Schultz was now outwardly excited, “Just think, we could also add other paranormal abilities to our arsenal; and in such a synergistic effort that would render a potential enemy almost defenseless!”
Schultz continued, “We currently employ preventive attacks based on the military’s best intelligence that a foreign power is building weapons of mass destruction which might be ultimately directed at us. Often our intelligence is inadequate or faulty so we can’t be sure that their country is actually building such a weapon or more importantly that they in fact intend to use it on us. Our current intelligence in that area can best be described as primitive. If you recall, JFK had to use in-country spies to determine if Russian missiles were aimed at our country during the Cuban Missile crisis. We don’t always have such a luxury. I can also use the example of our Iraq invasion as an example of very bad intelligence in that area.”
Fred asked, “How can you be assured that these people, supposedly having paranormal capabilities, can do what they purport to do?”
“Well, testing ESP capabilities is not new. In the 30’s a man by the name of J.B. Rhine was one of the first parapsychologists to actually test ESP phenomena in the laboratory. We have gone much further these days. We can use high speed networking to link a supercomputer to an MRI scanner and identify which parts of the brain lights up, so to speak, during selective mental activities. That’s called neuroimaging. In recent years, neurobiology has become another tool to analyze the brain’s mechanism. We are also starting to use neuro-endocrinology to gain additional insights.”
Fred was openly astonished. After an extended pause he said, “So I assume that in the final analysis you are now operationally testing these various ESP theories?”
“Yes,” Schultz affirmed, “and a lot more! Of course,” he added, “My job is not to determine how these capabilities will be used in the future, just to verify that they can be used.”
Fred was so mesmerized by what Schultz had been telling him, he almost forgot that his purpose for the visit was to discuss the two employees who had been killed in the massacre. But now he realized for the first time that the killings could have been executed by a foreign power which had knowledge of the nature of the company’s business. At the same time, to the best of Fred’s understanding, his station had never been visited by any CIA, FBI or national security personnel asking questions about the murders. Fred theorized that the government had not yet realized that the killing of Schultz’s employees might have been something other than a meaningless mass murder.
From the next room Schultz’s wife called to state, in no uncertain terms, that the doctor had forbid any extended visits until Schultz was feeling better. Fred was eager to pursue the questioning further, but he also had sympathy for Schultz’s condition.
Schultz suggested that Fred interview Ron Lyons, who was temporarily in charge of the Stealth Division. “He has been around the company for quite a period and he can give you some good information. From there you can select whatever personnel you want to talk to.”
Fred thanked Schultz for his cooperation and indicated that if Schultz was feeling better, perhaps they could continue their discussion later in the week.
*
The next morning Fred had an early appointment with Lyons. Arriving a few minutes early, he decided to make a stop at the security guard’s desk. He reintroduced himself, putting his hand out for the stern man to shake. The guard had been sitting each time that Fred observed him, so when he got up Fred was shocked at his size. If one thought Schultz was big, this guy had to be described as a monster. Both of Fred’s hands could have been placed in one of the security guard’s and there would have still been room left over. The man seemed to understand his massive strength and when he shook hands, Fred felt virtually no resistance.
Fred realized that the security guard witnessed all the comings and goings in the company. He decided it would do no harm to try to enlist him to act as a couple of on-the-scene eyes for him.
Fred said, “As you might know, I am involved in a murder investigation. I would appreciate it if you would call me if you observe anything that you consider strange going on.”
The guard laughed. “Seems to me everything going on in here is strange, but I understand your drift. I’ll be happy to do it.”
Fred provided a copy of his business card. His old office number had been crossed off and his new number written above it in ink. The title, Sergeant, was also crossed off with Lieutenant written above it.
“Do you need some money for new cards?” the guard asked, holding back a smile. “I believe I have a couple of bucks in my pocket that could go to a good cause.”
“No, not more money, just more time in my life.”
*
The Stealth division was less than half the size of most of the divisions that he had observed during his first cursory introductory visit to the company. Outside the division’s front office, were three modular office areas, as opposed to the five that characterized the company’s other divisions. Conspicuous by its absence was a secretarial desk. Fred assumed this small division had to use the service of secretaries from other parts of the company.
“Not to be insulting,” Fred said to Mr. Lyons, “But your division seems slightly smaller than the rest, or am I not seeing things?”
“That is appropriate humor for our stealth division,” Lyons replied. “If we are doing our job properly, you shouldn’t see things; actually we have two other modular units directly outside my door that are invisible.”
Fred’s jaw opened wide. “I can’t believe it; you are really able to do that?” he said incredulously.
Mr. Lyons smiled. “If you can’t believe it, then please don’t believe it; I am putting you on, Lieutenant. We are the smallest division in the company. Most of our company’s effort is concentrated in areas where we are absolutely sure that a useful and specific paranormal capability exists and that it will have a viable future application for our customers.
“In the case of our small organization, we are just starting to explore, and experiment in, a highly questionable field. Most of our funding comes from military research and development funding. If what we are attempting to do becomes viable, then will be expanding our operations to a size comparable to the company’s other divisions. In a way you might consider what we do is similar to the NASA’s study of intelligent life beyond our own planet. NASA scientists don’t even know if the subject matter exists, yet they continue to investigate it. The same is true with the concept of human invisibility. We are not entirely sure of its existence, but our purpose is to investigate it.”
Fred said, “Without going into a lot of scientific stuff, just please tell me what you do in here?”
“We simply focus on various methods to create invisibility.”
“Wait a minute, I heard that Japan accomplished that objective already; is that not true?”
“Yes, to a very limited degree; I assume that you are speaking about the technique used by the University of Tokyo to create the illusion of invisibility. However, please remember that the operative word for what they accomplished is illusion. They call it an invisibility cloak; but it is nothing more than an expanded application of optical camouflage. It is a fairly simple concept but unfortunately one that is not particularly useful for our purposes. It is a much better device to be used by a stage magician than by the Department of Defense or our nation’s top spy agencies.
“More specifically, what the Japanese use to achieve invisibility, is a type of outer garment that looks something like a silver raincoat with a hood attached. It is composed of a special reflective material that is capable of kicking an image back to the eyes of the observer. Video cameras are positioned to take pictures of the scenery directly behind the person wearing the raincoat; that perspective is then processed by a computer. Ultimately a computer enhanced image is projected on to the raincoat. The coat’s unique material reflects the image from the raincoat back to the observer. Wh
at the observer now sees is an uninterrupted scene of the entire image behind the person in the raincoat which blends into the areas outside of the raincoat, making for all intents and purposes, the person in the raincoat invisible.”
“Why couldn’t such a technique be used for national defense purposes?”
“Well, simply because it requires a highly controlled environment in order to make it work as intended. That type of environment does not exist on a dynamic battlefield. However, we are just starting work on a different process which ultimately could make fixed military objects invisible to the enemy; that effort does show signs of practical possibilities. Much of what we are doing in that arena is in the highly classified stage, so I can’t tell you anymore about it.”
“So where do you go from here, as far as making people invisible?”
“We have some limited anecdotal evidence of people who have actually become invisible, not by any elaborate technical trick but through their own mental processes. That evidence is quite strong but is still not understood. In most cases the phenomenon seems to be a spontaneous one; and even if true it’s generally not controllable. In all the examples we have identified, it is a temporary event, usually not lasting more than a few minutes. In at least one case, though, we were told that a person had willed himself to become invisible and it worked. At this stage in our research, regrettably none of the subjects understood what mental forces they triggered to make themselves invisible.
Our job is to verify if these testimonies have a scintilla of truth attached to them. If we witness anything positive, we screen the subjects to determine if we can uncover the mental mechanism that makes them invisible.”
“Have you witnessed this phenomenon yourself, Mr. Lyons?”
Lyons paused and said nothing for what seemed like an eternity. Then he said, “Please look directly behind you, Lieutenant.”
Startled, Fred turned quickly in his chair. He saw nothing.
Lyons laughed, “I’m sorry, a just a little bit more humor, compliments of the Stealth Division. Of course, Lieutenant, if someone were invisible you would not be able to see him anyway, would you?”
Fred didn’t enjoy being the butt of a continuous joke at his expense. “I am serious. Have you ever seen an example of invisibility?”
Lyons became serious. “Let’s just say I would rather not talk about it.”
Wow, Fred thought, he has witnessed it.
As Fred left the office he noticed that all of the three office modules were vacant. The area was as quiet as death, yet Fred sensed a presence near him. That’s insane, of course, nothing is there, he said to himself.
But as he exited the division, the hairs on his neck begin to rise.
Chapter 32
When Fred returned to his office, Jan told him that Sgt. Brown and Penrod needed to see him right away. Fred had hoped that he could be alone to evaluate the new facts that had emerged with his interview with Schultz; however, he knew that he had to wait for a rare free period to accomplish that.
He called for the two policemen. Brown and Penrod entered his office and told him that they had completed their canvassing of the boat rental offices.
Brown said that a total of 127 people had rented boats during the period in question. The renters indicated that normally the number is much higher than that, but with the unprecedented amount of rain they had during the time in question, business had been way down.
Fred felt fortunate for that at least. He asked to see what they had. They had completed individual cards for each renter, displaying the name, address and phone number of each. In some cases the social security number was also listed.
Fred noted that about half had addresses outside of the state. He pondered if out-of-state people should be included in the investigation. If it was a hit man scenario, outsiders would be just as likely to have conducted the killing spree in the theater as the locals. His gut, though, told him that this was not the act of a hit man. He directed that all out of state renters be temporarily removed from the stack. That decision resulted in a reduced batch of 47 potentials. Since the killer was identified as a male, he also eliminated all female renters. This further reduced the list down to 42 people.
As Fred had expected, Paul was making waves in the department. Jan advised him that Paul had been in to see the chief numerous times while Fred was out of the station. The office rumor was that Paul was highly critical of the limited progress on the case; and in no uncertain words he had told the chief that. Fred tended to dismiss this as another dog-bites-man story, but he also realized that the chief recently seemed too willing to embrace this type of criticism, especially when a solution to the case was starting to appear more and more distant. To buy time and to neutralize Paul, he decided to assign him the duty of interviewing the remainders on the boat rental suspect list.
Fred suspected that it was going to be another blind alley, but at least it would keep Paul silent for awhile. Of course, when the leads came up dry, it would simply be another nail in Fred’s casket as far as Paul was concerned. Before Fred made his assignment to Paul, he innocently mentioned that he thought he had seen him on Main Street the day of the bank robbery. A guilty look suddenly replaced the perpetual air of confidence on Paul’s face. He said “No—I—I was in Orlando that morning and I just got back when I heard about the bank robbery.” Fred didn’t press the issue but found Paul’s response highly suspect, especially since Paul’s wife had indicated that Paul was sick that day.
*
That evening he briefed Maureen about recent developments. He revealed that he was troubled that he couldn’t identify the company associated with the box found in Sarasota Bay with the letters YO on it.
“What was the box like?” Maureen asked.
“It was a strange shape, about a yard long, about 3 to 4 inches deep and maybe 6 to 8 inches wide.”
Without looking up, Maureen said, “I know what it is, and I know the company’s name that was on it.”
Fred was flabbergasted. “How could you?”
“Based on your description, the box seems to be the shape used by florists to deliver flowers-—you know, long and narrow. And since you don’t ever take the time to send flowers to your mother during Mother’s Day, I have to do it. I always use Young’s Flower Shop on Bahia Vista. Check it out, I’m sure you will find out I’m right.”
“Amazing,” said Fred, “but I need to ask you another question. Slivers is stating he has no memory of his crime. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Again, Fred, without examining him I can only provide you with generalities. It could be a neurological cause such as a stroke or temporal lobe epilepsy. Or if the loss was precipitated by a great stress it could be dissociative amnesia. Certainly from what you told me about Slivers, he is not a typical murderer. So, acute stress, after he realized what he had done, could have triggered the memory loss. Without an examination, I can’t be sure.”
Fred wanted to continue the discussion, but suddenly he experienced a severe headache.
Great, he thought, now I probably have a brain tumor.
*
The next morning Fred took the box to Young’s and showed it to the clerk.
“Where did you get this box,” he said, “from the middle of the ocean?” The box still hadn’t dried out from its temporary residence in Sarasota Bay.
“Never mind, is it yours?”
“With the shape it is in I would hate to admit it but, yes, I recognize it—or what’s left of it. Actually this is our newer style box. We just started using it about a month ago.”
“Is that box used for all the flowers you sell?”
“No, it’s just for our long stem roses. We use two different size boxes for our roses; this is the larger of the two, used for a dozen roses.”
“Can you tell me who you sold them to if I give you the time frame I am interested in?”
“I can, if they used a credit card.”
“Ok, look at these dates on th
is piece of paper. That’s the time frame I am interested in. Now, do you have a ledger that you can show me?”
“Sure, you can borrow it if you like. The amount of the sale you should look for is $35.75. That’s what we charge for the a dozen long stem roses including taxes.”
Chapter 33
At the office Fred had Jan go thru the florist sales ledger to pick out the all the sales which matched the price of the roses within the time frame specified. A total of ten names appeared. He had Jan match those names to the boat renters—no match. Based on the small number, he decided to have the ten florist’s customers investigated immediately. If that turned up nothing, he would revert back to investigating the larger list of boat renters.
Jim was out of town, so as much as he hated it, he called in Paul for the assignment. He had Paul contact Carl, the sole person who could identify the theater killings murderer; and he directed that the two of them to go to the addresses associated with the ten names. He told Paul to be extremely careful, because it was very possible one of the names on the list could be a killer.
Paul was reluctant to take any orders from Fred under any set of circumstances, but this one he was excited about. He might be just a few hours away from capturing the theater killer. Now they would know who should have been promoted to lieutenant!
Paul contacted Carl at the downtown theater. Carl was working that day and tried to explain to him that he couldn’t take off. Paul would not hear about it. He said “This is police business, son. I’ll be by the theater to pick you up in ten minutes; you had better be there!”
Carl was standing out in front of the theater when Paul arrived. “Get in,” Paul ordered. As they were driving to the first address on the list Carl said, “I’m afraid I might be fired because of this.”
Paul said “Look, kid,” although he was no more than five years older than Carl, “you stand a good chance of being a hero and help in solving a murder case. Now, isn’t that more important than your job?”
Mind Switch Page 13