Mystery : Cozy Mystery: Murder on Board the Macedonia (mystery, thriller, cozy, shocking, short stories) (short reads, detective, murder, suspense) (8 page)

So that was how he decided to pay the good doctor a visit. Richardson is paying you a visit wasn’t a very good thing. As a matter of fact, it was rumored that those people who were found floating in rivers as well as dumped in dumpsters all begun with a visit from Richardson right before they were found dead, in the worst way possible.

And so for that matter, the only thing that would have made so much sense at the time would have been to face him. And thanks to his very many years of looking his prisoners in the eye right before killing them, Richardson had developed some trick that he used to make sure that he was always on top of his game at all times. And that said, the only thing that would have made sense was for him to pay him a visit when Dr. Greene least expected it.

Richardson, therefore, made a point of storming into Dr. Greene’s home without even announcing himself, and it went without saying that he was about to burst him in the act. But thankfully, it all went down when he was just out of the lab. And since Richardson and his thugs in the name of his security detail didn’t have prior knowledge of that place, it seemed a little bit tricky for them to just go about searching the place.

Besides, Richardson still needed him and as long as that was the case, then the only thing that would have mattered the most at the time would have been to act all friendly while he still could. The last thing he needed was to be in bad terms with someone that he considered as the golden goose. He knew jolly too well that if at all he was going to offend or make Dr. Greene to magically disappear, then with him, inventions worth several millions of dollars.

As soon as Richardson got into the house, he went over the pleasantries rather quickly right before getting straight to the point.

*** 

Dr. Greene had done all in his power to shift his boss’s attention from his work. But still, Richardson wouldn’t leave. And Dr. Greene knew that if at all this was going to keep up, then his cover was going to be blown. But still, he knew that it would hurt him if he weren't going to keep up with the game and so he kept on blowing his nose and covering himself with a towel as Richardson paced all around the house, looking like a person who was just about to break down.

“Look, Greene, how long have I known you? Fifteen? Twenty years?”

“Twenty-one years, seven months, sir.”

“Yes, yes. That long. So tell me, why is it that difficult for you to just come clean with me, you know, tell me whatever it is that you are cooking up and where you are cooking it up from so that I can get the scientists to work with you? I can smell some really good money coming from this secretive venture of yours.”

“As a matter of fact, there will be a hell lot of money coming from this one sir. And that is why I advise you just to be patient for a little while longer. And once we have sorted everything out correctly, then the next thing would be to make sure that you have been filled in rather perfectly in the end.”

But Richardson wasn’t buying it at all, and it went without saying that Dr. Greene was starting to feel as though it wasn’t going to end well for him if he didn’t do a damn thing about it. And so, after pretending to cough up a little, he decided to come up with something that will give his boss a reason to cool down and stop passing around his house making him nervous.

“Look, man, I have been trying for a very long time to tell you that I am trying my level best to make this thing worth your while. But from the look of things sir, you seem to be very impatient. And for that matter, I will just go ahead and tell you all about my project.”

And it was at that moment that Richardson stopped passing up and down Dr. Greene’s living room and waited for a moment. All that he wanted to hear had just been spewed into his ear, and so he needed to hear it. And as he assumed the seat just beside Dr. Greene’s, it seemed as though his eyes had widened.

“So, what is it that you are planning. I know you have a good reason as to why you are keeping it a secret. And I also think you aren’t planning on selling that invention to someone else because there will be dire consequences if you make the mistake of doing just that.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t be that foolish to do something like that.”

“So, the invention, what is it all about?”

“Well, I have been devising some nanotech that will be able to clean the blood of patients suffering from kidney failure and the result will most definitely be something that will earn you some good money. And the reason why I have been keeping this quiet for a while was because my previous invention had failed miserably. And so to restore my reputation, I needed to come up with something brilliant that works.”

Richardson smiled for a moment. It appeared as though he was already thinking about how amazing the invention was and just how much money he was going to cash in on the whole thing. But the thing was that Dr. Greene could be lying, and if that were to be the case, then Richardson would have to do something to his most valued asset.

“You know, this could work. But I will need some proof of work by the end of the week.”

“Sir, the end of the week is just…”

“Three days away. Trust me, I know. But if you have been working on something, I expect some reports on the progress that you are most definitely making. It is very important since it helps me keep track of my inventions.”

Your inventions? Are you kidding me? Dr. Greene screamed in his head. Richardson was so dumb to the point that he didn’t even know the difference between ‘your’ and you’re’ and there he was, talking shit and claiming that all of those incredibly made inventions were his. It was shameless. But Dr. Greene knew that he would pretty much agree with him so that he could get over every single thing that was going on.

“Hey, sure. Whatever you need, I will make sure that you have been sorted out in due course.” Dr. Greene lied.

Richardson didn’t want to add anything else. He left immediately after glancing at his fourteen karat gold watch. And Dr. Greene knew that he had to finish up his work and teleport the hell out of that dimension and make sure that he was never coming back no matter how hard Richardson tried to find him. Heck, he even got himself fantasizing about going back fifty years and killing Richardson as a baby so that he would cease to exist in this new time.

Chapter 6:

-The human testing-

So far, it seemed as though the research was nothing but flawless. And for quite some time, Dr. Greene had been working on a serum that would enable him to teleport all the way to wherever he wanted to go, something that was just too darn amazing as far as he was concerned. First and foremost, the most important thing was making sure that he had to check and countercheck right before restarting to the whole procedure.

He even made sure that he had the little baboon checked out just to make sure that he wasn’t getting himself infected with any surprising side effects. But even after going through the whole procedure and checking the little baboon for a while, it appeared as though the results were the same.

The side effects that the baboon had as a result of teleportation were temporary, and that said, the little one was very fine.

And since the anatomy of that primate was almost the same as that of a human being, Dr. Greene was sure as hell that it was all going to work out in the best way possible. But still, he had this feeling that he needed to be sure so that if something might happen on the way and he failed, Dr. Greene would die or get stuck in limbo for the rest of time knowing jolly too well that he did his level best.

It took the good doctor almost a week just to go over his calculations before he begun making the serum. And once everything had been all sorted out, the next thing that was to be done was none other than making sure that everything was being he had taken care of the one thing that he wasn’t sure about – his conscience. In his very long career as a scientist, it did appear as though it was very difficult for him to prepare for anything because there was no way you could predict an outcome of a scientist experiment.

A brilliant scientist could pretty much have made a point of getting everything all sorted out and even become successful after some trials. But even after doing just that, it occurred to him that things would pretty much go haywire at the last minute and ruin virtually everything. And that was the kind of sensation that Dr. Greene was having.

The carbureting machine beeped a couple of times, and Dr. Greene went straight to the LCD screen to check out the readings. And it went without saying that it was the same damn thing as it was a couple of days back. The truth of the matter was that he had been trying this out for a very long time, and that said, the only thing that would have made some sense at the time would have been for him to kick back and ensure that he was able to trust the results.

And at that moment, all that the good doctor could do was to set a date and once that was done, the following would have been pretty much easier – just making a follow up that would see to it that he had been sorted out.

The human experiment where he was going to be the subject was to take place the following day. And so as soon as he was done with all of the experiments, it seemed as though the only thing that he could have done at the time would have been to visit the club where Tori worked. Dr. Greene thought that if anything were to happen to himself, then he would have said his goodbyes once and for all. 

***

Well, I don’t think I will ever understand whatever the heck you scientists have to put up with at the moment. But all I know is that you do work as hard as possible to get on top of your game. And for that, it's just respectable. So, whatever is bothering you, I think you have been there before, and you can do it once more.”

Tori said as soon as Dr. Greene stepped up into the club with a worried look on his face. And once thing that astonished him more often than not was the fact that Tori was very good at reading people. She was dead on and from the look of things; it seemed as though that was the only thing that Dr. Greene needed to hear.

He had been there and had done a hell lot of things that looked just like that. But the issue here was simple – he had never put himself as a subject, and that went without saying that he was scared shitless. But either way, there was no way that he was going to let this window of opportunity pass him. So as soon as he was done with a couple of drinks, Dr. Greene had to leave.

“Look, I am about to do something very dangerous. And if I don’t come back, just know that I did it for humanity.”

“Ok, now that is very scary. Just make sure that you call me as soon as you get there. You understand?”

“Yes, Tori. And thanks for caring.”

“You know I always care.”

And with that, the good doctor had to leave. He knew that if anything bad was going to happen, then he was dead sure that he had made his peace with the woman that he cared about the most. And now that his conscience was clear, the next thing that he would have done would have been to ensure that the experiment was going to happen as soon as possible. That is before his mind got changed all of a sudden.

Dr. Greene wasn’t still very sure about what he was about to do. But that said, the only thing that could have made things a little less confusing was the fact that he knew why he was doing this. And if the rodents, as well as the monkey, came back alive, then Dr. Greene knew that he was most definitely going to come back in one piece.

The problem was he didn’t know what to expect from the other end of everything. As a matter of fact, he didn’t know where the heck he was going and what he was going to meet out there. In short, Dr. Greene had plenty of reasons not to go into that place. But that said, he also seemed to have no other choice but to do it. It was his life’s work and not being able to go in there would have been a very bad thing for him in the end.

It was finally time. The time machine had finished calibrating and heating up, and the beep indicated that the machine was ready for Dr. Greene. He swallowed hard, closed his eyes right before injecting himself with the serum.

As the serum went up his veins, he felt as though his arm was chilling, becoming numb and frozen. It was the first time he was injecting himself, and he was scared. But thankfully, it wasn’t painful at all and in a minute or so, the numbness passed, and Dr. Greene was glad that he hadn’t died. And now that the nano-technology was flowing through his system, he opened the door and stepped right in naked.

Dr. Greene was still having the scare of his entire life, and that said, it appeared as if he wasn’t going to get over it. But he also knew that everyone gets scared once in a while. But what they did with the fact that they were very scared was what seemed to matter the most. And as far as he was concerned, the only thing that would have made some sense at that time would have been to kick back and ensure that he was making the right decision.