Free EG03 - The Water Lily Cross by Anthony Eglin Page B

to want Stewart’s message kept just between the two of them. He just hoped Carmichael’s knowing didn’t mean that the floodgates were soon to open. Too late now, he said to himself.
    “I’m sorry, Inspector,” he said. “Your question: could this plant desalinate seawater?”
    “Right.”
    “That’s a tough one. If you were to have asked me that question a month ago, I would have said it wasn’t possible. But now, I’m not so sure.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Last week I talked to a friend of mine who knows all there is worth knowing about aquatic plants. When I told him what had happened, he all but laughed in my face. But the more we talked about it, the more we both came to realize that it wasn’t totally science fiction. I won’t go into all the botanical rationale but the bottom line—well, our belief—is that the possibility can’t be ruled out.”
    “I must say, it all sounds a bit iffy to me,” Carmichael sniffed. “Becky tells me you think he must have been working with other people on these experiments—whatever you call them.”
    “Yes. That was based on the fact that there was nothing in the house or on the property to suggest Stewart was working at home. In order to reach such a discovery, one would need large amounts of salt water and a number of water lily plants, for starters. My friend and I think that the particular cross—new variety, that is—that Stewart had created could be quite large, as much as five feet across.”
    “That’s what we have concluded—I don’t mean the size, which is hard to imagine—but the fact that he was carrying out his experiments elsewhere and as you suggest, in all likelihood, with others.”
    Kingston decided to ask the all-important question. “You think he’s been kidnapped?”
    “Let me put it this way. The longer it goes without his turning up, the more that becomes a possibility. Either that, or he’s no longer alive.”
    An uncomfortable pause followed, after which Carmichael asked another question.
    “If Halliday was able to desalinate seawater with these plants, this would be something that he—or I should say, they—would want to keep very much to themselves, I take it?”
    “No doubt about it. When you consider how many countries in the world are lacking in supplies of potable water and water for irrigation, the ramifications are pretty obvious. Putting it mildly, it would be a huge scientific breakthrough. And, if—and it’s a big “if,” mind you—it could be put to practical use, it could be worth a small fortune over the long haul.”
    After another longer-than-usual pause, Kingston asked, “I take it you haven’t had any breaks in the case, then?”
    “I’m afraid not. That’s really the reason for my call. Knowing of your friendship with Halliday and your expertise in the subject, I wanted to see if you had anything to offer that we might have overlooked.”
    “I wish I had but I keep coming up with blanks, too.”
    Kingston heard a muffled sneeze followed by a pause and some nose blowing. “Gesundheit!” he said.
    “Sorry. Bloody cold—can’t shake the damned thing. Anyway, where was I? Right. So I gather from what you’re saying, we should be looking for an expanse of water with lilies floating on it, correct?” There was the slightest trace of sarcasm in his tone.
    “Bit of a tall order I know, but—yes.”
    “And where do we look? It could be damned well anywhere. In any case, if this discovery is as huge as you suggest, wouldn’t they attempt to conceal the pond or whatever?”
    “As best they could, yes. But you have to think of it as resembling a large, low-lying greenhouse, so it’s unlikely they could conceal the operation entirely.”
    “Sounds like a job for Air Support to me.” He paused, Kingston hearing suppressed nose blowing again. “Well, Professor, thanks for your cooperation. I’ll get back to you the minute we hear anything worth reporting. And if you come up with any