She also noted Joe’s tone when he talked about Jamie, as if he knew him, even as if they were buddies. There was affection and humour in his voice, then he said, ‘I’ll ask him next time I see him.’
It was a throwaway comment that was hidden in the banter of the moment. Easily missed. As if it wasn’t there.
But Kelly had heard it and it mattered.
It mattered a lot.
Kelly found herself sucked into a world of intrigue and high-stake lies. Mysteries worth dying for. By the time she walked into Ted’s theatre, she was mulling over NGOs and how they paid off local corrupt officials in faraway lands and got away with it. There was a whole world out there she didn’t understand and discovering it was like being sucked into a huge hole.
One thing she did know was that Joe Folly was a likeable and highly articulate rogue with a platform which gave people a voice.
And that made him dangerous.
She kissed her father.
‘Dad, have you heard of mRNA?’ she asked.
‘Yes, it’s being used in vaccines, isn’t it? I don’t trust it, I’m afraid. Many of my colleagues think it’s gene altering and should be well avoided.’
‘I think it’s a bit late for that. It’s in circulation already.’
‘I know.’
‘You know?’ she asked.
‘I keep up to date with my journals. Why?’
She looked at the cadaver under a sheet, assuming it was Jamie.
‘Because he was on record saying exactly the same thing as you.’ She pointed to the sheet.
‘Oh,’ Ted said. ‘Brave man. Do we think that’s why he “slipped”?’
‘It’s possible. Have you heard of nanotechnology?’
Ted stopped his prep and stared at her oddly as if warning her of something.
‘What?’ she asked.
‘Be careful,’ he said.
‘I am.’
‘You know what I mean. Hampton-Dent? That’s money we can’t imagine. It’s government-level wealth.’
‘Not our government, Dad, we’re broke, remember?’
He chuckled. ‘Right-ho. But seriously, the things you’re talking about have been developed in secret – some say – and used as population control.’ He lowered his voice.
‘What?’ she said. She was incredulous. They sounded like a pair of co-conspirators, like the DiggerMan. People who broke the establishment. People who were in danger.
She looked at her father.
‘Do you believe all that stuff, then?’ she asked him.
‘What stuff?’ he asked as he prepared his kit. Goggles, saw, cutting equipment, GoPro camera, blocks, probes, forceps and needles.
‘That it’s true? That some vaccines have bits of tiny plastic in them capable of being activated by wireless 5G towers?’
