Kate glanced at the white-haired man seated beside her, Dr Uhlemann in the process of removing a hypodermic needle from the crook of his arm. Withered lips curved in a dreamy smile, he handed the used needle to the blonde-haired woman in the front passenger seat. Angelika, in turn, placed the needle into a plastic case.
Rolling down his shirt sleeve, Dr Uhlemann nonchalantly returned Kate’s stare. ‘You look like a terrified mourning dove. It’s a drug. Nothing more, nothing less. Doctors administer it to patients all the time under the pharmaceutical name diamorphine.’ Buttoning the cuff at his wrist, he added, ‘I wonder how many of the sick and dying are aware that their doctors have turned them into heroin addicts?’
Angelika affected a horrified expression. ‘I’m shocked to learn that you’ve become a skag junkie.’
Chortling, Dr Uhlemann absently stroked a small salt-and-pepper Schnauzer that was curled on his lap. A moment later, his facial muscles reconfigured into an ill-tempered frown. ‘Why isn’t Dolf driving? I don’t like looking at the back of this man’s head.’
‘The view from the front isn’t much better,’ Angelika remarked cruelly. ‘As for Dolf, I dismissed him early. Not only did he smell like a shit pile, but he looked like one, too.’
Worried that she might be the only sane person in the vehicle, Kate took a deep, serrated breath. The gunfight, the dog, the needle, the J. S. Bach cello suite softly playing on the sedan’s sound system. It was all so surreal. As though she’d just landed in the middle of a Fellini movie with a cast of macabre characters.
Angelika peered over the back of her seat. A quizzical expression on her face, she said, ‘I’m curious, little mouse … did you love Finnegan McGuire?’
Refusing to share something so personal with a heartless killer, Kate bowed her head. Eyes welling with tears, she clasped both hands together and placed them squarely in her lap, Angelika’s mocking tone the proverbial dagger to the heart.
The little Schnauzer, sensing Kate’s distress, whimpered softly.
‘Alas, Sergeant McGuire has no one but himself to blame for his demise,’ Dr Uhlemann intoned, proving that his blade was just as sharp. ‘Like Thor, he arrogantly thought that he was invincible.’
‘Only to discover that a hammer is no match for a sub-machine gun,’ Angelika jeered. Removing a tube of lipstick from a storage compartment, she flipped down the sun visor and proceeded to apply a coat of crimson red lipstick.
Sickened by their callous remarks, Kate turned her head and stared out of the window. Although it was difficult to see through the tinted glass, she recognized the wrought-iron fence that bordered the Jardins des Tuileries.
The chauffeur slowed for a red light.
‘When I was a child, I visited my father while he was stationed in Paris.’ Raising his arm, Dr Uhlemann directed Kate’s attention to the esplanade on the other side of the fence. ‘The SS officers, attired in white shorts and tank tops, would perform their morning calisthenics on that grassy field to your left.’
‘Ooh-la-la! How I would have enjoyed seeing that,’ Angelika cooed before lifting a folded sheet of paper and blotting her lipstick.
‘Parisians, notoriously slothful by nature, would stand at the fence and gawk. What they didn’t grasp, and still don’t comprehend, is that communal exercise provides the foundation for a vigorous society.’
‘Don’t you mean a martial society?’ Kate counterpunched.
‘Any society,’ Dr Uhlemann retorted, a marked edge to his voice. ‘Indolent people are inherently weak. Of body and mind.’
Still preening in front of the visor’s mirror, Angelika said, ‘And since we have no souls, you need not enquire about that.’
The traffic light changed to green.
‘Driver, take us to the obelisk. Wolfgang needs to be walked,’ Dr Uhlemann ordered, an imperious monarch who couldn’t be bothered using a polite tone with one of his subjects.
Wordlessly nodding his head, the nameless chauffeur turned left at the corner. A few moments later, in typical Paris fashion, he pulled the vehicle on to the pavement at Place de la Concorde. At that hour of the day, there was no one lurking to protest the illegal manoeuvre.
The back-seat locks popped up with a loud click!
Clipping a leash on to Wolfgang’s collar, Dr Uhlemann glanced over at her. ‘I insist that you accompany us, Doctor Bauer.’
Intuiting that it was a royal command, Kate dutifully got out of the sedan. Angelika stood at the ready beside the open door. Red lips curled in a smirk, the blonde flipped open her leather jacket, letting Kate glimpse her holstered gun.
‘You can’t run fast enough, little mouse.’
‘As I am well aware,’ Kate muttered under her breath. Although the occasional car drove past, there was no cover, Place de la Concorde being an open plaza that encompassed nearly twenty acres. She’d be shot in the back before she could flag down a passing motorist.
Grabbing hold of Kate’s elbow, Angelika ushered her over to the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the base of the obelisk. She then took the leash from Dr Uhlemann and proceeded to walk the Schnauzer.
At a loss for words, Kate stared at the 75-foot-high monument. Illuminated by spotlights, the red granite appeared tawny hued. In a city dominated by neo-classical architecture, the ancient Egyptian obelisk was an exotic sight.
‘Given that it weighs over two hundred tons, it’s amazing to think that it’s carved from a single piece of granite,’ Dr Uhlemann remarked conversationally. ‘In order to transport it from Thebes, a special ship had to be built, an engineering feat. The details of that epic journey are illustrated on the pedestal.’ He pointed to the inlaid gold diagrams that decorated the base of the obelisk. ‘As you undoubtedly know, the monument is a key element on the Axe Historique.’
Hoping to establish a rapport with Dr Uhlemann – Captivity Tactics 101 – Kate asked the obvious: ‘How exactly does the obelisk fit into the Vril equation?’
‘At the heliacal rising of Sirius, a tremendous burst of astral energy is released. The obelisk acts as an antenna to transmit and direct that astral energy along the Axe Historique.’
Kate tipped her head back and peered at the gold cap on top of the monument. ‘So the obelisk acts like a radio tower?’
‘Precisely.’
Just then, Angelika walked towards them, Wolfgang obediently trotting at her heels. ‘I love this feeling,’ she purred. ‘It’s incredibly invigorating. Like the time I rode the waves at Big Sur.’
She was right; there was a palpable energy in the air.
‘What you’re feeling is the discharge of negative ions from the electromagnetically-charged telluric line. The water spewing from the fountains magnifies the effect.’ Dr Uhlemann jutted his chin at the two massive water fountains situated approximately fifty yards away.
‘I don’t care what causes it,’ Angelika replied as she flung her long blonde tresses over her shoulder. ‘It feels so wonderfully –’ A buzzing sound stopped her in midstream. Unclipping the cell phone at her waist, she glanced at the display screen. ‘I must take this call.’ She handed the dog lead to Dr Uhlemann before stepping away from them.
The call was brief, Angelika returning within moments. Approaching Dr Uhlemann, she placed a hand on his shoulder as she leaned close to whisper something in his ear.
Clearly stunned, he said, ‘Are you absolutely certain?’
Angelika nodded. ‘He has an eight-hour drive back to Paris. We’ll have it by one o’clock this afternoon.’