The Immortality Plot

The Immortality Plot - chapter 20

Grace Ryan lived in one of the more colorful districts of Washington DC. Delaney caught a cab into the center of town near Eastern Market. He had the driver drop him at the intersection of South Carolina and Seventh Street. Ryan had said her apartment was a short walk from there. The bustle of the extensive farmer’s market and outdoor mall was in full swing as he skirted around the edge and headed uptown. It took him five minutes to arrive at a tall, carefully restored, apartment block, clearly a converted warehouse, and find the bell with Grace Ryan’s nameplate at the side. He buzzed the intercom and after thirty seconds or so a sleepy voice asked who the hell it was. He identified himself and the voice became a little friendlier. The door opened and he took the elevator to the fourth floor.

Grace Ryan was waiting for him outside her apartment door as he left the elevator. She was around mid to late thirties, tall and well proportioned with a strong but attractive and compelling face. Her dark blonde hair was tousled from sleep and she was wearing a vibrantly patterned kimono that revealed flashes of her strong and firm thighs. She seemed oblivious of the impression she may have created as she looked Delaney up and down.

“May I call you Mike?” she said and her voice was low and throaty like an ex-smoker’s.

“Please,” he said. “May I call you Grace?”

“You already have,” she said. “Come in. It must be breakfast time by now.”

The apartment was comfortable and lived in, untidy but with quality furniture spread around a large open plan living room. Delaney counted three more rooms leading off, one of which was an office piled high with papers and files with a computer screen flashing. Grace Ryan shuffled over to an alcove kitchen and busied herself with her juicer, coffee percolator and toaster. She casually laid a table for two then indicated Delaney should join her as she poured coffee.

“So, you are Maria Montalban’s husband. She kept her maiden name for professional purposes obviously.”

“That’s right,” said Delaney. “We were married for just a year. As I told you on the ‘phone, we were expecting our first child. She was three months pregnant when she died.” Delaney still found it tough to say it out loud.

“Sorry I choked up when you told me. I’m not one for crying ordinarily. I’ve been in Australia for the past month working with a human rights group campaigning to get a fair trial for a young Aborigine who was raped. It’s been tough. I’ve been immersed in this case for some time. We’ve managed to get an appeal through which is a major achievement but I’ve been subjected to a pretty near-the-knuckle campaign of character assassination myself. So if I do come across as being a little brittle you’ll understand why.”

Delaney began to warm to this uncompromising woman as she poured fresh fruit juice and piled toast on a plate.

“I understand perfectly. Many years ago I experienced something similar. Look, Grace, I’ll get right to the point. I don’t believe in wasting anyone’s time. I intend to find my wife’s killer and I intend to try to find a missing girl who might the next victim of that killer – the one the press and those website investigators have called The Priest. And she isn’t the only one. There could be another. ”

“I remember you telling me,” she said. “Okay, the best way of using our time is for you to bring me up to speed from your side. Tell me everything. I won’t interrupt. I’m a good listener. Then I’ll tell you what I know and then, afterwards, let’s see if there is some common ground or if we are both barking up the wrong tree. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Delaney said.

Delaney started at the beginning and as he related the story from the day that Maria first went missing, through the horrific experience of seeing her dead body and knowing their unborn son would never see life, to the, sometimes fruitless, search for clues. His monastic training and spiritual discipline encouraged him to expose his deepest feelings. His eyes had misted over by the time he had finished.