The Eden Effect (21 page)

Arthur was just going out the door. It was 6pm and he was heading to the Red Lion for dinner on his own. He had not seen Martin all afternoon and had not seen Natalie at all that day or the day before.

His mobile rang. ‘Hi Arthur.' It was Tracey. Arthur froze. He did not answer immediately.

‘Arthur, are you there?'

Still no answer.

‘Do I have the right number for Arthur Fromm?' was the inquiry.

‘Hi Tracey, sorry, you caught me by surprise,' he finally managed to say.

‘Arthur, hi. Let me get to the point. Martin left a message that he needed to see me. Did not say exactly what it was about, but mentioned doing another interview. I rang him back but got the machine. Do you have any idea what this is all about?'

‘No Tracey. He said nothing to me. I saw him at work this morning, but haven't seen him all afternoon. No, I've got no idea.'

‘Okay, Arthur. Thanks. I thought you might know. I guess Martin will call back when he gets my message.'

‘I'm sure he will, Tracey. If I see him I will tell him you called.'

Arthur was about to say good-bye and hang up when Tracey said, ‘I don't suppose it would be of any interest to you to know that I'm in Eden right now? Have you had dinner yet? I'm starving, we could eat together. I'll pay.'

Arthur's mind was racing. He knew what he wanted to say, but was it what he should say? To hell with it, he thought.

‘That would be nice, Tracey. You in fact just caught me half way out the door. I'm heading off to the Red Lion. We can meet there in fifteen minutes. Where are you?'

‘I'm in the car, just arrived in High Street. I'll park somewhere and meet you there.'

Tracey had arrived before him and as he entered he saw her sitting at a table in the bistro. The waiter was hovering over her, presumably asking whether she wanted a drink.

‘Hi Arthur,' Tracey said as he approached. She stood up, leant forwards and gave him a peck on the cheek. More of a moist kiss than a peck, really. Arthur felt a stirring down below. Control yourself, he thought. She's just being friendly.

He sat down opposite Tracey. The waiter was still there. Arthur ordered a Long Island Ice Tea (with Diet Coke) for Tracey and a Bowmore for himself.

‘Nice to see you again, Tracey. It really is. I missed you the last time you were in town.'

‘Yes, I was in and out very quickly. Had to shoot an interview and get it to air in a real hurry.'

‘Did Martin ask you to come to Eden to talk to him?' Arthur asked. ‘Must be important.'

‘No, coming was my idea. It did sound important and I thought better to do it face to face. But the real reason was that I wanted to see you.'

Tracey let that last sentence hang there and waited for a reply. If Arthur had been surprised by her earlier phone call, he was completely flabbergasted by what she had just said. Tracey said nothing and continued to wait. Arthur realised that he would have to respond pretty soon.

‘Tracey, I will be honest. I don't know how to respond to what you've just said. You made it quite clear that there was nothing between us, at least from your side, and now this. How do you expect me to react?'

‘Arthur, I realise I have been a real cunt. Sorry for the language, but I mean it. After that first interview I got caught up in the hype, the fame and the work. I really was flat out. I did not want anything to get in the way of all that. I behaved badly to you, I know that. It's probably too late, but I apologise. I miss you, Arthur.'

And then in a whisper ‘my cunt misses you too.'

Arthur looked around and saw that no one had heard that last sentence. What had earlier began as a stirring has transformed itself into a full blown, painful erection.

He blurted out. ‘Tracey, I've missed you too. You've no idea how much. Tracey, I love you. So please, don't say anything to me that you don't mean.'

‘I mean it Arthur. I've missed you. I was so swept up in the work and the fame, I think I forgot what was really important to me. I don't know how it happened and to be honest, you are nothing at all like the man I ever pictured myself being with. But Arthur, I love you too.'

She leaned across the table to him and they kissed. The drinks had just been sat down in front of them. Arthur pulled out a $50 note from his wallet, put it on the table. He stood up and said to Tracey, ‘come on, let's go. I'm not hungry anymore, at least not for bistro food.'

Half an hour later they were both naked in Arthur's bed. Tracey was on top of him, her torso gyrating and her animal like sounds filling the room. It went on for forty minutes after which they both fell into a deep sleep. As he was drifting off to sleep, Arthur vaguely recalled that the house was dark when they arrived. Martin and Natalie were still not home.

At 5.15 the next morning, Arthur went into the kitchen and made himself a coffee.

‘Good morning, Arthur,' said Martin who was sitting at the kitchen table sipping his coffee.

‘A bit noisy last night, Arthur. Was that Tracey, by any chance?'

Arthur blushed. ‘Yes, it was Martin. Let me explain.'

But Martin interrupted. ‘No explanation necessary, Arthur. It's actually quite opportune. I need to talk to Tracey.'

‘Yes I know,' Arthur said. ‘That's why she came. She got your message.'

‘Arthur, do me a favour. Will you do the run this morning? I really need to talk to Tracey as soon as she wakes up.'

‘No problem Martin. I'll be off in a couple of minutes.'

Arthur had his coffee standing up. He was about to leave. ‘Martin, by the way, is Natalie okay? I haven't seen her for a couple of days.'

‘She's fine. I forgot to tell you. Her aunt is sick. Natalie has gone to Melbourne for a few days to be with her. She will be back tomorrow or the next day at the latest.'

‘Okay. See you later. I'm sure Tracey will be up soon. She is a bit intrigued by your request. Anything you want to tell me?'

‘Later Arthur. Hurry up. You'll be late. I'll talk to you when you come back.' And with that Arthur left.

They were in studio three. As before, Tracey and Martin were sitting opposite each other. The segment had to be broadcast live, so Martin drove to Melbourne to the TV station earlier that day.

He would have preferred to have it taped in Eden, as he done previously, but the man that Martin knew only as Trevor insisted that it had to be done live. Martin was not in a position to refuse. Trevor was holding Natalie somewhere. One week earlier, a photograph of Natalie was left in his van. She was sitting, mouth taped, and eyes wild with fear. Her hands were tied together in front of her, leaning on her chest was a current edition of The Age newspaper, proof that Trevor had her that day.

Trevor had reassured Martin that Natalie would be released unharmed one hour after the show finished. There were only two conditions. The segment had to be live and Martin was to say exactly what he had been instructed to say. Accompanying the photograph was a typed A4 sheet of paper containing all the relevant points he had to cover.

Trevor did not say what would happen to Natalie if Martin did not heed those two conditions, but Martin did not want to find out.

He contacted Tracey immediately, but even with his best efforts and influence she now exerted, it still took a week to set it all up.

Martin was sick with worry. He was instructed to tell no one and hence concocted the story of Natalie visiting a sick aunt to Arthur. It was obvious to Arthur that something was troubling Martin, but when he asked, Martin dismissed him, claiming to have a sore throat and a mild cold, nothing else.

It was time. Tracey was given the signal and looking into the camera, smiled and said, ‘good evening, tonight I again have the pleasure of introducing Martin Brophy. Those of you who watch us regularly have no doubt seen Martin's two previous interviews. This will not be so much an interview. Martin has requested to make a statement of clarification. There will no questions from me. Martin, all yours.'

To the people who knew him, it was obvious that Martin was not his normal self. The word had quickly got out that he would be on Today, Now again, and almost every TV set in Eden was tuned in as Martin began to speak.

‘Thank you Tracey for giving me the opportunity to speak to your audience again. I've done a great deal of soul searching and what I'm about to say, I say with a heavy heart, but it needs to be said, nevertheless. Most of you by now know the results of the so called ‘Social Experiment' that was conducted in Eden. The Eden Effect as it has become known. Tonight, I have to confess to you, the people of Eden and to people everywhere that I was not completely honest with you last time I was on this show promoting the results. You will recall, the results were positive as far as the people's reaction were concerned, but negative from a scientific basis because they did not reach statistical significance. I chose to emphasise the positive and dismiss the negative, as if it did not matter. Well, tonight I want to tell you that it does matter. The whole point of the exercise was to demonstrate scientifically that the Eden Effect existed and in that we failed. And it is the science that matters above all and if we ignore that, then we are no better than snake oil salesmen and the other charlatans that try to market useless treatments.'

‘I have come to realise that I did just that. I ignored the science because it did not fit with my preconceived ideas, and chose to believe what I wanted to believe. And worst still, I made you all believe that too.'

‘I'm a fraud. I'm ashamed of myself and unreservedly apologise to all of you. There is no Eden Effect, there never really was.'

The camera swung to Tracey who was staring at Martin, mouth open in a most undignified and non-celebrity way. She realised the camera was on her, tried to smile a little.

‘Thank you, Martin. I don't know what to say. It would be fair to say that have taken all of us by surprise. We have a lot to think about. Thank you for you honesty, and candour. This could not have been easy for you.'

Martin took off his microphone, stood up and without a word to Tracey or anyone left the studio. Five minutes later he was sitting in his car reading the note that had been left for him in the front passenger seat. The note had an address written on it, nothing else.

Martin entered the address into the car's GPS and was relieved to see that it was nearby. Five minutes later he pulled up in front a Victorian terrace house in a small street in South Melbourne. He raced out of his car, climbed the three steps up to the porch and was about to knock on the door when he realised it was open. He went in, walked briskly down the long corridor calling out for Natalie. He could hear muffled sounds coming from straight ahead. In the kitchen he found Natalie sitting on a kitchen chair, her legs tied to the chair, her hands tied in front of her and her mouth taped. When she saw him, tears welled up in her eyes. He went over to her, untied her hands and legs, and carefully as he could pulled the tape off her mouth.

‘Ouch! Careful.'

Martin helped her up, hugged her.

‘Are you okay, Natalie?' he asked, his voice breaking.

‘I'm okay, Martin. Thank God you're here. What took so long? What the hell is going on?'

‘Let's get out of here and go home. I'll tell you everything on the way.'

It was 10pm when Martin's car pulled into the Eden dairy. On the drive to Eden he filled Natalie in on the events of the last week, culminating in his TV appearance that evening. Natalie said little, from time to time gasping, ‘oh my God,' as Martin told the story.

All the lights are were on. Arthur was in the lounge room pacing, glass of whisky in his hands.

‘Martin, what the.' He stopped when he saw Natalie.

‘Natalie, you're back. How's your aunt? Sorry to hear that she is not well.'

‘My aunt, Arthur? What are you talking about? I don't have an aunt.' And to Martin. ‘Haven't you told him?'

‘Told me what?' Arthur asked before Martin could answer.

‘I couldn't tell him, Natalie. I couldn't tell anyone. Trevor was adamant about that.'

‘Who's Trevor? What the hell is going on, Martin? And where has Natalie been?' Arthur was sounding frantic.

‘Let's sit down, Arthur, and I will tell you. You should go to bed Natalie. You must be exhausted.'

‘I will, Martin. I don't think I'll sleep though. Come to bed as soon as you finish telling Arthur. Good night, Arthur.'

‘Good night, Natalie.' And to Martin. ‘Okay Martin, let's hear it. It better be good, especially after your performance on TV tonight.'

Arthur took a long gulp of whisky and waited. Martin spoke for the next half hour telling Arthur everything.

‘We won't let him get away with that, Martin,' was Arthur's response once Martin had finished speaking.

‘Who is behind all this? Who is this Trevor?'

‘I've got no idea, Arthur. He did not say. But whoever they are, they're serious people. I was in no doubt that Natalie would be harmed if I did not cooperate. And I don't want to go through that again, Arthur. And I definitely don't want to put Natalie through anything like that again. So, I guess whoever this is will get away with it. Even if I wanted to, I can't take back what I said. It's all over. The Eden Effect. I'm done.'