Рафаэль Тигрис - Plague fair

client's guest looked like? – asked the detective – let's go, Spencer, let's try to see her face.

They went down to Spencer's office.

–Here she comes with him to the hotel. Her head is covered with a hood. And now she leaves the hotel but alone. And again, the faces can not be seen even with high magnification. The lady is deliberately hiding. I wonder where he got her from? After all, he didn’t pick up it off the street, did he? You said he was a medical scientist, didn't you?

–Yes, he is a participant in a scientific conference, – Spencer replied, -and where did the client go last night? That's what we're going to find out from the cabbie. We got his number.

–Well done, good job.

–The cabbie said that he dropped his client to the "Sherlock Holmes" restaurant.

– That's great. Send an employee over there right away. Have him go through all the video recordings footage and get a picture of the lady.

   Soon the detectives had an image of Yesenia in their hands.

–I seem to remember her, – Spencer said, – let's play through the footage of the first day of the client's arrival.

–Here, look. It was she, who was with him when client checked in.

–She booked a room for him, the porter recalled.

–Who paid for the room?

–It's strange, but this is not the organizing committee of the conference. It was paid in cash by this particular lady.

–Well, well – this already smells like a planned action,– said Inspector Johnson, – the criminals needed your doctor to settle in this hotel. Why?

–Yes, because the sewer of London passes under us, and from there it is easiest to go unnoticed to the Thames. Let's go down to the basement.

The detectives put on knee-high rubber boots, put on respirators, and opened the door to the sewers.

–Normally the entrance is locked, but on this day the door was open,– Spencer said.

–Well, it's clear that someone tried in advance. It's probably from the pest control team you called the day before. Everything is professionally planned. And here is your client phone or what is left of him.

Johnson shined a flashlight on the wreckage of Solomon's phone.

–Completely broken, beyond repair. And the SIM card must have been thrown far into the Thames. Your client was kidnapped and lured here, stunned and taken away. No mobile, no peeling. What was his job?

–A major specialist in the plague.

–Wow! It smells like bioterrorism. We need to call it counterintelligence. He will soon be loaded onto a foreign ship and taken away.

–He is our client. He must be found.

–What can we do? Lots of precious time was wasted.

They returned to Spencer's office.

–So it is. A professionally planned kidnapping of a bioweapon specialist.

–Sir, here's the fingerprint data, – Johnson's deputy reported, -belonging to two different people. In the criminal file cabinet, it does not appear.

–There is data from the border control database that Solomon Grande arrived from Armenia 3 days ago. The second person's fingerprints are not identified.

–Wow! Your night guest is a subject of Her Majesty and has not left the country for the past few years, -the Scotland Yard detective concluded,-Think Spencer, think! We have very little time.

–Let's check his cell phone number, – said Spencer, – it is not connected to roaming, local and probably bought right at the airport. Then where did he put his?

–Did he have? – Johnson asked.

– Sir, the restaurant waiter remembers a customer calling home and talking loudly to his mother. He was then asked not to make noise, – the hotel security worker reported.

– How did the waiter understand that he was talking with mother? Does he understand Armenian? Well, let's get this waiter here.

A clean-shaven man, immaculately dressed in a cream coat, entered into the office.

–Please remember, what phone your client had?

–Ordinary, sir.

–You must remember what size screen the phone had-large or small. Smartphone or simple cell phone?

–I understand perfectly what you want to know, sir. No, it was not a smartphone, it was a simple mobile phone.

–Come here, look at the screen, -Spencer increased the record where Solomon was holding a mobile phone, -did he talk on this phone?

–No, sir. That was smaller, thin, with a keypad.

– Excellent! But how did you understand that he was talking to his mother, do you know the Armenian language?

– No, sir, – the waiter smiled, – all the people of the planet speak with mothers in the same intonation, and the last word is usually "mother" or "ma".

–Well done, you helped us a lot. Now to business. It is already obvious that Mr. Grande had two phones: one a smartphone with a local network card, with which he connected to the Internet, and the second one was a simpler model, connected to roaming. Great idea. After all, in this way, it can always be detected by a satellite. So, gentlemen, we need a list of all the numbers from Armenia that have connected to roaming in our country.

–Here's the number fixed in the name of our client. If it is turned on, then consider that we have found it, – said the assistant inspector.

Everyone began to look forward to the data from the satellite. Finally, the long-awaited red arrow appeared on the screen.

– Yes! There is a signal! – Spencer exclaimed.

–Your client is sailing the Thames. He's on a vessel called the “Cecile”, – Johnson's deputy concluded.

When the image was zoomed, everyone clearly saw a flashing red arrow on the outline of one bulk carrier.

–I congratulate you, gentlemen! -said Johnson, – now it remains to send the river police there with a capture group. That's how technology makes our job easier. Even the genius of Sherlock Holmes would take a long time to find this guy.

Solomon slowly opened his eyes. It was dark all around. His head ached. His limbs were bound and his hands were bent behind his back. He began to remember the events of the previous night.

After the restaurant he and Yesenia arrived at the hotel. Yesenia was very shy and kept covering her face with her hood. They went up to the room, drank whiskey and relaxed together in the hot tub. Solomon was not without delight in remembering luscious form and the unique whiteness of Yesenia body. Then they had another drink each. For this, Yesenia got out of the Jacuzzi and captivating Solomon with her naked body went into the room for another portion of whiskey. Then they slowly danced in embrace by the fireplace....

He woke up to the ringing of his cell phone. Yesenia was not around.

"Turn on the screen, Solomon," came a message from Yersinia.

 The screen lit up and Solomon saw Yesenia's frightened face. She was tied to a chair, her mouth stuffed with a rag.

– As you can see, I have your bird in my hands. And on how you will obey me depends her future fate.

 Yersinia in the mask of Death was dictating her will.

– Don't touch her! I'll do whatever you want! – Solomon shouted into the phone.

– I don't doubt it. In the meantime, don't you dare call for help, or you'll get your Yesenia in pieces. Then they ordered to get dressed, leave the room, go down to the basement and open the door in the far corner. Solomon obediently carried out all orders. Suddenly, strong hands grabbed him and threw a bag over his head. Solomon felt something injected, after which he lost consciousness …

  Through the cracks in the door a meager light penetrated and gradually Solomon's eyes made out a room filled with sacks everywhere. Solomon felt a slight rocking and heard the splash of water.

"I'm sailing on ship, but where to?"

Solomon looked around for a sharp object, but saw nothing.

   The ship continued to sail.  Solomon knew that every --">