The Invisible Assassin(20)

‘Good man! That’s what I like to hear!’ Then Gareth put on his concerned face again. ‘But if you do start to feel anything odd . . .’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll get down to the medicos straight away,’ Jake reassured him. ‘But, honestly, I feel fine.’

With that, he gave Gareth a last smile, and then headed for the stairs. The man was a lying hypocrite, he thought. But how do I find out what he knows? How do I find out where the book was taken?

Paul Evans was talking on the phone as Jake walked into the office. He hung up as he saw Jake and grinned at him.

‘Aha, here’s the man who sees things that aren’t there!’ he chuckled.

‘Don’t remind me,’ said Jake with a wry grin. ‘I must have sounded like I was out of my head.’ Then, as casually as he could, he asked, ‘Did they actually find out what it was? The toxic gas stuff that made us all see things?’

Paul shook his head.

‘Not yet,’ he said. ‘But I’m sure they will once they’ve examined the canister.’

‘What canister?’ asked Jake, suddenly alert. There had been no canister. Just a book.

‘The one that was dug up,’ said Paul. ‘Apparently, the digger must have fractured it. They reckon it contained some kind of nerve gas, possibly left over from the Second World War. Anyway, they’ve taken it to Aylesbury for examination.’

A surge of excitement went through Jake. Maybe this was just the latest in a series of red herrings, but there was also the possibility that whatever had been found in that hole had been taken somewhere.

‘What’s at Aylesbury?’ he asked, doing his best to make his voice sound casual.

Paul shrugged.

‘Some kind of chemical research lab,’ he said. ‘I’d have thought they’d have taken it to Porton Down, but I guess Aylesbury was nearer.’

‘Well, I for one will be keen to find out what was in it!’ said Jake. ‘I breathed in a great whiff of it, which was what sent me off my head and got me seeing things.’

‘A man turning into a vegetable!’ chuckled Paul.

‘You can laugh! You wouldn’t have found it so funny if it had been you seeing walking vegetables!’ protested Jake, but doing his best to keep his tone jokey. He mustn’t appear too keen, too eager; that would only raise suspicion. The last thing he wanted was Paul mentioning anything that might get back to Gareth and set some danger in motion. He still felt a shiver go through him when he thought of that hand pushing him towards the oncoming tube train.

‘I doubt if we’ll ever know,’ said Paul. ‘You know what these science types are like – they like to keep everything close to their chests.’

‘Surely they’ll publish a report,’ said Jake.

‘Yes, but it will be TLEO: for Top Level Eyes Only.’

‘Drat!’ said Jake. ‘Now I’ll never know what infected me.’ He put on a petulant tone. ‘So how do I know if I ought to take precautions?’

‘About what? It happening again?’

‘No, about it conflicting with some future medication. You know, if I’m going abroad and I have to have injections, and they ask me if I’ve suffered from some kind of illness in the past, just to make sure there isn’t a cross-reaction.’

‘Oh, I’m sure they’d tell you if that was a possibility,’ said Paul.

‘I bet they don’t,’ said Jake. ‘Like you say, these science types are secretive.’ He put on a thoughtful look. ‘I suppose I could always ask them.’

Paul laughed. ‘Yeah, like they’re going to tell you!’

Jake shrugged. ‘It was just a thought,’ he said. Then he added hopefully, ‘It still might be worth a try. They can only say no.’

‘True,’ agreed Paul. ‘But if you ask me, you’ll be banging your head against a brick wall.’

‘Maybe,’ said Jake. ‘But, in case I feel like asking, what’s the name of the lab in Aylesbury.’

‘Can’t remember.’ Paul shrugged. ‘I only remembered that it was in Aylesbury because I used to go out with a woman who lived near there.’

Jake’s spirits sank as he heard Paul’s words. He needed to find out where this lab was, but as soon as he started poking around asking questions about the lab, Gareth would hear about it, and he’d be exposed again. In danger.

‘It’s in the file,’ said Paul.

Jake let the words sink in.

‘The file?’ he repeated.

Paul nodded. ‘The incident file. They needed to explain to the press what had happened, so they told them the canister had been dug up and taken for examination by the Chemical Research Department – or whatever it’s called – at Aylesbury. You know what these media people are like – unless they get some concrete information thrown at them they start ferreting around, digging their noses into all sorts of places where the government doesn’t want them poking.’