Past Lives (30 page)

'I don't know,' said Stroud with a shrug. 'But surely he’s told us enough. If that sword is still there, it must be worth . . .’

'You don't know what you are talking about,' said Ignatius.

'But we just have to excavate the site of the well in the grounds of Publius's house . . .'

'Don’t be ridiculous. The governor’s house was destroyed centuries ago.’

'But there must be some record of where it stood,’ said Stroud.

'Oh, yes,’ said Ignatius bitterly. There is and now something else stands in its place.'

'What?'

'Mdina Cathedral,' replied Ignatius.

'The cathedral!' exclaimed Stroud, 'But we . . .'

'Exactly,' interrupted Ignatius. 'We cannot excavate the entire floor of a cathedral looking for a two thousand year old well. Not only that, Mdina Cathedral is the
second
cathedral to have stood on that site since Roman times. The first was destroyed in an earthquake hundreds of years ago.’

'But there must be old documents in the island's records house,' suggested Stroud. 'There must be some information there about the original positioning of the house.'

'Then I suggest you start looking,' said Ignatius coldly. ‘In the meantime I’ll make sure that we get a new supply of protease. We’re going to need it when we start all over again.’

'Is it ready? asked Ignatius.

Macandrew said not.

'What's the hold up?'

'It’s not pure,’ said Simone. ‘We’ve hit a problem with a contaminating substance: we can't seem to get rid of it.’ She held up a chromatogram that she’d faked up, using filter paper and black ink, and pointed to one of the blots on it.

‘
This means nothing to me,’ said Ignatius, waving it away. Stroud just shrugged. Ignatius looked at Macandrew and Simone in turn as if trying to decide whether or not to believe them. 'What difference would this substance make?'

'If it’s toxic,’ said Simone, ‘it might kill anyone injected with it.’

'You said, “if”.’ Ignatius turned to Stroud. ‘Well, Doctor, does that mean there’s an equal chance it might not be?’

Stroud stalled, uncomfortable with his lack of knowledge. ‘If the identity of the substance is not known, there’s no way of telling without trying it.'

'I thought I’d try passing it through an acid cleaning column to see if we can get rid of it,' said Simone.

‘
How long would that take?’

‘
Two, maybe three days.’

'What do you think, Doctor?’

'It might work,' said Stroud. 'I really don’t have a feel for this sort of thing. It’s outside my area.'

‘
Ah yes,’ murmured Ignatius, ‘the age of the specialist.’ After a few moments of silent consideration he said to Simone, 'You can have until tomorrow. You can work through the night. After that, we will test the compound, pure or not.'

Simone tried protesting but to no avail.

‘
Tomorrow,’ said Ignatius.

When they were alone again, Macandrew sighed and rested his forehead on the back of the door. ‘So now we know. Tomorrow they’ll find out we’ve been conning them. The protease is nothing more than salt water.’

‘
We were deluding ourselves to ever think that we were going to escape before they got a chance to test the stuff,’ said Simone. ‘It just isn't going to happen.’

‘
At least we’ll have a clear conscience,’ said Macandrew. ‘No one is going to die because of anything we did.’

‘
I don’t think I’m big enough to take comfort from that,’ said Simone. ‘Sorry but I’m scared. I am so scared.’

Macandrew wrapped his arms around her. ‘It’s not over yet,’ he whispered. ‘Let’s do something positive. What d’you say we dispense the saline into vials and get rid of absolutely everything else; pour all the chemicals away and make it as difficult as possible for them to try on their own?’

Simone considered for a moment and then picked up a reagent bottle to empty its contents down the sink with symbolic slowness. ‘Agreed,’ she said.

The desperate nature of their position was eclipsed for the next few minutes by their gesture of defiance as they started flushing all the chemicals down the lab sink. Macandrew was just about to start disposing of a bottle of hydrochloric acid when he stopped. He turned and looked at the barred window, as if trying to work out something.

'What is it?' asked Simone.

'The acid,’ said Macandrew. ‘We could use it on the window bars.'

Simone looked dubious. 'I don’t think there’s enough time left for it to eat through the metal – even if there were, we couldn't climb down the wall. It’s a sheer drop and we’re at least ten metres above the ground.’

'I wasn't thinking about climbing down,' said Macandrew. 'The lane can't be more than ten feet wide. I think I could make a jump for the building across the way.'

Simone looked out and then down. She shuddered and said, 'It would be a standing jump; no run-up. She made a rocking gesture with her hand to signify things could go either way. It would be a terrible risk.'

‘
I think we’ve just moved into terrible risk territory,’ said Macandrew. 'I'm going to try the acid anyway. We've got twelve hours at least. Let's see how far that gets us.'

Simone smiled and gave him a brief hug.

Macandrew fitted a rubber suction bulb to a pipette and gently withdrew the stopper from the acid bottle. A gentle curl of smoke rose from the neck and made him recoil slightly as the acrid fumes reached his nostrils. He filled the pipette slowly and gently discharged it round the base of each of the four window bars in turn.

'They'll smell the acid,' warned Simone.

'You told them we were going to use an acid cleaning column,’ countered Macandrew. ‘We can set up a dummy column and keep the acid bottle beside it.'

Simone smiled at Macandrew’s resourcefulness and then said, ‘I think you’re crazy but I suppose you’re right. It’s best to be doing something and right now anything’s worth a try. You carry on with the bars; I’ll see to the column.'

‘
Good girl.’

When he had seen to it that each bar had a little puddle of acid round its base, Macandrew set about obscuring this by lining up bottles and lab equipment on the bench in front of them. He stepped back in order to appraise his work before making some minor adjustments to make things look more natural. His efforts were put to the test an hour later when food was brought in. The fat man wrinkled his nose at the fumes but Simone put on a show of pipetting acid into the separating column on the bench and he left without comment.

They set about systematically disposing of all remaining chemical stocks while retaining the bottles and refilling them with varying amounts of water to suggest outwardly that nothing was amiss.

Simone held up the Burnett protocol they had been using for the synthesis of the protease and said, 'I suppose it's too much to hope that this is the only copy?’

'Let’s destroy it anyway,' said Macandrew.

Simone set it alight and held it over the sink until the last charred remnants were flushed away.

At intervals throughout the night Macandrew checked on the progress of the acid on the bars and refilled the puddles around their base. At one in the morning he started to see a definite grooved tapering where black iron had changed to bright shiny metal. He took encouragement from this although, when he looked out of the window, the gap between the convent and the dark building opposite seemed to widen with each passing hour. Maybe it was a crazy idea, but it was the only one he’d had. Half an hour later, Simone, who had drifted off into a light sleep, awoke and came through to ask how things were going.

‘
Getting there,’ replied Macandrew.

She sat down on the floor with her back to the wall and after a few moments Macandrew joined her. They looked up at the moon through the window bars. It was so bright that the thin clouds drifting across its face did little to dim its light.

‘
It’s not exactly the time or place to say it but I’m glad I met you,’ she said.

‘
For what it’s worth, I’m glad too,’ said Macandrew. He kissed her gently and put his arm round her shoulders.

‘
I’m so frightened, Mac.’

‘
I don’t feel so brave myself.’

‘
It’s not so much dying; it’s more what they might do to us before that happens.’

‘
Then we shouldn’t leave that up to them,’ said Macandrew. Let’s go down fighting?’

‘
You’re serious? Do you think we’ll get a chance?’

‘
Of course we will.’

‘
When?’

‘
I think they’ll want us to be present when they try out the new “protease”,’ said Macandrew. That’s when we might get an opportunity. We could pick a moment when they’re all concentrating on something else and then make our move. Parvelli’s the main threat, him and the fat man. I don’t see Ignatius being a problem . . .’

‘
You’ve already given this some thought,’ said Simone. ‘What do you want me to do?

‘
When I give the signal, I’ll go for Parvelli. You attack the fat man with everything you’ve got: try to disable him in any way you can. Kick, bite, scratch, and hit him with anything that comes to hand; do anything to keep him fully occupied while I take on Parvelli. I don’t want fatso helping him out.’

‘
All right,’ said Simone in a very small voice.

‘
But all that won’t be necessary,’ said Macandrew.

Simone looked up at him.

‘
The acid will be through the bars by morning. I’ll make the leap, call the police and it will all be over by lunchtime.’

‘
The full moon is said to affect the human brain . . .’ said Simone but she still managed a smile.

When morning came, the acid had eaten less than half way through the bars and there was no discernible weakness when Macandrew tried pulling at them with all the strength he could muster.

‘
I should have started this sooner,’ he grunted.

‘
The alley is too wide anyway, Mac. Forget it.’

Macandrew put more acid round the bars. ‘There might still be time.’

Simone smiled without conviction.

The strain on their nerves grew with each passing hour and both were close to breaking point when the door was finally unlocked in mid-afternoon and Ignatius stood there flanked by Parvelli and the fat man. 'Is it ready?' he asked.

'Yes,' lied Simone.

Macandrew stood beside her, his hand resting lightly and protectively on her shoulder.

'Bring it with you.'

Simone picked up the rack containing the vials and moved towards the door. Macandrew made to follow but Ignatius held up his hand. 'Just the woman.'

Macandrew started to protest but Parvelli moved threateningly towards him and a knife appeared in his hand.

Simone looked round and Macandrew saw the anguish in her face. They hadn't considered that they might be separated. Their plan was in ruins. He gave her a thin smile of encouragement but at that moment he was really thinking that he might not see her again. God knows what would happen when Ignatius discovered the vials contained nothing but saline. He considered taking on Parvelli and the fat man there and then but knew it would be little more than a hollow gesture; Parvelli already had a knife in his hand and he’d be no use at all to Simone dead. While he stayed alive, there was always a chance.

Simone was led away and Macandrew was left in suffocating silence with only his imagination for unwelcome company. He went over to the window and started pulling at the bars again in sheer frustration. He wrenched at them until his palms bled and sweat poured down his face but they still didn’t budge.

Simone was taken downstairs to a small room in the basement, where she and Macandrew had been held when they’d first arrived. To her surprise she found a young nun standing there. She was wearing the kind of open, honest smile that tended to make others feel guilty.

Simone made to hand over the vials to Ignatius but he said, ‘No, Dr Stroud is otherwise occupied at the moment: you will carry out the test, Dr Robin. Sister Noni has kindly volunteered to help us with our work. I’m sure she will feel more comfortable in the hands of a woman.'

Simone gave Ignatius a look that didn’t mask her loathing for the man but she remained silent.

'Actually, I didn’t volunteer; Mother Superior chose me,' said the nun with disarming honesty.

Simone smiled at the girl, suddenly very glad that she would be giving her nothing more harmful than salt water. It was impossible not to like her.

'What would you like me to do?'

'I need to examine you first,' said Simone. ‘Perhaps Dom Ignatius would leave us alone?’ She desperately needed a few minutes alone with the girl.

Ignatius looked as if he was about to refuse.

‘
I have to assess muscle to fat ratio on her body in order to determine dosage,’ lied Simone.

'Two minutes.’

As soon as the door clicked shut, Simone gripped the girl by the shoulders and said, 'Listen to me! We are both in grave danger. That man is not really a priest; he’s a criminal wanted by the police all over Europe. Is there any way we can get out of here without him knowing?