Professor John Humphries stared in amazement at the equipment standing before him in the laboratory. Not because it appeared in anyway extraordinary, quite the opposite. He could have been looking at any security checkpoint in any modern airport. The technology the team were using was in fact based on the Passive Millimetre Wave Scanners widely used for screening at many government buildings and airports. The main feature in the room was a seven foot high hexagon shaped booth with openings on opposite sides large enough for someone six feet plus to walk through. The other four sides that made up the hexagon were constructed of a grey metal frame surrounding thick frosted, lead-based glass. The ceiling of the booth housed a network of thin glass tubes resembling fluorescent light filaments but were actually high energy resonators used to stimulate a quantum chain reaction. Banks of computers lined the walls of the room forming a vast array of twinkling LED lights and whirring motors that powered the drives and fans. No, it wasn’t the visual spectacle of the equipment that amazed the professor, nor was it the purpose, it was the simplicity.
The professor took out his phone and thumbed in the number for Jim McGonagall, the research assistance he had tasked with investigating the events that had taken place in Norwood. The man answered after just a few rings. “Hi Jim, we are almost ready here, have you found our candidate yet?” The professor asked.
Jim McGonagall loved working for Professor Humphries. As well as being the most brilliant man he had ever met, he was also a pioneer. His work was cutting edge and highly classified. Being part of his team made him feel like a success. Physics had been the obvious choice for Jim. Mathematics came naturally to him from an early age and physics was the only field that truly challenged him. He did not want to be one of those stuffy, nerdy scientists though with thick-rimmed glasses and no dress sense. He wanted to be a rock n roll scientist like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park. Though when he shared this vision with a friend, the friend did point out that in that film, Jeff Goldblum was wearing thick-rimmed glasses and did display very bad dress sense. Jim did not have any problem filling the role though. In addition to an IQ of one hundred seventy, he was six foot two, athletic and charming. His only downfall was despite all he had going for him he was highly insecure about what other people thought of him.
Jim spoke excitedly into the handset as he informed the professor they may have found what they were looking for. “John, you were spot on suggesting I should check the local rags. The Norwood Reporter is running a story about an incident involving a local man forcing his way into someone’s house in Croydon claiming it to be his own. But it wasn’t. The house actually belonged to a family that’s had been living there for more than ten years.” He paused waiting for the professor to comment. “That sounds promising Jim. Well done.”
Professor Humphries could not understand why Jim McGonagall was so insecure. The boy was a genius with all the potential in the world but for some reason he needed constant reassurance. “That’s not all chief,” Jim continued. “I found out the man works at London Zoo. So I went to pay him a visit and was made aware of a couple of events involving the zoo that may be of interest to us. Firstly, just over a week ago the zoo reported a large, male Siberian tiger had gone missing from its pen sometime late Monday night. A security guard noticed the fence to the enclosure had been cut and the tiger was missing. It caused quite a stir because the police had to close down the zoo and cordon off a large area around Regent’s Park so they could carry out a search to try to find the beast. They were worried someone might get mauled to death.”
“I’ll bet they were Jim. So was our man involved in this?” The professor asked trying to get him to reveal the point of the report. “Well, the search was called off early the next morning when the zoo received a call telling them the tiger had been found alive in the back yard of a Restaurant in Norwood. Apparently, the owner had gone out to empty the bins and discovered the tiger rummaging through the waste food. His daughter called the police when she heard her father shouting hysterically from the yard. The police came armed with rifles and pumped the animal full of tranquilisers before returning it to the zoo. Thing is, when they took it back to the zoo the keeper claimed it was not their tiger. He said he had known their animal since it was a cub and this definitely was not the same animal.”
“So I’m guessing our man is the keeper?” the professor asked.
“Not exactly. The source at the zoo telling me all this is a temporary worker. She is covering for the education officer who would normally deal with all things to do with Public Relations. The regular education officer is currently off sick, the official line being that he has suffered some kind of nervous breakdown. But guess what?”
“Pray tell Jim,” the professor asked, trying not to sound exasperated.
“So the temporary worker also told me, off the record, rumour has it the man has actually lost his mind and is claiming amongst other things that his role at the zoo is not that of education officer, but Keeper of Tigers. And… this is also the same man who tried to lay claim to a house in Croydon that clearly wasn’t his.” “Wonderful Jim, this is exactly what we are looking for. Do you know anything else about this guy, who he is, where he is?” The professor asked.
“I have a name, Stuart Milton, that’s all so far, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get more info from the temp. I’ll be going back there in the morning to see if I can get access to their records.” “Very good Jim, very good indeed. Find this Stuart Milton as soon as you can. We need to bring him in.”
Jim felt a warm hand between his legs. “You can have access to anything you like Dr McGonagall,” Lucy said sensually as she gripped him lightly. Jim felt very pleased with himself. Not only had he managed to find out the information the professor needed from the zoo, but he also managed to find himself a little American playmate. Twenty-one year old Lucy was taking a year out from college and working her way around Europe. Jim had realised how naive she was when she readily gave him personal information about zoo employees without asking for so much as an ID. She did not stand a chance once he laid on the charm and it was inevitable she would end up in his bed.