Chapter 47
At the cross cancer institute the receptionist told us she hadn’t seen Sandeep for a few days, he was sick, she explained, and when asked when he would be back she said she wasn’t sure.
“And what about Wilhelm Larson?”
She looked at us nervously, short of excuses, but while she was brainstorming to find another good one Wilhelm Larson entered the front door, carrying a McDonalds lunch-bag.
“Hello, I wondered where you guys were. We run those tests for you and I was expecting to see you back”, he said smiling
Brad and I looked at each other, equally perplexed and wondering what to say. I knew Wilhelm noticed, because a frown clouded his face for a moment, but then he smiled again and said “I can show you the results”
Either Wilhelm was a great actor or our conclusions about him menacing Sandeep were wrong, because he didn’t seem to want to avoid us in any way. But then what was the point since he had no chance of avoiding us? Better pretend he was expecting us so that we wouldn’t get suspicious.
“That would be great, thank you. This is actually what we came for, I’m sorry we didn’t phone you in advance”, I said, catching up.
“I’m Alice by the way”, said Alice tending her hand
“I’m working with Iris and Brad on this project, so they thought I could come along”
“Good to meet you”, said Wilhelm, smiling again.
I noticed he was smiling more than he had last time, and wondered if his smiles were a way to cover up something or if was in a genuinely good mood.
“I see you haven’t had your lunch yet…”, continued Alice
“Don’t worry about it, my lunch gets interrupted all the time and showing you the results won’t take too long anyways”, interrupted Wilhelm, looking at Alice with open interest
Did he find Alice attractive? I wondered if the explanation of the change in his manners was as simple as that.
“Do you want to go upstairs to the lab for the results?”, he said after a moment, taking a step towards the elevator.
“Sure”, said Brad, speaking for the first time since we met Wilhelm
As we waited for the elevator in silence, I mentally debated if I should ask him for Sandeep. Why hadn’t he asked if we spoke with him? After all Sandeep was the one who had introduced us first, so the question would have been legitimate and expected.
“We should have phoned Sandeep, but we were swamped these days. You know how it gets hectic at times…”, Brad dropped casually, as if reading my thoughts
Wilhelm didn’t reply, and I added, “The receptionist told us he is sick, I was sorry to hear that”
Wilhelm looked confused for a moment.
“It’s no problem for me to show you the results”, he finally said
When we entered the lab it felt larger than it had the previous time, and the colour of the walls seemed tinged with a hideous shade of grey I hadn’t noticed when I was there earlier. My mind floundered in twisted elucubrations of how moods can affect the way we view places, and I leafed through past recollections of cases when known places had seemed suddenly different and unfamiliar. I wondered how I would feel going back through the town where I was born and raised before moving to NY. The short tune announcing that the computer had started awakened me to reality. Focus, I told myself.
Wilhelm looked at the screen, looking perplexed.
“I remember your folder was on the desktop”, he said
He opened windows explorer, “Unless it was moved somewhere else…”
I observed him, reading the names of the folders as he browsed. There were acronyms, and user names, and few clear labels “Leukocytes”, “Protein_Analyses_John”, “Modified_Starch”, but not our folder. Wilhelm frowned.
“I have no clue, I don’t understand where your data are”, he said
He stared at the screen a while longer, then repeated, “I don’t understand where your data are”
Brad, Alice and I sat silently, waiting for Wilhelm to make the next move.
“Sorry”, he said at last
We looked at him, and I hoped he would say something like, “I’ll call Sandeep to ask him if he knows”. That would have been a normal reaction, since who else would have moved our folder?
“I’ll try to find out and let you know once I know something”, he said instead
“Do you have our contact information?”, asked Alice
“I think I do, but why don’t you give it to me again, just in case…”
We did, and Wilhelm accompanied us to the elevators apologizing once more and reiterated he would phone us back.
“Quite odd”, I said once the doors of the elevator closed
“Very”, said Alice, marking her words
“I should have listened to you earlier”, Brad told me
I shrugged.
“Let’s go buy our well-deserved greasy pizza slice and think with a full stomach”, I said.
I wasn’t hungry and I don’t think Alice and Brad were either, but we all agreed cheerfully in a collective attempt of calm and normality.