“Come on!” Melanie encouraged. She began to inch her way along the corridor, while running her hand against the wall. The others allowed themselves to be pulled along. Gradually, their eyes adjusted and by the time the group neared the door to the stairwell, they could appreciate the small amount of moonlight that seeped through the cracks.
Inside the stairwell, it was comparatively bright. Large windows on each landing flooded the stairs with moonlight.
The first-floor hall was much easier to walk in than the second-floor hall because of the windows in the main-entrance doors.
Melanie led them to a position just outside Bertram’s office.
“Now comes the acid test,” Kevin said, as Melanie tried her card in the lock.
There was an immediate, reassuring click. The door opened.
“No problem,” Melanie said buoyantly.
The three stepped inside the room and were again thrust into almost complete darkness. The only light was a meager glow that filtered through the open door into the inner office.
“What now?” Kevin questioned. “We’re not going to find anything in the dark.”
“I agree,” Melanie said. She felt along the wall for the switch. As soon as her finger touched it, she switched it on.
For a moment, they blinked at each other. “Whoa, seems awfully bright,” Melanie said.
“I hope it doesn’t wake up those Moroccan guards across the street,” Kevin said.
“Don’t even joke about it,” Melanie said. She walked into the inner office and turned on the light. Kevin and Candace joined her.
“I think we should be methodical about this,” Melanie said. “I’ll take the desk. Candace, you take the file cabinet, and, Kevin, why don’t you take the outer office and, while you’re at it, keep an eye on the hall. Give a yell if anybody appears.”
“Now that’s a happy thought,” Kevin said.
Siegfried turned left at the motor pool and accelerated his new Toyota LandCruiser toward the animal center. The vehicle had been modified for his disability so that he could shift with his left hand.
“Does Cameron have any idea why we are so concerned about the security of Isla Francesca?” Bertram asked.
“No, not at all,” Siegfried said.
“Has he asked?”
“No, he’s not that kind of person. He takes orders. He doesn’t question them.”
“What about telling him and cutting him in on a small percentage?” Bertram suggested. “He could be very helpful.”
“I’m not diluting our percentages!” Siegfried said. “Don’t even suggest it. Besides, Cameron is already helpful. He does whatever I tell him to do.”
“What worries me the most about this episode with Kevin Marshall is that he must have said something to those women,” Bertram said. “The last thing I want is for them to start thinking the bonobos on the island are using fire. If that gets out, it’s just a matter of time before we have animal-rights zealots coming out of the woodwork. GenSys will shut the program down faster than you can blink your eye.”
“What do you think we should do?” Siegfried asked. “I could arrange to have the three of them just disappear.”
Bertram glanced at Siegfried and shivered. He knew the man was not joking.
“No, that could be worse,” Bertram said. He looked back out through the windshield. “That might stimulate a major State-side investigation. I’m telling you, I think we should dart the bonobos, put them in the cages I brought out there, and bring them in. Sure as hell, they won’t be using fire in the animal center.”
“No, goddamn it!” Siegfried snapped. “The animals stay on the island. If they’re brought in, you won’t be able to keep it a secret. Even if they don’t use fire, we know they’re cunning little bastards from the problems we’ve had during retrievals, and maybe they’ll start doing something else equally as weird. If they do, handlers will start talking. We’ll be in worse shape.”
Bertram sighed and ran a nervous hand through his white hair. Reluctantly, he admitted to himself that Siegfried had a point. Still, he thought it best to bring the animals in, mainly to keep them isolated from each other.
“I’ll be talking to Raymond Lyons tomorrow,” Siegfried said. “I tried to call him earlier. I figured that since Kevin Marshall had already talked to him, we might as well get his opinion about what to do. After all, this whole operation is his creation. He doesn’t want trouble any more than we do.”
“True,” Bertram said.
“Tell me something,” Siegfried said. “If the animals are using fire, how do you think they got it? You still think it was lightning?”
“I’m not sure,” Bertram said. “It could have been lightning. But, then again, they managed to steal a bunch of tools, rope, and other stuff when we had the crew out there constructing the island side of the bridge mechanism. No one even thought about the possibility of theft. I mean, everything was secured in toolboxes. Anyway, they might have gotten matches. Of course, I have no idea how they could have figured out how to use them.”
“You just gave me an idea,” Siegfried said. “Why don’t we tell Kevin and the women there’s been a crew going out to the island over the past week to do some kind of work like cutting trails. We can say that we’ve just found out that they have been starting the fires.”
“Now that’s a damn good idea!” Bertram said. “It makes perfect sense. We’ve even considered putting a bridge over the Rio Diviso.”
“Why the hell didn’t we think of it earlier?” Siegfried questioned. “It’s so obvious.”
Ahead the LandCruiser’s headlights illuminated the first of the animal-center’s buildings.
“Where do you want me to park?” Siegfried asked.
“Pull right up to the front,” Bertram said. “You can wait in the air. It will only take me a second.”
Siegfried took his foot off the accelerator and began to brake.
“What the hell!” Bertram said.
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s a light on in my office,” Bertram answered.
“This looks promising,” Candace called out as she pulled a large folder from the top drawer of the file cabinet. The folder was dark blue and closed with an attached elastic. In the upper right-hand corner it said: Isla Francesca.
Melanie pushed in the drawer of the desk she’d been searching and walked over to Candace. Kevin appeared from the outer office and joined them.
Candace snapped off the elastic and opened the folder. She slid the contents out onto a library table. There were wiring diagrams of electronic equipment, computer printouts, and numerous maps. There was also a large and lumpy manila envelope that had the words Stevenson Bridge written across its top.
“Now we’re cooking,” Candace said. She opened the envelope, reached in, and pulled out a ring with five identical keys.
“Voilà,” Melanie said. She took the ring and began to remove one of the keys.
Kevin peeked at the maps and picked up a detailed contour map. He had it partially unfolded when he became aware of a flickering light out of the corner of his eye. Glancing at the window, he saw the reflections of headlight beams dancing along the slats of the half open blinds. Stepping over to the window, he peeked out.
“Uh-oh!” Kevin croaked. “It’s Siegfried’s car.”
“Quick!” Melanie said. “Get this all back into the file cabinet.”
Melanie and Candace hastily crammed everything back into the folder, got the folder into the file cabinet, and closed the drawer. No sooner was it closed than they heard the rattle of the front door of the building as it was opened.
“This way!” Melanie whispered frantically. She motioned toward a door behind Bertram’s desk. Quickly, the three went through the door. As Kevin closed it, he could hear the door to the outer office being pulled open.