Crouching inside one of the tattered cupboards down the hall, he waited to capture something useful on his radio waves. The usual ceremonial induction took place, only to serve tradition, but even just by listening in, Paddy could hear that the atmosphere was tense and filled with a subdued uncertainty from the members. They spoke with less zeal, almost as if the recent vote on the Renatus matter had sealed their cosmic fate, as if they had committed some sort of blasphemy that angered their gods.
Of course Paddy did not know these men by their voices, but what was of more significance was what was said. And that was, after all, what he was here for.
“He was murdered by what his driver says was a transient. Apparently a young girl he wished to… entertain.”
“How was he killed? I think that is what we all need to know most.”
A murmur of agreement buzzed through Paddy’s speaker and he perked up to pay attention to the coming comment. A shrill, older voice spoke next.
“He was asphyxiated. A large amount of meat was thrust down his throat after a paralytic agent was administered to immobilize him.”
Paddy swallowed hard. That was a strange way to assassinate someone, but then again, he had learned with experience that killers were as creative and versatile as artists. He wondered who the girl was and what her motives were. It was a well-known fact that Kees Maas was a cannibal and pedophile, to mention his most prevalent traits, but this murder sounded premeditated in every way.
“Jaap, when you leave for Padua, make sure that you are well-guarded. We should not overestimate our invincibility,” another voice added calmly.
“Yes, I realize. Could it be that they know about our….umm… impervious nature?” Jaap asked. Paddy recognized his voice perfectly from the house stakeout.
Impervious nature? Paddy thought to himself. Could that be a figure of speech? Or is that why they never have security in place to protect them?
“They must. Why else would Kees have been choked instead of shot or stabbed? They must know that we cannot be killed by conventional methods.”
Paddy frowned in the dark shelter of the smelly old cupboard, mouthing “what?” to himself as the words came over the earpiece.
“Thank the gods for Alfred Meiner,” another man sighed.
Who? Why do we not have a file on this character? Paddy pondered, shocked at the new information. He made a mental note to find out who this man was and why he was responsible for the council’s apparent immunity to certain attacks.
Then another voice brought something even more shocking to the fore. Paddy hardly dared to breathe just to make sure he would not miss a single syllable.
“What about Nina Gould? Is that happening?”
Paddy gasped, immediately holding his breath.
“Yes, that is what Jaap will be finalizing before going to Venice.”
“Oh, all right then.”
“Are you gentlemen sure this is necessary?”
“Absolutely,” a stern voice came from nowhere. It reminded Paddy of Sir Christopher Lee and his penchant for playing villains, for some reason. “We know that Dr. Gould is not only a witness to many of the Black Sun’s doings, but the prospective Renatus finds her invaluable. The fool is in love with her, after all.”
A resounding agreement hummed among the men again. Another remarked, “She is the reason for many of his indiscretions against our organization. Had it not been for Nina Gould, Dave Purdue would have been bagged and successfully completed his conversion by now.”
“Not to mention he would have finished Final Solution 2 by now,” the shriller voice revealed.
Final Solution 2? Paddy thought. He was thoroughly confounded by all this new information, but he wished he knew how to put into place all these puzzle pieces he was given.
“This is true. Once we take care of Gould and she is off the board, Purdue has no choice but to focus all this strengths on Final Solution 2. Is she in Scotland now?”
“Yes, Izaak. We have it on good authority that she is back in her hometown of Oban.”
“Has McLaughlin made her move yet?”
McLaughlin? Jesus! How many people are involved in this thing? And what the fuck is this thing at any rate? Paddy thought, absolutely baffled. He felt like a full canteen, carrying so much liquid that his cap would pop, overflowing with new and very disturbing details. All this had to be investigated immediately. With Nina in danger there was no time to unravel this plot and get to Nina before they did. From what he heard, Paddy knew that this McLaughlin character was already in Nina’s vicinity.
I have to find out who McLaughlin is, first of all. And then find out where in Oban Nina is at the moment. She will not be pleased to hear that Sam is back in her life, but we have to protect her at all costs, even if the little harpy shrieks and claws, Paddy decided. But he could not leave until the meeting had adjourned. What if there was more information?
While the committee discussed other things, such as the circumstances of Kees Maas’ death, his funeral arrangements, and media coverage, Paddy sat slouched in his hiding place. His heart pounded wildly and his adrenaline surged at the new developments. Here he was thinking he was collecting intel on a crooked financier involved with a global organization of ill repute, when actually there was so much more to the Black Sun and the council’s objective. What was Final Solution 2? What kept them alive?
“Now, brothers, we have to return to our own nests and start planning the last phases of the plan. The gods are becoming restless, and I certainly do not want to be at the receiving end of their wrath. Let’s allow the rest of the world to suffer that fate when Longinus is activated,” the deep voice concluded.
Longinus is still out there? Paddy thought. I knew it had been stolen by Purdue, and that Purdue’s sister, Agatha, had stolen it from him in turn… or did she? Maybe they were in on it, creating a diversion to fool their pursuers?’
It was all too perplexing, and Paddy came into this intelligence assignment thinking he had covered all the bases, that he knew everything about this operation. Was he sent in to find all this? Or does MI6 really not carry any knowledge of this, of the extent of the Black Sun’s plans for world domination?
And Sam and Nina thought they were rid of this bunch, finally. My God, I don’t even want to tell Sam all this stuff. Maybe he shouldn’t know? Paddy’s inner dialogue ranted. No, you underestimate him. He is an investigative journalist of the highest caliber, Patrick. He will find out, just like he found out you lied to him about the council on this mission. And if he finds out you kept from him that Nina’s life was in danger, you will never dink together again. Don’t be stupid.
Paddy nodded as if he was talking to someone else. His mind was made up. The problem he had to deal with now was to make all this information available to his Secret Intelligence Service supervisors. After all, they were the ones who sent him out to get intel on Jaap Roodt. But if they had no knowledge of the true agenda behind Roodt’s affiliations, it would take more time to push them into action, legally. They would have to investigate the whole of the Black Sun and its members, of which there were incalculable numbers of agents and locations.