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Johnny Found
’I showed uardroom’ Jordan co the death of the girl as found under the walls I said we’d had our wires crossed the first tiht she hich e were looking into it again from square one
The squaddies on duty had read all about it in the newspapers, and anyway I wasn’t the first investigator they’d seen Not even the first today They told me that in fact there were already two plain-clothes eants’ mess That piece of information stopped me dead for a second or thile I considered it, but then I thought what the hell? For after all, I was E-Branch wasn’t I? Well, I had been until very recently Anyway, I never had any proble with the law In fact the police had always shown eneral, a lot of respect And vice versa
’So I asked directions to the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ h Castle is a lie tourist knows that the Castle Esplanade is where they hold the Edinburgh Tattoo - with rooht thousand seats, royal boxes and all, and a hard-standing that takes the military’s massed bands, motorcycle and other vehicular displays, shows from all around the world, you na, the One O’Clock Gun, and Ye Olde Tea Shoppe (or whatever it is they’ve na) remains a mystery to most people And where the way is roped off, that’s where the real Castle begins But you’ve been there, Harry, and knohat it’s like: a antlets and courtyardsa fantastic place! And one that’s easy to lose your way in
’Eventually I found the Sergeants’to a Sergeant Cook and his civilian assistants and jotting down a few notes I showed , and they didn’t bat an eyelid between them They kne the Branch - in the shape of Darcy Clarke and yourself, Harry - had been helping out with the job
’Anyway, I’d arrived right on cue, because they were asking about the night of the erated ht Apparently forensic had alerted them to beast blood on Penny’s clothes, do you see?
’Well, you can iht there when the Cook Sergeant got out his register of deliveries to check details of the beast carcases that had co, just kept ht shut, and took in as et Which was quite a bit; because this overweight, red-faced, hot-and-bothered sergeants’ mess cook was efficient to a fault He not only kept a record of dates and times of all deliveries of foodstuffs - and copies of his own countersigned receipts, which bore the signatures of his suppliers - but he even had the registration numbers of delivery vehicles, too! And naturally I made a mental note of the nuht
’This is how the delivery system works:
During the day the esplanade gets crowded, and anyway, Edinburgh’s streets are no place for big articulated trucks during daylight hours So Frigis Express delivers at night Of course, big vehicles can’t antlet, so they park down on the esplanade and the cookhouse sends down a driver in a is driver passes the ht out from the back of his truck into the back of the Landrover, which then conveys it up to the er in the Landrover to get his docket signed And soeant in his little office, before walking back down to his truck on the dark esplanade By night, of course, the esplanade is e vehicle round and get out of there
’So the plain-clothes officers wanted to know if this had been the routine on the night of the eant knew this delivery ton (yes, Darlington, Harry) and made deliveries to the Castle every three or four weeks And when the sergeant was around they’d usually have a pint together in his office
’As for his nanature was a scrawl, quite unreadable, possibly even disguisedall except for the "F" which started his surna to swear that he referred to hiht -"Johnny"!
’Well, that was about it When the officers were satisfied hat they’d got I ca the way IOK without E-Branch on this one It was pretty obvious they weren’t exactly sure what the Branch is all about - hell, who is, except Branch her echelon intelligence organization which "fools about", however successfully, with psychic stuff: table-rapping and divining and such And I suppose in a way they were right at that
Then we spent a little tiardens towards Princes Street, and sure enough there are places you could du its bones The Jocks seeuessed that’s where Penny had been found A peep inside their ht
’Finally, as I parted company with them on the esplanade, I said, "We’ll be in touch, and if this Johnny bloke doesn’t work out the way you - "
’But one of them broke in on me: "Oh, we’re pretty sure he’s the one And we can wait a few days longer Actually, we’d like to catch this bastard in the act of picking up so these jobs of his thick and fast, so we think he’ll ain the next time out Another day or two at ht behind hio at that
’So I told thereat to be alive, and even better that I’d made a dent in the case - and so had a beer on the Royal Mile Follohich I just waited around for you to contact me End of story’
The Necroscope seeeneral description of this ain?’
These things weren’t in their thoughts,’ Jordan answered, shaking his head ’And anyway, if I’d had to concentrate on scanning their iven myself away Remember, you and I are both telepaths When we read each other and it co it deliberately But reading the mind of an ordinary person is different They’re cluttered things,for more than a moment or two’
Harry nodded ’I didn’t mean to put you down What you’ve done is wonderful It’s worked out perfectly - so far But noant to find out soround, like why he’s the way he is Such knowledge ht be of use, that’s all If not to one Also, I’osani also being a foundling? Well, ht or intended SoI have one or two things to learn about this Johnny Found And, of course, I want to get to hied with murder, I know, but what he’s done and would still do is worth a lot more than that He cao out’ The Necroscope’s voice as he finished speaking was a deep growl, sinking deeper all the time Jordan was happy to keep out of histo himself: Mr Johnny Found - who or whatever, or why ever you are - I wouldn’t be in your shoes for all the gold in Fort Knox!
Ben Trask had called his briefing for 2:00 pm and all available E-Branch operatives were present The Minister Responsible was there, too, accompanied by Geoffrey Paxton, whom Trask really hadn’t expected to see But he made no fuss about it; it had dawned on him that the job was too important to let personalities interfere It just struck hiruous that while a low-life speciood stuff such as Harry Keogh had crashed foul of fate and was about to become a victim of his own methods Sure, for it had been Harry who showed the Branch how to do this sort of thing How to set it up, eapons to use - the stake, the sword, the fire - and how to strike In order to kill vaot right down to it ’By now all of you knohat Harry Keogh has becoan ’Which is to say, he’s the erous creature who ever lived partly because he carries this plague of vampirism, which could consume all of us and for which there’s no cure Well, there have been others before Harry and they all succumbed - usually to the Necroscope hierous: he knows all about it, about us, about just about everything Now don’t get : he isn’t a super Which was great when he was on our side but isn’t quite so hot right now Oh, yes, and unlike the other vampires the Branch has dealt with, Harry will knoe’re after him’
He let that sink in, then continued: ’Soerous He’s becoht-thieves keep a close watch on your minds If not, Harry will be in there And if he knoe’re doing as we’re doing it, then he won’t be waiting around for it to happen, right? He’s a teleport, too, and uses soo as he pleases He can be literally anywhere he wants to be, instantaneously! Think about that
’Last but not least - that we know of, anyway - Harry is now a necroosani was Because Dragosani only exa them back from the dead, even from their ashes - as va for hi he’s previously achieved has now been totally reversed: he is our target! Harry, and anyone orks with hi about Darcy Clarke, so let me put you in the picture Darcy diedby accident’ Trask at once held up a restraining hand, because he’d seen faces beginning to tighten and ly ’It was an accident of sorts,’ he repeated, ’and in its way understandable if not entirely acceptable Now, I’ve had to do a lot of soul-searching myself in order to come to terms with this, and so I can readily understand your confusion But Darcy had been changed He must have been, else we couldn’t have killed hiht, I said "we", the Branch If he’d lived he would have been our weakest link, and sooner or later we’d be obliged to deal with hiht back orinterfered with, not where he is now For we’ve had hi scattered If he was one of Harry’s people, which it has to be said seems likely, then he isn’t any more
’OK, I’ve said it was an accident But the real accident - or edy - was that Darcy Clarke and Harry Keogh were friends, and that they’d had a lot of contact with one another It’s as simple as that Harry’s own "accident" happened to him out in the Greek islands, or o Since when it’s taken him over completely And conceivably unknown to Darcy - and just conceivably unknown or unrealized even by the Necroscope hiion, whatever and however you think of it, somehow passed between them That’s the e see it, anyway
’But the fact is that Darcy had a very bad case of el, the talent which had kept hi the Branch has thrown at hi with hi infored Just when these changes occurred isn’t easy to tell They ht have been in the wind for soht For that hen Harry visited Darcy at ho but after he left then Darcy had
’So that’s what I ed When he died he just wasn’t Darcy Clarke any more, not the one we all knew And now he isn’t anyone But more importantly, he isn’t, and can never be, a threat to the Branch or to the world
’Harry Keogh very definitely is, however, and so are the people we believe he’s already contairl called Penny Sanderson, andthe telepath we knew as Trevor Jordan’ Again he held up his hand ’Yes, I know, Trevor was my friend, too And hell, he was also dead! But he isn’t any h has resurrected both of these people from their ashes - which in itself must surely confirm what they’ve become Undead!
’So where does all of this leave us? Plainly, it leaves us with a fight on our hands, and one which will take all the skills and efforts of every last one of us Because if we don’t win this one, then there won’t be a last one of us! Now here’s hoe go about it: as of tonight the Sanderson girl goes under covert surveillance We’re going to leave that to Special Branch No espers to be involved at this stage Why? Because Harry Keogh or Jordan would pick up on our people like they were radioactive So it’s the dear old British Bobby who covers for us, but without really knohat it’s all about Just another stakeout as far as they’re concerned Which should be safe enough, for as far as we know the girl’s had no contact with Jordan or the Necroscope since Harry well, since he did whatever he did to bring her back So we just let the coarden Law keep an eye on her until it’s time, then call them off, and finallyto deal with her
’Incidentally, if I seem cold-blooded about this, it’s because that’s how it has to be I’m the only one who’s left of the old crohich means I’ the Bodescu case, and out in the Greek islands Anyone who thinks I’h files or Darcy Clarke’s report on the Greek thing And if any one of you really hasn’t read those items, then he bloody well better had, and now!
’OK, so as of tonight we’ll have the girl covered, and she’ll stay that way until we’re all set But she’s s They’re the ones we have to worry about But how much do we have to worry about the he was at Edinburgh, in the Castle on the Mount, taking an interest in the serial killer case Darcy Clarke had asked for the Necroscope’s help on this one, and it looks like Harry got hooked on it Now he and Jordan seeether on it; don’t ask me why, except that Penny Sanderson was one of the killer’s victie? It could well be, for vampires are like that If so, then sooner or later Harry and Co o at this sex freak
’As to hoe know Jordan was in the Castle: he just casually latched on to a couple of plain-clothes ations up there! He was able to do it because he still has his Branch ID Later, when one of the investigators mentioned Jordan to a superior - the fact that E-Branch still had a ht on the phone to us saying thanks but no, thanks, they don’t need our help any ot their ed to obtain the suspect’s naht come in very handy Apparently he’s called John or Johnny Found and has a flat in Darlington So there’ll be so Mr Found, too, and I’ll be detailing so to stay well out of the picture, for the h and Jordan decide to move on him
’What else about Jordan? Well, as you know, Trevor was - I ood telepath It could be that that’s where Harry got his new talent For Harry’s also a necroht be able to accuosani did That’s speculation, however, and still to be proven Another thing about Jordan is this: he was always one hell of a nice bloke Oh, I know, there’s no such thing as a nice vampire You don’t have to tellis I don’t think evil will coradual process I hope so, anyway, because of course his vampirism will quickly enhance his already powerful telepathy Follohich well, put it this way: there won’t be any sneaking up on hih You’ll all be detailed to your new tasks within the hour, as soon as I can get the else you’re busy with, drop it until you’re told otherwise
’So to su:
’We know that Harry Keogh’s favourite haunt - the place he rightly considers his "territory", because it’s been his ho not far out of Edinburgh We think hehi down Johnny Found, or, if they’ve already located hi hi the Sanderson girl and Mr Found, we’re also, obviously, going to keep a covert eye on Harry’s old house But -and I can’t stress this too strongly - a very surreptitious eye, right?
’If we can get the girl, Harry and Jordan all at the saet them on their own, as individuals - that’s e’ll ht possibly be precipitated if or when Harry and Jordan decide to take out Found Ideally, we’ll wait until we can move on all three of the What we mustn’t do is try to pick them off one by one, which would be to alert the others Are we straight on that?
’Lastly - or rather before we go on to exa to tell you that I knoon’t go down at all well: namely that the Minister here has confided in Soviet E-Branch on this thing’ Trask stared into the small sea of astonished faces, but no one spoke
’The point is,’ he went on, ’that even if we find a way to trap the Necroscope, which won’t be easy, still he’ll have a bolthole into a place he could conceivably co God-only-knohat back with hi about the Gate at the Perchorsk Projekt under the Urals We’ve kept tabs on that nightmare ever since we found out about it, and we know that the Russians areto contain it while they decide on a more satisfactory solution If we make life intolerable, hopefully i for Starside So that’s e’ve confided in the Russians, because we daren’t let hio back there Fine if he wanted to stay there, butback here with hiht hide out in another world? A notebook we found an hour ago at Clarke’s flat, that’s what Darcy had been jotting down a few thoughts, but that ot to hiot to him The notes are only a ht Harry would skip to Starside Well, now the Soviets know about Harry, asout for him So it looks like the Perchorsk Gate is closed to him
’OK, so now let’s consider our equip you all down into balanced tea a preliminary itemization of your tasks’