Thirty Four Minutes DEAD (5 page)

Carson added support to his partner’s request...

"It is in your interest to accompany us Mr Everett. We merely pursue an inquiry and have to address every avenue in our attempt to eliminate the innocent and find the guilty".

"Oh, so it's a team effort - the hunchback and the black man. Well that just makes things worse, doesn't it? I mean you could have sent a well-presented delegation to ask me to talk to you about your ludicrous hypothesis, but no! Instead you send Quasimodo and an excuse for a man who I can't fully discern in this half-light. Now look around you and you will see four of the most eminent lawyers in this country who will block this pathetic initial arrest attempt and then turn the tables on you when I sue for defamation of character".

Whilst Everett's attack on the arrest squad continued, Vain felt the anger welling up inside him. He hated Everett even more now. Not only had he cruelly illuminated the poor physical condition of Stowles in a malicious fashion but he had added to this by his pathetic racist attack on Carson. Everett's ‘yes men’ associates had added a background of sustained laughter during the course of his condemnation.

It was that moment that the previously quiet Marcia Levene chose to play her and the team's trump card. Speaking from the shadows she commented...

"You have a choice now Royston, shattered, tattered or battered?"

Everett's smug face changed in an instant. Then, thinking his actions had been physically witnessed, he returned to the raving wild-eyed Everett of the previous evening.
 

"You were there! You bastards. Why didn't you stop me? For Christ's sake you let me do it - you bastards!”

With Everett's confession the giggling yes men physically withdrew and Voight's team encircled Everett. They locked their arms around a man who was screaming his outrage. Turning to his associates he cried...

"They let me do it! They let me do it! Look, you've got to help me gentlemen. Pearce, you'll help won't you? For Christ's sake Philbey, Hamilton help me, help me!”

His pleas fell on deaf ears. The associates were already departing. Everett was dragged to the awaiting car and a smile flickered on Vain's face as he saw Julia's tormentor roughly forced into the security vehicle. Vain picked the neckerchief up off the pavement. RSE was woven into the garment and it seemed to be a fitting souvenir for their first operation concerning MC retribution.

Leif Denison had called a Review Meeting in the Lower Chamber for 0900 a.m. The purpose of this gathering was to assess the Everett arrest, comment on how the conventional MC-ignorant police force were handling the case, divulge the ensuing plan of action and conclude by detailing the social function that would take place that night in Designation B. All bar one of the England-based MC-Project staff would be in attendance.

After the thirty-eight staff members had taken their seats Denison addressed the assembly.

"Congratulations. The Memory Camera Project team have triumphed. Our dedication and endeavour have been rewarded with the first sick animal being placed in the long stay sick pen.

“I feel ‘sick animal’ is a fitting description for Royston Sandford Everett, and my only regret concerning this case is that Britain fails to utilise the death penalty for this type of offence.

"Mr Voight's method of arrest proved flawless with the Carson-Stowles foil perfectly setting up the Levene hammer-blow. I know that some of the initiated doubted whether the guilty would crumble when their own words were thrown back at them, but the quick thinking Everett was hooked as soon as Ms Levene had quoted his evil "shattered, tattered or battered" option. Mr Voight's method is foolproof. We don't always need words to elicit confession, and could for example pick upon a non-verbal action or mannerism the killer displayed when they perpetrated their crime. In both verbally and non-verbally determined instances we merely need to select the correct ‘tactical’ hammer-blow. The hammer-blow that we could not have seen or heard without our MC breakthrough, and the hammer-blow which makes the killer believe they were physically witnessed while they were slaughtering their victim.

"Everett was handed over to the British Police Authorities at 22:22 last night. He had to have a Lawyer appointed for him because his usual Legal associate Mr Dorian Pearce had been present at the Vernet Gentlemen's Club, had heard his confession and had consequently refused his services. Our inside sources have informed us that Everett has been refused bail, has opted to plead guilty and has been sedated because he collapsed at 06:04 this morning when he was undergoing sustained questioning. A motive has not been established and it appears at this initial stage that Everett simply hated women.

"You are probably wondering how we know so much in such a short space of time! Well my friends, the answer will illustrate to you how well networked the MC Project is. If you look around the Chamber, you will work out that we are a person short. Yes, we are one person down, and that is because the thirty-ninth MC Project member is as we speak awakening Everett ready to carry on with his role as the appointed Lawyer for this murderer!”

The Lower Chamber erupted in laughter, with the project members not being able to hide their amusement when imagining Everett being defended by one of their number.

"Before collapsing, Everett repeated time after time "they were there, they heard me" but each time ‘our man’ reminded him that the issue was murder not an imaginary audience!

“Our man is going to apply for Diminished Responsibility in court, but we all know that the Prosecution will tear that to shreds in this instance, successfully applying for premeditated murder in the first degree. When he is found guilty the judge is likely to opt for a twenty-five year minimum sentence. The Judicial system of this country normally award lenient sentences when the rich offend in relation to drugs or tax evasion, but this leniency will be replaced by vengeance when silver spoon killer Everett stands in the dock. He has let the Higher Classes down, betrayed them, and the judge will consequently go for his jugular!

"This first test case has been exciting, fulfilling all our expectations and justifying our belief in the MC Project. Now the intensive Memory Camera operation really gets going. Tomorrow, most of you will be relieved of any duties for a ten-day period. This rest represents the calm before the storm. You will need time to relax, to see your loved ones and to gain strength for when we reconvene. After the ten-day lull period is over, the onslaught will start. For three weeks we will stay based around London, and then for the next five weeks we will relocate our operation to Designation J in Chicago.

In both locations we will be uncovering more Everetts and scoring more ‘instant hits’. Before we reveal our MC findings to a global audience, we need to have a proven track record of success, of undisputed criminal scalps pinned to the door. In both locations, the project team will be split into three functional groups.

“Gregory Vain's team will continue their research on the MC Vault extension and apparatus modifications. Barring sleep, the only time they will suspend their research is when a victim arrives and they have to implement direct MC operations.

"Mr Voight will be placed in charge of both internal and external security in London, although in Chicago his American counterpart will handle affairs. Both men will work in liaison with Ms Levene.

"Paul Mason will work with his American parallel, Dwight Richards. Together they will monitor surveillance, selecting victims and liaising with security to organise the collection of victims, the mapping of desirable routes and the reconnaissance of venues where a ‘hit’ is to be made.

"All of you are going to be exhausted when the two months is over. All of you, apart from the active service arrest squads, will be restricted to the Designation site where you are in residence during this time period, and every team member will understand what the word teamwork really means after this intensive operation. Two months is a long time to be parted from loved ones, but you knew that when the squeeze came that this would be a factor. The squeeze is ten days away!

"Tonight we have a function that has a dual purpose. We should eat and drink to celebrate how far we have come, and we should socialise with MC Project members who we haven't previously associated with. We are a family, holding the key to a new world. Once the MC discovery is broken to the world things won't ever be quite the same again. The same for the global population and the same for you my friends. At this moment in time we are a small intellectual niche who know something everyone else doesn't. Once knowledge of our discovery is shared by the world you will experience a sense of loss despite the praise that you will enjoy. This loss will involve the floodgate factor. Part of you will always be reminiscing back to the beautiful world when only the few knew! Savour the moment. I'll see you tonight. Good day my family".

The MC Project team rose to a person and applauded. It was a spontaneous reaction never partaken of before. Denison was an excellent orator and this reaction had been on the cards for a long time. It was this moment that finally released the collective admiration.

No one clapped louder than Gregory Vain did, but despite his enthusiasm for the moment, three factors lodged in his mind offsetting the admiration he felt for Denison.

Despite the enthusiasm of the man, despite the opportunity that Denison had presented for him, and despite the warmth he seemed to feel for the whole MC Project staff, there was a darker side to him, something that Vain couldn't pinpoint but a disturbing subliminal trait none the less.

The second issue that bothered Vain during the applause concerned the further absence of Natassia Overson. No reason had been forthcoming to explain this and Vain knew that the MC Project wasn't one where leaving was an easy option. Each individual knew too much and Vain was glad that he loved the work.

It was the final factor that really disturbed Vain. While the applause reached its climax he became aware of a pair of eyes - beautiful dark eyes that surveyed him intently. For the first time he saw the white skin and dark hair belonging to a different woman, a beautiful woman who had proffered a cold half smile as her gaze seldom left him. For the first time he had seen Ms Marcia Levene in a different light!

The Review Meeting closed and Vain was left to reflect upon the subtle networking that the MC Project was protected by. His thoughts dwelled longest on Marcia Levene, pondering how he could have been blind to her attraction before. Vain wasn't hooked on her image yet but he was curious. There was something about her presence that made her enchanting - the dark eyes that beckoned him, and the almost vampirical pallor that suggested a power above her slight frame. Vain loved Tanya deeply, but Levene's gaze had sown a seed. Her eyes spoke to him with the power of the only verbal address he had so far heard her utter- that fateful hammer-blow sentence to Everett!

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The Banqueting Hall was laid out to sumptuous proportions with the red and white table decorations blending well with the dark wooden wall panels. Denison had decided that the celebration meal would adopt the format of European Nouvelle Cuisine. He hated the vulgar eighties translation of this concept, preferring to mirror original Nouvelle practice. The courses would subsequently be minimal in proportion but vast in quantity. The obligatory wine would appear with each course. Vain cast his eye down the menu, looking at the nine courses that made up the celebration meal and realised that the whole event would take up to six or seven hours to reach its conclusion. When Denison did something he didn't do it by halves!

The Memory Camera Project Team were now there in their totality, with the Legal insider appearing to make up the full complement. He had worn Everett down when compiling his supposed defence, and while the guilty now rested he had taken his leave to partake in the celebration. In addition to the MC Project team, the forty-six people who had been present at the Venison demonstration had been invited. A collection of twenty-five musicians had been hired to add a classical musical mise en scène to the evening's proceedings. Their presence was the reason that the phrase ‘
Et In Arcadia Ego
’ appeared in gold embossed lettering at the top of the menu. This Latin phrase signified in this instance that death as far as the project was concerned was everywhere, especially when one's guard was down and the wine led ‘good times’ were the emphasis. Each MC Project member and each of the forty-six guests knew its presence on their menu meant that there was to be no mention of the project inside the Banqueting Hall and no dialogue at all with the ‘alien’ party - the musicians. The musicians understood their paymaster was the C.I.D and they were fully primed with regard to the format of the evening and their role as aesthetic support. Voight would keep an eye of scrutiny on them none the less.