Binary Read online

Page 9

 

  HOUR 5

  SAN DIEGO

  12 NOON PDT

  `Youre very quiet, Lewis said, as they drove to the police headquarters.

  Graves nodded. `I was thinking of an old story. Its back in the soft-data section of Wrights file. You know about the Murdock killing?

  Lewis shook his head.

  `It happened in New York five years ago. Wright was married to a girl named Sarah Layne, and when it broke up, she started seeing a man named Murdock. A Texas oil man. Big spender, big ladies man.

  Lewis nodded.

  `Well, Murdock got an anonymous tip that he would be killed. Got it about seven in the morning. He believed it, so he called his chauffeur and had him go over the car carefully. The chauffeur found a bomb, and notified Murdock. Murdock went down to the garage to see the bomb and had his chauffeur remove it. The chauffeur carried it away. And Murdock, who was an oilman and interested in explosives, leaned into the engine compartment to examine how the bomb had been wired in. And thirty seconds after the first bomb was removed, a second one exploded. Murdock was killed instantly.

  `Nice.

  Wright was questioned but never charged. There was nothing to point to him. Thats the story. But whoever did it knew a lot about Murdock.

  `You think thats the way Wright operates?

  `I know it is.

  Lewis was silent for a moment. `Why are we going

  to the police station? -

  `To find out how much Wright knows about me, Graves said.

  The spinning drum produced the transmitted image with almost painful slowness. It made a loud, distracting, clanking sound. Nevertheless, when the first sheet came off the drum Graves grabbed it up eagerly and read with intense concentration -ignoring the clanking, the room, the cops all around, Lewis, everything.

  The first sheet was printed out in block letters, as Wrights file had been:

  PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING: JOHN NORMAN GRAVES

  (STATE INT: DOM)

  REASON FOR TEST: FIVE YEAR SURVEY

  AUTHORIZATION FOR TEST: D/STATE 784-334-404

  SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: QUERY SUITABILITY FOR

  DOMESTIC WORK

  TEST SCORES AND RESULTS:

  1. RORSCHACH INK BLOT

  A. TEST SCORES: OF CHIEF INTEREST IS THE USE OF COLOUR AS RESPONSE DETERMINANT. THIS IS CONFUSING. ON THE ONE HAND, SUBJECT USES COLOUR AS A MAJOR FACTOR IN DETERMINING WHAT HE SEES IN THE FORM. THIS SUGGESTS EMOTIONAL VOLATILITY AND IMPULSIVENESS. ON THE OTHER HAND, HE IS RESPECTFUL OF THE FORMS OF THE COLOUR, SUGGESTING CAUTION AND PERHAPS OVER COMPLIANCE.

  B. DYNAMIC CONTENT: THERE IS A HEAVY EMPHASIS ON THEMES OF MASCULINE AGGRESSION. WAR, ANIMALS FIGHTING, WEAPONS, AND BLOOD RECUR OFTEN. A SENSE OF COMPETITION AND STRUGGLE IS USUALLY PRESENT. THERE IS A REMARKABLE LACK OF GUILT EXPRESSED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THESE THEMES. SUBJECT IS APPARENTLY COMFORTABLE IN SITUATIONS OF TENSION AND COMPETITION.

  C. PATTERNS OF THOUGHT ORGANIZATION: NO

  MAJOR INSIGHTS HERE EXCEPT A STRONG SENSE OF

  EXCITEMENT RELATING TO ALL COMPETITIVE THEMES AND SUBJECTS.

  D. TEST BEHAVIOUR: SUBJECT CLEARLY REGARDS THIS TESTING SITUATION AS ONE IN WHICH HE MUST PROVE HIMSELF. IN LINE WITH HIS COMPETITIVE IMPULSES, HE DEFINITELY PLAYS OFF THE TESTER IN A RATHER UNUSUAL MANNER. HE DOES NOT TRY TO PLEASE THE TESTER OR WIN HIS APPROVAL. NOR DOES HE EVIDENCE HESITANCY OR UNCERTAINTY ABOUT HIS CHOSEN ANSWERS. INSTEAD, HE UTILIZES THE TESTER AS A SOURCE OF INSIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEST ITSELF. HE ATTEMPTS TO MANIPULATE THE TESTER. ONE HAS THE SENSE THAT HE BRINGS ALL POSSIBLE RESOURCES TO ANY TEST SITUATION - AND HE REGARDS THE TESTER AS ONE AVAILABLE RESOURCE. THIS IS NOT STRICTLY FAIR, OF COURSE. BUT THERE IS A CERTAIN AMORAL QUALITY ABOUT THE SUBJECT IN COMPETITIVE SITUATIONS. ONE FEELS HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO WIN.

  2. THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)

  COMPETITION, THE NEED FOR ACTION, THE

  EXCITEMENT OF STRESS, AND THE HORROR OF

  FAILURE IN COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY WERE FREQUENT

  THEMES. IN CERTAIN INSTANCES THERE WAS A

  SENSE OF IMMORTALITY ACHIEVED BY VIGOROUS

  COMPETITION: THE SUBJECT TALKED ABOUT ONE

  PICTURE AS SHOWING A MAN WHO HAD CHEATED

  DEATH. IT IS WORTH INDICATING THAT IN MOST

  AREAS THE SUBJECT HAS A STRONGLY DEVELOPED

  SENSE OF CONVENTIONAL MORALS, PERHAPS EVEN

  AN OVERRESTRICTED SENSE. HOWEVER,

  `Wheres the next page? Graves said impatiently.

  `Coming off now, Lewis said, and pulled it from the machine. He handed it to Graves.

  IN COMPETITIVE SITUATIONS THESE MORALITIES ARE ABANDONED, AND IF THERE IS A CONFLICT - SUCH AS TWO MEN COMPETING FOR THE FAVOURS OF ONE WOMAN - THE SUBJECT WILL CHEERFULLY PROPOSE CHEATING IN ORDER TO WIN THE DAY.

  PSYCHOGENETICALLY IT IS CLEAR THE SUBJECT IS COMPETING WITH HIS FATHER IN A CLASSIC OEDIPAL SITUATION. STORIES ABOUT THE FATHER EMPHASIZE THE DEMANDING, UNCOMPROMISING, AND COMPETITIVE QUALITY OF THE FATHER-FIGURE AND THE DIFFICULTY OF WINNING APPROVAL. IT IS LIKELY THAT THE SUBJECT LIVES IN A WORLD PEOPLED BY HIS FATHER, AGAINST WHOM HE MUST CONSTANTLY STRIVE AND COMPETE.

  FAILURE IS ABHORRENT TO THE SUBJECT. HE USUALLY DOES NOT ALLOW THAT IT MIGHT OCCUR. PHYSICALLY HE EQUATES FAILURE WITH CASTRATION. THE FEAR OF FAILURE IS SO GREAT THAT THE SUBJECT MAY BE IMPULSIVE. QUICKNESS OF RESPONSE IS IMPORTANT TO HIM, AND A SOURCE OF PRIDE.

  3. ABBREVIATED WAIS IQ TEST

  RAPIDITY OF RESPONSE WAS A MAJOR FACTOR HERE IN PRODUCING AN INITIAL TEST SCORE OF 121. THE SUBJECT FELT COMPELLED TO FINISH EACH SECTION IN LESS THAN THE ALLOTTED TIME. TESTERS IMPRESSION IS THAT THE SUBJECT HAS A TEST SCORE AT LEAST 10 POINTS HIGHER THAN THAT. THIS IS CONFIRMED BY PAST IQ TESTS, WHICH HAVE SCORED THE SUBJECT IN THE 130-140 RANGE. THE SUBJECTS WILLINGNESS TO DAMAGE HIS OWN PERFORMANCE BY OVERLY FAST REACTION SHOULD BE NOTED.

  4. CRONBERG DIAGNOSTIC PERSONALITY

  QUESTIONNAIRE

  SUBJECT SCORES HIGHLY IN MANIC SCALES WITH SOME CONSISTENT EVIDENCE OF PARANOIA. THIS MAY WELL RELATE TO HIS COMPETITIVE DRIVES.

  5. SUMMARY

  `Is there another sheet? Graves asked. `Its coming, its coming, Lewis said. He smiled `Youre really devouring this, arent you? `I think its important.

  `Dont you know it all already? Its about you.

  `No, Graves said. `Its what somebody else thinks of me. Theres a difference.

  Lewis shrugged. The third and final sheet came from the printer. Graves read it.

  IN SUMMARY WE CAN SAY THAT JOHN GRAVES IS A HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, IMAGINATIVE, AND CONVENTIONALLY MORAL MAN WITH AN ASTOUNDINGLY STRONG COMPETITIVE DRIVE. HIS NEED TO COMPETE IS ALMOST HIS MOST OUTSTANDING TRAIT. IT SEEMS TO OVERWHELM EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF HIS PERSONALITY. IT IS HIGHLY DEVELOPED, AND RUTHLESS IN THE EXTREME. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT HE IS A GOOD BETTOR, GAMBLER, POKER AND CHESS PLAYER - TO NAME HOBBIES HE PROFESSES TO LIKE.

  IF THERE ARE ANY DEFECTS OR HIDDEN FLAWS IN HIS BEHAVIOUR, THEY ARE HIS IMPULSIVENESS AND HIS DESIRE TO FINISH A TEST SITUATION RAPIDLY. HE FREQUENTLY PERFORMS BELOW HIS MAXIMUM LEVEL BECAUSE OF A DESIRE FOR SPEED. HE OFTEN FEELS THAT A PROBLEM IS SOLVED WHEN IT IS ONLY HALF FINISHED, OR TWO-THIRDS FINISHED. THIS SITUATION MUST BE GUARDED AGAINST BY HAVING A LESS BRILLIANT BUT MORE THOROUGH PERSON CHECKING HIS WORK AT INTERVALS.

  Graves stared at the last page. `Is that all?

  Lewis nodded at the photoprinter, which had turned itself off, the roller no longer spinning. `Looks like it.

  `Ill be damned, Graves said. He folded the sheets carefully, put them in his pocket, and left the police station.

  The radio crackled. `701, this is 702. We are following the limo east on Route Five.

  Graves picked up the microphone. `Whos in the limo?

  `Only the subject, 701. And the chauffeur.

  `Nobody else?

  `No, 701.

  `When did they leave the apartment?

  `About five minutes ago.

  `All right,
702. Out.

  Graves looked at Lewis. `Where now? Lewis asked.

  `Route Five, east, Graves said. `And step on it.

  The White Grumman Gulf Stream jet landed gracefully and taxied to a stop near a small hangar. The side door went down and two men climbed off. Several workmen in coveralls boarded the plane. After a moment they began unloading two large cardboard boxes.

  Standing near the end of the runway of the small private field in El Cajon, Graves squinted through binoculars. The heat made everything shimmer; San Diego was hot, but El Cajon, twelve miles inland, was much hotter. `Can you make it out? Graves asked. ,

  Beside him Lewis leaned against the-roof of the sedan to steady his arms as he held the binoculars. He pulled his elbows up quickly. `Ouch, he said. He held the binoculars freehand. `I dont know what they are, he said. `But I know what they look like. They look like mattress boxes.

  Graves lowered his glasses. `Thats what they look like to me. Where did this flight originate?

  `Salt Lake. A private airfield.

  `Mattresses from Utah? Did the plane make intermediate stops?

  Lewis shook his head. `I dont know. But it certainly wouldnt have to stop: its got a cruising range of just under four thousand miles.

  While they watched, they heard the tinny sound of the car radio saying, `The President is due to arrive at any moment. The delegates are tense with anticipation. No one yet knows what he intends -

  Graves reached in and clicked it off.

  Meanwhile, the workmen carried the two mattresssized boxes into a green hangar.

  `He rented that hangar last week, Lewis said. `Moved a lot of equipment in.

  `What kind of equipment?

  `Nobodys had a look yet.

  Graves bit his lip. That was an opportunity theyd missed. Several days ago somebody should have been in that hangar at midnight, taking pictures.

  `Do you want to move in on him now? Lewis asked.

  Graves shook his head. `Hes got five or six workmen there. Theres two of us, and two in 702. None of us have guns. He sighed. `Besides, what if they really are mattresses?

  `They cant be.

  Graves didnt think it possible either. But he wasnt willing to take a chance. He found himself worrying about Wrights new apartment in San Diego. Perhaps this was all a diversion, a feint to get him away from the apartment while something important was done there. He had no confidence in the men sitting across the street, observing and filming. Like every organization in the world, the State Department hired mundane men to carry out mundane jobs. Stationary surveillance was the most mundane. If the men werent dull when they started, they soon became that way.

  `Well wait, he said.

  The mattresses were taken into the hangar, and the limousine was driven inside. The doors were closed.

  `Time?

  `Twelve forty-one, Lewis said.

  A minute passed, and then something remarkable happened. The men came out of the hangar and walked over to the aeroplane. They stood alongside it, ostensibly checking it over but actually doing nothing at all; just waiting.

  Wright was not among them.

  `I dont get it, Graves said. `Wheres Wright?

  `He must still be inside.

  Their sedan was parked more than 200 yards from the hangar. But the wind was blowing in their direction, and they heard a faint mechanical sound. A kind of thumping or chugging.

  Lewis. opened the trunk and took out a directional microphone. It looked like a miniature radar antenna - a dish two feet in diameter, with a central barrel protruding. He put on earphones and tuned in the microphone.

  `What are you getting?

  Lewis shifted the direction of the mike slightly. It was quite sensitive, but had to be aimed precisely.

  `Wind.

  `Can you get that not -

  `Here.

  He gave Graves the earphones. Graves listened. With the microphone aimed directly, the mechanical sound was clear. It consisted of a low hum with an intermittent pulsing thump.

  `Sounds like a pump to me, he said. He listened to the sound for several seconds more. `What do you make of it?

  `A pump, Lewis said, glancing at his watch. `Its been going five minutes now.

  Graves turned from the hangar to the aeroplane and the men who were clustered around it. They had broken up into small groups of two and three, talking quietly, occasionally glancing at the hangar. George, the chauffeur, was among them. Several of the workmen asked George questions. George kept shaking his head.

  Graves set down his binoculars. Why would you clear everybody out of the hangar? He could think of only one reason: Wright didnt want them to see what was going on. But as he thought about it, he saw a second reason: that Wright was engaged in something very dangerous and wanted the others a safe distance away.

  Dangerous how? Radiation? Explosives? What?

  `Ten minutes now, Lewis said.

  Graves scratched his head. He lit a cigarette and stared at the others by the aeroplane. It didnt make sense, he thought. Whatever Wright intended, it didnt make sense. If he didnt want the workmen around, he could easily have timed it so that they would be out to lunch. Instead hed aroused their curiosity. Theyd talk about this episode for days, maybe weeks afterwards.

  Apparently Wright didnt care about that. Why not? And then as he watched, the workmen began walking back to the hangar. He had seen no signal, but they all moved at once.

  Lewis took off the earphones. `Fifteen minuses, he said. `The pumps stopped.

  Graves checked his watch. It was a few minutes before 1 PM. He was beginning to feel tired. It had been a long day already, starting with the call from Phelps at 4 Am and the trip to Los Angeles.

  He tit another cigarette and watched the hangar. And then things began to happen very fast. The limousine drove out and off towards the entrance to the airfield. And a second vehicle emerged from the hangar.

  A moving van. It followed the limousine.

  Graves got onto the intercom. `702, this is 701. You got them?

  `Got them, 701.

  `Stay with them. If they split up, follow the limousine; forget the van.

  `Right, 701. Are you with us?

  `No, Graves said. `Were staying here. He clicked off the microphone and said to Lewis, `I want to look inside that hangar.

  HOUR 4

  EL CAJON

  1 PM PDT

  It took them three minutes to get to the hangar, and by that time it was deserted except for an elderly man who was cleaning up with a long broom. There were one or two workmen out by the jet, but they paid no attention as Graves and Lewis went into the hangar.

  The old man waved and leaned on his broom. `You looking for Mr Johnson?

  `Yes, Graves said.

  `Just missed him, the old man said. `Left a couple minutes ago.

  `Damn, Graves said. `You know where he went?

  `No idea, the old man said. `Hes a strange one. I guess rich people get that way. He pointed to a corner of the room. `I mean, look at that, he said. There were several boxes stacked in the corner. `Now what am I supposed to do with that? Oh, bring in plenty of it, says Mr Johnson. And then he doesnt touch it.