Ken Follett - the Third Twin (1996)

“Good idea. Then I sneak into the press conference somehow, and stand up in the middle of it and make a speech to the assembled media.”

‘They’ll shut you up.”

“I should have a press release ready to give out. But then you’ll come in with Harvey. Twins are so photogenic, all the cameras will be on you.”

Steve frowned. “What do you prove by having me and Harvey there?”

“Because you’re identical you’ll have the kind of dramatic impact that should cause the press to start asking questions. It won’t take them long to check that you have different mothers. Once they learn that, they’ll know there’s a mystery to be uncovered, just as I did. And you know how they investigate presidential candidates.”

“Three would be better than two, though,” Steve said. “Do you think we could get one of the others there?”

“We could try. We could invite them all and hope that at least one will show up.”

On the floor, Harvey opened his eyes and groaned.

Jeannie had almost forgotten about him. Looking at him now, she hoped his head hurt. Then she felt guilty about being so vengeful. “After the way I hit him, he probably should see a doctor.”

Harvey came around fast. “Untie me, you fucking bitch,” he said.

“Forget the doctor,” Jeannie said.

“Untie me now, or I swear I’ll slash your tits with a razor as soon as I’m free.”

Jeannie stuffed the dishcloth in his mouth. “Shut up, Harvey,” she said.

Steve said pensively: “It’s going to be interesting trying to sneak him into a hotel tied up.”

Lisa’s voice came from downstairs, greeting Mr. Oliver. A moment later she came in, wearing blue jeans and heavy Doc Marten boots. She looked at Steve and Harvey and said: “My God, it’s true.”

Steve stood up. “I’m the one you picked out of the lineup,” he said. “But he’s the one who attacked you.”

Jeannie explained: “Harvey tried to do to me what he did to you. Steve came by just in time and broke the door down.”

Lisa went over to where Harvey lay. She stared at him for a long moment, then thoughtfully drew back her foot and kicked him in the ribs as hard as she could with a Doc Marten toecap. He groaned and writhed in pain.

She did it again. “Boy,” she said, shaking her head, “that feels good.”

Jeannie swiftly brought Lisa up-to-date with the day’s developments. “A lot happened while I was sleeping,” Lisa said in amazement.

Steve said: “You’ve been at JFU a year, Lisa—I’m surprised you never met Berrington’s son.”

“Berrington never socializes with academic colleagues,” she said. “He’s too much of a celebrity. It’s quite possible nobody at JFU has ever met Harvey.”

Jeannie outlined the plan for disrupting the press conference. “We were just saying we could feel more confident if one of the other clones was going to be there.”

“Well, Per Ericson is dead, and Dennis Pinker and Murray Claud are in jail, but that still leaves three possibilities: Henry King in Boston, Wayne Stattner in New York, and George Dassault—he could be in Buffalo, Sacramento, or Houston, we don’t know which, but we could try them all again. I kept all the phone numbers.”

“So did I,” Jeannie said.

Steve said: “Could they get here on time?”

“We could check flights on CompuServe,” Lisa said. “Where’s your computer, Jeannie?”

“Stolen.”

“I have my PowerBook in the trunk, I’ll get it.”

While she was out, Jeannie said: “We’re going to have to think very hard about how to persuade these guys to fly to Baltimore on short notice. And we’ll have to offer to pay their fares. I’m not sure my credit card will stand it.”

“I have an American Express card my mom gave me for emergencies. I know she’ll consider this an emergency.”

“What a great mom,” Jeannie said enviously.

“That’s the truth.”

Lisa came back in and plugged her computer into Jeannie’s modem line.

“Wait a minute,” Jeannie said. “Let’s get organized.”

58

JEANNIE WROTE THE PRESS RELEASE, LISA ACCESSED WorldSpan Travelshopper and checked flights, and Steve got the Yellow Pages and started calling all the major hotels to say: “Do you have a press conference scheduled tomorrow for Genetico Inc. or Landsmann?”

After six tries it occurred to him that the press conference did not have to take place in a hotel. It could be held in a restaurant or a more exotic location such as on board a ship; or they might have a big enough room at Genetico headquarters, just north of the city. But on his seventh call a helpful desk clerk said: “Yes, that’s in the Regency Room at noon, sir.”

“Great!” Steve said. Jeannie looked questioningly at him, and Steve grinned and made a thumbs-up sign. “Could I reserve a room for tonight, please?”

“I’ll connect you with reservations. Please hold on for one moment.”

He booked a room, paying with his mother’s American Express card. As he hung up, Lisa said: “There are three flights that would get Henry King here on time, all US Air. They leave at six-twenty, seven-forty, and nine forty-five. Seats are available on all of them.”

“Book a seat on the nine forty-five,” Jeannie said.

Steve passed Lisa the credit card and she tapped in the details.

Jeannie said: “I still don’t know how to persuade him to come.”

“Did you say he’s a student, working in a bar?” Steve said. “Yeah.”

“He needs money. Let me try something. What’s his number?”

Jeannie gave it to him. “He’s called Hank,” she said.

Steve called the number. No one answered the phone. He shook his head disappointedly. “Nobody home,” he said.

Jeannie looked downcast for a moment, then she snapped her fingers. “Maybe he’s working at that bar.” She gave Steve the number and he dialed it.

The phone was answered by a man with a Hispanic accent. “The Blue Note.”

“May I speak to Hank?”

“He’s supposed to be working, you know?” the man said irritably.

Steve grinned at Jeannie and mouthed He’s there! “It’s very important, I won’t keep him long.”

A minute later a voice just like Steve’s own came down the line. “Yeah, who’s this?”

“Hi, Hank, my name is Steve Logan, and we have something in common.”

“Are you selling something?”

“Your mother and mine both received treatment at a place called the Aventine Clinic before we were born. You can check that with her.”

“Yeah, so?”

“To cut a long story short, I’m suing the clinic for ten million dollars and I’d like you to join in the suit with me.”

There was a thoughtful pause. “I don’t know if you’re for real or not, buddy, but either way I don’t have the money for a lawsuit.”

“I’ll pay all the legal costs. I don’t want your money.”

“So why are you calling me?”

“Because my case would be strengthened by having you on board.”

“You better write me with the details—”

“That’s the problem. I need you to be here in Baltimore, at the Stouffer Hotel, tomorrow at noon. I’m holding a press conference ahead of my lawsuit and I want you to appear.”

“Who wants to go to Baltimore? Like, it’s not Honolulu.”

Get serious, asshole. “You have a reservation on the US Air flight out of Logan at nine forty-five. Your ticket is paid for, you can check with the airline. Just pick it up at the airport.”

“You’re offering to split ten million dollars with me?”

“Oh, no. You get your own ten million.”

“What are you suing them for?”

“Breach of implied contract by fraud.”