The Secret of the Ancient Alchemist (35 page)

“
Over my
dead body. I want both of you out of here!” Without another word,
Art Foster stormed out.

Myrtle’s lips
quivered. “Mom, what’s this?”

Mara couldn’t
tell her daughter that her father had changed and that marriage was
nothing to want, nothing to aspire for. She wanted to tell her to
run and find a job, to forget the idea. She couldn’t tell her that
Art wanted neither of them and that at sixty-one, she was penniless
and heartbroken.

Myrtle looked
at her still hoping for an answer but Mara couldn’t find words.

“
Come on,
Julius,” she said finally, “Let’s go.”

Less than ten
minutes she started her car and bolted unto the highway going
north.

“
I hate
them,” she shouted. “They think money’s everything. It’s not.
That’s what they live for. It sickens me. There’s more to life than
money.”

“
Hey,
you’re driving too fast. Pull aside a minute,” Olsen
pleaded.

Myrtle pulled
onto the curb. “I don’t want to go back home, Julius, not
ever.”

“
Try to
be calm, love.”

“
How
could Daddy do this? Mom drugs herself every day and half the time
she’s asleep. Dad’s never home because he has another life
elsewhere.”

Olsen held her
close. He felt her body tremble. “Please don’t upset yourself like
this. We can work this out.”

Myrtle managed
a smile. “When I’m with you, I feel just fine. I know you can heal
me. I know you can.”

“
Let’s go to my house. I’ll fix you something and we can
talk, okay?” As he held her, Olsen felt more than the pain of
Myrtle’s broken heart. He felt fear. Art Foster was the man who was
stalking him and he was G.W. Foster’s younger brother.

Chapter 79

Barnaby hurried
back to his office having wasted time chasing Art down the lobby.
As he approached his door, a woman’s worried face made him forget
about him and his silly outburst.

“
Dr.
Barnaby?” she called in a troubled tone.

“
Sorry to
keep you waiting. Please, come in.”

“
This is
my son, Kyle.”

“
Hello,
Kyle,” Barnaby smiled.

“
We need
to talk to you.”

“
Sure.
Sit.”

The woman
scanned the room that seemed no different from any medic’s room. A
stethoscope lay on top Barnaby’s desk and boxes of pills were piled
everywhere. With much anxiety, she fitted her oversize frame on a
seat.

“
What can
I do for you?” Barnaby inquired.

Her
embarrassment was obvious as she tried to find words. “Uh…uh.”

“
Take
your time,” Barnaby encouraged.

“
He is
becoming a female. My son is male and female, doctor.”

Before he could
respond, his phone rang. He grabbed it.

“
Louis!”
he heard Mara scream. “Louis, help me, help me, please,” she
cried.

“
Mara,
what’s going on?”

“
I…I,”
the woman gasped for breath.

“
For God
sakes, what is it?”

“
I…I
followed Myrtle and Olsen to Lake Forest after Art walked
out.”

“
Calm
down a bit, Mara.”

“
As I was
coming out my car, I heard a loud bang. Some…Someone shot Julius
Olsen, Louis, as he was about to enter his home. My God, Louis,
someone shot him,” the woman cried.

“
Is he
dead?”

“
He is,
dear God, he is. Please, help us.”

“
Where
are you?”

“
Number 13, Lake Forest Condos.”

Chapter 80

“
Julius!
Julius!” Myrtle cried, her tears flowing into the blood that seeped
from Olsen’s head. His body was face down on his terrace, lifeless.
“Julius, talk to me,” she sobbed uncontrollably.

In her
distress, she took no notice of the Caucasian man perched on a
branch thirty feet from her, nor did she see when he placed his
shotgun and silencer away. The compound of Lake Forest Condos was
eerie and empty at 2.40 P.M.

“
I called
the police,” Mara said pulling her daughter from her grasp of
Olsen’s shirt but Myrtle held on. “Please, get a hold of yourself,”
Mara pleaded, tears streaming from her eyes too.

“
I can’t.
He’s dead. He’s dead.” Myrtle was beyond hysterical.

An ambulance
and a police car pulled up. Two men surrounded Olsen’s body as
neighbours pulled curtains to peep.

“
Looks
like some kind of high powered bullet hit him. It’s ripped off the
back of his skull. Somebody really wanted this dude dead. Let’s get
him out of here. Move aside, please. Move aside,” a paramedic
ordered.

Reluctantly,
Myrtle let go of Olsen’s shirt and held herself up. It wasn’t long
before the ambulance sped away with him in the back covered in a
white sheet of death. Myrtle looked aged and gaunt staring after
it. Near lifeless, she slid to the ground and buried her head in
her hands.

“
I love
him with all my heart. I can’t live anymore. I don’t want to.” Her
chest heaved with emotion as more tears flowed. “Dear God, why?”
she wailed.

“
I know
it’s hard, Baby.” Mara wrapped her arms around her daughter,
desperately trying to comfort her. Myrtle’s blouse was wet from
tears. Olsen’s blood was all over her skirt. The wind pushed back
the hair from her face exposing eyes that stared empty. It was as
if Myrtle’s life had ended too. “Life gives us too much, my child.
I prayed every day that something like this wouldn’t happen to you.
All I’ve ever wanted was your happiness.”

“
I don’t
want to go on,” she said.

“
You’re
carrying his child. You have to.”

Suddenly,
Myrtle grew quiet. Her focus shifted from Olsen’s blood that was on
the terrace to herself.

“
The
pains are coming,” she screamed, placing her hand to her stomach.
“Dear God, the baby’s coming.”

“
What?”
Mara cried out.

“
I’m in
labour. Oh! God,” she screamed again.

“
Are you
sure?”

“
Mom!”

Mara ran next
door and banged on a window. “Help me! Please help me.”

An ambulance
sped Myrtle to All Saints Medical. In the lobby, Mara sat alone
waiting. She looked up as Barnaby appeared.

“
I’m
sorry things turned out this way.” He placed a comforting arm
around her. “I’m truly sorry about all of this.”

“
At our
age we pick up the pieces, don’t we?”

“
Louis?”
someone called out.

Barnaby tuned
to the approaching footsteps of Dr. Raj Chandra.

“
I’m
sorry,” Chandra said. “Myrtle passed away.”

Mara stared
into the air. She seemed a hundred times more drawn but managed to
find her voice.

“
Somehow,
I expected it. I knew something like this would happen.”

“
Myrtle
had a boy. The baby’s doing just fine.”

“
I wish I
could take him but I don’t even know how I’m going to
live.”

“
Don’t
worry about him now,” Barnaby said.

“
Strange
how life takes its turns.”

“
It is,
isn’t it? Come into my office and I’ll get you some tea. We need to
talk and to call Art.” He turned to Raj Chandra, “Can you join
us?”

“
Sure.”

Barnaby led
the way to the upper floor.

Chapter 81

“
You’re
gone, my friend, and…and it’s hard,” Hart said wiping his eyes as
he stood over Olsen’s burial site at Woodland Cemetery. The crowd
had dispersed when he began walking to the parking lot feeling
lost. He’d even forgotten Avery Lengard and the gospel pages. He
walked slowly, his head bent.

“
Dr.
Hart?” someone called.

He jumped. The
voice sounded much like Olsen’s. The intonation in the h was his,
he swore. His heart thumping, he spun around. Standing before him
was a tall man. His hair was curly and grey, his posture erect and
youthful, something that belied his age. He was a deeply saddened
man.

“
I’m
Radan,” the man said stooping down to caress the dirt that covered
his son’s grave. Tears rolled down his eyes as he asked, “Who did
this?”

“
I wish I
knew, believe me. I’m so sorry. More than anything, I wish I could
bring him back.”

“
If only
we could.” Radan pulled a handkerchief from his jacket. He wiped
his face and spoke. “I…I wasn’t the best father to him and I wanted
desperately to make up for it. His short temper was on account of
me. I came here to tell him all that I didn’t in his life. Julius
was born by insemination. His biological mother is unknown. My wife
adorned him. He was her life and soul. Thank God she’s already
gone. This would have been too much.”

“
I’m very
sorry, Mr. Olsen. Believe me, I’m lost for words.”

“
When he
was a boy he was bored with school and he would look at us with
pleading eyes that said, please try and understand me. But, I
didn’t and I would hit him more. Those eyes have haunted me all my
life. I never knew about brilliance. Nobody in my family went to
university. It was my dream for him. One day a teacher came and
told us he was different. They gave him a test and he went to
university at the age of twelve.”

“
Olsen
wasn’t just a brilliant man but a man of consciousness, a simple
man who never let his talents get to him. I think that’s what I
loved about him most.” Hart wiped away drops of rain from his face
with the back of his hand. “He was humble and a friend to
all.”

“
When he
left Copenhagen, I was upset. People were envious of him but I
didn’t want him to come here. Now, he’s dead.”

Hart looked at
the sky. “The rain’s coming harder. We’d better go.”

Radan turned
and bid farewell to his son for the last time. “Good bye, Son. I
love you and I know you are with her. I will always love you.”

“
Please
make yourself comfortable. I’ll go get some coffee.” Hart led the
way through Olsen’s house half an hour later.

“
Thank
you, Tom.”

From the back
patio, Radan stared at a skyline of modern buildings against a
backdrop of the Pacific Coast. He walked in and sat on Olsen’s worn
sofa. A foot away, he caught a glimpse of a letter on a side table.
It was a letter from NASA. He picked it up and read it. His eyes
watered with pride. Julius had indeed fulfilled his dream to be in
space one day. He put the letter in his pocket as Hart placed
teacups down and sat facing him.

“
Please,
help yourself.”

“
This is
a nice place, Tom.” Radan gazed around the room again. A photograph
of Myrtle caught his attention. “Who is she? She’s very
pretty.”

“
That’s
Myrtle. They were engaged to be married.”

“
Julius
first got married at the age of nineteen.”

“
To
Steffi Larsen. He told me about it.”

“
I guess
he needed something that felt real in his life back then. It didn’t
work out. Where’s Myrtle?”

“
Myrtle
passed away in childbirth, yesterday.”

“
Dear
God.” Radan’s face cringed with more pain.

“
You have
a grandson. Baby Olsen so far until we find a name.”

“
What?”

“
You have
a grandson,” Hart repeated.

“
Where is
he?”

“
He’s at
All Saints Medical. I’m going to see him later. Would you like to
come?”

“
Of
course I would.” Radan managed a smile for the first time and took
a sip of coffee as Hart stared at all that remained of Olsen. His
eyes rested on piles of data that stood on a long table at the side
of the room. He was every bit a hardened man but he wasn’t coming
to grips with Olsen’s murder.

“
Have you
any idea who did this, Tom?”

“
Possibly
Art Foster, Myrtle’s father.”

“
But,
why?”

“
It may
be connected to what he found in Inca artefacts or, maybe, a
personal reason. I have no idea why anyone would want to harm Olsen
to be honest.”

“
There
has to be more to it than a date, Tom.”

“
I
agree.”

“
Can you
think of anything at all?”

Hart pondered.
“I…I know Olsen discovered what he believed was alien
information.”

“
Alien
information?”

“
He
believed that numbers etched on a tablet that Bentley found was a
date for their return. Maybe, that was the cause of his death. I
really don’t understand this. Bentley waited a very long time for
someone who could decipher Quipu. When Olsen showed how, he was
ecstatic. He was deciphering a lot, including the Quipus on Andean
religion. Information about aliens came from a Quipu.”

“
Julius
was a master of codes. He could decode anything. Do you know that
Julius has a brother here in the US?”