Chapter 24

 

It turned out that Jim had a similar voice to Rudy’s mysterious caller. The elderly man confessed that with his new hearing aid, a lot of male voices had started to sound similar. The man provided Fred with Rudy’s father’s phone number and address. He was located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which Fred noticed was coincidentally the same area in which Donna’s mother had resided. 

Fred called Rudy’s father. The father immediately assumed that his son was in some type of trouble. 

“Why do you believe that?” Fred asked.

“Because it wouldn’t be the first time that it happened. That’s why I paid for his college education, to see if he couldn’t set himself straight.”

When Fred asked about the large sum of money Rudy recently deposited in the bank, Rudy’s father said he knew nothing about it. 

Fred next contacted the dean of students at New College about Rudy’s attendance over the past week. The dean said he would check into it, and a couple of hours later he called back.

 “Rudy was taking Psychology 201, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. every weekday. He hasn’t been in class for three days, and we haven’t heard from him. And, by the way, security had reported that his bike is in the rack outside the building where his class meets; it hasn’t been moved for three days.”

* * *

That evening Fred and Jim compared notes on the investigation. Jim said, “I spoke at length to your air conditioning repairman and I believe he’s clean.”

Fred said, “I don’t think that was in doubt, ever since we came across Rudy.”

“Fred, do you think we’ll ever find him?”

“Not a chance, he’s dead and buried somewhere. He never got a chance to use his payment for services rendered. But our investigation has told me one thing; and it’s a very positive thing.”

“And that is?”

“After some reflection I’ve decided that Donna doesn’t yet have the powers she once had. She had to rely on a conventional hit man to act for her. If she had her powers restored there would have been no need for a cash transaction. She would have simply reprogrammed some minds to do her bidding. Jim, I have to go to see Dr. John again. My body is beat, and I need to be tested to see if his antidote for the poison that I ingested is working.”