Mystery : Cozy Mystery: Murder on Board the Macedonia (mystery, thriller, cozy, shocking, short stories) (short reads, detective, murder, suspense) (2 page)

Chapter 1

-Dealing with rejection-

Dr. Greene didn’t understand why his fellow scientists were making a hell lot of fun of his project. As far as he was concerned, he knew that his theory, as well as project, were going to come to fruition sooner or later. And being the most brilliant of them all, Dr. Greene decided that maybe sharing some of his discoveries wasn’t that much of a brilliant idea.

If anything, the only thing that would seem to work out at the end of the day would have been just to kick back and make sure that he never talked about his project to anyone.

“Come on Greene, I understand, you are the most brilliant scientist of us all. But I don’t think you are using your brilliance in a way that we all thought you would. Teleportation? Come on man. That’s just absurd.”

“Absurd? You think?” Dr. Greene started

But after thinking about it for a minute, Dr. Greene decided not to engage his sponsor since it might have ended up in something that he wouldn’t have come back from it. It was plausible that he needed the billionaire’s funding and despite the fact that it was a little difficult to cope with the man, sometimes the best thing would just be to kick back and make sure that he was doing everything accordingly and try to avoid having a confrontation with his boss.

“I was just giving out brilliant ideas. You understand jolly too well that invention is the mother of all invention right?”

Richardson smiled. He knew that his long time friend and scientist was right. But at that point, it was more of a dream to start thinking about something that would waste years as well as plenty of funds before it ever came to fruition. And that said, he just had to give Dr. Greene the plain truth, something that he knew he wouldn’t like but either way, it was necessary.

“Look, I understand that you are brilliant. And to be honest, my organization wouldn’t have gotten this far and also profited the way it has were it not for your brilliant input. But come on brother! Time traveling? That is anatomically impossible. Look, just focus on something that will bring both of us some quick money. And once you have figured that time travel thing and you are sure, then we can focus on it. Is that ok with you?”

Dr. Greene didn’t want to argue with his boss. And so he was left with no other choice but to agree with him. But deep down, Dr. Green knew that he was on to something. And that said, he was going to continue doing his research even without the financial support of Richardson, the billionaire behind hi-tech companies.

And Dr. Greene made a solemn vow to himself that he was most definitely not going to share the fruits of his hard work with anyone once everything was all sorted out.

And it was at that moment that Dr. Greene sat in his office which was situated at the fag end of the laboratory and wondered about a couple of things in his life. First and foremost, he never quite understood the reason as to why he always worked his ass off and came up with inventions that end up benefiting Richardson.

And now that he was on the brink of solving a scientific mystery that would not only change his life but also the life of his boss, they all started doubting him.

Dr. Greene then decided that he was going to pursue his dream. And as soon as he had gotten to the bottom of it all, then he was going to make sure that Richardson was never going to benefit from this one.

At first, Dr. Greene froze at the thought of crossing Richardson since he had a reputation that preceded him by a long shot. And even though he always looked like he was a caring and incredible man, one thing about him just couldn’t escape the fact that his enemies always found themselves in dumpsters or floating on rivers. But even though it was clear that Richardson was responsible, he made it clear that no evidence always led back to him.

And most of the scientists only discovered that he was a dangerous man when they had already signed the contract and that meant that he owned them. But Richardson always had a soft spot for Dr. Greene since he not only brought him a fortune but he also made sure that he had some cool personal enhancements on his toys including guns, cars and what have you. But still, that didn’t mean that Richardson wouldn’t harm him if at all he crossed him.

But that said, it seemed as though it had all reached a point where they were left with no other choice but to make sure that they were in a position to follow their dreams. And if Richardson didn’t want the time machine project to go on, well that was his bloody problem, and loss as well.

*** 

The briefing had been done on a Friday, and once it was over and done with, the next thing that was left was to ensure that Dr. Greene was in a position to get out there and have a few drinks. He was many things, but a good loser wasn’t one of them. And that was just the result of being the most brilliant scientist in the firm whereby other scientists didn’t understand something; they would only rush to him for advice.

And now getting to see all of these scientists laugh at him behind his back for being way too ambitious was something that Dr. Greene was never going just to sit there and condone. If anything, the only other thing that he would be in a position to do at the time would have been just to sit there and make sure that he was getting virtually every single thing done before he could get to doing anything else.

Dr. Greene was never that huge on drinking. But either way, he felt that he needed to have a couple of drinks so that he could get to clear the stress. And apart from doing just that, he also figured that it would be a good idea to just start thinking from scratch hoping that something fresh would pop up into his head.

Quantum physics was never easy. And that said, he knew that he was going to have to work extra hard just to see to it that everything had been sorted out without a doubt.

To that point, teleportation, as well as time travel, was still something that could be considered imaginary. But not less than a hundred years ago, people flying all over the world or getting to use telephones was something that was considered impossible. But now, everyone has a cell phone. And that said, Dr. Greene always knew that he was always going to be on top of his game and eventually, make sure that everything was working out in his favor in the end.

“Here is your bottle doctor. You look like shit by the way.” Tori the cute bartender enthused with a smile on her face.

“Because I feel like shit. You can’t imagine the kind of embarrassment that I have been through by my own people.”

“Is that why I haven’t seen you here in a while? We miss you. All we get are stupid drunks trying to take the rest of us down with them. But you, I think you are different. The way you come in here and treat everyone with respect. That’s cute.”

“Thank you, Tori.” Dr. Greene replied with a smile on his face.

But Tori had seen plenty of people and had helped talk to many of them as a bartender. And at that moment, she could tell that Dr. Greene was most definitely struggling with something and that he really wanted to know all about.

“So, what happened in those labs of yours? Did you find the cure for AIDS and someone took credit?”

“I wish. But no. I came up with a theory about, well, never mind.”

Dr. Greene almost came clean about his time travel theory but zipped up almost immediately, realizing just how absurd the whole thing would sound to a layman if people with PhDs in quantum physics couldn’t understand a damn thing that he was talking about. But from the look of things, it did seem as though Tori was trying her level best to get to the bottom of everything without any problems at all.

“Hey, I know I might never understand half the jargon you spew, but you know I believe you. So if you want to do something that has never been done before, then know that people will most definitely laugh at you for sure. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing what you. Because you know what? These are the same people who will be cheering you on and telling people how they knew you. So, did you discover the cure for AIDS, or cancer?”

Dr. Greene shook his head and smiled a little.

“Ah, at least I made you smile. Now, you think about what I have just told you. And if you need someone to talk to, then you know the right place you can find me. I am here for you and don’t you ever forget that. Is that ok with you?”

“For sure.” Dr. Greene replied.

Dr. Greene had never seen Tori as someone that he would ever end up with in future. But judging by the way things were starting to look up, it seemed as though she was the only woman or person for that matter, who always made sure that he was alright. Despite helping out many scientists and also wowing everyone with his brilliant designs, it just seemed as though no one cared about him beyond being the brilliant scientist that he was. And that, needless to say, was very sad indeed.

But Dr. Greene didn’t have time to waste thinking about irrelevant feelings. He had a very important project to finish and disapprove anyone. And if it was going to go his own way, then it was most definitely going to be one scientific mystery solved that would make his name immortal.

Chapter 2:

-Back to the drawing board-

The day that followed was a Sunday, and that said, Dr. Greene didn’t have to go to work. All of the scientists were always required to be at work six days a week and only have a Sunday away from work. And that said, most of them wanted to make the most of that little time that they had free to make sure that they were in a position to do whatever the heck that they wanted – which was more or less something that didn’t have anything to do with work.

But on the contrary, Dr. Greene didn’t have to do anything of that sort. All he ever focused on at that moment was nothing other than his project. And that was why he always was ahead of the other scientists in his firm. So once he got home, he drunk copious amounts of water just to make sure that he was in a position to get rid of the slight drunkenness from his system and therefore made sure that he was always on top of the game at all times.

Once he was back on track, the next thing that followed was making sure that he was in a position to get into his basement after a hot shower and there it was, his life’s work.

From a distance, the time machine looked as though it was some kind of nuclear bomb that was still under construction. It was huge, cylindrical and had a huge circular door where a person could fit in and get locked inside. Dr. Greene was still preparing it and therefore he didn’t want for anything to happen before he was sure.

At first, once it was all sorted out and counterchecked, Dr. Greene had planned to make sure that he had run enough tests with monkeys or rats just to see if they were going to teleport and come back. Once he had done so and was without a doubt successful, Dr. Greene was going to make sure that he had taken the liberty of getting all of these incredible animals and running tests on them just to make sure that their vitals were working rather perfectly.

Once this had been done, the next thing to happen would have been to kick back and make sure that he had much bigger test subjects. Another incredible thing that made Dr. Greene an outstanding scientist was the fact that he never left any stones unturned until he got to the bottom of every damn thing. And that was going to make sure that it was very much safe to carry out human tests. And that was when the real work and headache would begin.

First and foremost, Dr. Greene knew jolly too well that before he had the go ahead to start carrying out human tests with his machine, he would need to go through a panel of very brilliant scientists who would want to get to the bottom of virtually every single thing and that would draw a hell lot of attention which would, without a doubt, get to Richardson’s attention – something that Dr. Greene didn’t want to ever happen.

So he had opted to carry the human tests on himself as a subject. Of course, he knew of just how unethical that was going to be. But what the heck. The most important thing was making sure that he was getting to do everything in secret, and once he was sure, he was going to get himself back.

But this was easier said than done. Dr. Greene knew jolly too well that he was needed to work too darn hard to ensure that everything was working out to his favor. First of all, he was required to find the right serum for each of the animals that were supposed to get through the time machine – a process that could pretty much take months or even years.

And once he was successful, if at all he would be, then the next step would have been to calculate the right quantity of the serum that could be effective to teleport a fully grown human being. In short, it was going to be one helluva process that nobody wanted to encounter at any given moment.

But that said, the only thing that would have made some sense at that time would have been to ensure that he was in a position to stay focused at all times and give himself some hope since all of these experiments could be very discouraging as well as frustrating. But then again, Dr. Greene had been doing this for a very long time, and the good thing about it was if he put his mind into doing something, he always did it to the best of his ability and never left any stone unturned.

He immediately took a deep breath, put on the lab coat that was stained with burns and oil, just a testament to his years of putting his life at risk trying to make technology that would forever change the human life completely. It was such an amazing thing for him and eventually, just the sight of whatever he was trying to create gave him that all important motivation to keep on going.

*** 

After working for seven hours straight, Dr. Greene was sweating all over the place and didn’t even bother wiping his forehead any longer. From the look of things, it did appear as though everything was going to work out just fine. But still, Dr. Greene didn’t want to take a rest. As soon as he was done adjoining the thick bunch of wires that had been torn from the side of the time machine, Dr. Greene would immediately make sure that he was going back to the huge book and did a quick reference.

He also had a big calculator which he used to calculate the amount of electricity that was required to test certain sectors of the time machine. And that said, the only thing that would have made some sense at that time was making sure that he was in a position to do all in their power to stay focused and get to the point that he was sure his time machine was ready for testing.

Dr. Greene would then make a point of scribbling some chicken scratch on his notebook and then made a short trip back to the machine and kept on working.

He would take a little break from the heavy work and take a peek at his wrist watch right before going back to work. And gradually, it seemed as though the machine was starting to come off as something that would actually work, from the initial jumble of motherboards, electric wires and some indescribable metallic parts that only a scientists as brilliant as Dr. Greene could decipher.

It was only the pain that he was feeling creeping on his knees that Dr. Greene realized that he had been standing for a very long time, something that he hated but always found himself doing virtually all the time. He had promised himself that he was going to stop working himself to death but he could find himself doing the same damn thing every single time doing the same thing. And at that point, he gave up trying to advice himself.

So Dr. Greene decided to take a coffee break while he thought about how best he was going to test the machine. He stole yet another glance at his work and smiled. From the look of things, his three years of working on what other scientists considered to be impossible were almost coming through.

And judging from the input that he had been putting on that time machine, he knew that it was most definitely going to pay off. And if at all it wasn’t going to pay off, then Dr. Greene knew that he would have set a milestone that other scientists would use to get to fulfill his dream long after he was gone.

And as he was sipping his coffee while giving his chair the opportunity to massage him, dr. Greene imagined all about the accolades that he was going to win from that one simple scientific discovery and that alone made him to smile. But that wasn’t the reason as to why he was getting to do this. He just wanted to make a difference, not make history.

He always knew that with teleportation, the humans were going to enjoy a hell lot of advantages that they initially didn’t have.

A trail of sweat trickled all the way from his forehead and went all the way down to the bridge of his nose, going all the way down. It was irritating him all the way, and it got to a point where he had to stop reading his book and rubbed the sweat off, and in the process applying a thick layer of grease on his face.

“Oh bloody hell!” Dr. Greene cursed, not knowing what he was going to do.

And just like that, it seemed as though he had been left with an ultimatum. He was either going to make sure that he was in a position to stay strong and finish configuring the operating system of the time machine or drop everything, run to the bathroom and have the grease washed off only to come back and start the configuration from scratch.

That wasn’t such a difficult dilemma to get out of. I mean, he was used to the discomfort already and so he decided to endure the irritating smell of grease on his face and finish up with the configuration. Dr. Greene wanted it all done so that the next time he visits the time machine, it would be to test it and once it was done, he was going to make sure that the test subjects would have been sorted out without a doubt.

First and foremost, the one and only thing that would have made some very important sense would be to keep it a secret. And that meant that he wasn’t going to tell anyone about whatever he was doing. The good thing about Dr. Greene was that his commitment was always reflected in virtually everything that he did.

Twenty minutes later, he was done with the configuration and he was running towards the bathroom to wash himself. That was after working on the time machine for almost twenty hours straight.

Chapter 3:

-First trials-

Whatever Dr. Greene was up to was such a difficult thing that had never been tried before. But that said, the most important thing would have been to keep up with the faith, just like tori the cute and very sweet bartender always told him. And that said, the only thing that would have mattered at the time was to keep working and trying.

Dr. Greene had a laboratory in his basement that he always kept a secret and that was where he did all of his research and work. The only reason he worked with the arrogant billionaire to help him make more billions with his research work as well as make sure that he was doing all in his power to get enough money to branch out in future.

And that explained why Dr. Greene kept most of his research on his own since he knew that if he gave Richardson everything, then he would most definitely seize to be his golden goose. And if that were to happen, then Dr. Greene wanted to have something to fall on in the end.

The time machine was half built, and that said, the only thing that would have made some sense would be to have it finished. Thankfully, it was almost done. The only thing that remained was getting to connect a couple of wires here and there, and that said, everything would get to work out without that much of hustle.

Getting to build the machine to the point that it was working was most definitely going to take almost a fortnight to a month of nothing but strenuous working and wiring. But the good news was that he had already configured virtually every single thing over the years, and now the only thing that remained was making sure that he was getting nearly every single thing getting done as efficiently as possible.

He needed to get the entire project done in private. And so it meant that he was going to have to steal some monkeys from the Hi-tech laboratories. But Dr. Greene figured that he wasn’t going to do that without having to draw some unnecessary attention. And so without further ado, the next thing that would have been done would have been to kick back and ensure that every single thing was getting to work rather perfectly.

And that would mean going to steal something much smaller that would not only be easy to take from the lab but also will not stress him.

Even though he was a kick ass scientist, Dr. Greene always made sure that he cared for animal life as much as possible. And so if he were going to use an animal as a guinea pig, then the most important thing would have been to make sure that he was as human as possible.

Being a thief wasn’t something that could be found on his resume. But from the look of things, it seemed as though Dr. Greene was going to have to do it regardless. It was far much better for him to get a rat from the lab that having to go out there and chasing them up and down his house, where chances were that he wasn’t ever going to get one.

So when his shift ended, Dr. Greene made sure that he had wandered to the other side of the lab where the animals used as guinea pigs were kept. The doctor in charge of that sector had gone out for a moment and Dr. Greene decided to take that opportunity and make sure that he had his hands on the rat.

Since he had never committed such a petty crime, it felt really uncomfortable for him. But thankfully, he knew that he was doing it for a greater course and that made him feel a little bit comfortable. In the end, the most important thing that really mattered was that he had the rats.

The place was quiet and still, with the only things moving were the rats. Dr. Greene had a phobia when it came to rodents.

But thanks to having to work around them for a long time, he had managed to torn that down and became a little bit comfortable with them. But still, Dr. Greene found it a little bit difficult to get too darn close with the damn creatures and that said, it seemed as though the most important thing for him to do was to grab the rat and make a run for it, but for some reason, it seemed a little bit confusing for him.