Chapter Twenty-Nine Holly
Chapter Twenty-Nine
HOLLY
Fitzwilliam and I have convened with Ortiz in an empty hotel bedroom. There’s an excited gleam to her eyes as we tell her what we discovered.
‘OK. Well, firstly, Holly,’ she says, ‘I like the makeover. It suits you.’
I glower at her. Adrianna’s friend Ophelia managed to get to work before Fitzwilliam could drag me to freedom. My face has ‘barely-there’ lip and blush, which leaves me feeling utterly exposed, and my blue hair is set in tidy waves around my face.
‘Secondly,’ says Ortiz, ‘between the two of you, we might just have found a way to get a cop out onto Elysium. That’s where Simone spent her last week alive, right? We should look for clues there.’
Fitzwilliam and I exchange confused glances. ‘Wait … you don’t actually expect Holly to carry on the pretence of being Simone’s niece?’ he asks. ‘Adrianna Kensington isn’t as dumb as she makes out. She’ll put the pieces together.’
‘Never underestimate a woman’s self-obsession in the days before her wedding,’ says Ortiz. ‘I’m going to make a few calls.’
‘I’ll take a closer look at the sample in Simone’s ring,’ I decide. ‘I’ve got my spectrometer here somewhere,’ I add, delving into my purse.
‘You carry a spectrometer?’ asks Fitzwilliam.
‘It’s only a handheld one,’ I explain. ‘In Simone’s offices, we have the latest Thermo Fisher Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid Mass Spectometer, I explain, and also a an infrared iS50.’
Fitzwilliam’s brow creases slightly and his lips part. ‘OK, but … this handheld one works?’
‘Should tell us what the substance is at least. Maybe more.’
I produce the sample pot, and spectrometer. Fitzwilliam’s eyes widen as he catches sight of the interior of my purse, with its candy bars, and gaming paraphernalia.
‘Is there anything you don’t carry with you?’
‘Ho Hos are a superfood,’ I tell him. ‘Edgar Allan Poe is essential reading. Fantasy trading cards are always useful. And you never know when you might need a twenty-sided dice,’ I open the ring carefully, wield my tweezers, and drop a sample of brown powder in the chute.
I press buttons. The spectrometer bleeps and whirs as it analyzes.
We watch as a graph begins to slowly populate waving lines on the small screen.
‘Any idea why Simone hid her ring for you to find?’ ask Fitzwilliam, glancing at my face.
‘She was investigating Adrianna’s kidnapper,’ I say.
‘I guess … she must have discovered something. Made a back-up plan in case the culprit tried to silence her.’ I blink at the reading.
‘Looks like … dirt,’ I say. Fitzwilliam’s face falls.
‘But quite unusual dirt,’ I counter. ‘High concentrations of sulfur compounds. And see that spike on the chart? That’s a very high mineral reading. Quartz, calcite, iron oxides.’
‘What does it mean?’ asks Fitzwilliam.
I think about this. ‘Calcite often forms the shells of marine organisms,’ I tell him. ‘But this sample has a lot of sulfur. I’m not a geologist, but at best guess, I’d say it matches a place with geothermal activity. A volcano. A meeting of tectonic plates.’
‘Elysium.’ Fitzwilliam nods. He reaches to the bedside table, and lifts a copy of Vogue, then opens it on a double-page spread.
‘The island’s grand new opening is in every magazine this month,’ he says, letting the pages fall open.
The headline is: Elysium Beach. And the images are of luxury amenities.
Over-water cabanas, a beach club. A spa area with natural hot spring pools.
An aerial shot takes in a sky-high panoramic, sweeping the length of the green island, with its sand-fringed coves, and mainland of verdant overgrowth.
‘OK,’ I agree. ‘That looks likely. We can narrow it down further.’ I zone in on my spectrometer. Adjust a few settings. Then begin downloading comparable volcanic sites on my phone.
From across the room, I hear Ortiz’s authoritive tone. ‘Yes,’ we hear her say. ‘It’s important.’
‘OK,’ I say, thinking out loud. ‘We can confirm minerals and ash, consistent with volcanic soil. But we also have …’ I lean forward, and adjust the lens of my spectrometer to use the microscope function.
‘A lot of this clear material. Crystalline structured … Too pronounced to be glass. That range can only be silica,’ I say.
‘Which means?’
‘Silica and sulfur. Together.’ I nod encouragingly, but he doesn’t fill in the blanks. ‘It has to be right by a water source. A volcanic water source,’ I add. ‘Mineral rich.’ My finger lands on the glossy magazine spread. I tap one of the landmarks. ‘Hot springs.’
‘Let’s try testing the thermal properties.’ I press buttons. ‘OK. Wow.’
‘What?’ Fitzwilliam glances across.
‘Crystalline in structure,’ I explain. ‘Thermal range that rules out quartz. But. When we use scattered light to identify the molecular vibrations, look at this,’ I point to the graph on my display.
‘Distinctive Ramen peaks, in a range of 960 to 1100 centimeters, but here we have a range which you would associate with collagen.’
I look up at him, expectantly.
‘Holly, you’re going to have to interpret that mike drop for me,’ says Fitzwilliam.
‘It looks like two different soil samples here,’ I say. ‘The first is most likely volcanic with mineral waters. The second is high in collagen and hydroxyapatite.’
‘Which means?’
‘Bone,’ I say patiently. ‘Human bone.’
We’re both silent.
‘I guess the first thing is to get to the hot springs,’ suggests Fitzwilliam.
‘That’s where Simone seems to be directing us.’ I pause. ‘Only … How would she imagine I could ever get out there? It’s not like I could pass for …’ I wave my hand wildly. ‘One of them.’
Fitzwilliam assesses me with a long look. ‘Maybe Simone had more faith in your abilities than you do,’ he decides.
We’re interrupted by Ortiz’s voice breaking across the room. ‘Good news! Mark Li has agreed. Kind of.’
‘Wait. What?’ I’m staring at her in confusion.
‘Yep,’ she says. ‘I’m a genius. No need to thank me. I figured that the Kensingtons are crazy, but Mark Li might be a reasonable man, who actually cares about the life of his fiancée. Turns out I was right. He’s agreed to cover for you, Holly.’
‘Cover for me?’
‘You and your lovely assistant.’ She grins at Fitzwilliam.
‘Her assistant?’ Fitzwilliam has turned a shade of green.
‘If Adrianna asks, Mark will confirm the story that you are his choice of stand-in bridesmaid, and a relation of Simone’s.’ She pauses. ‘For a while at least. Mark Li wants results. He’s given us twenty-four hours, then you have to leave. Li will tell Adrianna you got sick.’
Fitzwilliam and I exchange glances. ‘One day,’ I confirm, ‘to get to these hot springs?’
‘One day to deliver concrete evidence,’ corrects Ortiz. ‘If you don’t find anything in that time, Li wants you off the island.’
Fitzwilliam and I exchange glances. This doesn’t seem like nearly enough time.
Ortiz grins. ‘Pack your bathing suits, kids. You’re going to Elysium.’