Milo Moon: It Never Happened (22 page)

‘No. Just before Mary.’

‘When did you become Mary?’

‘Mary was a gift from Mr. Smithe.’

‘Did you like Mr. Smithe?’

‘Yes. He spelled his name with an ‘E’. He always said, Smithe with and ‘E’.’

‘Was his name Mr. George Smithe?’

‘Yes. Do you know him?’

‘No. Milo told me about him too. Was he nice to you?’

‘He was always nice to me.’

‘Was he nice to Hilda as well?’

‘Yes. He said Hilda was special. So he made me into Mary.’

‘So you are Hilda too?’

‘No. Don’t be silly. She’s gone.’

‘But you remember Hilda.’

‘Yes, she was Mr. Smithe’s favourite.’

‘Why was she his favourite?’

‘Because she was good at things. Funny things.’

‘What do you mean funny things, Mary?’

‘In his office. Hilda did funny things.’

‘I don’t understand Mary. What funny things did Hilda do for Mr. Smithe?’

‘She made his thing grow. You know.’

‘How did Hilda do that Mary?’

‘It was easy. She just took off her clothes and put his thing in her mouth. And it got bigger and made cream.’

‘Do you know why Hilda did this?’

‘Oh yes. He promised she would get breasts if she did it.’

‘Did she get breasts?’

‘Of course she did. And that’s when he made me Mary.’

‘I just can’t watch this!’ Marie said. ‘It’s horrendous.’

‘It gets worse,’ Sylvie said, as she hit the pause button.

‘I’m really not sure what to make of this,’ Luc said. ‘If any of what Mary recalls is half true, it’ll mean that the horrors down there are far worse than we imagined. I think we’d better advise Bern about this before we go any further.’

‘I’ll organise it,’ Marie said, as he left the room and pressed the recall button on her mobile phone.

‘Martin. It’s Barbara.’

‘Yes?’

‘We have a new development.’

‘Yes?’

‘Possible sexual abuse.’

‘Right. Thanks for keeping me informed. I’ll arrange a visit to Bellinzona.’

‘Good. And Bern tomorrow? Still on?’

‘Yes. See you at ten.’

*****

The cold north wind called the Bise was freezing and cutting through Marie’s coat as she left Bern railway station. Her cheeks reddening from its morning bite, the further she walked. Early as usual, she had time to stop in a café and warm herself before her ten o’clock meeting. It was at the same unidentified building where she had her first meeting. She entered the code, the door opened, and she was greeted by the same gentleman reading on the sofa.

‘Good morning madam. Please follow me.’

‘Thank you.’

She was shown to the same room and asked to wait.

As with her first meeting, two men entered the room and invited her to sit. Again without introducing themselves.

‘Thank you for coming so quickly Officer Dupont.’

Marie simply half smiled and half nodded.

‘This case has taken on a new complexity. Diplomatically and politically very sensitive. It will need precise management from this point.’

‘I understand,’ Marie said.

‘Yes. Good.’ Then a small silence.

‘It has been decided to place this matter directly under the supervision of the president, Officer Dupont.’

‘I see.’

‘This will mean that specialist agents and medical staff will now take over the case.’

‘Will I be continuing?’

‘No, Officer Dupont. You’ll be returning to your post in Geneva I’m afraid.’

‘I fell very close to this case sir,’ Marie said disappointedly.

‘That’s exactly the reason you’re being withdrawn, Officer Dupont.’ Marie was going to say something but was interrupted. ‘That is not to say that you have done anything other than an excellent job, Officer Dupont. In fact, you’ve fulfilled your role in this case with distinction. However, in cases like this, becoming too close is a danger and it’s time to move on.’

‘It’s very difficult to leave this case sir.’

‘Yes. I know. However, you have wonderful prospects in front of you, Officer Dupont. Your dedication has been noted and can only be good for your future.’

‘Do I report back to Commander André?’

‘Yes. Tomorrow morning. I’ll notify him of your return.’

‘Thank you,’ Marie said, but couldn’t hide her disappointment.

‘If it’s possible Officer Dupont, I’ll arrange for you to be briefed of the Moon and Seaton file once a resolution has been found.’

‘Thank you sir. I would very much appreciate that. Thank you.’

Marie sat. Waiting for her train to Geneva. Her mind wandering back to finding Milo and Mary happily eating free sandwiches. To asking Jean-Paul for a cigarette. The weeks had flown by. She knew she would worry about Mary and Milo, but she also knew she was a police officer. She had to move on. For Marie however, there was Jean-Paul to think about. Would he understand the weeks that had disappeared from her life?

Chapter 21 - Never Seen

Staheli was accompanied by his head of the secret police, Klaus Henniger, and the Swiss Army’s Chief Medical Examiner, Ernst Gehrig as their car used a remote unmarked gate to enter the grounds of CERN. As the car pulled up at the rear of an outer building, a man with dark glasses and an earpiece directed them silently into an open door.

‘Good morning Mr. President. I’m Dr. Wilhelm Mueller.’

‘Good morning.’

‘Please, follow me gentlemen,’ Mueller said, and lead them to a small meeting room where a woman was waiting.

‘This is Dr. Agnes Carruthers. She will be accompanying us on our visit this morning. Do you have any questions before we begin?’

‘Are you both involved with this program?’ Staheli asked.

‘Yes sir,’ Carruthers answered. ‘A little over twenty-five years and Dr. Mueller a little longer.’

‘And how many people are working with you?’

‘There are approximately one hundred and ten staff involved,’ Mueller answered. ‘It can vary as people are transferred or re-assigned.’

‘And how many...eh...should I refer to them as patients?’

‘There are exactly one hundred and fifty-five residents sir. There were two more, but I believe you know about this.’

‘Yes. Right. Can we get moving?’

‘Certainly sir.’

Staheli and his two colleagues were shocked more than surprised to hear Mueller and Carruthers giving what sounded like the commentary to a guided tour of a museum. As they descended stairwells, corridors and tunnels with the two doctors pointing out the structural genius of the path to the facility and in what year certain parts had been upgraded or modified. Storage areas dug deep into the sides of tunnels plus electricity sub-stations, water treatment equipment and air purifying stations all installed in the winding bowels. After an exhausting hour of walking and descending stairs they arrived at a single door with a simple sign.

‘Viewing Area’

Staheli followed Mueller and Carruthers into a room approximately seven meters long and two meters wide, with a long glass window over looking what looked like a small village.

‘This is Sootere?’ Staheli asked.

‘It has picked up that name sir. It’s real name is Facility Twelve, but I’m sure you understand that in reality, it doesn’t exist,’ Mueller said seriously.

‘An Area Fifty-One?’ Staheli’s head of secret police, Klaus Henniger asked.

‘Very good analogy sir,’ Carruthers replied.

‘It’s quite dark,’ Staheli commented.

‘The facility is controlled so that only a period of four hours moderate light is used. This is part of the control procedures.’

‘For keeping them quiet?’

‘You could say that sir.’

‘Can we enter the facility?’

‘I wouldn’t recommend that sir.’

‘Why?’

‘Because the circulated air is gassed.’

‘What? Drugged?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good God!’ Staheli said in disbelief. ‘So where are the people?’

‘They will be leaving their quarters in the next few minutes. The light time will be starting.’

‘Do you and Dr. Carruthers go into the facility?’

‘Rarely sir. We prefer to extract residents. Far more practical.’

‘You realise that this facility is illegal, don’t you?’

‘With due respect sir. I work here. I’m a government employee, as is Dr Carruthers and the rest of the staff here. We don’t see our work as illegal, if we are instructed by our governments.’

‘And who is your government Dr. Mueller?’

‘Germany sir.’

‘Dr. Carruthers?’

‘UK sir.’

‘Are there any members of your staff from non-European counties, Dr. Mueller?’

‘None that are permanent sir. We have guests from time to time, but that is normal CERN protocol.’

‘So you regard yourself as a CERN employee?’

‘No sir. To be frank, I’m employed directly by my government.’

‘I see,’ Staheli said, as he pieced together the information he was receiving.

‘You do realise that there is little doubt that this will be closed doctors.’

‘Yes. We understand sir. We’ve received information from our superiors that this may be the case.’

Staheli watched intently as he saw people starting to move below him. As if a church bell had rung and people were leaving their houses for Sunday mass. They moved slowly, and it was obvious that they were in at least a mild stupor.

‘Are they always drugged?’

‘Yes sir. We deliver the constant dosages via the water and air supply. Additional dosages are made via food.’

‘How long would it take to rehabilitate these people?’

‘A very long time I’m afraid sir. Years I would say, but it would never be what we would class as a full recovery. The effects of the drugs on their vital organs and brains has caused serious damage.’

‘This is a delicate question I know. But I must ask you. How do you keep the population here? Do you have a reproduction program?’

‘Yes sir,’ Dr. Carruthers answered. ‘Their life expectancy is quite short, so we’ve had a replacement program running for almost sixty years now.’

‘How…?’ Staheli asked, and stopped mid question.

‘Artificial insemination at first, but now it’s IVF,’ Dr Carruthers answered.

‘Excuse me for asking, but I sense that neither of you feel any guilt or regret.’

‘It depends how you look at it sir, ‘ Mueller explained. ‘This facility has bought many medical miracles to fruition. They wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. As well as that, this is the result of an agreement between the super powers of the post war era. An agreement that has held firm through the Cold War and the fall of the Soviets. You must understand that we would not be here if there hadn’t been political will to continue.’

‘And the trials after the war, and the banning of human experimentation?’

‘Politics is rarely about reality being truth sir. If you’ll beg my pardon.’

‘Very well. Not the time or place I think. Now, tell me. How long would it take to close down this facility?’

‘Depends how you want it closed sir.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We have an emergency system. A lethal gas is pumped into the air supply, followed by an expanding foam chemical that will fill the entire space and solidify. In all it would take about five hours.’

‘That’s not a solution I had in mind.’

‘I’m sorry sir, but it’s installed all the same.’

‘How long would it take to get the patients, eh, sorry, residents out of here and into medical rehabilitation?’

‘Months sir. Minimum six months. Any faster and there would be a risk to the residents. I’m sure you would’ve discovered it has been very difficult to treat the two who escaped.’

‘Yes. It was only good luck. Our medical staff received a special drug I believe.’

‘Yes, I know sir. I made those arrangements for it to be delivered to Dr. Fleury.’

‘May I ask why Dr. Mueller? At the same time you had people trying to kill Seaton and Moon.’

‘We’re not all on exactly the same team sir.’

‘Very well. Have you seen enough gentlemen?’ Staheli asked Henniger.

His nod indicated that he had seen enough.

‘Right then doctors. I suppose the ascent is more difficult that the descent.’

‘Yes sir. We’ll take our time.’

As Staheli was about to leave, he turned to Dr Mueller to shake his hand.

‘I was never here Dr Mueller.’

‘I know sir. Exactly the same as you have never seen Sootere.’