Excellency – M. le Ministre, to lead the way.'
The party followed him. M. le Ministre, who was slightly apprehensive, glanced through the heavy railings to his right. The lepers were drawn up to attention in a serried row as far as possible from the grating. The Minister looked relieved. His feelings about leprosy were still mediaeval.
In the well furnished modern lounge Mr. Aristides was awaiting his guests. There were bows, compliments, introductions. Aperitifs were served by the dark-faced servants dressed in their white robes and turbans.
'It's a wonderful place you have here, sir,' said one of the younger journalists to Aristides.
The latter made one of his Oriental gestures.
'I am proud of this place,' he said. 'It is, as you might say, my swan song. My final gift to humanity. No expense has been spared.'
'I'll say that's so,' said one of the doctors on the staff, heartily. 'This place is a professional man's dream. We do pretty well in the States, but what I've seen since I came here… and we're getting results! Yes, sir, we certainly are getting results.'
His enthusiasm was of a contagious kind.
'We must make all acknowledgements to private enterprise,' said the Ambassador, bowing politely to Mr. Aristides.
Mr. Aristides spoke with humility.
'God has been very good to me,' he said.
Sitting hunched up in his chair he looked like a small yellow toad. The Member of Parliament murmured to the member of the Royal Commission who was very old and deaf, that he presented a very interesting paradox.
'That old rascal has probably ruined millions of people,' he murmured, 'and having made so much money, he doesn't know what to do with it, so he pays it back with the other hand.'
The elderly judge to whom he spoke, murmured,
'One wonders to what extent results justify increased expenditure. Most of the great discoveries that have benefited the human race have been discovered with quite simple equipment.'
'And now,' said Aristides, when the civilities were accomplished and the aperitifs drunk, 'you will honor me by partaking of a simple repast which awaits you. Dr. Van Heidem will act as your host. I myself am on a diet and eat very little these days. After the repast you will start on your tour of our building.'
Under the leadership of the genial Dr. Van Heidem, the guests moved enthusiastically into the dining room. They had had two hours' flight followed by an hour's drive by car and they were all sharp set. The food was delicious and was commented on with special approval by the Minister.
'We enjoy our modest comforts,' said Van Heidem. 'Fresh fruit and vegetables are flown to us twice a week, arrangements are made for meat and chicken and we have, of course, substantial deep freezing units. The body must claim its due from the resources of science.'
The meal was accompanied by choice vintages. After it Turkish coffee was served. The party was then asked to start on its tour of inspection. The tour took two hours and was most comprehensive. The Minister, for one, was glad when it finished. He was quite dazed by the gleaming laboratories, the endless white, shining corridors, and still more dazed by the mass of scientific detail handed out to him.
Though the Minister's interest was perfunctory, some of the others were more searching in their enquiries. Some curiosity was displayed as to the living conditions of the personnel and various other details. Dr. Van Heidem showed himself only too willing to show the guests all there was to see. Leblanc and Jessop, the former in attendance on the Minister and the latter accompanying the British Consul, fell a little behind the others as they all returned to the lounge.
'There is no trace here, nothing,' murmured Leblanc in an agitated manner.
'Not a sign.'
'Mon cher, if we have, as your saying is, barked up the wrong tree, what a catastrophe. After the weeks it has taken to arrange all this! As for me – it will finish my career.'
'We're not licked yet,' said Jessop. 'Our friends are here, I'm sure of it.'
'There is no trace of them.'
'Of course there is no trace. They could not afford to have a trace of them. For these official visits everything is prepared and arranged.'
'Then how are we to get our evidence? I tell you, without evidence no one will move in the matter. They are sceptical, all of them. The Minister, the American Ambassador, the British Consul – they say all of them, that a man like Aristides is above suspicion.'
'Keep calm, Leblanc, keep calm. I tell you we're not licked yet.'
Leblanc shrugged his shoulders.
'You have the optimism, my friend,' he said. He turned for a moment to speak to one of the immaculately arrayed moon-faced young men who formed part of the entourage, then turned back to Jessop and asked suspiciously: 'Why are you smiling?'
'Heard of a Geiger counter?'
'Naturally. But I am not a scientist, you understand.'
'No more am I. It is a very sensitive detector of radioactivity.'
'And so?'
'Our friends are here. The Geiger counter tells me that it imparts a message to say that our friends are here. This building has been purposely built in a confusing manner. All the corridors and the rooms so resemble each other that it is difficult to know where one is or what the plan of the building can be. There is a part of this place that we have not seen. It has not been shown to us.'
'But you deduce that it is there because of some radioactive indication?'
'Exactly.'
'In fact, it is the pearls of Madame all over again?'
'Yes. We're still playing Hansel and Gretel, as you might say. But the signs left here cannot be so apparent or so crude as the beads of a pearl necklace, or a hand of phosphoric paint. They cannot be seen, but they can be sensed… by our radio-active detector -'
'But, mon Dieu, Jessop, is that enough?'
'It should be.' said Jessop. 'What one is afraid of…' He broke off.
Leblanc finished the sentence for him.
'What you mean is that these people will not want to believe. They have been unwilling from the start. Oh yes, that is so. Even your British Consul is a man of caution. Your government at home is indebted to Aristides in many ways. As for our government,' he shrugged his shoulders. 'M. le Ministre, I know, will be exceedingly hard to convince.'
'We won't put our faith in governments,' said Jessop. 'Governments and diplomats have their hands tied. But we've got to have them here, because they're the only ones with authority. But as far as believing is concerned, I'm pinning my faith elsewhere.'
'And on what in particular do you pin your faith, my friend?'
Jessop's solemn face suddenly relaxed into a grin.
'There's the press,' he said. 'Journalists have a nose for news. They don't want it hushed up. They're ready always to believe anything that remotely can be believed. The other person I have faith in,' he went on, 'is that very deaf old man.'
'Aha, I know the one you mean. The one who looks as though he crumbles to his grave.'
'Yes, he's deaf and infirm and semi-blind. But he's interested in truth. He's a former Lord Chief Justice, and though he may be deaf and blind and shaky on his legs, his mind's as keen as ever – he's got that keen sense that legal luminaries acquire – of knowing when there's something fishy about and someone's trying to prevent it being brought into the open. He's a man who'll listen, and will want to listen, to evidence.'
They had arrived back now in the lounge. Both tea and aperitifs were provided. The Minister congratulated Mr. Aristides in well-rounded periods. The American Ambassador added his quota. It was then that the Minister, looking round him, said in a slightly nervous tone of voice,
'And now, gentlemen, I think the time has come for us to leave our kind host. We have seen all there is to see…' his tone dwelt on those last words with some significance, 'all here is magnificent. An establishment of the first class! We are most grateful for the hospitality of our kind host, and we congratulate him on the achievement
