mile north.”
“A farmhouse?” Bishop asked. “Sounds a bit too quiet maybe?”
“It’s a restaurant with a terrace in the back.” He looked at his watch. At this time, there shouldn’t be too many folks around. “Just take a right here onto Auburn Folsom.”
Bishop steered the Jeep right at the crossing. “Drive past Granny May’s Strawberry Farm, and you should see it on the left.”
“Great names.” Bishop grinned and looked left and right at the houses and shops. “There’s the strawberry farm.”
“And there’s the Farmhouse.” De Cremonese pointed to the left.
Bishop steered the Jeep across the street and parked at the side of the restaurant.
“I could eat something,” De Cremonese said as they got out and entered the terrace in the back. “You see? Completely empty.”
“Good choice,” Bishop admitted.
“Just pick any table,” a woman’s voice sounded from the front. “I’ll be right with you.”
Bishop pointed to the table furthest in the back, where a parasol kept the burning sun from reaching the chairs.
“Great,” De Cremonese confirmed.
Bishop put his backpack under the table, and as the two sat down, a young, black-haired woman, wearing a red apron, walked to the table. “Hi there. I’m Mable. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“An iced tea for me,” Bishop said.
“Same here,” De Cremonese said.
“Anything to eat?” She waved two menus in the air.
“Let us have a look.” Bishop accepted the menus, and the woman went on her way.
“So, here we are,” De Cremonese said. “What do we do now?”
“Well, let’s see if we have any new information,” Bishop responded as he took a twelve-inch Surface tablet from his backpack. �
��You better sit next to me,” he said, pointing to the screen.
De Cremonese picked up his chair and sat down again next to Bishop. “What is it?”
“The papers from Lancaster’s folder.” He slowly paged through the documents.
“Looks to me like fairly standard property deeds,” De Cremonese concluded. “But I’m no expert.”
“Neither am I,” Bishop agreed. “Do you mind if I bring in my friends and colleagues?”
“What do you mean? Now?”
“A video conference call.”
“Why not?” De Cremonese agreed.
Bishop worked the screen. “That’s it,” he called out after a minute.
“All done?” De Cremonese asked.
“I’ve sent an invite for a video conference call on Teams in about ten minutes. That should give them enough time to set things up and look at the pictures of the deeds I sent with it. In the meantime, we can choose from the menu.” Bishop picked up the menu. “What’ll you have?”
De Cremonese smiled. “Let’s see what they have.”
The two men inspected the menus, and when they put them down, the young woman appeared again, setting their drinks down in front of them. “Did you find something you like?” she asked.
“I’ll have the Haus smoked pastrami sandwich,” Bishop said.
“And I’ll have the mixed green salad with ranch dressing.”
She took the menus. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Vegetarian?” Bishop asked.
“Not really. More of a flexitarian. I like meat, but I also recognize all the trouble with meat consumption, so I try to moderate. You should try it.”
“Maybe someday.” Bishop grinned. “I must admit, I’m a real meat lover.”
A loud ping sounded from the tablet.
Bishop looked at the screen. ‘You have an incoming video call from JohnnyWalker1962.’ Bishop accepted the call, and Walker Monroe’s face displayed on the screen with the Beinecke library in the background.
“Catching some afternoon sun, I see,” Bishop said.
Monroe raised a wineglass to the camera. “Enjoy it while you can.”
“You only live once,” Bishop added. “How are you doing, my friend?”
“I’m great. How are you? Any closer to the truth?”
“Not really. Except for the papers I just sent you. Did you get them?”
“The deeds, yes. I took a quick look at them. How did you get them?”
“I’ll explain later, if you don’t mind. I’m waiting for Lindsey and Ignatowski to join the call.” At that moment, pictures of their faces appeared on the screen. “Speak of the devil.” Bishop glanced at De Cremonese. “Sorry,” he said as he accepted their calls. The screen was now divided into three vertical columns, with Monroe on the left and Lindsey and Ignatowski on the right. “Hi there,” Bishop welcomed them. “Good of you to join us. Can everyone see everyone?”
“Yes.”
”Hello.”
“Good afternoon.”
“Great,” Bishop said. “Let me first introduce you to Father Lamberto De Cremonese, director of the Vatican Observatory.”
“Father,” the three said almost simultaneously.
De Cremonese smiled. “Please call me Lamberto, or Father Lamberto, if you must.”
“Great. Now that we’re introduced, let’s start and see if we can figure this out,” Bishop said. “Let me get you up to speed. I updated you on how the father met Jennifer and his connection to Eldin Mulder. I also told you we found an address at Mulder’s office. Instead of finding Jennifer at that location, we found Eldin’s Logynous former founding partner, who knew nothing about anything. What he did tell us was that Amie Coleman, Mulder’s assistant, used to visit him, but those visits were taken over by Mulder himself in the past weeks. Supposedly because Amie was on leave to visit her sick mother. This looked like another dead end, until the partner said that Mulder told him that he was suddenly leaving the country, and wasn’t coming back anytime soon. Also, he needed the partner to sign some papers.”
“The papers you mailed us,” Ignatowski suggested.
“Indeed,” Bishop confirmed.
“Before we continue, there’s something you must know,” Lindsey said.
“What’s that?” Bishop asked.
“The NRO and NSA have terminated our collaboration on this project,” Ignatowski stated. “As a matter of fact, the entire investigation at the NRO has been put on hold.”
“Same here,” Lindsey added.
“Did they say why?” Bishop asked.
“Officially, because there were no more occurrences over the past month,” Ignatowski answered.
“And unofficially?” Monroe asked.
“Not sure,” Ignatowski replied. “Usually, when a project is terminated in the middle of an investigation, there are political reasons. Anyway, it’s awfully quiet on the subject, even at the watercooler.”
“Same here, and we were only on board at the request of the NRO. So....”
Bishop frowned. “So?”
“So....” Lindsey grinned. “Officially, we can’t help you, but what we can do is help you figure out your next step, if you’d like us to.”
“That would be great,” Bishop agreed. “Any ideas where to start?”
“One thing caught my eye as I glanced through the deeds,” Lindsey said. “The Madagascar and Galápagos locations were described without a zoning or development plan, and the Sri Lanka location was sublet to a third party, the Sithulpawwa Mining Company. I ran a quick background check, but they seem legit, exploiting underground mineral mining throughout the property.”
“So, there isn’t room for another business at that location?” Bishop asked.
“I don’t think so,” Lindsey answered.
“Also,” Ignatowski added, “I don’t see a link to Sri Lanka, given everything else we know. They don’t have any indigenous, secluded tribes, and they don’t have a link to Ernst Haeckel or any of his findings—”
“But they do have the Balangoda man,” Monroe interrupted. “Some say Sri Lanka played a key role in human evolution.” Monroe held a book in front of the camera. “In here it says that in the Batadombaleva Caves in Ratnapura Key, they found a pre-historic human skull. It’s been proven the skull belonged to our ancestor who lived over forty thousand years ago. That looks great, by the way.”
In front of the camera, the pastrami sandwich and mixed green salad were served.
“Late lunch?” Lindsey asked.
“I’m getting hungry too,” Ignatowski added, licking his lips.
“Thanks.” De Cremonese showed his cutlery in front of the camera. “So, basically, taking Mulder’s evolutionary fascination, Sri Lanka could be of interest. But, on the other hand, there’s no room for exploring and no leads otherwise,” he summed up before taking a bite of his salad.
“What about Madagascar?” Bishop asked. “Madagascar was considered one of the corners of Lemuria by zoologist Philip Sclater.”
“But, again, literally no wiggle room,” Ignatowski said. “Satellite images of the location mentioned on the deed only show a coffee plantation.”
“Mulder grows coffee?” Lindsey asked.
“I don’t think so. It’s probably illegal,” Ignatowski replied. “At a neighboring property, there’s a legitimate coffee plantation. They probably expanded to the unused land, hoping no one would notice.”
“So, no one puts their money on Madagascar?” Bishop asked.
On the screen, all three shook their heads.
“That leaves us with the Galápagos Islands,” De Cremonese concluded.
“Birthplace of evolution,” Bishop confirmed. “What were the two properties you mentioned?”
“Darwin Island and the Finch Bay Hotel on Santa Cruz Island,” Ignatowski answered. “I’ve looked up the island. It’s one of the smaller, not so significant ones belonging to the Galápagos. Not even half a square mile and far north, away from the main island
group. There’s no permanent human population. In fact, planes aren’t even allowed to land on it. It’s a rare bird sanctuary. There’s only some diving tourism.”
“Sounds like a perfect place if you wanted to hide something,” Ignatowski concluded.
“And the hotel?” De Cremonese asked.
“I looked at that,” Lindsey answered. “A four-star hotel by National Geographic designated to be one of the most unique lodges of the world.”
“Sounds expensive,” Bishop said.
“That I didn’t check,” Lindsey replied. “What I did notice was that the hotel proprietor has the same name as the witness on the property deed.”
“A friend of Mulder’s?” De Cremonese asked.
“Could very well be,” Lindsey agreed.
“So that leaves us with....” Bishop paused for a moment.
“What was that about a time constraint in your message?” Ignatowski asked.
“Mulder’s former partner, Lancaster, told us that Mulder was in a hurry to get out of the country.”
“Did he say why?” Monroe asked.
“Not really. Some kind of project,” Bishop replied. “So, if we want to find Jennifer and find out what’s going on, our best bet would be to go to the Galápagos.”
“Sure seems like it,” Lindsey concurred.
“Let’s finish lunch first.” Bishop smiled. “I don’t know if the Beagle’s still available, but who’s in for a Darwinian trip?”
Chapter 29 – The Intron Design
The window in the otherwise gray concrete room overlooked the green fields of the island. Some one hundred feet in the distance, the horizon dipped into the sea, where the constant riotous barks from the fur seals were the only thing that drowned out the sound of the waves bashing the cliffs. Between the building and the sea, visible just above the grass, a five-foot-long tortoise raised its neck, slowly finding its way. In the giant Daisy Scalesia trees that surrounded the compound, frigate birds—with their iridescent purple, sparkling tinted black feathers and puffed up red throat—cried out their mating calls.
Jennifer sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window, realizing the beauty of the scenery, and how she could have enjoyed it if she didn’t feel like a prisoner. Hell, she was a prisoner. The only difference with being in jail was that she was allowed to wander around the compound and the island. Contact with the outside world wasn’t allowed, and she was still uncertain where this all would end. She was unsure if any of her attempts to contact and alert the outside world had been received or intercepted. Time after time, she had asked Eldin Mulder what his plans were for her, but he never really said. He never even confronted her with her discovery of what happened in the caverns in Peru. She was almost sure her discovery hadn’t gone unnoticed, yet Mulder never challenged her. He was just as nice and seemingly open as he’d always been. Soon, he said when they came to the island. Soon, he’ll give me a choice. And then, if I still want to, I could go wherever I want to. She wondered if that were true.
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