The Immortality Plot

The Immortality Plot - chapter 15

Delaney entered Dunning’s spare room on the third floor and found a comfortable en-suite study where the agent kept his client’s manuscripts and other files. There were also impressive bookshelves crammed with case bound titles. Dunning stored his spare furniture in this room so it was a little crowded but there was a comfortable looking bed with a reading light and spread on the floor were several rugs and mats. It was a man’s room, the kind Delaney appreciated. In fact, Delaney had seen little evidence of a woman’s presence in the rooms he had seen so far. There were obviously quite a few other rooms in the apartment where Miles Dunning lived and slept.

Delaney’s travel bag was already on the bed. He took out his laptop and other papers, added the file copies he had obtained from Draper’s office and placed them all on a bedside table. He undressed and washed before, out of curiosity, taking a look around the bookshelves. Dunning was clearly well read with an extensive list of interests. There were novels, screenplays, articles and proposals on all kinds of subjects, fiction and non-fiction. There seemed to be a separate section for journalism, articles and collection of hard copy blog material.

As Delaney ran his fingers over the spines of the bound paper files he noticed they were in alphabetical order by author. He smiled. Surely not? He moved his finger along rapidly until he reached ‘M’ and stopped. There, tucked in between some hefty pieces of journalism, were a couple of slim files with the name Maria Montalban on the spine. Almost tentatively he pulled them out. They were copies of articles Maria had written that Delaney had not seen before. That didn’t surprise him. There must be a lot of work he didn’t know about. He had already read stuff he was seeing for the first time.

He took the sheaves of paper back to bed and set them down on the side table to read later. He climbed into bed. It was still quite early but Delaney was tired and he wanted to spend some time going through everything. It wasn’t the kind of room in which you could do much in the way of exercise and missing one night wouldn’t do him any harm.

He began by flicking through the old material he had salvaged. There were snippets here of articles she had started but nothing leapt out at him as significant, except one unfinished piece entitled: ‘Womb Wars – the fight against female circumcision’. Delaney read the opening extract. It was powerful stuff, talking about how men in some cultures were deliberately controlling the female reproductive process in order to shape their societies in their own image and likeness. It was a story of, in effect, a form of sexual slavery that, in some cases, had led to extremes of torture and even death. Delaney could see a vague connection with the ritual murders but that was all. The other article was about the rise of the right wing avant-garde in France. Delaney remembered Maria had told him she had visited France a couple of years ago, shortly before they were married.

He ran his finger down along Maria’s cell ‘phone and their land line bills. Nothing jumped out except that odd number belonging to Lifeforce in London. There were many he didn’t recognize. None of the victims’ cell ‘phones had ever been found. He threw the bills on the floor. Unless he rang every single one he’d never know. Maybe this was the only way. But then, it would have been one of the first things the police or FBI would have done. So, they would also have contacted the Lifeforce recorded message and probably thought nothing of it.

And they had come up with nothing. On an impulse he called the Lifeforce number and the pleasant recorded voice related the same user-friendly message.

Frustrated, he picked up the sheaf of copied notes from Future World. Immediately he sat up in bed and paid closer attention. The document was in the form of a contact report, the kind of action plan and project list prepared by advertising and public relations agencies as a matter of course. This report listed five businesses belonging to Craig Martin represented by Future World. They ranged from a company that manufactured earth moving equipment, one based in Sydney, Australia, that developed specialized software, another involved with speculative exploration, a small, international chain of designer boutiques and a charity fundraiser called Lifeforce International. Addresses and contact details for each company were given. Delaney scrutinized the report, searching for any clue to the whereabouts of Craig Martin, but like everyone connected with this whole, bizarre nightmare, he was proving to be elusive. Then Delaney noticed two small entries in the midst of the gushing hyperbole about photo calls, product launches, press conferences, advertising schedules, artwork sign-offs and scheduled interviews with the world’s press. One was an address for Sterling Holdings in The Bahamas. This sounded like the kind of company that a man like Craig Martin would have set up. The other name was one that, once heard, was never forgotten.