Unparalleled

by D. S. Smith

  Professor Humphries could not understand why Jim McGonagall was so insecure. The boy was a genius with all the potential in the world but for some reason he needed constant reassurance. “That’s not all chief,” Jim continued. “I found out the man works at London Zoo. So I went to pay him a visit and was made aware of a couple of events involving the zoo that may be of interest to us. Firstly, just over a week ago the zoo reported a large, male Siberian tiger had gone missing from its pen sometime late Monday night. A security guard noticed the fence to the enclosure had been cut and the tiger was missing. It caused quite a stir because the police had to close down the zoo and cordon off a large area around Regent’s Park so they could carry out a search to try to find the beast. They were worried someone might get mauled to death.”

  “I’ll bet they were Jim. So was our man involved in this?” The professor asked trying to get him to reveal the point of the report. “Well, the search was called off early the next morning when the zoo received a call telling them the tiger had been found alive in the back yard of a Restaurant in Norwood. Apparently, the owner had gone out to empty the bins and discovered the tiger rummaging through the waste food. His daughter called the police when she heard her father shouting hysterically from the yard. The police came armed with rifles and pumped the animal full of tranquilisers before returning it to the zoo. Thing is, when they took it back to the zoo the keeper claimed it was not their tiger. He said he had known their animal since it was a cub and this definitely was not the same animal.”

  “So I’m guessing our man is the keeper?” the professor asked.

  “Not exactly. The source at the zoo telling me all this is a temporary worker. She is covering for the education officer who would normally deal with all things to do with Public Relations. The regular education officer is currently off sick, the official line being that he has suffered some kind of nervous breakdown. But guess what?”

  “Pray tell Jim,” the professor asked, trying not to sound exasperated.

  “So the temporary worker also told me, off the record, rumour has it the man has actually lost his mind and is claiming amongst other things that his role at the zoo is not that of education officer, but Keeper of Tigers. And… this is also the same man who tried to lay claim to a house in Croydon that clearly wasn’t his.” “Wonderful Jim, this is exactly what we are looking for. Do you know anything else about this guy, who he is, where he is?” The professor asked.

  “I have a name, Stuart Milton, that’s all so far, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get more info from the temp. I’ll be going back there in the morning to see if I can get access to their records.” “Very good Jim, very good indeed. Find this Stuart Milton as soon as you can. We need to bring him in.”

  Jim felt a warm hand between his legs. “You can have access to anything you like Dr McGonagall,” Lucy said sensually as she gripped him lightly. Jim felt very pleased with himself. Not only had he managed to find out the information the professor needed from the zoo, but he also managed to find himself a little American playmate. Twenty-one year old Lucy was taking a year out from college and working her way around Europe. Jim had realised how naive she was when she readily gave him personal information about zoo employees without asking for so much as an ID. She did not stand a chance once he laid on the charm and it was inevitable she would end up in his bed.

  Chapter 11

  The session began with the usual exchange of pleasantries and small talk but Stuart immediately noted two marked differences in the room; a subtle yet unmistakable smell of lavender replacing the strong aroma of coffee and a softer tone of lighting created by a lamp on the doctor’s desk. He had never undergone hypnosis before but it was not difficult to work out she was trying to create a soothing environment. He was sceptical as to the value of using hypnosis but he was willing to try anything to help his situation. Another difference he noticed was that Dr Carson made constant eye contact when speaking rather than referring to her notes as on the previous occasions. She informed Stuart she was about to begin the process. She pointed to a chair in the corner of her office and asked him to imagine Lauren sat in it waiting to be hypnotised. She spoke softly and clearly keeping eye contact with him at all times.

  “What I’d like you to do Stuart is close your eyes and repeat my instructions in your head as if you were giving them to Lauren. As you give her the instructions try to imagine how she would be feeling as she drifts into a trance. Start by asking her to close her eyes while breathing slowly and deeply. You breathe that way too to show her how. Ask her to relax the muscles around her eyes, her cheeks and her jaw. Next, get her to relax the muscles of her neck and shoulders letting her head lean forward with her chin resting on her chest. Now tell her to relax the muscles of her arms and stomach letting her whole body weight sink into the chair. Imagine now she is starting to feel sleepy and is drifting off into a deep trance. Watch has her shoulders slump. Try to feel her sleepiness radiating through your own body from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers and toes. That’s good Stuart, now ask her to relax, relax and let the air around her support her body as her muscles go to sleep. She’s lighter than air now Stuart and her hands are starting to float up from her sides.” The doctor saw Stuart’s right hand rise off his knee slightly. She continued to issue the instructions softly and clearly but now directed solely at him. “Your hand is floating Stuart, hovering above your head. You are going to bring it down slowly so it brushes past the tip of your nose. When you feel it against your nose, you will go into a deep, deep sleep. You will still hear everything I say but you’ll be in a deep, blissful sleep.”

  Stuart’s hand fell slowly past his face and rested in his lap. His chin was resting against his chest and his shoulders were slumped forward. The doctor instructed Stuart to imagine he was meeting Lauren for the first time. She wanted him to describe what he saw and how he felt.

  He spoke slowly, his speech slurred but understandable. He told her he was at a party in Lauren’s parent’s house with his best friend Adam.

  “Adam’s upstairs with a girl he met earlier leaving me sat here listening to this girl droning on about how poignant Depeche Mode’s ‘Blasphemous Rumours’ is…” He began to sing, “− and when I die I expect to find him laaaaughing − it is a good song but it’s not poignant it’s ironic. They’re trying to say God’s taking the piss. It’s meant to make you angry not sad! I’ve got to get out of here, they’re all too young.” Dr Carson noticed he was getting agitated so she changed tack. “Stuart, imagine you’re now at the party watching yourself through someone else’s eyes. Describe to me what you see?”

  “Snogging couples, beer guzzling lads, wine sipping girls and me, I’m heading for the front door but it’s blocked by a girl standing watching a boy stagger down the garden path toward the gate. He’s shouting something at the girl, he’s drunk. ‘You’ll be on the phone tomorrow begging me to come back yer miserable bitch.’‘Just go home Paul,’ she’s shouting back.

  “She jumped because when she turned around I was standing in the hallway. She’s apologising to me and I think she’s been crying. I’m telling her − no, it’s me who should be sorry making you jump like that.

  “She’s gorgeous I want to hold her and tell her that Paul’s a knob.”

  “How old are you both Stuart?” Dr Carson asked.

  “She’s only sixteen but she’s not like the rest of them, she’s more mature and clever. I’m nineteen and on summer holidays from studying Biology at Uni. She’s dead impressed because that’s what she wants to do after her A levels. I think I’ve blown it though because I lie to her saying it’s a great party. Then I say, ‘Well maybe not for you, and, well not now anyway.’ I tell her I’m really not helping am I? And she tells me, ‘Not really no.’

  “But she laughed because she can see I’m cringing at the sound of my own words. She’s wearing one of them sweater dresses, she looks amazing. And then she says, ‘You’re Stuart aren’t you, Adam’s friend?’ />
  “I can’t believe she knows my name but I almost blow it again saying, ‘Yeh that’s right but we won’t be friends for much longer if he keeps subjecting me to nights out like this. I don’t mean the party, it’s just—’ but she cuts in and stops me. ‘Don’t worry about it, it is pretty shit if your age and I.Q. are both above fifteen.’

  “I want to be with her so much now and I think she knows because she says, ‘Don’t leave just yet; sit there and I’ll be back in a minute.’

  “So I’m sitting on the stairs waiting for her and listening to Simple Minds’ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ and thinking the night might be salvageable yet. She’s back now with two glasses of Jack Daniels and Coke. She’s sat down beside me now on the step and we’re talking about everything from the latest Indie sounds coming out of Manchester to university life and world travel. I really want to kiss her and I’m just about to do it but two of her friends come up to say good night and I’ve lost my bottle. She makes it easy for me though because as soon as they’re out of the door she just looks at me and then she kisses me.”

  Stuart said nothing for about thirty seconds. Dr Carson watched him smile and just move his head slowly from side to side. She looked at her watch and realised he had been under for around fifteen minutes which was long enough for a first session. She told him it was time to wake up now instructing him when she reached a count of ten he would wake up gently.

  Stuart looked around the room stopping at the chair in the corner. He looked at Dr Carson and asked her why it had not worked. She smiled and said it was normal for patients to feel they had only just closed their eyes when in fact they had been in a state of trance for several minutes. She told him what he had revealed from his memory of the first time he and Lauren had met. She said she was confused by this as her understanding was he and Lauren had only been together for seven years. He explained to her there was a fourteen year gap between that first brief encounter and them finally getting together as a couple. He went on to say they had kept in touch for a few months after the party, a few phone calls and the odd letter. But he had become embroiled in university life and Lauren had gone on to sixth form to complete her A levels so the party became a distant memory.

  “Unbeknown to either of us,” he marvelled, “our lives over the next decade and a half followed similar paths, eventually bringing us back together.”

  Dr Carson considered this last revelation for a moment before asking Stuart to explain how this came about. He started with his own story, how after achieving a degree in Zoology from the University of London he secured what for him was a dream job, assistant keeper at London Zoo. He had started in the butterfly house, which was not really what he had hoped for, but at least he had a foot in the door. After about six months, he progressed to small mammals and eventually worked his way up to primates. After he had been there for over seven years, he finally got the job he had always aimed for, Keeper of tigers. He went on to describe Lauren’s path revealing she had also studied Zoology at University where, in her final year, she wrote a dissertation on the predator/prey relationships of large cats. Her findings were published in the African Journal of Mammals and subsequently read by one Professor Richard Leakey. He had been so impressed with the study he offered her three years funding to complete a PhD on the effects of ecotourism on Kenya’s wildlife, in particular large cats. Of course she accepted the offer without hesitation and before long found herself studying at Stony Brook University in New York. Then came the opportunity she had been waiting for, the chance to study a pride of lions in their natural environment. So, she swapped the bright lights and big city for the tents and lodges of Lake Nakuru, a one hundred and eighty square kilometres National Park in the heart of Kenya. Unfortunately, after only two months observing the pride she caught malaria and ended up in hospital for an equal number of months. Following her illness, her sponsors became concerned that she may have a relapse so her fieldwork was postponed indefinitely. After a further six months in New York, carrying out literature-based research and writing one of the first internet blogs promoting animal conservation, she decided to quit her studies and returned to London. With a glowing reference from her renowned PhD supervisor, she had no problem securing the first job she applied for, Senior Scientific Officer (a civil service term for curator) in the Department of Mammals at the Natural History Museum. In addition to managing a huge collection of historically and scientifically important mammalian specimens, she continued her research into large cats. This in turn led to her involvement with the police in tracking escaped animals and investigating sightings such as the famous Beast of Bodmin. As part of her background research for the police work, she needed to study live animals, footprints and fresh droppings, etc.

  Stuart had been fairly animated the whole time he was recalling the details of their past lives but as he concluded he relaxed leaning back in his chair as if to play down the inevitability of their second meeting.

  “This brought her to London Zoo, just a tube ride away from her office at the museum. She arranged the visit through our public relations department and had no idea it would be me meeting her when she arrived. The recognition was instant and the chemistry between us was every bit as strong has it had been that night on the stairs in her parents’ house.”

  The doctor looked up from her notes and pushed her glasses up onto the top of her head. “Thank you Stuart for sharing that with me,” her voice was soft and sincere. “I would like some time now to consider what we have discovered here today so we’ll postpone tomorrow’s session and start again in two days’ time. In the meantime I am going to recommend that you to be discharged from the hospital. If approved I would like your brother to stay with you for the time being just to keep an eye on you.” She raised her eyebrows in comic concern to reinforce this last statement.

  Stuart stopped himself from saying he wanted to go home to Lauren not his brother but he did not want her to change her mind about him being discharged. Instead, he opted for a more jovial reaction. “Does this mean you don’t think I’m nuts then, Doc?”

  “Nuts no, confused yes… but then again, so am I!”

  As soon as Stuart left the room, Dr Carson switched on her laptop and opened up a file containing Stuart’s Initial Psychiatric Evaluation Form. She scanned through the notes she had written down during the session and began adding them to the spreadsheet showing on the screen in front of her. Most of the form had already been filled in with generic information such as personal details, medical history, family history and treatment to date. She had a quick look over these fields to ensure all of the information was correct. She then concentrated on one field in particular which was headed ‘Mental Status Examination’, under this she entered the following:

  The patient does not reveal any of the typical indicators that relate to a mental dysfunction. His answers to the evaluation questions are articulate, intelligent and complete. He displays strong, controlled emotions at appropriate moments and often uses humour to hide or relieve embarrassment. Despite the amount of conflicting evidence concerning his perception of the life he has been leading up until now, he does not accept that he is delusional. His acceptance of the conflicting information presented to him is for the most part rational, however he has demonstrated frustration at certain points. A diagnosis based on medical or psychological observations cannot be made at this time. However, the overwhelming amount of documented evidence and witness testimony conflicting with the patient’s claims do fully support a complete dissociative breakdown. Despite this, I consider the patient to be of no danger to himself or others and therefore recommend he be discharged from hospital under the care of his brother. Further hypnosis sessions will be carried out in addition to conventional evaluation therapy. No medication is required at this time.

  Dr Carson read over the entry one last time before attaching it to an email addressed to Dr Benton, the neurosurgeon who had admitted Stuart to the hospital. There was still a long way to go to get t
o the root of Stuart’s problems but there was no need for him to be hospitalised. The cursor arrow on the screen was pointed at the send icon and her finger hovered over the return key but she held off as something at the back of her mind was niggling at her. The clarity with which he described his first meeting Lauren at a party combined with the fact he was hypnotised meant there was a very good chance it was true. The way he described their second meeting however sounded fanciful and he was fully conscious when relaying this. When Stuart had talked about the events that led to this, he mentioned Lauren had worked for the eminent paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey. This was very specific information that should be easy to check out. She moved the cursor from the send key and clicked on the Google icon at the top her screen. When the search bar came up, she typed in “Richard Leakey, Lion research”. The screen displayed 450,000 results, most of which appeared to refer to Lion Research or Richard Leakey but not both. She refined the search to read “Richard Leakey + Lauren Bell + Lion Research. This reduced the number of hits to 9000. The first couple of sites she visited confirmed Lauren Bell did actually exist and was involved in the research of large cats. She scanned through them learning along the way that Lauren was one of the leading authorities on the behavioural traits of African lions. There was a picture showing her as part of a team lifting a fully grown lion onto the back of a pickup truck. Dressed in khaki shorts and matching shirt she looked every bit the part of field naturalist. Lauren was very attractive and Dr Carson wondered whether Stuart may have become obsessed with her after their initial meeting at the party. She continued to read through a few more articles before finding one that made her gasp out loud and put her hand to her mouth in shock. There was a head shot of Lauren with a headline underneath that read: ‘Leakey Student Dies During Field Trip’.