The Matrix (25 page)

‘But the police will not dare to move against him unless they have cast-iron proof. You may succeed in getting his associates arrested, as happened to Markham, but Mylne himself is certain to prove more difficult to pin down.’

‘If we found the child . . . Or Catriona’s remains . . . Cameron would be bound to act. And Duncan couldn’t wriggle out of it.’

‘Don’t be so sure. But let me think all this over and speak with one or two other people. You are not alone in this struggle.’

He embraced us in turn, in the awkward manner of someone whose normal intercourse with others is guarded.

‘God bless you,’ he said. ‘And protect you.’

We took a bus back to town. Harriet wanted to get back to Dean Village, but I was still worried about my father. There was just time to keep my appointment with Ramsey McLean.

‘You go on,’ I said. ‘I won’t be very long – he’ll have patients to see. But I would like his opinion on Father’s condition.’

‘I’ll wait for you. Don’t be too late; we can eat before going back to Silvestri’s.’

McLean was waiting for me as arranged. It felt good to see him, as though he could put everything right again as he had done when I was a sick child. He shook hands warmly and asked me to sit down.

‘I’ll sit here,’ he said, perching himself on the edge of the examination couch. ‘We’re old friends; I hardly think a desk is necessary.’

‘I hope this isn’t inconvenient.’

‘Not at all. I was worried, to tell you the truth, when you said your father was ill. I haven’t heard from him in months. Of course, he’s never been a well man, though he’s kept it well hidden. I take it it’s his heart at last.’

‘I wasn’t aware . . .’

‘No, of course you weren’t. I told you, he kept it well hidden.’

‘The thing is, it’s not his heart at all, as far as I know.’

His eyebrows shot up.

‘Is it not? Just tell me what you know and I’ll see if I can make sense of it.’

I described my father’s symptoms as best I could, and from them moved on to Iain and how he had died. McLean listened patiently to me, nodding from time to time, or grunting.

‘And you think your father has developed the same mysterious condition?’

‘It’s not that simple,’ I said.

‘Oh?’ The eyebrows went up again. I began to explain as best I could, beginning with the double desecration of Catriona’s grave as the most tangible of the matters connected with what I believed to be happening. He listened without comment or interruption of any kind, still nodding or making encouraging noises at suitable points.

I showed him Iain’s letter and told him all that Silvestri had said, without revealing the priest’s name.

‘I saw the photographs myself,’ I said. ‘There was no mistake – not about Mylne, not about Catriona. I’d swear to both.’

‘I’m sure,’ he said, and went back to the letter. He read it through a second time carefully, and when he finally put it down he seemed troubled. I could hear the sounds of people moving in the corridors outside. The afternoon surgery had begun.

McLean slipped off the couch and resumed his seat behind the desk. Without a word to me, he picked up the telephone.

‘Miss Menzies, could you see that no one disturbs me for the next half-hour? Yes, I know it’s packed, but I have important business to discuss and I can’t be interrupted. Send anyone home who doesn’t seem urgent, and ask Dr Melrose to deal with the rest.’

He put down the receiver and looked across the desk at me.

‘Well, Andrew, you seem to have got yourself into one hell of a mess.’

‘You believe me, then?’

He snorted and shook his head.

‘If you mean, do I believe all this stuff about magicians and bringing people back from the dead, of course I don’t. I’m a man of science, or I like to pretend I am. But I’m perfectly willing to believe that something unpleasant is going on. There are cranks enough in this city to fill a dozen asylums. This man Mylne sounds like a very nasty bit of work. I’m surprised he wasn’t locked away years ago.

‘Unfortunately, I think you will have your work cut out to prove anything against him. I agree that he is a likely culprit in the business of Catriona’s grave and the murder of the infant that was found there. It is possible that he has some sort of delusion about being identical with his father and grandfather, and that he may be acting the delusion out.

‘The occult business you can rule out. From what you say, you were given a cocktail of drugs while in Morocco, and these will have given you hallucinations and disturbed dreams. You saw an old man there and thought he was dead.’

‘But I saw him.’

‘You saw him sleeping. Believe me, Andrew, it is far from impossible to enter a comatose state in which sleep appears very like death. There are drugs that can produce a similar effect.’

‘What about the noises?’

If you are in half as disturbed a state as you were when I last saw you, I would not be at all surprised that you were hearing things again.’

‘But Harriet – she heard them as well.’

‘Yes, I am sure. But I should very much like to speak with her about what she did hear. You are overwrought, she is a recent widow and probably quite on edge herself. Look, Andrew, I’m not trying to rubbish what you have told me, simply to shed some rational light on it. You’re a trained academic, you know the value of an objective assessment of the facts.

‘I think you are perfectly right to be concerned about Mylne and any associates he may have. The priest’s evidence may be worthless as far as all this superstitious twaddle goes, but for all that he may be able to provide reasonable grounds for the police to act on.’

‘What about the photographs? Don’t you think they prove that the three Mylnes are really one person?’

He laughed gently and shook his head.

‘No doubt there is a resemblance; but no more than one might expect to find between three generations of the same family. Believe me, Andrew, you are letting your irrational fears blind you to what is obvious to anyone else. It will do you no harm to take a mild sedative and to drink some more of that herbal remedy I gave you before. I’ll have some made up for you to take home.’

‘Is there nothing you can do about my father?’

‘I can make no promises. I’ll do what I can. If your friend Mrs Gillespie will allow it, I’d like to see the Royal Infirmary’s records on her husband. I’ll ask Boyd what he can tell me about your father, and I’ll monitor the case. At the very least I should be able to set your mind at rest.’

‘So, you don’t think my father has the same condition that killed Iain?’

‘I don’t know that yet. The symptoms do sound remarkably similar and a little unusual in both cases, but I’d rather defer judgement until I have harder facts.’

‘What about Mylne? Can you help us do something about him?’

He pondered before answering.

‘Really, Andrew, it isn’t my province. It will take a proper police enquiry to establish any guilt. But your prima facie evidence is interesting, if not convincing. I think you were right not to tell the police your suspicions on Saturday. They would not have believed a word. But there may be enough here to get them moving. Do you mind if I keep your friend’s letter? I’d like to reread it this evening and make one or two enquiries of my own.

‘As for yourself, my advice is to go home now, take two of the tablets I’m going to give you, and get some rest. Will you do that?’

I nodded.

‘Good man. It’s time we got you properly on your feet. If it’s at all possible, you should consider going to Stornoway for a few months. But let’s wait until we know what the news is about your father.’

He gave me a small packet of tranquillizers and told the nurse to give me a large bottle of the herbal medicine I had had before.

‘This is slower acting,’ he said, ‘but it will have greater benefits in the long run, and no side effects. I don’t want you getting addicted to the tranquillizers. Take a tablespoon before meals. Make sure you have some with whatever you have when you get in. And I’d like to see you tomorrow, if that’s all right.’

‘I’ll make an appointment on the way out.’

He shook his head.

‘No, I’d rather you stayed at home for a few days. From the sound of it, you’ve been overdoing things. That isn’t good in your condition. I’d like you to stay in this evening and get an early night. Take one of those tablets at bedtime, it should help you sleep. I’ll call in the morning on my rounds. Are you still in the same flat?’

‘No, I’ve moved.’ I was about to give him my new address when I remembered that I had arranged to stay with Harriet. ‘I’m going to be with Harriet over the next few days,’ I said. ‘You’d better have her address.’ I wrote it down and left it on the desk.

As I reached the door, I turned and asked a question that had been bothering me all afternoon.

‘You don’t think Catriona’s body is in that church, do you? Would he have taken her there?’

He shrugged.

‘I really don’t know, Andrew. But we can get the police onto it and, if she has been taken there, they’ll find her and have her returned to Glasgow. For God’s sake, don’t even think of poking about in there yourself.’

Harriet was waiting when I got to Dean Village. She had prepared a meal, tiger prawns cooked in white wine.

‘I wanted to do a little better than last night,’ she said. ‘We should eat soon. Silvestri rang to say he’s expecting us at seven. We can get a taxi.’

‘Harriet,’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t go tonight. I promised Dr McLean I’d stay in. He’s given me some stuff to help me sleep, and he wants me to have an early night. If he says it’s all right in the morning, I’ll go over with you again then.’

She frowned.

‘Silvestri said he wanted to see both of us. He needs to speak to you.’ She shrugged. ‘Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. McLean’s right, you do look tired out. An early night will do you good. Look, I have to pick up my car from outside your place. Is there anything you need me to bring back?’

‘I don’t think you should go there on your own.’

‘I’ll be all right. None of these manifestations starts till late at night, you said.’

‘No, but . . .’

‘I’ll be in and out. Make a note of what you need. I’ll pop over soon.’

While Harriet served the meal, I took my medicine. It tasted more bitter than I remembered. While we ate I told her about the talk I’d had with McLean.

‘He’s being very rational about it all,’ I said; ‘but maybe that’s just what we need at the moment.’

She shook her head.

‘It still leaves too many things unanswered. Last night was no hallucination. We heard what we did. None of this can be explained away, Andrew, and I think it could be dangerous to try.’

She sipped from her wine glass.

‘By the way,’ she went on, ‘Silvestri wanted to know how you came into contact with Mylne. He seemed to think it was important.’

‘I met him at the Fraternity of the Old Path. There’s nothing mysterious about that. Iain seemed to think that was how Mylne made contact with all his potential recruits.’

‘Okay, I’ll tell him that. I’ll drive over and explain to him that you’ll try to get over in the morning. Or maybe he can come here.’

‘I’m sorry I can’t make it tonight. But I really don’t feel up to it.’

‘Don’t worry. He’ll understand.’

I made the note of things I needed from my flat, and explained where they would be.

‘Do you mind if I use your phone to ring my mother?’ I asked. ‘I promised I’d ring her every night. She’ll worry if I don’t get in touch.’

‘Of course, you know you’re free to use anything you like. I won’t be long.’

‘I’ll wait for you.’

‘No, go to bed if you’re tired. The guest room’s been made up. I’ll see you in the morning.’

After she had gone, I felt restless. I sat reading for a while, picking books at random from the shelves, but I could not concentrate. Tired though I was, I was still too wound up to think of sleep. To fill in the time until Harriet returned, I switched on the television, just in time to catch the local news.

A baby had been taken from its pram in Gilmerton, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. There were, as yet, no suspects, but the police had not ruled out a connection with a similar case in Glasgow. I went to the bathroom and threw up the meal I had just eaten.

I did not like being in the house on my own. The silence preyed on my nerves, intensifying even the smallest sound until I was ready to jump at anything. Why did Harriet not return? I fretted, knowing I should never have allowed her to go to my flat on her own.

Desperate to speak to someone, I made my call to Stornoway. My father had made a slight improvement, but Dr Boyd still insisted on having the tests done in Inverness. They would probably fly my father there in the morning, provided he had not suffered a relapse.

‘Ramsey McLean will probably be in touch,’ I said.

‘That’s kind of him. He’ll have been wondering about your father.’

‘Why’s that?’ I asked. ‘I only spoke to him about it today.’

‘Oh, your father rang him about a week ago, when he was planning to visit you. He was thinking of staying with Ramsey, if there was room.’

‘I don’t understand,’ I said. ‘He said nothing to me today about speaking to him.’

‘He must have forgotten. Did he say if he has any idea what may be wrong?’

‘What? No, no, he wants to speak with Boyd first. You know doctors, they’ll never commit themselves.’

‘That’s true enough. I have terrible trouble getting Boyd even to admit there’s something wrong.’

‘Mother, I have to go. If you do fly to Inverness tomorrow, will you let me know? I’m staying with Harriet Gillespie for a few days. You can ring me here.’

‘Is something wrong? You’re not ill yourself, are you?’

‘Just a bit tired.’

‘Have you been overdoing it again?’

‘A little bit. But I’m in good hands. Ramsey’s given me some medicine like before.’

I gave her Harriet’s number and rang off.

Why had McLean not mentioned his conversation with my father? It would have been the most natural thing to say something like, ‘I spoke to your father only last week. He was thinking of coming to Edinburgh for a visit.’ But that was not what he had said. I remembered now. What he had said was: ‘I haven’t heard from him in months’.