Finding a replacement
By Latexthom
chapter 12
Dolly was sitting in Walter’s armchair in the sitting room drinking a cup of coffee when Ruth appeared. Ruth said, “I am sorry we slept in, I have never had sex like that with my girlfriend in all the time we have been married. I would like to thank you for everything. Dolly said, “It is a bit late for breakfast so would you like some lunch?” Ruth replied, “Thank you but no, we need to get going, as soon as Bianca is ready, we are going to hit the road”. Moments later, Bianca descended the stairs looking as good as she did when she left the shop the night before. Dolly said, “You look good enough to eat. Ruth tells me you have started your training, let’s hope you are an expert before you come back in a month’s time”. Bianca said, “Silvia must have some special knack which I am yet to learn”. Dolly leaned in close and whispered, “Silvia’s knack is that she always puts the pleasure of others before her own pleasure. It’s a mind set; if you embrace your feminine side and concentrate on doing what gives Ruth the most pleasure, you will get there”.
Dolly escorted them around to the garage and opened the large garage door to provide access to their van. Bianca got into the driver’s side and Ruth the passenger’s and they said, “Thank you and we will see you in a month”, before driving out. Dolly closed the garage and opened next door to get the mail. There were nine letters so she gathered them up and relocked the door. Returning to her house, she put the mail on the kitchen table and made herself a drink of coffee.
Sitting down with her mug of coffee, she started on the mail. The first five letters were about Walter’s real-estate properties and would be dealt for by Scudamore, the next letter looked official and when she opened it she found it was from the Chief Constable for Yorkshire and he was asking Walter for assistance in a case of potential mind control. The CC was concerned about some of his senior officers in Scarborough Police Station who had recently changed there working practices. Dolly wondered why Walter would be contacted and not a government psychologist. She read the letter twice and could not determine why Walter would have received it. She decided to find out so she looked up the Chief Constable’s contact details on the internet and phoned his office.
When she got through to a senior policeman in the Chief Constable’s staff, she told him that she was the executor of Walter’s estate and had received this letter. The Policeman told Dolly that no such letter had been sent from that office and when Dolly gave him the reference he confirmed that it was not a reference sequence used by the Chief Constable. Dolly told him that she was very concerned about this and asked if it could be investigated. The Policeman said, “I will speak to my opposite number at Scarborough and get back to you”. Dolly gave him her number and then terminated the call. She continued to check the remainder of the mail and found nothing unusual. She sat at the laptop and recorded all the real-estate issues and then generated a letter to Scudamore detailing what action she would recommend. Where the deficiency could be resolved by a small group of workers she said go ahead an fix it and where the work would require a larger workforce she told him to secure a structural survey report and estimates for undertaking the necessary remedial actions before proceeding.
She had just finished this when the phone rang. She answered it and found the policeman had returned her call and he told her that there was nothing to worry about and it must have been a hoax. Someone from the police station in Scarborough would be along to collect the letter so forensic tests could be performed on the envelope and letter. Doll was asked to put them in a plastic bag and to have them ready. Dolly found a plastic sleeve for the letter and envelope and then prepared four mugs with concentrated ‘4’ in them. She had suspected that Mrs. Walsh would cause problems. With the slaves she had kept close like Norman and Silvia together with Brian and Ruth, there was a lot of fine tuning needed before Dolly was confident she was protected. The one person where this was not possible was Mrs. Walsh.
Dolly had intended to go to the shop today but this letter had changed that. She realised that Walsh was within the criminal community so she decided to protect herself better and retrieved three aerosols and hid them around the house, one in the hall, one in the sitting room and one in the kitchen. She put a new filter in her mask and then put the mask on. She was developing quite a fetish for her mask. She was sitting in Walter’s chair listening to his music when she glimpsed smoke in the hall. She moved to investigate and found a pipe pushed through the letter box belching out a mist. She quietly walked up the stairs and peeked out of the front bedroom window.
There was a van on the street and four men around a gas bottle with a regulator and hose attached. Dolly returned downstairs and collected all her MC equipment into a hold all and went out of the back door locking it behind her, and moved into the shed and through the generator shack and into Walter’s office. She walked through the office and out into the street outside the garage. Taking off the gas mask, she walked to the small alley and through that to the front of her home. Peeking around the corner, she saw the four men still there. They were putting gas masks on and then one of them forced the front door open. They disappeared inside. Dolly did a quick memory exercise to check that there was nothing in the house that would relate to Mind Control, then she remembered the four mugs on the draining board.
She waited for several minutes and looked again to see that the front bedroom window was open and so was the front door. She crept down the street with her mask on and one of the atomisers in her hand and peeked into the front door. She saw the back of a man going up the stairs but he was still wearing the mask. Then another man came out of the kitchen and he was taking his mask off. Dolly nipped out of sight and when the man exited the house she gave him a sizable squirt in his face. He lunged at her but she easily side-stepped and he fell on his face. Dolly sprayed him again and told him to go and sit in the van. She assumed that two good doses would be similar to what Averill would have experienced when she said she could feel her mind slipping away.
Dolly checked her atomiser and noticed she had used about half. She assumed there would be two upstairs and one more downstairs. But she decided to wait. Peeking around the door, she saw one of the men coming downstairs with one of Walter’s boxes out of the attic. She quickly moved behind the van and then to the street side as he came around the back and opened the door. He stepped into the back of the van with the box and Dolly checked to see if he was still wearing the mask. He was taking it off so she stepped in behind him and sprayed the remainder of the container in his face. He sunk down next to the box and Dolly took a full atomiser out of the bag. She sprayed more into his mask and put it back on his head.
Leaving the man in the back of the van breathing the compound, Dolly returned to the door. Peeking around she could not see anyone so she snuck in and looked into the lounge. It was empty so she peeked into the kitchen. The mugs were still on the draining board but the room was empty of bodies. She watched the stairs and there was no one there and no noise. She crept up the stairs and saw the attic ladder down and that there was noise coming from her bedroom and from the attic. She was about to go back down stairs when she saw the two gas masks laying abandoned on the spare bed. Dolly slipped into the spare room and, taking the concentrated ‘3’ from her bag she poured half the contents into the filters of each mask. Then leaving the bag, she took the third bottle of aerosol and a bottle of diluted ‘4’ and walked into her bedroom. The man was taking clothes out of the wardrobe and throwing them on the floor. Walking up behind him with the aerosol at the ready she said, “I hope you are going to put those back”. The man spun around and got a face full of the atomised spray. Dolly then handed him the bottle and told him to drink it. The man followed his instructions and as Dolly turned around, the man from the attic must have heard her because he was at the bottom of the ladder. Dolly approached him with the spray at the ready. He backed into the spare room and grabbed one of the masks and quickly pulled it over his head. Dolly leaned against the ladder feigning tiredness and he lunged at her. As she stepped aside he fell to the floor not moving. Dolly returned to her bedroom and the third man was putting the empty bottle down.
Dolly held her atomiser up pointing at him with her finger on the trigger and said, “Who sent you?”. The man was still under the influence of the first spray and replied, “John Redshank. He was here on Friday and you did something to him”. Dolly asked, “What is his telephone number?”. The man pulled out a mobile and said, “Speed dial one”. Dolly took the mobile and keyed one followed by the green handset key and lifted it to her ear. When John answered he said, “Did you find it and have you got her?”. Dolly replied, “Stop breathing and listen. If you wanted my help in some manner you should have asked. Sending four heavies to intimidate me does not warm my heart to your plight. If you are still listening tap the phone four times.” John tapped the phone four times and then four more time with a quicker rhythm.
Dolly said, “Are you going to send any more of your soldiers after me? One tap for yes two for no”. There was two taps. Dolly said, “For the next sixty seconds you can breathe. Tell me who you are and what you want”. John inhaled loudly and said, “I am John Redshank and I am Hilda’s business partner. Whatever you did to her, she is finished as a business woman and a police woman and what you did to me has compromised my position”. “You forced me to act”, Dolly said. “So you are mister big in Scarborough are you?” John replied, “I was up until Friday”. Dolly asked, “Who were the men you sent to ransack my house?” John said, “They were supposed to take you and any MC products in the house”. Dolly said, “Who will come for me next and you didn’t say who they were”.
John gabbled, “They are just soldiers in my employ and there is no one else who knows about you”. Dolly said, “I don’t believe you. Someone impersonated the Chief Constable for Yorkshire and some senior officer in Scarborough. Good bye Mr. Redshank”. John shouted, “Wait, there must be something I can do”. Dolly said, “Where are you?” He replied, “At home about twenty minutes away from you”. Dolly said, “Ok you can breathe for the next nineteen minutes”, and she then keyed the red handset button before turning off the phone and walking back to the third man who was sitting on the bed.
Dolly said, “Can you hear me?”. The man responded and Dolly continued, “Who are you and what is your role in Mr Redshank’s empire?” The man replied, “I am Roland Stevens and I am just a heavy for hire”. Dolly then said, “You are now my slave and I own you. When I tell you to do something, the only choice you have will be how quick you can do it. Anything I tell you will be your truth and no person or thing will persuade you otherwise. If you learn of any threat aimed at me, you will mobilise as many people as is required to remove that threat completely and forever. Now pick up that man out there and take him to your van, bring back the box that was removed from this house and then take those three men and dump them somewhere. When you have done that, come back here and tidy this house so it looks as it did when you arrived”. Roland picked up the man on the landing in a fireman’s lift and took him out of the house. He returned with the box, left it in the attic and closed the hatch. Dolly gave him the other gas mask and told him to put it back on the guy in the front of the van. She walked behind him and watched him put the mask on the man and then get in behind the wheel. The van pulled away from the curb leaving the gas bottle and tube on the pavement. As soon as the van created a space, a car skidded to a halt and two men jumped out. Dolly removed her mask as they came toward her, and the second man who had driven the car pulled out a gun and held it at Dolly’s head. John approached her and said, “Is this a Mexican standoff?” Dolly replied, “That depends, if you want to die, I assume that this man will kill me after your heart stops and face long term prison, for what?” Dolly walked back into the house and they both followed her. She put the kettle on and put a spoon of instant coffee into three mugs on the draining board. John looked at his watch and said, “You have 45 seconds”. Dolly said, “No, you have forty-five seconds. I hope you paid this man in advance”.
The kettle boiled and Dolly started filling the mugs and John said, “Ok Paul, put the gun down, she has called our bluff”. Dolly opened the fridge door and took out the milk and asked, “Do you both take milk?” Paul pushed the gun into Dolly’s stomach and said, “If he dies, you will follow him in a very painful way over a long period of time”. Dolly said, “If my time has come so be it, but I have left the means in place to wipe you out in a much more painful way. Here, drink your coffee and let’s talk about who will replace John”. John said, “Let’s not” and then he started going blue. Dolly said, “Look, he will die before we can save him, put the gun down and take this and I will give him longer”.
Paul put the gun on the table and took the mug from Dolly, who picked up another cup and said, “John, you can breathe for a further ten minutes and if we are alone at the end of that time, I will extend your life again”. Dolly handed him the coffee as he gasped for air. After he took the mug Dolly said, “What were you hoping to achieve? I am not some little trollop that you can walk over although I may have been once”. John took a drink from the mug and said, “I have been at the top of my game for a very long time and everyone who has muscled in has been removed. You are an anomaly. You have caused so much damage but you didn’t care who I was or what I did”. Dolly said, “If you had brought the girls back five minutes earlier, you wouldn’t have any problems. This is all your own doing”.
John said, “Ok, so I misjudged you and have paid for that mistake. What do I have to do to get my self control back?” Dolly replied, “If you could see the mess upstairs you would not need to ask”. John said, “Paul, get hold of Hilda, and get her and three of her girls down here as soon as possible”. Paul pulled a mobile from his pocket and made the call and then said, “She will be here in fifteen minutes”. John said, “Ok you had better go”. Dolly said, “Before you go, hand me your mug”. Taking the mug she whispered. “You look tired, go and relax in the sitting room for ten minutes or so”. Paul moved to the sitting room and sank into the settee. John was beginning to look glazed and Dolly said, “Your breathing difficulties have made you tired. Sit down before you fall down”. John sat down and his eyes glazed over.
Dolly said, “John, listen carefully. You are my slave and I own you. Your free will is mine to take away or restore. You will do what ever I tell you and believe everything I tell you to believe. For the time being, I will restore your free will and you will only follow my instruction and not be the subject to others. You can keep this until you allow any attack or threat on my person. If anything happens to me or my health or you learn of any attack that you should have prevented, your free will shall vanish and you will be at the mercy of anyone or anything. You can continue your criminal activities however; your primary responsibility is to ensure that I am free to do what I want for as long as I want, without restriction. Tell me the truth about this assault on my person, why did you send those men?”
John replied in a monologue tone, “I have been in business with Hilda for ten years and she had been using her hypnotic skills to train hookers. You had one day with Silvia Privet and she is a million times better than any of Hilda’s and then you lend us four girls who were as good if not better than Silvia. Once Hilda became untrustworthy, I wanted to see if you would join me but when I discovered I was compromised as well, I needed revenge and decided to take your technique for myself, even though I didn’t know what I was looking for”.
Dolly said, “If you wanted my help to support Hilda’s activities, why not just ask?” John replied, “I have been taking what I want for so long that I didn’t think to ask”.
Dolly said, “Sit there and reflect on what you did wrong, forget about the coffee and count down from 100 to zero and waking up on zero”. Dolly then moved to the sitting room and took ownership of Paul, giving him the same commands as she gave Roland. When she was finished closing all the loop holes she could think of, she told him to count down and wake up and then to stay where he was.
Returning to John, she found him wide-eyed and alert. She said, “Are you happy now you have your free will back?” John replied, “Thank you but I still have no idea how you do what you do”. Dolly replied, “That is now a secret you will protect with your life”. John said, “I don’t understand why you have restored my mind after what I have done”. Dolly said, “If I removed you there would be a vacuum that someone else would fill. I decided not to fight you and to use you for my protection. Providing my friends and I are free to live our lives as we want to, you can go on as you were”. John said, “If I can have Hilda back as she was and you agree to help us when we need you, I will give you better protection than the Queen”.
Dolly said, “Hilda may be more difficult, her mind was corroded quite badly because of what she did, but I will try and fix her when she arrives”. She did not have to wait long because Hilda arrived with three other girls, two who Dolly knew already and a new girl. John explained what had occurred and asked the three girls to start the restoration of Dolly’s home and to tidy up. Hilda remained in the kitchen and Dolly asked her if she knew who she was. John said, “She knows who she is but has to be reminded each morning. She has not been able to hypnotise anyone since her involvement with you”. Dolly said, “This will take some time. I suggest you leave her with me and come back in an hour or two”. There were two girls tidying Dolly’s bedroom and one sorting the CD’s in the sitting room. Dolly washed the mugs and then told Paul to take John home. When the girls restored Dolly’s little home she asked who the third girl was and was told she was a new girl who had just arrived from Newcastle. Dolly said, “She can stay and help me with Hilda. You other two come back this afternoon”.
Hilda and Ronnie sat in the kitchen after all the others left and Dolly said, “I need you both to drink some water for me and then we can try and restore Hilda. She handed two bottles of ‘4’ from the bag from upstairs and said. “There is an enabling compound in this water that will help the process”. Ronnie asked, “Why do I need to drink it?” Dolly replied, “It will protect you from being affected by the next process”.
Both females drank the water and Dolly said. “Ok both of you stay here while I go up stairs and prepare the next stage”. Dolly carried her bag back upstairs and fitted her gas mask and prepared Hilda’s with a new filter primed with the concentrated formula. When every thing was ready, she returned to the kitchen and placed the mask over Hilda’s head. She then started the same process she had used on Judith. As the memories were brought to the front, Dolly locked them in place and kept looking for more. When the second girl was under the influence of the water, Dolly interrupted her restoration of Hilda and asked Ronnie what her job was and what she wanted out of life. Ronnie said, “I dropped out of Newcastle University and have joined Hilda as one of her girls. I have no aspirations beyond being a good hooker”. Dolly programmed her as she did Silvia and also turned her into a latex loving hooker. When she had finished the programme she instructed her to forget the water and everything that had been done to Hilda and to go and sit in the sitting room while she counted herself out of the trance.
Returning to Hilda she restored more of her memories and then worked on her free will, giving her control of her self will when she was not in Dolly’s company. She then started again and checked that all her memories were intact and locked and that her hypnotic skills would work on anyone other than Dolly. When Dolly was happy she had done as much as she could, she removed the mask and instructed Hilda to forget the water and the mask and then counted her out of the trance.
When Hilda awoke, she rushed to Dolly and hugged her saying thank you. They both moved to the sitting room and Dolly said, “While I go to the toilet, I want Ronnie to instruct Hilda to bark like a dog”.
When Dolly returned Hilda said, “It didn’t work. I am once again in control, thank you again”. Dolly said, “Just so you know, there are times when you will not be in control. Ronnie, tell Hilda to drop to her knees and act like a dog until I tell her otherwise”.
Ronnie instructed Hilda as directed by Dolly and Hilda became a dog on the floor. Dolly said, “Ronnie, would you like to make three mugs of coffee?” Ronnie moved to the kitchen and Dolly said, “Hilda, please get up off the floor and sit down. In every respect you can act like a human until you finish your coffee”. Hilda sat on the armchair and said, “That was horrible, what was that for?” Dolly said, “It was not possible to undo all the corrosion in your mind so I grouped all the nasty bits and attached them to me. In my presence you have no control but as you are not normally in my presence, that should not be a problem. However, to make it so that it is not horrible, the next time you are controlled as a consequence of me being in your vicinity, you will love every part of it”.
Hilda said, “If I love every part of it I won’t notice if you change me”. Dolly continued, “It will just mean that you are not stressed out by some casual comment. Do you test out your girls on yourself before you send them out?” Hilda replied, “John normally tests them out but sometimes I test out their same sex preferences or aversions”. Dolly asked, “What about Ronnie, did you test her?” Hilda replied, “Hell no, she does not do women”. As Ronnie entered with a tray, Dolly said, “You may be in for a surprise. Ronnie, before you drink your coffee, Hilda needs your tongue in her pussy”.
Ronnie put the tray down and moved into position in front of Hilda and when Hilda opened her legs Ronnie pushed her nose in an started getting the fluids flowing. Once Hilda was warm and lubricated, Ronnie started her assault and Hilda squeaked and then began to moan and soon she was in the throes of a gigantic climax. When they both orgasmed, Ronnie lapped up all the discharge and then returned to her seat as Dolly handed her a mug of coffee from the tray.
Dolly handed a second mug to Hilda and said, “That was to give you a sample of the difference between your hypnosis and my technique”. Hilda said, “That was outstanding. I must put her charges up, I’m sure we can now compete with Silvia”. Dolly said, “A lot of Silvia’s customers like her latex outfits as well”. Ronnie said, “I would like to try latex, I got quite a kick out of being under Hilda’s latex skirt”. Dolly said, “I hope we are a happy family now and if Ronnie would like to try latex, she could try some of mine, but finish your coffee first”.
Dolly put her empty mug on the tray first and then Hilda reached forward and deposited hers and she kept going until she was on her hands and knees. Ronnie followed next and Dolly said, “Ok let’s go and find you something to wear”.
Leaving Hilda on the floor, Dolly and Ronnie walked up the stairs and into Dolly’s tidy bedroom. When dolly opened the wardrobe she found it sorted in a completely different way and took a few minutes to find what she wanted, that being a very short dress with a tight skirt in turquoise latex to match the green shoes she was wearing.
When it was on Dolly said, “You look lovely; let’s go back down stairs to Hilda”. They descended the stairs and moved back into the sitting room to find Hilda curled up on the floor supporting a large smile. Ronnie said, “She looks happy, is she still compromised?” Dolly said, “No, when she is away from me she will be her normal nasty self. I was just trying to soften her up when she is around me”.
There was a knock on the front door and Dolly went to answer it and came back with Roland. Dolly told him the house had been tidied and all was ok and asked if he could take Hilda and Ronnie back to John. Roland looked at Hilda on the floor and said, “Are you sure she is alright?” Dolly said, “Hilda, you are once again human and you will remain as one until Saturday morning unless you and John have wined and dined me before then”. Hilda stood up and said, “What are you doing this evening?” Dolly replied, “I have nothing planned”. Hilda said, “I will talk to John and get back to you”.
The two women followed Roland out and Dolly washed up the coffee mugs returned to the sitting room and put her mask back on before putting the a CD on. Three CDs later she was still wearing the mask when the door bell sounded. She took the mask off and laid it beside the chair and went to answer the door. The two prostitutes who arrived with Hilda were on the door step and Dolly told them they were no longer needed but if they wanted a rest they could come in. They both declined and went on their way and as Dolly closed the door she noticed that the lock was damaged.
She looked through the telephone directory for a locksmith and found one in Scarborough and phoned the number. The woman on the other end was quite rude so Dolly did not continue with the call and then looked for an alternative number and found a domestic services company that repairs doors and locks. She phoned them and arranged for someone to call within an hour. Dolly knew she would get the money back from John so was not worried about the high call out charge.
She returned to the sitting room to wait and almost without thinking put the mask on. She thought to herself, “Is this me or Walter, but I am really getting into wearing this mask”.
When the building services guy came Dolly answered the door without removing the mask and then had to remove it and explain. The man examined the door and asked if anything was stolen. Dolly said, “Nothing stolen but there was bodily harm”. The door was repaired and a new five lever security lock fitted. Dolly thought she was overcharged for the work so she made a note of the firm and paid with most of the cash in the house. After the worker had gone, Dolly locked the door and began her walk to the bank to replenish her cash. She stopped in at the dress shop and apologised to Marissa, telling her she would definitely be there tomorrow morning. At the bank she drew out £500 and when Norman saw her he came out and asked her if everything was alright. Dolly told him about the repair and the charge. Norman said that she should speak to Scudamore, he was sure Walter had used that firm to manage some if his properties.
Dolly said she would investigate and left the bank. On her way back through the town she diverted her route to Mr Scudamore’s office. When she got there she went into Josephine office and asked if Mr Scudamore was available. Josephine said, “He is out this afternoon at a meeting with one of Walter’s developers”. Dolly asked about the Building Services Company and Josephine said, “We used to use them but we moved to a different company after they miss-billed for some major work”. Dolly said “That is ok then, I don’t need to see him”. Josephine asked where Dolly got her clothes and Dolly told her what she was planning to do with the dress shop. They talked about latex for several minutes and then Dolly decided to leave.
Walking from Scudamore’s office to the house, she walked down the street with the hairstylists and adult bookshop and paused outside the hairstylists and looked in the window. It was then that she noticed a service for transvestites. While she was standing there the shop owner came out and asked, “Have you got any more men you want changed? I really enjoyed doing him, he was so pliable. He agreed to have everything except the hormones done. We have a new treatment I would love to try but so far no one has volunteered”. Dolly asked what the treatment did and the woman said, “It changes the voice box and make the voice sound very sultry and feminine”. Dolly said, “There are two men that I will send round and you can try it out on both together with the full hormone treatment”. The woman wanted Dolly to make an appointment but Dolly said she would phone when she was closer to seeing them.
The woman said she was looking forward to hearing from Dolly before going back into the shop. Dolly walked on, past the book shop and toward the garage. She nipped through the alley and along to the house. She noticed that the gas bottle had been removed and that there was another executive car parked outside her door. As she moved closer to her repaired door she could see that there were two men in the car. Her bag of tricks was upstairs so she did not acknowledge the men in the car and unlocked her door and closed it behind her. Running upstairs she retrieved the last aerosol and thought, “I should have filled these”. She took the aerosol and the last two bottles of water down to the kitchen. No one had knocked on the door and she was becoming relaxed. “I’ll wait five more minutes then I will go and replenish the stocks”. Moving to the sitting room she put on the gas mask and then took it straight off. Something smelled wrong; she went back upstairs to the back and replaced the filter. Looking at the old filter, she noticed that the filter was corroded and was the wrong one. It was then that she realised that it was not her mask. “Someone has been here, someone with a new key. She started to search for her mask and found it in the kitchen on one of the chairs.
“They know about the mask, do they know about the other stuff,” she wondered. She looked closely at the water bottles and saw that the seals had been broken. She then examined the aerosol and noticed that the contents did not move as it should, the viscosity was different. Someone had replaced everything with water. She sat down in the kitchen and thought, “Have they taken Walter’s formulas away or did they pour it down the drain?” She could not tell so she phoned Hilda and told her someone had been in the house and as John was supposed to protect her, Dolly asked Hilda to pass on a message to John saying she was very upset and that John should call her. Ten minutes later there was a knock on her door. Leaving everything in the kitchen, she went to answer it and found Roland on the doorstep. She invited him in and he apologised saying, “I am very sorry I was not here when you came back. I was sorting out the removal of the two men outside”. John had instructed Roland to watch over Dolly but when he came back Dolly has already left so he had nipped up to the corner shop to get something to eat. When he returned he saw the two men enter the house so he waited for them to come out and as they were loading something into the car’s trunk, Roland killed them both and sat them back in the car as if they were waiting for something.
Dolly said, “I need to see what they had taken and then we need to find out who they are”. Roland replied, “The bag they were carrying is in my van and the disposal crew should be here in about ten minutes”. Dolly said, “It is imperative that you bring the bag back here now. When I was programmed by Walter he gave me some very explicit instructions to follow if his research was compromised”. Roland said, “I will go get it now” and ran out of the door. Dolly watched through the sitting room net curtains to see when he returned and a car transporter pulled into the street. Roland returned carrying a bag and talked to the men in the transporter. As Roland stopped talking and moved toward the door, Dolly moved to open it and let him in. He handed the bag to Dolly and said the car will be removed in a little while. Dolly said, “While I check with this go and see if they have any identity information in their wallets”.
Roland went outside and Dolly opened the bag. She found two filters and two containers, one probably the water and the other half empty bottle possibly contained the aerosol contents. There was also a note book and Dolly started looking through that. There were pages of formula and notes on various failed experiments. Dolly thought, this doesn’t seem right. John’s people damaged the door. Dolly found a random repairer so how did these scientists get the keys from the repairer. Roland came in with two wallets and said, “One was a Daniel Thompson and the other William Jackson. Dolly powered up the laptop and googled the names. There were several thousand hits and details of a company called Forthright Chemicals. The blog detailed a pair of chemical graduates that provided a lab that could analyse any compound or formula. Dolly relayed her problem with the repairer to Roland and he said he would go and look for him.
Dolly continued reading through the hits and found there were no other names associated with these two chemists. Dolly was thinking through all the other pieces of this jigsaw puzzle when the phone rang. Dolly answered it and John said, “The two attackers have been removed. Has Roland explained what happened?” Dolly said, “How much do you know about the soldiers that you dispatched this morning? Could one of them be connected with these two chemists? You told me that no one knew about me but you must have briefed the soldiers before they came. One of them went through my father’s things and took out a box of papers. What were there names?” John replied, “James Foster, Peter Twinam, Philip Jackson and Roland Stevens”. Dolly said, “One of the chemists was William Jackson, could Philip have been his brother?” John said, “What are you suggesting?” Dolly said, “I think Philip found something in the attic and contacted his brother who came here with his partner in time to see the door being repaired and somehow they got a key from the locksmith. They either got to him before and persuaded him to keep a key and then give it to them or he was keeping a key for some other purpose and they took it from him”.
John said, “Where is Roland now?” Dolly said, “He has gone to find the locksmith”. John said, “Hilda and I will be there in half an hour to take you out for a meal. Don’t open the door for anyone except Roland until we get there. If Hilda has all her marbles back she is an excellent detective”.
Dolly said, “Ok, I’ll see you in half an hour”. After Dolly put the phone down she went up into the attic and looked into the box. It was full of papers that had been extracted from a number of boxes. Dolly started looking through it from the bottom and quickly came across the papers of Walter’s students that detailed each topic the research was based on and who performed it. The fifth set of papers she looked through, the student’s name was William Jackson and Walter had annotated comments in the margin, recording how close he had become to a working product and had written another slightly modified formula with the word ‘Eureka’ underneath it. Walter had obviously based his recent research starting from William’s.
Dolly closed the box and secured it, then she decided to replenish her supplies. She checked the back door and it was still locked and as she had the only key she assumed they had not been in the garden. At each door she checked for a forced entry and found none. She carried the box and deposited it in the lab. She then replenished her supplies and returned to the kitchen, securing her return journey, marking each lock with a covert tamper detection feature, a hair, applied dust and a leaf. After she relocked the garden door, she went to look out of the sitting room net curtains. There was no sign of Roland so she made herself a drink. She was feeling paranoid having two vindictive chemists in her house so she changed the water in the kettle and washed the mugs before she put coffee in the mug. It was then that she noticed white flecks in the coffee so she settled for a drink of water out of the tap.
She was listening to some jazz when the bell sounded; Dolly looked through the window and saw Hilda. She opened the door and invited both her and John in. Sitting in the sitting room, Dolly updated her guests regarding what she had detected and what she suspected and Hilda said she would get the coffee analysed. John asked if Dolly had heard from Roland. Dolly told them she had not heard from Roland and John phoned his mobile and learned that he was bringing the locksmith around and would be there in ten minutes. Hilda bagged the coffee jar and looked through the remainder of the food packets in the kitchen. She found no other suspicious packaging. John said, “I feel a bit responsible for this latest attack and will make it up to you in any way you want”.
Dolly said, “What do you know about ‘Domestic Services & Property Management?” to which John replied, “I believe they went out of business about eighteen months ago. The bloke who ran it was a rogue and a crook”. Dolly said, “Look who’s talking”. John answered, “We don’t rip people off, we provide services and commodities on the lucrative fringes of the law”. Dolly said, “Well, their phone number is still answered and the locksmith provided one of their invoices”. John stood and replied, “I will check the lock”. He came back a little later and said, “I thought as much, this is a dummy lock. You can open this with any key”. Taking his mobile out he called another number and arranged for another lock smith to call.