The Case of the Unseen Lady
After a short train ride, and a taxicab ride that only felt long, I stood before a large and elegant estate. It was impressive and well kept. Some gardeners were working on the hedges near the road and they politely nodded at me.
It was a fair walk to the door and it opened before I could knock. No doubt my arrival had been watched. A neat and tidy looking butler answered the door and I introduced myself. I had phoned ahead and was expected. He led me through the house and I noticed how well off these family was. I heard some children in the distance on the second floor.
All the time the butler was sizing me up. I tried to engage him in conversation by saying what an impressive house it was. I often get important clues from the working staff. Generally, they are all too eager to share family secrets. But this man was tight like a bone in a dog’s teeth. He was very protective of his employers it seemed.
The butler led me to a pool behind the house where an elegant blonde lady was seated working on some sort of sewing project. He announced me and I could detect a sense of caution in his voice. He didn’t seem like a man who gave his trust easily to strangers. I admired that.
The lady invited me to sit as the butler brought a chair over. She then sent the butler, George she called him, to get some lemonade for me.
“Missus Russell,” I began “First, I’d like to thank you for meeting with me.”
“Please” she interjected, “Call me Kitty.” In my experience it was unusual to meet an affluent woman with such warmth. I immediately liked this lady.
“Kitty.” I said, “And please call me Johnny.”
I then got to business. “Kitty, you knew a professor by the name of Gibbs?”
She got a far off look for a moment as if recalling fond memories. “Yes, he was a friend of the family; a sweet old man. I’m sorry to say he passed away, almost a year ago.”
I was very sorry to hear it, too. I would have very much liked to speak with Professor Gibbs.
“Missus Russell,” I corrected myself when she shot me a mock frown. “Kitty.” It felt odd addressing such a well-to-do lady in such a familiar manner. This was no gold digger who grabbed a piece of the pie. This was a very down-to-earth lady.
I continued in a low confidential tone. “Were you involved in Professor Gibbs’ experiments?”
The butler was returning from the house and I feared I asked the question at the wrong time. I usually try to use the right amount of discretion so that a person feels free to respond earnestly. But Kitty didn’t seem to mind the butler as she answered me matter-of-factly.
“Yes, he made me invisible.” The way she said it made it sound like an exciting adventure from her past.
Feeling slightly off-balance, I glanced at the butler. He clearly must have heard what she said but showed no reaction.
But then she addressed him directly. “Those were fun times weren’t they, George?”
“Yes Ma’am,” he replied flatly “A laugh, a minute.”
I thanked him for the lemonade and took a drink while I composed my thoughts. I then asked her to recount everything.
She had been a fashion model and had answered an advertisement to be the subject of Professor Gibbs’ experiment. She had caused a bit of mischief for her supervisor, who apparently was unpleasant to work for. She slapped him around a bit, which led him to amend his ways like Scrooge on Christmas morning. Eventually she mentioned the gangsters. Although she couldn’t recall any of their names her story corroborated rumors from the police department. Of course, gangsters would find a wealth of uses for invisibility and stole the professor’s machine that they thought would give them that power. But it didn’t work and they were ultimately apprehended.
“At first,” she said, “The professor used both a chemical formula and a machine. But in later experiments he found that it was the chemical that really produced the effect. The machine sped the process but it wasn’t necessary to the invisibility.”
I encouraged her to tell me more about the experiments.
“Well I forged some ground on my own, I suppose. I learned that alcohol and invisibility make a potent combination. It lengthened the effect. For a while I was worried that it had become permanent.”
“Was it permanent?” I asked, eager to know.
She shook her head. “No. Thank goodness. While it can be a lot of fun to be invisible I didn’t want to be that way forever. Professor Gibbs gave me something to counteract it.”
I thought about what Doctor Morand had said about the human body processing things within it. I wondered if the counter agent that Kitty remembered was something that accelerated the process. Perhaps the invisibility would still have worn off after a time. At that moment I wished that Morand could have joined me at this interview.
“After the incident with those gangsters was all over Richard and I married. I agreed to help the professor with more experiments to try different mixes of his formula with and without an alcohol base. We continued the experiments for a number of months until I realized that I was pregnant.”
I was taken aback. “Was you’re baby alright?” I asked. I recalled that I had heard children in the house.
“Oh, yes,” She said reassuringly. “Something did pass from my body to our son’s but it was temporary and only affected him once. As a matter of fact that’s when Professor Gibbs tried a formula that could be absorbed through the skin.” She then laughed cheerfully saying, “We used to call in Professor Gibbs’ Vanishing Cream. Guaranteed to hide everything.”
“Did this cream only effect the skin where it was applied?” I inquired.
“No, that’s just how it got into the body although it could take longer than the other formula.”
“Kitty, it seems you really enjoyed these experiments.”
“I’ve always had an adventurous spirit at heart, I suppose. And being invisible gives a person a sense of power. I had to make sure it didn’t go to my head.”
I thought about the novel by H.G. Wells. In that story the invisible man had become mad with power.
“And your husband? Mister Russell? How did he feel about these experiments?”
“Well he was the one who funded them at first. He sponsored the professor’s research. Of course, he wasn’t my husband then. I remember how I wanted to give him a good scare – just for fun – when we first met. But he was too interested in my legs in my stockings to be afraid.”
I tried to sound natural as I asked the next question. “Do you mean he found your condition … attractive?”
She smiled broadly, “Well, let’s just say that after we were married we had a few experiments of our own.” At saying this she blushed and turned her face away still smiling.
At that moment I would have given anything just to hear those stories. However, I had to remain professional and quickly said, “Excuse me, that’s none of my business. I didn’t mean to get so personal.”
At that point I decided to tell Natalie’s story. “Kitty. There’s young lady, a fashion model, who seems to be following in your footsteps. But in this case she doesn’t know who did it to her or why. She’s hired me to find out.” I continued to relate the whole case. If anyone could be trusted on this matter, it was this woman. I did not, however, mention the second invisible person.
“So I thought that maybe someone has taken Professor Gibbs work.” I concluded.
Kitty frowned. “Well I don’t recall him saying that any of his notes were stolen. He did consult with other scientists on occasion. I might be able to dig up some names if it would help.” Then she brightened and asked, “Would it help if you had his journal? We have it here, in the house.” I told her that anything might help and she sent the butler to find it. She then continued, “Professor Gibbs had no close relatives but we were like family. We inherited some of his things. Oh Mister Drake, I’ll do anything I can to help that girl. It breaks my heart to hear of how lonely she feels.”
She sent the butler for the journal while we discussed the various experiments conducted by Professor Gibbs. It turned out that he was able to develop many variant formulas with a wide range of invisibility effects. The quickest lasted for a few minutes and the longest lasted for several days. But none were permanent.
The butler returned. The journal turned out to be a large black and green book with many pages sticking out at odd angles. I glanced at a page and immediately knew that this part of the case was for Doctor Morand.
As we finish our talk Kitty had a suggestion. “You may want to check on Mister Growley.”
I glanced at my notes. “The supervisor who was the target of your vengeance? Was he a scientist, too?”
She frowned. “Vengeance is a strong word Mister Drake.” Then smiled. “I just helped him get a new perspective on things. But no, he wasn’t a scientist. But he did eventually open his own modeling agency in L.A.”
“But you said he was a pussycat after the … perspective enhancement.”
“Oh he wouldn’t harm a fly.” She said, “But I hear that he developed a taste for invisible woman after that.”
I made a note, to speak with Growley and underlined it twice. Then I asked a question that was on my mind during the entire train ride.
“Kitty, can you … still vanish?”
She smiled. “We don’t have the formula any more. And the effect with the alcohol became less and less consistent over time. It wasn’t long till it was completely out of my system.” I seemed to me that she missed it.
When I was ready Kitty sent the butler to call me a taxicab. She walked me to the front door and I thanked her again.
As she held my hand to say goodbye she looked at me very earnestly and said, “This girl, Natalie, she’s not just another case to you is she? You really care about her, don’t you?”
“Well,” I said, trying to sound professional, “She’s been through a lot. I’m just trying to do my job.”
Kitty smiled warmly and said no more.
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