Todd Manning, Enigma Chapter 10

      Carlo was reading when they came to get him. He found it curious that he had a visitor. They had been few and far between, and he had just seen his lawyer. Surprise crossed his face when he walked into the room and saw the man standing with his back to him. He had thought himself rid of Samuel Toddman and had been infuriated when word had come to him that Toddman had survived the head wound. Christian Vega had disappeared and now Samuel was standing in the room with him. “Mr. Toddman, what an unexpected pleasure.”

      Todd smiled, Carlo’s tone belied his welcome. Carlo was seething right at that moment.

       “Mr. Hesser I felt it necessary to come and offer you my condolences on your capture. I was certain after our last chat in my home, that you considered yourself out of reach by our lowly police dept. It seems you were mistaken.” Todd carefully reached for a chair and set himself down
.
       Carlo stared hard at Manning. It was obvious that his eyesight was still affected and that he had come on some sort of fishing expedition but if Todd thought he could goad him into some sort of confession he was mistaken. “Mr. Toddman, I’m really surprised to see you, I heard about the personal attack in your own home. As for my incarceration, this is all a mistake.   The police have a little information and they seemed to have mixed me up with someone else.“

        “AH, I thought I heard they had some witnesses, it seems a shame that my own personal patron has gotten himself into this bind. Perhaps I could be a help? Of course, I would have to tell them how you threatened my wife and children just the day before I had an assassin enter my home. Oh and I couldn’t forget to mention that you had me watched the whole time I lived in Paris. On second thought, that might actually hurt your case.” Todd took out the ring and was playing with it.

        Carlo was sure now that Samuel had come to gloat. He still hadn’t shown any sign of having gotten his memory back. Carlo refused to believe Nora had anybody that could place him at Kipling’s lab. He knew Manning had been killed and his men were working on taking down Toddman. But he found himself relaxing in Samuel presence. The man still had no real idea who he was and that would help Carlo’s lawyers. “My dear Samuel, I’m hurt. Whatever gave you the idea I was threatening your lovely family or that I was having you watched. I’m merely an admirer of your fine artwork. How is that lovely wife of yours? It really is a shame about your eyesight I was so looking forward to another portrait.”

        Todd hated Carlo at that moment and he pushed the ring on his finger. His eyes met Carlo’s. “You’ve bought your last portrait, Carlo. I’m going to see you put into the hell you belong in and I’m going to watch them throw away the key.”

         Carlo started as he looked into the coldest eyes he had ever seen. “My God, you can see,” he uttered the words and watched as Samuel smiled. There was nothing humorous in that smile, in fact, a chill went down Carlo back. Samuel was out for his blood, and now he wondered what else he had missed about the man. The man sitting opposite him at that moment was no longer an artist intent on protecting his family, this man was an entirely different animal. A very dangerous one. Carlo knew that look. He had seen it in the eyes of some of the men who worked for him. “Who are you?”

          “Someone who knows exactly what you did Carlo. You’d better pray you end up with a life sentence because the day you get free will be your last day on this earth.” Todd looked Carlo up and down to make his point. “I just wanted you to know who you messed with.” Todd sat back in his chair, struggling to keep his demon under control. He hadn’t meant for Carlo to get to him but when he had talked about Blair, Todd’s restraint had given way. He stared at Carlo and saw his eyes drop and took the opportunity to take a deep breath and remove his ring. He closed his eyes giving them a chance to readjust to the fog. He gathered himself before reopening them and decided to let Samuel handle things.“Samuel, take over, I need a moment.”

         Carlo looked away unable to believe what he had just heard. The man sitting across from him was deadly. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Todd Manning, but this was something new and alarming. Could this change in personality be the result of the head injury?  If so, his lawyers needed to be warned to tread lightly.

        “My apologies, Carlo, I’m afraid I got a little warm under the collar for a moment, I hope you’ll forgive my outburst.” Samuel smiled. He had gotten a kick out of Todd and the reaction Todd had gotten from Carlo. Although, he had to admit his own surprise at the tone Todd had used.

          His eyes jerked up and Carlo found himself looking into unfocused eyes again. The man who had just spoken was Samuel, Carlo couldn’t help himself, he brought a hand up and waved it in front of Samuel. Samuel never even blinked. “What the hell are you trying to prove with this fake blind act, Samuel. We both know you can see.” Carlo got up and headed to Samuel’s right to see if his eyes would follow.

         Samuel knew Carlo had gotten up but the lighting in the room wasn’t the best and he had trouble distinguishing one blob from another. He turned his head in the direction he thought Carlo had gone. “I assure you the blindness is very real Carlo. You saw me in my own home. That’s why I was such an easy target for your assassin. Why on earth do you believe I can see?”

        Carlo stood opposite the guard whom Samuel was looking at. He was puzzled, Samuel really didn’t appear to know he was talking to the guard. If he really was blind how had he achieved that effect earlier? Something strange was going on. Maybe it had been a trick of the lighting in the room and the cold tone in Manning’s voice, but Carlo was sure Manning had met his eyes just moments before. No, Manning could see, he was sure of it. “Nice try Samuel, but I know what I saw. You can drop the act. If you don’t I’ll make sure my Lawyers know you’re using it as a ploy for sympathy. You won’t get away with it in court.“

       Samuel zeroed in on Carlo’s voice and said. “Believe what you will. This blindness is real and so is the bullet wound to my head. Both are the results of your handiwork Carlo. I know you’re behind the death of Todd Manning. I promise I will be in court to tell my story even if he can’t. Officer, I believe I still have someone else to see. Thank you for bringing Mr. Hesser here.”

       Carlo angrily got up he had never been so summarily dismissed before. “Why you...”

       Before he could do anything the guard stopped him. “Enough Hesser, your time is up let’s go.” Carlo was forced to leave but not before he saw the smile appear on Samuel’s face. As he left the room he passed his partner Ivan. So Samuel was going to visit with Ivan too. That was a visit he would want more info on after Toddman left.

       Samuel turned as the door opened again. He made his way back to the table and sat down. As he sat there, he heard the chains rattling around Ivan‘s waist. Ivan must be a bit of a problem if they had him handcuffed or maybe Bo just wanted to make sure Todd was safe.

        Ivan looked at the man sitting in front of him. He had been told Samuel Toddman wanted to talk to him. Of course, he knew Samuel Toddman was the alias of the man he had experimented on all those years ago, but this was the first time he saw the man without all the bandages. His eyes quickly picked up on the fact that Mr. Toddman was blind. He noticed how dilated Toddman’s pupils were and he ventured to guess that the man in front of him didn’t like the disadvantage it put him in. “Mr. Toddman I believe this is the first time we’ve met. To what do I owe this visit?”

       Samuel felt a shiver ripple through him just hearing Kipling’s voice. He closed his eyes as the memory of what Ivan had done to him popped in his head. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “Actually I was wondering how someone who once took the oath to do no harm came to be such a monster. Just when did you lose your humanity, Dr. Kipling?” He knew his words got through to Kipling when he heard the quick intake of breath from the man across from him.

         Ivan looked sharply at Samuel. The man had come to say something and wasn’t mincing words. He was aware Toddman was one of the witnesses against him but he had been told Samuel had no memory of his time in the clinic. That was obviously wrong. “Mr. Toddman, I assure you my patients are always my first concern.”

       “I’m sure some of the patients in your research facility are treated with kid gloves. It's too bad the ones you’ve picked as guinea pigs didn’t get the same treatment. Let me guess. Certain patients were expendable for the sake of the project and I’ll bet they’re the ones with limited funds too.”

       “Mr. Toddman these are unusually harsh words to say to someone you don’t even know.”

        “Well that’s the problem, I do know you Ivan, and I know what you did to me. You didn’t even bother to heal the wounds I had, you just performed your damn experiment.” Samuel had to get up before he did something that would get him into trouble. He walked away from the table and put the ring on his finger. He stood with his back to Ivan as his vision cleared. “You came in day in and day out, with only one purpose in mind to get your damn information. I know it was you, I know your voice and I know that damn black hand that pulled the lever. The jury is going to hear it, too. So you can act innocent all you want, but it’ll come out in the trial.”

         “Mr. Toddman, I can see you’re distraught, but I assure you, you have me mistaken for someone else.”

        Todd turned around and walked back to the table. He planted his hands down directly in front of Ivan and lowered his face till he was face to face with Kipling “I will never ever forget your face you son of a bitch. I know exactly what you did and you’re going to pay.” His tone was so threatening even the guard stepped forward to interrupt Todd, who turned and stared him down making him back away. The guard did so uneasily, his hand resting on his sidearm. He had seen the menace and darkness in Todd’s gaze. Todd turned back to Ivan, not giving the guard a second thought. “I hope we understand each other Doctor.”

         Ivan had been startled to find himself staring into two very aware eyes. He knew those eyes saw him and hated him. The threat had been blatant and Toddman hadn’t even bothered to hide it from the guard. He had been forced to back up under that hatred and had to admit, the man now facing him was a different ball of wax. This man knew what he was doing and would play to the jury for sympathy and never once let them know the real him. Ivan was fascinated by the turnaround and couldn’t wait to talk to Hesser. He wondered if Hesser had met the angry one. One thing was sure, if the man in front of him made it to trial, it was all over. Ivan realized Toddman was waiting for an answer. He leaned back to get further from the anger and said. “I think I understand you, but I would love to know your name.”

         “I’m the guy that just died,” and with that cryptic comment, Todd turned and exited the room.

          Ivan was led back to his cell which was across from Carlo’s. “Well, that had to be one of the strangest visits I’ve ever had. The man is a mystery. You never told me we had a mad man in our hands.”

         “What happened Ivan?”

         “One minute I was talking to Samuel Toddman. He doesn’t have very fond memories of me it seems. I’m afraid you were right, Carlo. He recalls our sessions. But he’s not the one I’m worried about.”

          “So you met him too. Ivan, you’re a doctor, Is Samuel Toddman blind or not?”

           “Carlo, I don’t know what to tell you. That was also weird. I would swear that Samuel Toddman is indeed blind. I took a good look at his eyes and there is definitely a problem there but the other one saw me, I’m certain of it. I’m not sure how he accomplished it and I would love to explore it further. We have an enemy, Carlo, that means us harm, and if the courts don’t get us, he will. Do you agree?”

         “Unfortunately, I believe you are right Ivan. The problem is I don’t know this man. At first glance, I would have said it was Todd Manning, but although Manning is smart, he’s a bit of a loose cannon. The man I saw today is dangerous. I think it’s time for plan B. I already sent word through our operative to our partner. We should hear something soon. Did you get a name from our unusual visitor today?”

         “Not one I really understood, he said he was the man who just died. What did he mean?”

          “Damn, it means Mr. Toddman has his memory back, including his real identity. We’re in a terrible and unfortunate situation, Ivan.”


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