Lasher by Anne Rice Page B

down there. They want to see me personally, and it’s their nickel, and I’m happy to oblige. But these people have had detectives all over Geneva. No trace of Rowan. And believe you me, when this family can’t find someone, that person cannot be found.”
    “How come?”
    “Money. Mayfair money. You couldn’t have not heard of Rowan’s plans last fall for Mayfair Medical. Now talk, Mitch, what are these samples? I have to make that plane. Count on my common sense. If you don’t mind the expression, let yourself go!”
    Mitchell Flanagan reflected quietly for a moment. He folded his arms, his lower lip jutting a little, and then absently he pulled off his glasses, stared into space, then put his glasses back on, as though he could not think except when he was behind them. He stared intently at Lark.
    “OK. It’s what you said,” said Mitch, “or what you said Rowan said.”
    Lark didn’t respond. But he knew that he had registered his reaction before he could stop himself. He bit his tongue. He wanted Mitch to go on.
    “This offspring isn’t Homo sapiens,” Mitch continued. “It’s primate, it’s mammalian, it’s male, it’s potent, it has a dynamiteimmune system, it appears in the final tests to have reached maturity, but this is by no means certain, and it has a baffling way of using minerals and proteins. Something to do with its bones. Its brain is enormous. It may have profound weaknesses. Until I run more tests I don’t know.”
    “Draw me a picture in words.”
    “Based on the X rays alone, I’d say it is one hundred fifty pounds in weight or less, and that when the final tests were done in late January, it was six and one-half feet tall. Its height changed remarkably between the first X rays taken on December twenty-eighth in Paris, and those taken in Berlin on January fifth. There was no change between January fifth and January twenty-seventh. No change in any measurement. Which is why I’m saying it may have reached maturity, but I don’t know. The skull is not fully developed, but that may be as developed as it gets.”
    “How much did it grow between December and January?”
    “It grew three inches. Growth took place mostly in the thighs, with some growth in the forearms and a very slight lengthening of the fingers. Its hands, by the way, are very long. The head became slightly larger. Not enough to attract attention, probably. But it’s larger than a normal head. Say the word and I’ll show what I mean on the computer. I’ll show you how it looks, moves…”
    “No, just tell me. What else?”
    “What else?” Mitch demanded.
    “Yes, what else.”
    “That’s not enough? Lark,
you
have to explain all this to
me
. Where were these tests taken? This stuff is from clinics all over Europe. Who did these tests?”
    “Rowan did the tests, we
think
. The family’s been working on it. But the clinics never even knew what was going on. Apparently Rowan slipped in with this creature, had the X rays taken and slipped out, before anybody ever realized there was an unauthorized doctor on the premises, or that her male subject wasn’t a patient. In fact, in Berlin, nobody remembers seeing her at all. It’s only the computerized date and time on the X-ray film that confirms she was there. Same with the brain scans, the electrocardiogram and the thallium stress test. She entered the clinic in Geneva, directed the laboratory herself for the tests she wanted, wasn’t questioned for obvious reasons—white coat, authority, speaks German—and then she took the results and left.”
    “How incredibly simple that must have been.”
    “It was. These were all public facilities, and you remember Rowan. Who would question Rowan?”
    “Oh, absolutely.”
    “The people in Paris who do remember her, by the way, remember her well. But they can’t help us find her. They don’t know where she came from or where she went. As for the male friend, he was ‘tall and thin and had long hair and wore a