The Last Christmas On Earth

EPISODE IV-5

"I was waiting for you," he declared, inviting them to come in with a wave of his hand, "... in fact, I was just beginning to wonder why the County Sheriff had not yet come to visit the foreign meddler," he added. The three entered and he closed the door behind him.

"The nosy stranger who goes around asking questions about the Deputy Sheriff's wife," said James. Luke was surprised, but in reality, he knew well that the woman he was looking for was his wife because Sally had turned out to be an opencast mine full of information.

"What is the reason that drives you to poke around this quiet town, Mr. ... Mr.?" Asked Helen.

"Ah, excuse me. My name is Luke Mc January and I would say that defining this town "quiet" seems a bit far from the truth to me" he quipped, holding out his hand to the woman. James snarled him out.

"If you don't like this place, you can even go back to where you came from, but first you must explain to me what you want from my wife!" He had such nerves on his skin that he would have fought even against Mike Tyson, to discharge them. Helen took him by his arm and pulled him gently aside, then looked seriously at the stranger.

"All right, Mr. Luke Mc January, we've probably got it all wrong ... how about starting all over again?"

"Yes, I think it would be better," he agreed, running a hand through his long black curls. James snorted and looked at the paintings that graced that room. Helen relaxed, because it seemed to her that he had calmed down.

"My name is Luke Mc January and I'm from Peoria, Illinois," Luke introduced himself again, "and I'm not here on a leisure trip, you understood it already."

"Private detective?"

"Private detective," Luke confirmed.

"I'm Helen Burn and he's my deputy, James Robinson. Would you kindly explain the reason for your presence here?"

"I suppose this won't be a five-minute visit, do you mind if I get a drink?" Luke asked politely, pointing to the bar fridge.

"Go ahead," Helen said, shrugging. Luke took the ingredients out of the fridge to prepare the usual LMJ cocktail and started mixing them in the shaker.

"How rude, I offered you nothing. You're not on duty, are you?"

"We are not on duty, but we decline your offer anyway, thank you, Mr. Mc January. Now would you be so polite to answer the Sheriff's question?" James replied sharply. His irritating way of running the meter was once again revving him up.

"Well, sit down where you want so I will tell you everything."

Helen sat on the only chair in the desk, Luke sat on the edge of the bed and James stood in the middle of the room with his arms folded.

"A long time ago I was entrusted with tracking down a woman and after turning up almost halfway across the continent it would seem that I finally managed to find her."

"Yeah ... and it seems that the woman in question is my wife," said James.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just doing the job I was paid for."

"Speaking of work, your licenses are in order, aren't they?"

"I'll show them right away," Luke said, starting to get up.

"There is no need, for now, I want to trust you."

"So, how about showing us some pictures of the person you're looking for?"

"I was just about to propose it to you... maybe we'll find out that it's only a similarity and all the problems will be solved," Mc January considered, pouring his LMJ into the tumbler. He added two ice cubes and tasted it. He smiled contentedly and placed his glass on the dresser, then bent down to take his briefcase from under the bed and opened it as a book on the floor. He chose some photographs and arranged them on the desk, turned on the table lamp and invited Helen and James to look at them. James approached first to take a look and turned to stone instantly; unable to detach his eyes from the snapshots, he repeated several times that if the woman portrayed was not Eve then it must have been a secret twin of hers. He caught his breath and looked at Helen, who nodded silently, then began to browse the other photographs.

"Who gave you these pictures?"

"I don't know exactly."

"Enough! No more games now, we tolerated your naive ways too much," Helen said impatiently, slapping the desk, Luke jumped.

"I have no intention of making fun of you," he hastened to explain, "the problem is that I really don't know who he was."

"And you accepted this job by mail or telephone, or how?" Helen quipped. Then Mc January told them how he was hired.

"All I have are these photos and a seemingly inexhaustible credit card, a blank check and a phone number, written next to an acronym that I have no idea what it means" he concluded.

"And why did you accept this assignment?"

"For the money, it's obvious! If I hadn't, all that money would have ended up in someone else's pocket."

"So you don't know who was the man who hired you, let alone why you go looking for that woman. That man may have told you a lot of lies, but judging by how you talk, it sounds like you don't care about either thing," said Helen.

"If that old man told me the truth, he's looking for her because she was his wife thirty years ago," Luke said.

"If what he told me is true," Helen pointed out. Luke told himself that perhaps at that time he was really a bit too naive, but he gorged himself on all that money. James and Helen resumed studying photographs.

"Is she really your wife?" He found the courage to ask James after a few minutes.

"If she is not, it is a perfectly well-done clone of her," he replied, distraught as he continued to study the photographs. He had just discovered that the woman who he believed to be his life partner, in reality, speaking of life, it seemed she have had many others and this fact had aroused in him a fit of certain jealousy.

"Now what are you planning to do? What does your task involve?" Asked Helen.

"Technically, now that you have given me the confirmations I needed, my assignment would be ended, I should only dial that phone number."

"And then? What will happen then?"

"I have no idea, I suppose I'll redeem a substantial check and I'll go to spend the rest of my days somewhere exotic," said Mc January, and Helen felt tempted to punch him in the face because of his cynicism.

"I advise you not to make any phone calls, at least until we'll have verified it," she warned.

"... That is?"

"That is to say, you will do nothing until we have absolute certainty that it is Eve and, above all, until we have discovered who the man who hired you is," she specified as she was writing down some data on a piece of paper.

"And when do you think you'll do it?"

"We will begin to get busy tomorrow morning, but it may take a few days. Until we authorize you, don't even try to think about lifting the receiver. Understood? "Helen replied firmly".

"Well, I just thought I'd stop here for your famous Festival," he replied, snatching her yet another murderous look.

"If Eve and that guy were married more than thirty years ago, she should be almost sixty years old now ..." James reflected aloud. "There are two options here: either that man told you a gigantic lie, or you are telling it to us right now," he concluded.

"I have an idea," said Luke, intending to dispel all doubts as soon as possible in order to collect his check and retire for good.

"Let's hear," said James.

"You could bring your wife here, we could show her the photos and ask her for an explanation. If it really is her, she won't be able to lie," Luke explained, then realized the way James was looking at him again and corrected himself. "Always assuming she has something to lie about," he said, "but after all, you said it yourself that if it's not her then is a clone of her. And then, I ..." hesitated Luke.

"What next?"

"I have many other photographs."

"And why didn't you show them to us right away?"

"I thought the ones you saw were enough."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it is better you don't see them for now, you're nervous enough."

"But why, what is it I can't see in those photographs? They involve my wife!" James burst out, heading for the briefcase, but Luke stood before him.

James spread his arms took a step back, then Mc January bent down again to comb through the briefcase, chose other images and handed them to him. Some were Eve's photographs during the marriage with that mysterious man, then there were others taken in various contexts that went back in time. The photographic paper reported more and more distant datings and observing the details it was evident that they could not have been created at the table. The most inconceivable thing was that Eve appeared constantly the same in every snapshot, never showing a year more or a year less. James quickly scanned them and handed them to Helen, then turned back to Luke.

"They are only photomontages, anyone can use the computer," he hypothesized, refusing to give in to the evidence.

"I can swear to what I hold dearest that they are not artifacts," Luke said sincerely.

"Listen to me," said James, looking at him in a hostile way to close the question, "now you go to sleep and tomorrow morning you pick up your four things and leave, because I promise you that if I find you still here when I get back you'll spend a bad 15 minutes."

"Sorry, but America is a free country," said Mc January. James came under his face, filled with anger, and Luke stepped back to keep himself out of his reach, but stumbled into the carpet and fell back on the bed. James bent over him to show him his index finger, undecided whether to simply threaten him again or go straight to the factual ways.

"James, what are you doing? James, stop it ... look here! Let him lose, I told you to look here!" Helen ordered him placing another photo under his nose. "Look at this," she repeated as he continued to aim for Mc January.

"No! That's impossible," said James, shifting his gaze.

"Yes, it is! Dr. Parker is the priest who is celebrating the wedding! And he is perfectly identical to today, he even wears the same ridiculous round glasses."

"I ... I ..." James said to apologize to Luke, but not finding the words he sat down at the desk and held his head in his hands. Helen nodded to Mc January who hurried to put the material back in the briefcase.

"The man with glasses is present in almost all the images. Actually, the real reason why I accepted the assignment is just that: I realized that this is an incredible story and I was sick of earning money by stalking adulterers or tax evaders," Luke explained, adjusting the collar of his black leather jacket.

"It's time for us to go," Helen said to James, putting her hand under his elbow to invite him to stand up. Then she glared at Luke.

"Don't worry, I told you I will stay here until the end of the Festival," he said.

"It will be better for you," she warned, pointing her forefinger at him.

Professor Hamilton opened the door of the building and made his guests sit in the great hall, told them not to worry about not having their luggage because the Government would see to get there everything they needed, from spare underwear to the toothbrush. Abel Parker had eclipsed who knows where, all the others had gone to sit on the huge sofa and started talking again divided into small groups. The professor gave them the last indications, then he urged them to go to sleep as soon as possible because the next day it would have expected them a much heavier and more demanding day than the one just passed. He started yawning up the stairs, heading for his room, but when he reached the mezzanine he stopped and leaned over the handrail.