Doctor Who_ Warlock - Andrew Cartmel [142]
The small man called the Doctor watched him carefully, checking the fine print on each of the drugs as he shook tablets out and gave them to the man floating in the tub.
The man, Vincent, was only half conscious and accepted the pills groggily. This wasn’t surprising since only a few hours earlier he’d apparently been trapped in a life‐support tank. ‘It will take him some while before he surfaces to full consciousness,’ said Dieter.
‘I know,’ said the Doctor.
The anxious young woman came in and looked at Dieter. ‘How is he?’
Dieter smiled at her as he snapped one of the pill bottles shut. ‘What is your name?’ he said.
‘How is he?’ repeated the woman.
‘He’s going to be fine. Disoriented and incoherent for a while, then fine,’ said Dieter.
The woman looked to the Doctor for confirmation and he nodded. ‘After all,’ said the Doctor, ‘he’s been through all this before.’
‘Now, what is your name?’ said Dieter.
‘Justine.’
Dieter smiled at her. ‘And this is your husband, Justine.’
The woman hesitated. ‘Yes,’ she said.
‘You don’t seem sure.’
The Doctor stood up and moved to the bathroom door. ‘Come with me, Dieter,’ he said, terminating the conversation.
He led Dieter outside and began strolling in a leisurely manner towards the barns.
‘That young woman seems to be in some confusion over her husband,’ observed Dieter. ‘And it seems that young fellow called Creed is part of this confusion.’
The Doctor didn’t reply. There were half a dozen cars parked on the curving driveway outside the main farm building and he was watching their owners wandering back and forth across the grounds of the laboratory. ‘I hope they don’t trample the flower‐beds,’ said Dieter.
‘There was a small ginger cat,’ said the Doctor, suddenly turning to look at him. ‘His name was Chick. Apparently you picked him up and brought him here.’
‘I’m sure he’ll have come to no harm.’
‘Actually we already found him dead, amongst your laboratory waste in one of the big metal bins,’ said the Doctor.
‘Oh, I am sorry.’
The Doctor was looking at the grey square laboratory building. He turned to look at Dieter. When he spoke, he spoke so quietly that Dieter had to strain to catch his words.
‘I just want you to know that I will not permit you ever to set up another laboratory like this.’
‘I see,’ said Dieter.
‘I’ll put you out of business.’
‘That’s all right.’ Dieter shrugged. ‘It will be exciting for me to discover new markets.’ He watched a young couple walking towards the lab building. ‘What exactly are they doing? These people that you summoned.’
‘They are taking the animals away.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Taking the animals from your lab. Taking them away and finding new homes for them.’
‘Taking them away?’
‘Yes.’
‘But you’re destroying years of priceless research.’
‘Years of dubious research. Yes.’
The young couple came out of the laboratory carrying a cage. They walked towards the Doctor and Dieter. A cat yowled frantically at the Doctor from the cage they were carrying.
The Doctor chuckled and doffed his hat as it went past.
‘It’s almost as if the little devil knows me,’ he said. He watched the couple carrying the cat towards their car. ‘I’m so glad they’ve found better homes,’ he said, turning back to Dieter.
Dieter shook his head sadly. ‘You’ve taken away all my animals.’
‘Not all of them. There was one dog who managed to escape on his own, just as we arrived. He fled into the hills and we haven’t been able to find him.’
‘Which dog is that?’ said Dieter as they entered the laboratory. Then he said, Ah, yes.’
On the floor in front of them was a body with a white lab coat thrown over it, to cover the face of the corpse. A bright ragged red stain was coming through onto the white cloth around the neck area.
‘That dog,’ said Dieter.
‘He tore the throat out of this woman. Do you have any idea why he might have done that?’
‘What I find even more mystifying,’ said Dieter, ‘is that she let him out of his cage at all.’
‘Maybe he managed to let himself out.’
‘How could he?’ Dieter smiled. ‘He’s just a dog.’
The Doctor didn’t return his